Winter’s Shadows.

Traces, shadows, ripples, remains…  Each moment has it’s immediate impact as well as another that can be felt long after.  Some things we work hard to forget, while other times it seems no matter how hard we try we can never remember something exactly as it was, or how we wished it might have been.  Moments compound, time shrinks and memories expand to encompass a miriad of emotions, thoughts, and experiences.

When the winter comes a better part of me becomes lost to the world.  My job, my location, my state of mind, all become focused on my immediate surroundings and the tasks at hand.  Try as I might to catalogue, to remember, to share, so much is wrapped together and buried under layers of snow.  This season’s memories might not be buried quite as deep under that immaculate blanket of white, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t just as many.  Time has a way of getting away from you, and while sometimes you’re the one out ahead, more often we’re playing catch-up while continuing to push forward.  It’s been a little while but I’m very pleased to have a moment to look back with you on a season some have been calling the worst.  Personally I’ll need more evidence than a few numbers and some dirt patches, because when I look back on these pictures, they tell a different story, I think you’ll agree.

I no longer really use a fancy camera, and other than the occasional bit of saturation for Instagram, the images are unfiltered.  All the photos are somewhat chronological, and run the gamut from summit shots to me taking pictures because I’m bored.  None of these shots are staged, lit, caressed, or otherwise re-fuckulated.  They’re not here because they feature someone famous in a bright jacket getting a face shot.  You won’t see any of these images in a magazine or catalog, they’re here because they make me happy, and for some reason or another they remind me of friends, a special place, time, or maybe just that life is good.  It’s hard to have a bad day at the best job ever, and despite not all of these shots being super creative or well thought out, I think they give you a pretty good idea of what it’s like to spend a day, a season, or a decade, in Alta.

 

 

So there you have it.  Those turns with Gabe weren’t my last but they were some of the best I’ll remember.  Skiing is a privilege I hope to continue.  Despite all the bullshit we create for ourselves it’s refreshing to remember why we’re here, what we’re doing, and exactly how good we have it.  Right now, it’s the summer that lays ahead, and I’m getting stoked for that, but I still can’t help and think how precious the winter is: how magical, and fragile, it really is.

This was our fourth season of below-average snow and officially our lowest on the books, but even so, it skied a lot better than previous years.  Winter is at risk in North America and all over the Earth thanks to our overconsumption of fossil fuels and dirty energy.  There’s a lot of momentum for change in the coming years and I hope we can find the will, but I’m afraid the status quo is too entrenched and I wonder if it might not be too late.  We can all do our part towards protecting our winters and fostering a more healthy and sustainable world.  Remember every action has it’s consequences both good and bad, and that every day we encounter numerous opportunities to make sustainable decisions.  The snowflake is an endangered species, and if we kept that in mind every time we flipped on the lights or drove to the store we might be able to keep winter alive for our children to see.