This has happened to me before. Sometimes we get a gift in life. A beautiful morning camping, waking up to the sounds of the loons. A breathtaking sunset. An unexpected long conversation with a good friend. Then life goes sideways. But those beautiful moments are enough to get one through the rough times. I had this situation occur this year.

For perspective, you know I live for winter and the slopes. Last season I went out 47 times. This year? 11. Hopefully I’ll get another day or two, but it’s doubtful.

I’m okay with this patch to be over. In the past three months we’ve dealt with struggles of life in general, an unexpected death of a 35-year-old nephew (who was a sole provider for his wife and two beautiful kids) and health issues with Mom Pollock (who is now in a care facility, and we are working hard to help her come home, but that meant a switching of apartments in the house and new things like ramps and hospital beds, etc). It’s seems to have been one thing after another, and we are tired. But we were given a gift before it all glitched.

In January Chris and I flew to Utah to see the kiddos. I have a colleague on sabbatical (he calls it his ski-battical) who was going to be in the area so we all decided to hit the slopes together one day. Lauren stayed home with the grands (last year she went out with me while CJ stayed home with them). Hudi, Mollie, CJ, Chris and I drove over to Solitude to meet my colleague, Alx.

We had initially planned to go on a Thursday, but decided to change the plan. Thank goodness. There were storms and avalanches happening a week earlier, and on the Thursday we were meant to go initially, it was nasty weather with low visibility. The day we went was blue, warm and beautiful.

We stayed together for a few runs then split off. CJ, Chris and Alx went to some trickier trails while I stayed with Hudi and Mollie (Mollie is an expert skier, but hasn’t been on a snowboard as much) on milder slopes. That young woman is amazing! After a few times out she’s at a level that took me about ten years to achieve. I’m in awe.

When we did that divide the rest of us decided to do change off an earlier run. So we could circumvent a tricky corner. I thought I found the path, but I was wrong. Hudi and Mollie went the right way. I ended up in a mogul run through trees that ended with a very intense drop-off. Ack!!! Handled the trees and moguls just fine, but when I saw that drop-off, I had to unstrap and walk all the way back up. It was out of my league. I could see Hudi and Mollie and yell to them, but there was no way to get to them safely without the walk. Bless their hearts, they waited for me…

We met the others for a brief lunch break then took some more runs (with Mollie on skis for the second half of the day. Amazing). I have not been that exhausted in a looooong time. I still blame the mogul run/walk of shame for that. So very happily exhausted.

We wrapped up the day with some socializing and a few more easier runs. What a gift that was!

CJ filmed the entire group on a run, and this is one of my greatest gifts. Fun fact — he used my phone and totally broke my stats in my ski app. I don’t think I’ve ever gone faster than 36.9 mph (59.38479 kmph), but now my app shows I went 45.1 mph (72.58141 kmph).

My form is poor due to exhaustion. My arms flail, and I’m stiffer than I ought to be, and I did the falling leaf (side to side rather than pointing down and using my edges) more than I should have, but still…this video captured one of the happiest days in my life.

To me Heaven is being out on the slopes with loved ones. This captured that. As my days went dark over the next few months, viewing this video became my happy place. As did other memories from that day and visit.

So I know some of you enjoy my videos. And others of you actually go on runs with me through Zoom calls while I’m heading down a slope. For all of you — this is this year’s contribution. My happy place. My gift. Thanks, CJ. You didn’t just make a video for me to grow from as a boarder, you gave me a treasure of a day I will remember forever.