Dreaming of Skiing

I love to sail in Gardiner’s Bay. It is a special place. It is something I can do safely during all this covid crisis. However, now it is winter!

I have always loved winter sports be it ice hockey, snow shoeing, cross country skiing and of course downhill skiing.

Recently I had to cancel a trip back to the French Alps in Chamonix because there were just too many safely variables. I am 69 years old and it I just wasn’t up to gamble on everything breaking my way for such a trip with everything going on health-wise.

So, I sit in my armchair and dream about breaking powder on a sunny day. Hearing that hissing sound as my skis glide through knee high fresh powder as I make blissful turn after turn! It was Dr. Alvaro Marin and his wife Susan, who basically taught me the thrills of powder skiing, especially in a place they called the Nicaraguan Meadows on the Grand Montets in Chamonix,France.

When I dream I ski like a star of a Warren Miller ski movie. I picture myself gliding magnificently as if I were dancing through the snow to music. Sadly at this point of my life I most likely would be struggling with altitude and conditioning but in my mind I ski top to bottom without stopping.

I remember skiing with my parents in places like Sun Valley, Utah and Cervinia, Italy and once even in Chamonix. My dad taught me to ski at Killington, Vermont where he had a condo for the family. I taught my daughters to ski there too!

Just before he passed in 1999 my dad flew from Florida just to visit me and my daughters in Chamonix just 3 years before he died. He and my mom stayed at the famous Mt. Blanc Hotel in a room with great views of Mt. Blanc. I had my family in a condo just a few minutes walk from them. They only visited for 4 days but it was special.

Now I am older than they were then! Yet I too long to make one or two last trips to Chamonix . Covid has robbed me of doing such a trip safely and hassle free in the near future. It is not worth the health risks at the moment. I know many are traveling even now willing to take the risk. I just don’t think it’s worth it for me to gamble until the all clear, worldwide is given.

Time is not long term on my side, but I am still somewhat healthy and in 90 days I will be getting my sailboat ready to sail Gardiner’s Bay yet another summer season, but tonight I am dreaming of skiing powder, in Chamonix cruising down the Vallee Blanche through the glaciers and snowfields.