I went skiing today at Shawnee Peak, a well put together mid-size mountain about an hour away from where I live. Tempting as usual was the terrain park. Back when I skied more often, I was always really fast and loved to get air. But over the past few years, what with being in the Peace Corps, I have not been skiing as frequently as before. As a result, for these first few times skiing this season I’ve been more cautious, working on perfecting my form rather than achieving maximum speed.

But today the terrain park beckoned.

Given that it was a Thursday, the mountain was not at all crowded – I didn’t wait in a lift line and always had my own chair. The terrain park, too, was quiet, as most of the snowboarders are younger and one would assume that they would be in school today. There was this one feature of the park which consisted of a jump on top of a mound… see illustration:

Anyway, my first time over I went very slowly, got only a little air and landed uneventfully. Second time around I took it a bit faster and had a hard landing, the back of my skis plopping down like that 777 at Heathrow. This second jump was the worst because although I had resolved to take it head on, at the last minute I hedged and completely ruined the flow of things.

Not content to have taken a day off just to do two lame jumps, I headed back up to the terrain park one last time. After two careful turns (thus avoiding the rail,) I set myself on a trajectory directly towards the jump. My mind was racing and fear was pumping through my body. The worst moment is when you just begin the ascent up the jump. At this point of no return, your view is of only the sky above and the tips of your skis. Off I went, sailing through the air, launched upward. Then, shifting the weight of my body, I angled downwards as the ground dropped out from below me, and for a brief moment I sailed before a flat, smooth and crisp landing.

On the chairlift back up for my next run (bombing down perfect corduroy,) my latest favorite song was at full volume in my mind… I was a free man in Paris.