Confession from Alta

An Alta Confession!

Father,father it has been 20 years since my last confession and I can not hold this thought within,,I must share it with someone !

I must tell you this experience that I had in Alta, when I was young foolish and a little stupid. I thought I was invincible, powerful and supreme on skis!

That is where I spoke to God and he answered back!

Here is my confession,,,,,,, Father!

I have always wanted to take one year off and just ski. But life throws curves sometimes and it was not to be. But I have never let the" stars" dictate my life so some years later I had a chance to go to Utah for 3 weeks! 3 weeks of just pure powder ski! I was at the peak of my physical conditioning,,if you have evr listened to Bob Seeger's song "like a Rock" you will understand!. I was at the peak (so I thought) of my skiing competence! I was just a little to sure of myself!
Alta taught me humility.

If you ever go to Alta, go up the Sugarloaf lift. Look to your right and you will see the Greeley Bowl area and at the top of this area is a solid vertical red rocky cliff 200 meters high.Then look to the very top, ther is a thin path between two huge cliffs!
I kept looking at this area and saw one or two tracks going into the bowl with virgin snow. I traced/followed from where these tracks came from and finally found the Secret" entrance to this bowl!
I planned my entry and finally took the narrow traverse to this area!

Father, as I said in my introduction to this confession it has been 20 years since I confessed to this act,,however it is like yesterday!

You know how mountains far away seem "ordinary" yet when you get close,,really close you are awed by size ,by power, by sheer depth and beauty of the mountain! Well it happened to me!

To get to this Greeley Bowl, I had to do a downward traverse with a drop of 3 meters from a rock! It did not seem so "difficult" from the Sugarloaf chair 1 km. away! Once you get there,,,,father it was no return time!
It was the gate to heaven or hell! I was not sure which.

I dropped gently down like a feather into the bowl! Total silence greeted me! Alone, with my friend who was following me and now feeling very very small and venerable!

That small bowl was huge. That small pitch was "heart-stopping"! That cliff was reaching to the clouds!

I held me head just a tad lower as I traversed to the middle of the bowl,,I was 12" away from the cliff. My shoulder barely touching the hard red rocks! On my other side was the bowl and now I saw how steep it was! My head was spinning just looking down on where I thought I would ski!

That is where I spoke to God,,,,,,, Father.

You see, I was just next to the cliff,,inches away. Parallel with the cliff, skis just 6" away and I realized that to ski down I had to turn my skis towards the bottom and as I would do that,,,,my ski tails would hit the rocky cliff that was just 6" away!
It was 20 years ago, and we did just have 205 cm. "powder" skis for skiing such bowls. So those tails were long! That first turn would be the key!

I knew that I could not do this first alone. I knew there and then that I was nothing compared to this mountain. I was a miniscule insect,,no a speck of dust to this majestic piece of nature. I needed some divine guidance.

So father,,,,,I spoke to God.

I promised that if he/she ever allowed me to make that first perfect turn,,I would never, ever be so "disrespectful of nature"! I would lead a life of "mature" actions, be a good father and ski with "humbleness" and respect!

After 15 minutes of contemplation, I felt like the man going to the gallows. I sensed within me a calmness , an acceptance of what "will happen, will happen"!

I took that free-fall! Not a turn,,, but a free-fall for you see father,,I had to plunge straight down with my body and while in flight turn the skis downward into the bowl!
It was a flight of "lightness", of grace and beauty!
Here is my confession, father. It was not me who did this flight,,,,,it was another person since it was divine! It was not me who guided the skis,,,it was guided from above!

The rest of the run,,I can take the credit. The turns were perfect and the small bowl seemed to last a lifetime,,but I was in the "groove" so time had no power here! I was into another dimension, another galaxy where snowflakes stop time! My eyes would see "blue" then all white! Blue,,then all white!

Once at bottom, total silence except for my heart that was beating like a drum telling all, "I did it ,,I did it,,,I did it"!

Then I looked back and up. At that moment the clouds opened and a blinding ray of sun came down into the East Greeley bowl!

I then realized,,,no it was not me who did it!
I was along for the ride,,,,,,HE did it!

So to this day,,I have never told anyone about this,,father.
However my wife told me once I got home that I ski "differently". With less arrogance, less "attitude"! With a head lower down!

I replied, "I learned a lot in Alta in the Greeley bowl"

I have asked Dave (the site GOD) to post a picture of this bowl in Alta since I can not do it directly!

For some of you that want more direct or emmediate pictures just send me your emails via PM and I will send you picture via your emails!
Just promise me that you will be seated when you look at the picture! It will take your breath away!

The lucky ones who got the DVDs many of the powder pictures come from this resort!

Look carefully at top,,the the left of the ridge line. There is a coulier or gully in the shadows!
That is the door to heaven!

Pavel, that Couloir is narrow, steep, and straight down, Oh!

I would be priveliged to be able to attempt that bowl, maybe I am not capable now!

If I think about a steep and challenging run, I think about the Palivacinni at Arapahoe basin.



There are a series of these chutes, about seven in all. I skiied along the top, looking down all of these chutes, there was a lady there, we stopped, at the top of one, and we agreed we both wanted to ski alone, and off she went. I went along to the next chute, and set off on what was a very bumpy and challenging run, with several stops to get my breath. It is a high altitude mountain.

At the bottom, I started back along the track towards the base. Passing the bottom of the next chute, I caught sight of the lady in full fall: on that slope if you fell, you kept going. I watched until she came to a stop, could tell she was OK, and quietly slipped away. I met her back at the base, and shook hands, but never mentioned what I had seen. That could have been any one of us.

DaveMac,
You understand.
The respect of the run, the repect of others!
Now what I see is skiers laughting at "friends" who fall,,or worst goating them to "take that higher jump or cliff"!

I am taking a 71 year old man to one of the steepest runs in North America (east of Rockies),,however we have been "practicing" for this run for two years! I refused to take him last year,,,now he is working twice as hard to set quick edge and hold that edge so mountain does not swallow him up!

I promise to send you a picture of him at the bottom. I am sure that smile will be of a 13 year old!
By all means "challenge yourself" but be prepared! You have in England a group, the SAS who can go "miracles" but they prepare and prepare more,,then finally again prepare!
That is also the way to ski such chutes!

Have a great holiday in the Austrian valley,,and please wear that vest with pride! It has done many kilometers in that bowl!
Pavel