Matt Duffy
New member
When you set your sights on a 1 foot space between two trees, something happens inside. You don't need much speed to feel every nerve in your body perk up and tune in. When the upper body turns sideways to fit the shoulders through, an energy starts to swell. There is the sound of a jacket buffing the bark of two birches, and you've burst through the gate to another dimension. Pure energy surges and cannot be contained. Confidence explodes through the seams. A temporary charge of 'can do no wrong'. It is channeled down your legs and through your boots. Your skis come alive. You can feel with them. They are part of you. The ensuing turns are primal slashes. Snow is kicked violently into the air; leaving a smoking path behind you. Nothing else matters. <BR> <BR> I spoke little or nothing of this feeling to FTO writer Dan Barron when we were stopped on Rumrunner. It was just a moment after exiting the realm of off-the-beaten-path, and back into the mainstream highway of society. The only words I could formulate at that time were something to the effect of "that felt pretty good". This, regarding my first post-ACL-fix sampling of seduction, was the understatement the year. <BR> <BR> We wandered back & forth between Sterling and Madonna for several runs, seeking out natural & ungroomed blue heaven. We found the fluff often, especially on runs like Treasure, the aptly named Drifter, Red Fox Glades, Blacksnake, Pipeline & Harvey's Hideaway (and I still think that name is goofy). Somewhere in that sequence, we went in to eat and thaw our frozen toes. The temperature was in the low single digits (plus & minus) all day and with the wind, the chill factor was: Damn Cold. There was a sign at the M1 lift that advertised minus 70 waiting to greet us at the summit. Later in the day, this was upgraded to minus 60. That was a whole lot better 
<BR> <BR> A few runs after lunch, we got a little more adventurous. I was feeling very good on the pseudo tree runs earlier, so I declared myself ready for Real Woods. Oh yeah! It was my best run of the day - of the season for that matter. Seclusion, tight trees, nice snow and confidence. Skiing woods has always helped me break free from all my troubles. It worked today like it always has. True to form, there was a short while that I was not aware of any knee-woes. No fear, no holding back. For awhile. For moments such as the opening of this post. <BR> <BR> Shuttle was another run of loose fluff and aggressive turning. For those not familiar, this black run drops from one of the Drifter elbows on Madonna Mtn down to Rumrunner on Sterling Mtn. Candy. <BR> <BR> We delved into another non-mapped, wooded region where my glow began to dim. It was more heavily travelled than the first, with some of those dreaded deep troughs in lines of big mogul, or mogul-like formations. I skied these parts with a bit of apprehension & caution. Maybe the sight triggered me into a world of mental barriers, or maybe I was just simply a little tired. I dunno, but once we got through the initial jagged zippers, I was a little more in tune again. Options appeared, and previous traffic had dispersed among them. More candy for us. As low as it started, this run did finish on a high note, not unlike the day.
<BR> <BR> A few runs after lunch, we got a little more adventurous. I was feeling very good on the pseudo tree runs earlier, so I declared myself ready for Real Woods. Oh yeah! It was my best run of the day - of the season for that matter. Seclusion, tight trees, nice snow and confidence. Skiing woods has always helped me break free from all my troubles. It worked today like it always has. True to form, there was a short while that I was not aware of any knee-woes. No fear, no holding back. For awhile. For moments such as the opening of this post. <BR> <BR> Shuttle was another run of loose fluff and aggressive turning. For those not familiar, this black run drops from one of the Drifter elbows on Madonna Mtn down to Rumrunner on Sterling Mtn. Candy. <BR> <BR> We delved into another non-mapped, wooded region where my glow began to dim. It was more heavily travelled than the first, with some of those dreaded deep troughs in lines of big mogul, or mogul-like formations. I skied these parts with a bit of apprehension & caution. Maybe the sight triggered me into a world of mental barriers, or maybe I was just simply a little tired. I dunno, but once we got through the initial jagged zippers, I was a little more in tune again. Options appeared, and previous traffic had dispersed among them. More candy for us. As low as it started, this run did finish on a high note, not unlike the day.