Too many sacrifices are being made. Not enough sacrifices are being made. The wrong sacrifices are being made. Life is full of sacrifices. Sometimes we get it right and sometimes we get it wrong. What should we or should we not do without to ensure maximum time on snow? When do we or do we not sacrifice time on snow for the right or wrong reasons?
When I moved from the northern suburbs of Boston to Northern New England, I sacrificed significantly for skiing. I sacrificed time with friends and family. I sacrificed culture and nightlife and something to do at night. It was worth it. Big time. But I still feel the continued pain involved regarding those sacrifices. Everyday I must reconcile my lifestyle with the sacrifices entailed. That is sacrificing for a mountain lifestyle. For myself, it is a worthwhile sacrifice.
Sometimes I do not sacrifice enough for skiing. When the conditions are less than favorable, I do not sacrifice sleeping in or enjoying a restful day of doing nothing. I need to sacrifice quiet time more often for play time. I need to reignite the spark that holds that a weekend is not complete without turns. And that sometimes requires sacrificing creature comforts when conditions are less than favorable.
Worst of all, sometimes skiing itself gets sacrificed. Sometimes it gets sacrificed for important reasons. But it often gets sacrificed for the wrong reasons such as work or a professional career. Or the wrong reasons for a given individual. For many people, sacrificing skiing for a professional career is what is best for them.
In the past, I have been a victim of my workaholic nature. A victim to my drive towards perfection and doing a job better than most others could do it. I need to sacrifice skiing less for work. One of my life’s mottos is “No Regrets”. Life is too short to sacrifice your most important passion during your prime. Or any time for that matter, but especially during your prime. A high profile career is not a life requirement of mine. A job not nearly done perfect but still above average is acceptable if I can get more snow time. Work need not be perfect and my time on snow is limited and should not be sacrificed unnecessarily.
Too much can be sacrificed for skiing. I need to spend more time with my friends and family. Even in the winter. My desire to “have it all” must include having time for the people in my life.
What are you sacrificing too much or too little of for skiing? What do you sacrifice skiing for and is it the right about of sacrifice or something you want to change? What are you going to do differently this season to get in more turns?
5 thoughts on “Sacrifice”
Great Post. Nice to know that I’m not the only one thinking about things like this. I always thought that it was a matter of degree. I’m not going to live in Miami, but I’m not going to uproot my entire life and take that Dishwashing job in Jackson Hole either. It’s just a matter of finding out where in the middle of that spectrum I am most comfortable.
To answer your questions, I have sacrificed a pretty good amount for skiing. I turned down an opportunity to attend Grad School at Duke 6 years ago for a bunch of reasons (skiing being one). I changed jobs 4 years ago to a job that offered less pay, but more vacation time and a more flexible schedule on powder days. I rarely take vacations in the summer so that I can save my vacation days for ski trips. I’m always late for family dinners on Christmas because I always ski Christmas Day. I never see my non-skiing friends over the winter (even the ones that live really close). This season, I’m cutting my instructing obligations down to the bare minimum for more freeskiing time, and my wife took a new job that might allow for very cheap ski vacations.
It’s all a balance, and every year I reevaluate to see if it’s the right fit for me.
Thanks for the response, Matt! Good call on this being an item that should be revisited every year. I also take most of my vacation in the winter and work straight through the summer. Rarely see friends and family in the winter but I think that was sacrificing too much and something I need to change. Everyone has a different balance and it does change year to year.
Flexible schedule for powder days is very important. This is actually something that may prevent me from moving up the chain of command in my current company. I am in a comfortable place right now where excepting 5-6 weeks during the winter that are critical, I can generally take vacation days at will. I don’t know if I would want to give up that freedom for more pay and a step up the ladder. Something I keep thinking about but I just can’t see myself going for it at this point. I love my powder days.
As I go through life changes, my priorities surrounding skiing change. The passion remains, but it still must be put into the context of your entire being here on earth. As badly as I wanted to ski, I had to bag an entire season due to a serious illness and death in my family. I so wanted to get out and escape it all, to release some of that stress on the slopes, but it was not in the cards.
The first rule of life is “no regrets” regardless of the piece of your life involved.
When I was younger, it was, “oh well, I still have a lot of years of skiing ahead of me” Now at “middle age” it’s “How many years of skiing do I have left in me?” It’s actually caused me to step up the pace a bit.
Skiing still strikes me as nothing but “playing in the snow.” I’ve not contributed anything to society by this ask, and it will leave no mark on this earth. For me, it’s all about reconnecting with the natural world, in a sport that comes easy and is of high enjoyment value to me.
The odd thing is that in this corner of the world, most people do not value downtime. They find skiing to be an odd activity. It consumes an entire day. Why not a couple hours golfing at the course down the street? Isn’t that enough? Why would you want to drive 2-3 hours each way for 6 hours of exercise. Can’t they see it’s more than exercise? I have the same problem with hiking.
Life is too short. Really too short.
Bill- I agree that the better view on skiing is “how many years of skiing do I have left in me.” I have had that perspective for a while now but especially since recently entering my 30s. It is easy to coast during my prime but I know that will end far too fast. And who knows how long my body will be able to keep up. My father passing away last year also put that into issue into more clear focus. He didn’t even make it to 60. You just never know. I have always tried to live with that in mind.
I take one week in Sept. Every bit of the rest is for skiing. Even the September week is for firewood and winter prep. A Gore buddy of mine just PM’d me. He figured he had 1200 days of skiing left in his life. Whatever the number … it’s not enough.
When I have the answer to this conundrum I’ll check back in. ;0