Jackson Hole

I DREAM OF JACKSON
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In my opinion, if there is a mecca for skiing, a place where every skier has to go once in his or her lifetime, Jackson Hole is the one.....the place where I received my baptism in snow.

I have always loved skiing and wanted to ski black well one day. Skiing is the only area in my life where I love going black ;-). When I signed up for this STEEP and DEEP ski camp in Jackson, I did think that I was a little unprepared physically but I was determined to do it anyways. There is a never a good time to do a lot of things in life, and I might as well do it. After all, it was always a aim in my life to ski black and moguls.

Honestly, it is not a nice feeling to throw oneself off a face with 50-70% gradient but that's the deal if one wants to do black. I had some sinking feeling in my stomach every time at the first lift. It was tiring, it was scary, but it was also so damn exhilarating and rewarding, and I love the pleasure of discovering new terrain conditions, pushing myself to a tougher terrain and overcoming my fear. One may be in the same mountain, but the mountain feels different every day, different temperature, different snow texture, different wind conditions and different sun exposure. I like how the conditions could change during the day itself.

In Jackson Hole, I tasted first-track powder snow, and I totally understood what one means by "virgin snow". The joy of being the first one to cut through the fluff before the other skiers and boarders (urgg!) arrive to the spot. These days I look at mountain tracks and I always visualise myself drawing those beautiful lines in the powde snow. I love how my body feels at the end of the day. So tired, so relaxed and I feel so spent that all I wanted was to go back, shower and hang my legs up next to the warmth of the fireplace. In such environment, not many other things matter in life to me.

Every now and then though, one get setbacks. On my second day of ski camp, I hit a hard bump, lost my skis, and tumbled down a hard slippery black face, for about 50 metres and tore the ligaments of my left thumb. It was one of scariest incident ever happened to me, and I knew that I was very lucky to have only a thumb injury. Despite a swollen thumb, I continue with my camp (albeit with less fearlessness ha) and on the 3rd day, my instructor told me that every person who comes to Jackson Hole must try the Hobacks. The weather turned dreamy, cloudy after a heavy snowfall the night before and it was one of the best rides in my life. Why? Because the Hobacks were ungroomed terrain with narrow paths, trees, moguls, steeps and even rocks. Totally ungroomed and rugged. And the best past is that we were skiing above the cloud level, with the town of Jackson under the clouds ( pic above). It was so unreal, so dreamy and I am sure I panted most of my way down the Hobacks. I would go back Jackson Hole for the Hobacks and other back country runs one day.

It struck me that I work very hard in a shitty bank to earn money and I work equally hard on the slopes to spend my money. I think good snow are so hard to find, and when one gets it, it is like a big present from the skies above. In life, there are so many things that money could buy but hey hey, not powder snow. I once remarked so many things are so meaningless, and that how in my life, I feel that I am just chasing the wind ( from the Ecclesiastes) but perhaps, the right phrase is that I am chasing the snow. How pristine, how soft and how ephemeral.