And thus brings an end to, as someone put it, the mother of all road trips. In total, I travelled 7,896.3 miles. That is more than I usually put on a car in a year! The drive back was fairly speedy, but felt very tiring. Maybe it is because driving East feels like stepping back (is it a coincidence that people tend to say “back East?”), versus the feeling of liberation heading to the wide open spaces of the West. Driving into fog, cold sleet, and rain did not help alleviate this feeling.

Miles travelled on this trip: 7,896.3 miles

I thought skiing at Snowbird in the morning would be a good way to jolt me awake for the first leg of the drive back to Cambridge, MA. Overnight and continuing snowfall cemented this decision. At least that was the plan. And as we see from this trip, plans inevitably get thwarted.

The Snowbird aerial tram has the beefiest arm I have ever seen

Conditions were a stark contrast to my warm, bluebird day at Snowbird, but the fresh snow was great.

White-out conditions make for excellent photos

Yet again, outrigger issues cut my day almost the moment it got started. Snow/water kept getting into the spring mechanism that allows me to flip the outrigger blade up and down. I went into the cafeteria to get hot water to temporarily fix the issue, but it came back as soon as I did a run. I was pissed because I had gone through the trouble of getting up very early to get first tram and spent the money on a lift ticket, only to have equipment failure ruin the day.

However, I had learned the previous day that my new job’s start date had been delayed till March 1st. This immediately made me want to use this opportunity to travel to Colorado to ski at the places I had intended to go to on this trip, but had to forgo because of the delays caused by all the mishaps. So it was easier to roll with the situation knowing that I had an opportunity to get more skiing in later in February.

I knew that I wanted/needed to get back to Cambridge by Sunday evening, but I was not entirely sure where I was aiming for this first day. Lincoln and Omaha, NE were certainly too far. I re-entered probably one of my favourite states, Wyoming, driving through and reminiscing fondly about all the times I have spent in this state. Interestingly, I crossed the Continental Divide on two occasions as I drove East on Interstate-80. I had never driven through Nebraska; there was a similar peace to it that I experienced when I was driving West through Saskatchewan. Seeing large drilling and mining equipment, and a wind-turbine blade transported is really cool, too. I made pretty good progress and decided to bed down for the evening in North Platte, NE, which was a fairly sizable town. Most importantly, the town had places to get coffee for the next morning. I’m normally not a big Starbucks fan, but I will be the first to admit that their in-store and packet Pike’s Place coffee has gotten me through many a cold morning and drive on this trip.

Day 1: Solitude Ski resort to North Platte, NE

Like the drive westward, the second day is the toughest driving day by far for me. It was a combination of poor sleep, very boring terrain and scenery, the toll of the first day of driving, and accumulation of all the days of driving on this trip. I had to make numerous stops at gas stations/rest-stops to nap, and buy horrible snacks to eat to keep me away on the drive. I don’t think I can look at Chex-Mix or Muddy Buddies for quite awhile. Though both are very flat states, Nebraska felt wide open and peaceful, while Iowa just felt bleak. Illinois was a fairly brief interlude between Iowa and Ohio. The nice thing about driving on a weekend was avoiding traffic around metropolitan areas, like Chicago.

I became more alert at around 2.30pm and found myself going strong for the Toledo, OH area, which would put me in a good position for the third and last day of driving. It’s funny how the relative density of the East Coast becomes so apparent as you travel farther East.

Day 2: North Platte, NE to Perrysburg, OH (just outside/next to Toledo, OH)

The final push. I woke up very early on this third day feeling very alert. Again, it could be knowing this would be my final day of driving and that it would not be a marathon driving day. It is somewhat amusing that a driving day of under 12 hours now feels on the shorter side! While it was dreary and wet, temperatures were far above freezing, which made for quick travel. Having such closely spaced rest areas across New York and Massachusetts is both weird (like, why the need?) and quite nice, knowing my next bathroom/soft drink/gasoline refuel opportunity is coming up soon.

Day 3: Perrysburg, OH to Cambridge, MA

It was hard not to let anxieties about unpacking and unloading the car, and washing and packing for my next trips (Martinique and Chamonix) creep in. It would have been nice to have trips spaced out a bit more, but I felt the need to jam in as much fun during this time I have of not working.

So would I do this again? I got to ski in some really awesome places with great conditions; I got to experience familiar places in new ways (e.g. Alberta, Idaho, and Wyoming in the winter); I got to see totally new places, like inner British Columbia, America’s Heartland (Nebraska, Iowa), Saskatchewan, North Dakota; drive across the continent and back; experience extended periods of deep cold like I had never done so before and travel/deal with it; learn how my body and equipment responds to extended skiing road trips (the good, the bad, and the ugly); and all this solo. My main complaint was the abysmal skiing/driving ratio. Driving was a great way to see Canada and the US, lug all my shit around, and have the freedom to drive wherever, whenever, depending on conditions and circumstances. But that time spent driving could have been spent skiing or climbing. Granted, I was operating under a very compressed timeline. If I had another month or two on the road, I might consider driving again. But, more likely, I would choose to take two trips and fly (one city in Canada for one trip e.g. Calgary, the other city being Salt Lake City or Denver) rent a car for a month or a few weeks each time, and do a loop. What I certainly will do next time is:

• At the very least, carry plenty of spare outrigger parts. I had some spare parts with me on this trip, but they were the wrong parts; not the ones that kept failing. Now I am much more aware of the parts of the outriggers that are most likely to fail for me. Transporting a second spare pair of outriggers would not be possible with air travel.
• Now I know what the causes are for my lower right leg pain that was bad enough to stop me from skiing for awhile, I can get on a foot, leg, and hip strengthening program months in advance of the start of ski season.
• Perhaps be less ambitious in how many places I wanted to go to. Driving from place to place was very tiring and made things not as relaxing/restful as they could have been. But again, I was operating under a very compressed schedule and eager to “make the most” of my time.

Now it is time for some R&R in Martinique this week, a welcome change to the rain, sleet, and 50 mph winds in Boston last night/today.

Today, I had the opportunity to ski with alpine skiers trying to make the 2018 US Winter Paralympic team at Park City, the site of the 2002 Winter Olympics. It was a very informative experience as I had never even swung myself around race gates before. Today, the team was working on GS (Giant Slalom), so were out in their skinny, long GS skis. I found out the minimum height for GS skis for women, regardless of height and weight, is 183cm. And of course, it gets longer for Super-G and downhill events. This is a disadvantage for the smaller and shorter girls like myself, but why should I stop pursuing sports that I am not genetically pre-dispositioned for? :p

The prestigious and luxurious NAC double-wide trailer that houses lockers and equipment and changing space

Ski resorts can be a dangerous place, I guess

Erik, the Head Alpine coach, had given me information on what to expect today, but I still was not sure what that would entail. The first part of the session from 9am to 11.15am or so was spent warming up and little drills. This was followed by a 15 min or so bathroom break before heading out to the race course. At the race course, Erik and Shannon, a visiting coach from Australia, had us go down one by one while they videoed us and gave us verbal feedback on the course.

Racing down icy black runs is not exactly my idea of fun

I was very conservative because I really did not want to cause further injury to the right leg. The overwhelming feeling I had was, I really like ripping it when I’m just skiing for fun because no one is making me do it. If I were to race, it would feel a lot like a job (which it would be to some degree), and that would make it no fun at all.

Then there is the risk of another injury. The video below shows a sit-skier with the Mexican team who was in the recent Sochi Winter Olympics. It turns out he had a bad crash and sustained an even higher level of spinal cord injury (T10-ish) than his previous one (L-level). He is holding back a lot in the video below because he is hurting, and also basically learning how to ski again with his reduced function. Why would he want to ski again? I guess people ask me the same thing with respect to climbing: Aren’t you worried about getting hurt again? It’s about living and feeling alive; yet, climbing and its risks (which, to me, are much lower) are acceptable to me, whereas hurtling down and icy slope to beat a clock/other people is not.

The day ended with brief video analysis. I was surprised that the video analysis was as quick as it was. But I suppose these guys see each other most every week day.

Another source of hesitancy, besides my personality and motivation, is the financial side of things. Being poor to freeze my ass off in lycra to ski down ice is not terribly appealing. Sure, you could piece together an existence, with grants, scholarships, jobs, and a low cost of living. But any other disposable income or saving for retirement? Forget about it. I am not ruling the possibility of racing entirely out, but I know for a fact I have a lot more fun free-skiing.

Well, this round of skiing is coming to an end. I am hoping to squeeze in a morning ski tomorrow before having to start my drive back to Cambridge, MA tomorrow afternoon. I can’t say I am too excited about three days of sitting on my ass all day long driving. While equipment and physical setbacks made me have to skip out on Colorado and New Mexico this time round, there is a chance I can make a dedicated CO ski trip between when I return from Chamonix and the start of my new job. Of course this depends on a number of factors, including my body. Such a trip would make me very happy as I would get to return to a place I love very much (Telluride) and see friends there.

It was another bluebird day at Jackson Hole, and conditions were very similar to yesterday to continue to test the leg. I was in no rush to get first lift due to the extreme inversion effect here. Today’s temperature difference between the base and top was still 25 to 30 degF but I stayed up high the entire time in the sun and warmth.

Jackson Hole refers to the entire valley you see below.

The steroid seems to have taken fuller effect, and combined with diligent icing yesterday and anti-inflammatories ingested, the leg was feeling closer to its normal, strong self. While I know I should work on not having my mood be so dependent on my physical abilities/state, it felt really really good to be able to open it up and rip it.

It was perhaps not the smartest idea on an injured leg, but I could not resist doing the Alta Chutes, which are considered one of the most challenging in-bounds terrain.

Cliff areas for good measure

It is always nice to receive flattering compliments from other skiers, but today, I was particularly touched by a teenage girl who came up to me on the traverse to get to Alta Chutes. She told me how amazing I was and asked me how I moved so fast and I asked her if she was a ski-racer (her setup looked like it), and she said yes. She said she just wanted to come up and talk to me, and I thanked her very much for her kindness. I was just quite moved that someone would go out of there way to want to talk to me.

I also shared quite a few words with a trio of Swiss guys (I had asked them if they were Swiss because one of them had a “Gryon” (a municipality of the canton Vaud) patch on his pack. And then skied with a Jackson local. I think because I have been on my own so much on this trip, all this human interaction today played a role in bolstering my mood, along with the improvement in the leg.

Next stop, either another morning in Jackson or swinging through Grand Targhee and then back down to Salt Lake City, where I can avenge my terrible time there due to this injury.

Extreme temperature inversion today

Today was the litmus test to see if I could ski or have to cut this trip short. The answer is not entirely clear, as I am not sure whether it was the injury, a crash, or conditions that made me ski for only a short period of time today.

What is unequivocal however, is that today were the coldest temperatures I have ever skied in. The temperature at the base of the mountain was -32 degF (-36 degC) when I started. Quite uncivilized.

-32 degF = -36 degC. You know things are fucked when Fahrenheit and Celsius temps converge

The inversion effect on the mountain was the most extreme I had ever experienced. There was a 30 degF plus difference between mountain top and base.

A sea of clouds above the valley floor

I started off very conservatively, and while things were far from pain-free, I managed to stay in control the first few test runs on the groomers. Bear in mind, I really did not open myself up into full GS mode because that outside edge was still giving me problems. I was certainly not carving properly, and doing the sliding/skid on that side, to my dismay; and groomers when you can’t totally rip it just are not that fun. I crashed going at a decent speed and hurt my leg there, but after a moments rest and unbuckling my boot to give the leg some relief, I decided to test things out more on more interesting terrain. I tried not to feel bad that all the fresh snow was gone, and every thing was very hard from being tracked out and from the cold.

This stuff is usually pretty mellow for me, but my leg made me approach things cautiously and without confidence :(

The lack of new snow made conditions quite challenging for me, because of the impact of the hard snow on the leg.

Tracked out, hard snow. It wasn’t that much fun, but it was nice to be out under the blue sky.

The crash really did me in because I was kept falling any time I needed to hold that outside edge. When I am face climbing (versus crack-climbing) I tend to trend to the right before having to return back to the route if it is to the left, because I am always leading with that right side. Today, I found myself skiing down to the left (inside edge) as much as possible until I would have to stop, sit, and flip the ski around to change direction. It was a bit sad.

Super tracked out under the tram

I will continue to test the leg out on Monday (Martin Luther King Day), but will likely be relegated to easy groomers, which is really not what you go to Jackson Hole for. I have certainly become familiar with the town and the surrounding area, and it was wonderful to come back to a place I love but had never been to in the wintertime. But I’m ready to hit the road soon and move on.