Solstice Serendipity
The greatest gifts of the season are in our backyard
Glowing moonlight replaced the dark as we approached this year’s return of day light. Hiking up to a frozen meadow covered with a layer of feather light snow, Karl and I were dazzled by nature’s Christmas lights, moonlight reflecting off hoar frost. Behind our Douglas Island home two days before the Winter Solstice, the voice of the Pretender’s lead singer Chrissie Hynde rung like bells.
Diamonds in the snow—sparkle
Our hearts were singing
It felt like Christmas time
Christmas time-that elusive feeling of pure wonder and joy, core tenors of childhood. The thing about living in this corner of the world is that we don’t need plastic lights and wrappings to bring those feelings back. They’re on tap right in our backyard, in the eyes of our extended Eaglecrest Ski Area family, from the 18 month old edging her first snowboard track to the elder in his 90’s, more than willing to tell you a story or two about Eaglecrest’s first days.
Each ski season is like a family reunion, air high fiving each other in the parking lot as we stroll to or from the hill or toasting another glorious powder day, sweet hot toddies warming our hands in the bar tent at the base.
Of course there is also the distinct chance of running into your immediate family. The serendipity of meeting up with one of our kids on the hill never gets old. On a recent spontaneous appearance, we hiked the ridge. It was the day of the Cold Full Moon, when the sun and the moon seemed in competition for which orb could be more magical. Our daughter took this photo of us in the crisp and fleeting winter light.
On the way down we hit some of our favorite go-to spots for untracked snow. I just love watching her beautiful turns on a beautiful day. On my ride up with another daughter of another decades-in Eaglecrest family, she told me that she too ran into her dad unexpectedly that day. They spent the morning enjoying each other’s company and skiing together. We agreed that the “no plan, plan” was best for some families.
Skiing with my dad as a kid was always planned, as the ski area was a four hour drive from our house.
Alpine Meadows Ski Area, California, Circa 1975
I am at the bottom of a run waiting for my Dad. Me and my brothers got ahead of him when pulled over on the side of the run to catch his breath. Maybe he’s adjusting to the abrupt shift from sea level to elevation 8000 feet. Or maybe he’s just getting old. This start-stop thing seems to be his MO these days. But he’s fast, channeling his post college days as a club ski racer in Colorado. There’s a souvenir of that time on a book shelf in the living room, a gold trophy with a skier on top. Soon Dad is barreling towards us, making smooth rhythmic turns, then his signature hockey stop, where he slams his skis together parallel and kicks up enough snow to create an impressive spray, just missing our faces.
Eaglecrest Ski Area, Alaska, 2021
Riding the chairlift you’ll see posses of kids flying down the slopes one after the other, figuring it out as they go, just as we witnessed our own kids as they grew up on this mountain. For a kid there’s gotta be few things more freeing than launching your body off a snow covered rock, followed by a gang of feral buddies. Twenty-five years later, with jobs, houses and partners, our “kids'' are still playing the equivalent of tag on the ski hill with the same neighborhood gang.
“You get up in the morning and all you can think about is going and playing with your friends in the snow,” says our son. “When you’re doing it. It feels like there is nothing better in the world.”
As I finish this missive on my laptop. the solstice arrives in yet another snowstorm, and the forecast for tomorrow is sunshine with temperatures in the 20’s. This holiday season (so far anyway) seems like universal reimbursement for the crazy challenges and ramifications of Covid. We’ve pinched ourselves in disbelief so many times lately we’re getting black and blue spots.
No wonder I’ve been channeling my inner Sig Olson lately, swishing down a couple of his favorite runs, the East Bowl and the sides of Trickster. In his last years he skied every day the lifts were spinning. And at the end the day he had the biggest grin of of anyone in the lodge. A 10th Mountain division veteran, ski patroller, poet and all around nice guy, Sig took the chairlift to heaven on the 2008 Winter Solstice.
This time of year, when we celebrate the start of the return of the light and the love of family and friends, I feel overwhelmed with gratitude for our community snow sliding center and its world class terrain. Thank you to the people who make it all happen-the lift operators, patrol, instructors, food service folks, cleaner uppers, groomers, mechanics, management and everyone I’ve missed.
Whether you’re walking, sledding, skating, skiing or riding this winter, the greatest gifts are shared experiences of pure wonder and joy in this place of ice and snow.
Merry Solsticemas!