Editor’s Note: SNOW Guide
It’s uphill from here on out
By Hilary Meyerson
For more than 20 years, I only went downhill. On skis, that is. I was a die-hard alpine skier, happily loading on to lifts to take me to the pinnacle of mountains where I would race to the bottom. Then one winter weekend, some friends cajoled me into strapping on some Nordic skis for a weekend at the Sleeping Lady Lodge in Leavenworth, Wash.
It was a ladies’ weekend, so I went along with it, humoring my friends, and assuming I’d do a short ski and then head inside. After a few false starts, I hit my groove, and found a new rhythm and a new exhilaration. The soft pffft of my skis, the sound of Icicle Creek in the background, and the smooth motion gave me a new way to appreciate winter in the Northwest.
I was out for hours, and my friends had to drag me inside.
Most of the country thinks of us as a soggy region in the corner of the map that rarely sees sunshine. They picture us slogging along in the driving rain, year-round. We haven’t done much to discourage this image and it keeps lots of folks flocking to Colorado or California—where they are welcome to those crowds.
Here, we know that all that precipitation is pure white fun in our many mountains, and there are endless ways to play in it.
I’ve always loved my downhill skiing community, seeing my neighbors and friends at Crystal Mountain on Saturday mornings. We’ve all shared that early morning drive and will meet up on chairlifts and in lodges instead of at the grocery store, or the office. The best part of my job is expanding that community.
We’ve had a great time putting together the 12th annual edition of the Northwest SnowSports guide. From skiing to snowshoeing to rolling through the snow on a fat bike or skitching behind a horse at a winter carnival, there are myriad possibilities for fun in the snow in the Pacific Northwest.
While I have some mixed feelings about telling the rest of the country about our winter wonderland, it’s too much fun to keep it under wraps any longer. For myself, I am anxious for that first big snow. I’m even looking into some skins for some backcountry trips.
This just may be the winter I head uphill on skis for the first time.
~Hilary Meyerson
If you like this post, you might also enjoy:
Features Home Recent Articles Snowsports The OutdoorsNW Blog
