Fresh Air

After five years of college, ten thousand dollars of accumulated debt, one too many speeding tickets and a variety of interesting, yet ultimately failed relationships with women, I decided at the age of 25 it was time to break free from my self imposed prison and do what any sensible east coast homeboy should in a situation of extreme duress… move west. This eventful decision grew from difficult times including an aborted first attempt at college, a year off getting my head straight and then three years of sincere concentrated effort to finally graduate with honors from Framingham State College in the spring of 1983. The process began just before graduation when I formed a spirited alliance with a wonderful and accommodating lady friend. Rory demonstrated a variety of intimate social skills including special knowledge of a back door entrance into the Boston College hockey arena where a highly contested employment seminar for teachers was being held. My first choice interview played out perfectly and I was ecstatic to successfully secure a professional teaching position at the Vail Mountain School in Vail, Colorado starting in the fall.

After a hot summer of digging holes and laying down fence, I packed, loaded up my pickup, withdrew a savings of $500 dollars, said my goodbyes to friends and family and drove across country. I arrived safely in Vail, settled in, and proceeded to start my first year teaching excited by the interesting prospects of a winter in the Rockies. To my amazement it started snowing heavily around Halloween and continued steadily until Christmas. I had never seen so much snow in my life! I was transformed from a kid sweltering in the summer heat of city parks playing street basketball into a responsible educator of children and an avid beginning skier committed to figuring how to effectively handle two to three feet of fresh fallen snow. In fact, this transformation marked the delineating moment in my life where who I was in the past and what I was becoming in the present suggested there was no going back. Alpine meadows, beautiful rivers, clear mountain lakes, wild flowers, phenomenal snow, teaching and skiing in the Rocky Mountains became an obsession, a joy, a need and an adventure that demanded my total focus, energy and attention.

Past experiences of skiing with my high school buddies in the east required getting up at four in the morning and driving a long three hours north to ski at Killington in Vermont. Back in those days I skied in denim jeans, froze my butt off under the deafening snow guns and wondered what the whole purpose was to this expensive, cold and often uncomfortable sport. Rather than continue to torture myself trying to negotiate blue ice, granular death cookies and bare rock faces, I decided to concentrate my efforts on ice hockey during the winter months instead of suffering through more ski days.

However, living a shuttle bus ride away from the mountain in Vail, combined with glorious Colorado sunshine and deep powder skiing, inspired a completely different outlook on the possibilities for this sport. Acknowledging the need to prepare appropriately for my new commitment, I rummaged through all the gear at the local ski swap and purchased a pair of 207cm Rossi Stratos, the proper ski clothing, poles and some Lange performance ski boots. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that skiing came quite naturally to me despite a learning curve that necessitates a few instructional face plants to keep you awake and vigilant. The exhilaration of speed became an addiction. I loved accelerating through big arching GS turns on groomed trails top to bottom without stopping. It was effortless to spend the entire day blazing trail to trail fully engaged in the pursuit of yet another perfect run. Life was great and was soon to get even better.

As fate would have it, when I least expected it, another transformative moment graced my life. I met a beautiful woman and fell head over heels in love achieving what I would call my first “successful” relationship. Lori was an accomplished skier and introduced me to the alternative sport of telemark skiing. My approach to learning the telemark turn was quite similar to my downhill strategy. I borrowed some gear and proceeded to attack the slopes simultaneously falling more times than I thought was possible. Despite some healthy humility, I earned huge relationship points that day along with a variety of memorable bumps and bruises. Lori admired my perseverant attitude and boundless energy enjoying many good laughs watching me ski most of the day on my butt cheeks. The stubborn athlete in me wanted to master this sport and refused to be intimidated by the pain and embarrassment that would quite naturally follow. Consequently, a magical thing happened that day. I felt completely happy and free for the first time in my life even as my whole body ached with exhaustion.

Curiously, as fate would also have it, darkness was about to fall. To make a long story short, I actually went back to school to study photography after a few years of teaching. Lori and I had a wonderful year together but we eventually went our separate ways. She moved to Jackson Hole in Wyoming. I graduated from photography school in the spring of 1987 and moved back east to Burlington, Vermont after landscaping that summer in Boston. In the winter of 1988, less than six months after arriving in Burlington, I had the greatest wake up call of my life. I had completely forgotten my inspired perspective on love and learning in the Rockies and was instead working 24-7 as a freelance photographer. It took a diagnosis of a malignant “Cancer” and total exhaustion for me to actually put on the brakes and evaluate how I had created this life threatening turning point. Implementing healthy lifestyle changes were totally necessary.

The details of these changes are too complex to entertain in this writing, yet the learning is worth sharing. Our lives are a precious gift worthy of every effort we can muster to sustain our joy and remain true to our spirit and physical well being. Ego can play villainous tricks on our psyche causing much confusion and an unhealthy drain of our vital energy. I am one of the lucky ones. I recovered my health completely, jumped on a bicycle and pedaled myself back into shape and mental wellness. From early spring until the first snow, cycling is now my greatest passion and motivating influence.

Even as I write now, fully aware of the fact that twenty years have passed since my eventful move west, there are still many changes calling me forward. During winter my focus shifts to Nordic skating and yes even skiing the bumps and in the woods on my teles. I’ll also gladly become a gym rat as the weather turns nasty and forces me inside. It probably will not surprise you to understand that my career focus these days is personal training and outdoor adventuring. The point to all of this however is one of perspective. I can now admit to feeling lost, confused, or angry at times and choose to learn and be empowered by these emotions rather than be overwhelmed by them as I have been in the past. I believe many of us, myself included, waste valuable time and energy trying to convince ourselves that we are deserving or capable of a desired change. Cancer taught me over sixteen years ago now that I need to play more and give up the images and illusions of success. It continues to be critical that I respect, heal and honor the gift of a healthy body. I share these thoughts and experiences with you in an effort to affirm your own life decisions that will ultimately affect the expression of who you are or what you choose to become. Finding peace again in my life actually made all the difference. I am convinced that joy is the underlying current of our life force energy.

My hope is that you can learn from my mistake of making work a constant first priority and choose more wisely when confronted by your own dreams and demons. Making joy, play and fun a major focus in your life will certainly inspire a healthier experience than the increasingly common distractions of information technology and the greedy aspirations of consumer culture. I feel fortunate to have been given a second chance to understand and reaffirm the importance of maintaining basic health and wellness. For me, joy is the most accurate measure of true success. The choice is ultimately up to you. Peace.

Here are five tips to help you get the most out of a winter’s day adventure.

1. Eat a great breakfast. A healthy breakfast is a prerequisite to an active day outdoors. The body needs essential proteins and plenty of carbohydrates to fuel both aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. A little caffeine in the form of a cup of tea or coffee will provide a nice ergogenic boost that actually helps energize prolonged endurance activities. My favorite breakfast is a slice of roasted vegetable quiche, a large serving of home fried potatoes, toast with jam, black coffee and a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice.

2. Drink plenty of water. Adequate fluid intake is absolutely critical to maintaining optimal thermoregulation of the body. The average fluid requirement for adults is 1.9-2.6 liters per day. Vigorous exercise significantly increases your body’s need for water even in colder temperatures. A good policy is to drink before, during and after exercising. It is recommended you drink .5 liters of water for every pound lost through sweat. I pack two full Nalgene water bottles when leaving in the morning for a day of snow shoeing or skiing. Sport drinks are also excellent at providing the additional carbohydrates necessary for prolonged endurance activities such as cross country skiing.

3. Pack a quality lunch. Cold weather activity will definitely increase your energy requirements. As temperatures drop carbohydrate becomes the preferred fuel for working muscle. My typical lunch usually includes a turkey or roast beef sandwich between thick slices of whole wheat or multigrain bread, some mixed nuts, an orange and sometimes a large cookie or energy bar to be eaten later as a snack.

4. Protect yourself from winter weather. Staying warm, dry and comfortable while adventuring outdoors will help make your experience a pleasant one. Dress in layers and invest in quality outdoor gear and clothing. A good hat and the appropriate gloves are essential. Additionally, undergarments that wick moisture away from the surface of the skin are ideal. Outerwear made with micro fibers that allow perspiration out but prevent moisture from entering in will provide a nice shield against the winter elements. Protect your eyes with sport glasses that reduce glare and block harmful UV rays and when it is storming definitely wear goggles. Obviously, using sunscreen to protect your face is wise when is it is sunny. I also use moisturizing lip balm constantly during the winter and even face balm when it is really cold. Finally, fully equipped with all the proper clothing and gear I still bring a change of dry clothes or at least a pair of dry socks for the ride home.

5. Choose kindred spirits to join you. Nothing inspires a wonderful day outdoors as much as the company of great friends. It is also important to remember that each one of us should be fully responsible for our own safety as well as be aware of the needs of others in the group. Be smart, have fun and return happily back home.