“You can never conquer the mountain. You can only conquer yourself.” - James Whitaker
Today is Tuesday March 9th 2010. I picked this quote because I was perplexed by it. Here I was thinking I was close to conquering a mountain:
Even with this video evidence, I am kidding. I actually respect the message in this quote...at least how I interpret it. I have told friends and even people I do not know well out here 'Only you can make yourself better at skiing. The mountain cannot'. I've probably been to 20 ski resorts in my life. I learned to ski (and slide down headwalls on my butt) at Sugarloaf USA in Maine, spent ample time at Sunday River in Maine, learned to snowboard at Stowe in Vermont and took my snowboarding to the next level when I went to Whistler-Blackcomb in British Columbia, Canada. Telluride's impact on me cannot be compared and I will explain that momentarily. At each of those mountains the terrain and conditions are different, but one thing is always the same. Your willingness to push yourself to improve. They say that if you learned skiing in the Northeast, then you can do more than fine in the West (Colorado, Utah, California, etc.). They say this because in general you get icy conditions in the Northeast. If you can ski or snowboard on ice then you've taken on the most challenging of terrains. I believe that is true in part, but that skiing in a foot of powder, as many do in the West, is equally as challenging. On any terrain, if you do push yourself, then you will improve. I am not saying how to go about pushing yourself, but for me it is speed and quick turns that make me improve. Case in point; Telluride has done wonders for me and my snowboarding skill. This place has steep terrain where you can pick up speed. Speed helps me figure out balance quickly. Telluride also has wide trails and narrow chutes. Practicing quick turns on wider trails prepares me to engage quick turns on narrower and steeper chutes. Turns on a snowboard means shifting your weight (forward and back) in order to "ride" the front and back edges of the board in an "S" shape pattern. Quick and more frequent turns help with 1) balancing weight shifts, and 2) slowing down your speed for the narrows.
I think that people who want to conquer the mountain certainly need to conquer themselves first. Not sure what James Whitaker was speaking about, but I'm namely talking about fear. The picture of the day is not of me, but of a snowboarder who looks like he is conquering something. To say "You can never conquer the mountain" is interesting. I don't like the word never....it leaves no room for possibility and adventure. Maybe I will never conquer the mountain, but Telluride has made me come closer to conquering myself. This whole trip has really.
By the way I've started to put the band name and song name directly into the video. You should notice it at the end of today's video. I hope this note finds everyone well and good night from Telluride.
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