The Setup: In my typical overly-analytical fashion, I've spent far too much time out here either feeling a compulsion to ski when not in the mood, or feeling guilty about not skiing when I don't get out on the hill. (something that has occurred more frequently than I care to admit) Now, I of course realize that absolute idiocy of creating an internal pressure to ski, which is, after all, a leisure activity that is supposed to be fun. Then again, I am often an idiot, and could probably create a pressured situation out of watching a sunrise. It 's something I've been working on, so for my last few weeks here I've been trying to do what I FEEL like doing, not what I feel some asinine internal pressure to do. There's you backdrop.

The Day: After a pretty hard ski day yesterday I decided to just take an easy day, do a few runs, and then take care of a bunch of other stuff I needed to get done. The 50 degree cloudless day had other plans. I decided to screw the errands, and my knees, and tackle Grouse Mountain for the first time since I was about 10. (Grouse is where the majority of the expert terrain is located) In two weeks, I'm planning to attempt the "Talons Challenge" which consists of skiing the 13 most challenging runs on the hill in one day. Today, I rather impulsively skiied 8 of them, including 5 I had never skied before, and two double blacks. Not only that, (shameless plug) I actually sucked far less than I thought I would, and had a blast doing it. Never mind the fact that my legs are all Jell-o (it's alive!) and I have a full day ski lesson tomorrow. Now THAT should be interesting.

Well, I need to go find the bones that normally keep my legs from getting all squishy like. Goodnight, and good luck.