The Social Sport

Before I tried it, skiing excluded me from people. I did not ski, and the people I wanted close to me did – they were part of a foreign world where I wasn’t welcome.

One year later and I am in that world, closer to more people than ever before. It’s scary, maybe exciting, to wonder where I’d be had I not tried skiing, had I not taken the chance. Who would I know if I had never tried it? Who would I not know? Everyone has these moments – what would life be like if the plane had taken off a day later, the application sent a day sooner?

Warren Miller (www.warrenmillerentertainment.com) once said that you’ll always remember the first person who took you skiing. Not only will I remember JZ as my first ski buddy, but I will always wonder if we would have been friends without skiing. I thought about this over the weekend when I visited JZ in Chicago. After his Super Bowl party, we relaxed in the basement, watching poker and talking about dating. I asked him about guys who didn’t call, who didn’t ski (and wouldn’t try), who always seemed to say the worst thing at the worst time. JZ’s insights were invaluable. As he made analogies between video games and dating (interesting and helpful), I considered how lucky I was to have JZ as a friend. He always says the right thing at the right time. He’s mature and intelligent, a warm host, lots of fun, the good guy. He’s a person who makes me feel included.

I left Chicago knowing that I will always be friends with JZ. As I watched the skyline disappear, I realized how included I felt in my friends’ lives, especially those with whom I skied. I realized that these people wanted to spend time with me. They wanted to share in my excitement for skiing. While skiing is an individual sport, the ski world encompasses much more than what happens on the snow. Skiing is also about traveling, chair lifts, and après ski. Half of my skiing memories include the way the snow felt, the way the night air felt, how different the land looked from the top of the hill. But the other half is filled with the people who were there for those things: JZ, Eyton, Megan, Jessica, Jesse, Jayme, Michelle. I even remember the people I only met once: the father and son on vacation, the high school boy too awkward to talk, a ski bum from Vail, the man who told me to find a church, and the ski patroller talking about war planes in Korea.

As I get ready to ski again tomorrow, I look forward to what I will accomplish next, but more importantly, I look forward to who will be there when I do it.