the zen of nordic skiing

kick, glide. kick, glide. kick, glide. kick, glide...

This is the rhythm, the pattern, the peace, the steadiness, the calm, the routine, the zone, indeed the zen of cross country skiing. it is the place you go when all you can hear is the silence of the snow. it is that otherworld where the noise, the business, the travails of life are left behind at your doorstep when you click into your bindings and propell yourself into the white wilderness for an afternoon of cross country skiing utopia.

there was nothing zen-like about our first experience with our new cross country skis. armed with multiple layers of polyester, fleece and gore-tex, sarah and i burst forth from our cozy winter den (basement suite) into the -20 degree yukon winter to kick...glide...pole...kick...fall on our asses with boards strapped to our feet.

after melting about a pound of wax onto the bottom of our skis with our clothes iron, smoking out the cat with burning wax and dripping it all over our shoes, we got outside to enjoy our new official winter sport. sarah had frostbiten fingers after 5 minutes thanks to her cotton "mittens". but she soldiered on into the snow only to take jole down later at the hairpin corner on the base of the steepest hill in the wolf creek ski trail network. it was nearly a sonny bono experience.

back at the ski chalet (basement suite), we laughed about our misadventures and stella brewed us up some hot chocolate with which we promptly steamed up our glasses and kept bumping into the furniture. despite the falls, the wipeouts, doing the splits (ALERT: cross country skis don't have edges!) we have found something to keep us occupied for at least the next 5 months. we should be so lucky because that's how long the snow's going to last!

we hope everyone's doing well. We arrive in vancouver on December 19th for two weeks, so we hope to see you then!

sarah & jole