Skiing Windham High Peak (winter 13/33)

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Windham High Peak (winter 13/33) I got to work remotely today and tomorrow I have off for Lunar New Year, so I’m taking this chance to check off some peaks.



After work, I drove to Windham High Peak. I drank a #torquewrench #IPA, which is DELICIOUS and headed up on a sunset tour.



The coverage is decent for the Catskills but, once again, jagged rocks lurk right beneath the surface. Fortunately, @dpsskis have the sturdiest bases I have ever known and my skins add an extra barrier of protection.



For an English teacher, I’m not someone who really works at memorizing famous lines. But for some reason, whenever I’m skinning, a quote relevant to my personal life will pop into my head and I’ll meditate on it.



One of the most famous misquoted / misinterpreted poets has to be Robert Frost. Because of him, many people think you’re supposed to follow the road less traveled exclusively, but that’s not what I think he is saying in “The Road Not Taken.”



The narrator in the poem stumbles upon a metaphorical decision point as he approaches a fork in the road, and both paths look “just as fair.” He takes one path and laments that he could not take both, but that is the nature of life. You have to make this metaphorical decision many times. Sometimes, the more traveled path is the best choice for you, and at other points you have to branch off on a less traveled path. Well, as always, backcountry skiing reinforces this life lesson.



Sometimes the skin track, trench, or more commonly traveled path in life is the way at that moment. At other times, it might be getting out of the trench / skin track / common path in life. When your life experience and erudition work in unison, you understand when to get onto the path well traveled and when to leave it in order to reach your goal in the most optimal manner. That is wisdom. And, I have to say that the more I backcountry ski, the more I realize when to go my own way and when to use the path others have traveled before.



I took some time at the summit to thank my administration for supporting my skiing and to try and entice my AP Literature students to do their assigned reading. It was the perfect day.

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