Circles in the Snow

With a deep breath, I blew away the dust and cobwebs that covered the writings of my book to date. It was a moment filled with anxiety and anticipation. Is the book still relevant to me? Much to my surprise a couple of hours passed filled with writing and memories.

Whilst writing about snowboarding, as you do in a book all about the expense of wealth, power, and prestige; I remembered an incident that is as vivid today as it was when it happened in 1995.

I was alone on a ski lift in Arapahoe Basin, somewhere deep in the Rocky Mountains. It was late afternoon and weak winter sun did little to warm the frigid air. As the lift climbed higher, I passed over a relatively wide ski run. A snowboarder caught my eye as he flew down the slope making graceful turns. He suddenly launched himself into a massive turn, and then continued the turn until he had described a complete circle of about 15 metres in diameter. All without lifting or jumping his board! Without a pause, he crossed his own tracks and continued on down the mountain.

I was flabbergasted! It was a nonchalant display of poise, balance, precision, grace, and skill, so unexpected that my eyes could scarce take it in.
For years I have imagined myself doing that same turn on a snow covered mountain. All my attempts ended pathetically, further reinforcing the brilliance of the vision I had seen. After hours of attempts, it is only recently have I managed to do it on my skateboard in the road outside our house. It does not look nearly as impressive on my skateboard!

The thing is, that moment in time spent witnessing this event, has remained firmly entrenched in my memory. The snowboarder responsible did not even know that he had had any effect on me. He was just doing his thing! But him doing his thing, inspired a 14 year attempt to replicate his actions.

There is no doubt in my mind that our own lives and actions can have a profound impact on people around us. The scary part is that most of the time, we will be completely unaware of our impact as we sow seeds of good or bad in all we do. And that impact may resonate for lifetimes to come whether we want them to or not!

Can we describe circles in the snow that will blow somebody’s mind? Every day?