Maybe it’s Aspen blasphemy but I don’t care
My winter is over.
I never cashed in the voucher for my one-day-a-week ski pass, so Tuesday I handed it back up the chain of command for a full refund.
At this point, it wasn’t going to make economic sense to cash the thing in anyway, a fact that was reinforced later in the day when the ski company announced it was issuing two more 50 percent off lift ticket coupons for full-pass holders (which encompasses most people I know).
Don’t get me wrong, I like snowboarding. I bought a new snowboard — the nicest and most expensive ride I’ve ever purchased — at the beginning of the season and was ready to get out there and play in the powder this year.
Then came the winter of 2017-18, one of the worst on record so far. Everyone I know who’s hit our meagerly covered slopes this year has advised me to keep the new board in the corner of my apartment this season or risk ruining it. I could have taken out my rock board, of course, but if blue corduroy is my only option, then forget it.
That’s right, I haven’t snowboarded even one day this year.
I know this is blasphemy to many of you, but I don’t care. I didn’t move to Aspen to snowboard. It is not the end-all, be-all of my life.
Not that such an ambition is a bad thing, it’s just not my thing. It used to be, but somehow it’s not anymore.
Mainly, I think, it has to do with the cold. I was born in the desert, so when many of you (especially those who grew up here) are melting when it’s 80 degrees in June, I’m in heaven. Frankly, I hate the cold more and more, which was driven home during a recent vacation to the tropics.
So why do I live here?
First, I wasn’t fully aware of this growing anti-cold bent when I moved here. Second, I needed a job and The Aspen Times is a nice place to work. And third, Aspen is a pretty great place to live even if you don’t aspire to attain the 100-day medallion.
Summer here in the Rocky Mountains is blissful, though brief. Fall is a close second. And usually winters are a lot sunnier than this one, which has more closely resembled a gray Midwestern winter than the bright Aspen version.
So my winter is over. Hurry up and bring on the summer.
Oh yeah, by the way, can I get one of your 50 percent off coupons?
