Denouement: The End of the Ski Season

For fourteen days now, the ski season has been over. For lift users. A category that I am unfortunately a part of. Many of the folks around Rossland are still spending their days shredding pow, after using their legs as chief transportation up the mountain. It sounds like an economic way to ski, which it is, providing you've shelled out the money to get yourself all the necessary touring gear.

Most of the seasonal ski bums have left town and tourism has disappeared. My barely-sustainable jobs have slowed down to a level that is basically unemployment, freeing up my days to do all the nothing I want with all the money I don't have. April is fast approaching a level of bored-restlessness rivaled only by the November pre-season.

Pre-Season vs. Last Day

My weekly schedule is depressingly familiar. Every day is spent scouring the internet for jobs, while pining over the lack of seasonal change. Daily amusements are sinking to a new low. Why, just yesterday I spent dozens of minutes watching the back of the thrift store to see what people were dropping off and/or picking up off the back porch. I'm not ashamed to suggest I may have enhanced my new-found amusement with a pair of binoculars. The store is overflowing with stuff abandoned by those who have left town, and kettles and toasters are in plentiful supply, likely awaiting the next round of seasonal inhabitants. More and more I feel like the thrift store is really a lending library of various goods; several items from our household have made their way back there already.

Usually the saving grace of this time of year is knowing that summer is finally approaching. Rossland's elevation is keeping all signs of spring at bay, from our front lawn still covered in blanket of white, to the snowfall we've been getting on a daily basis. Every time I wish for it to stop snowing, I feel like I'm cheating on winter.

Here are some things I learned from my first ski season:

1. Nothing empties a house faster than a race for first chair on a powder day
2. Blue skies are lovely, but if it's sunny, it isnt snowing and that can be a problem
3. Storm warnings are celebrated, not feared
4. You can make it through an entire Canadian winter without plugging in your car even once, or dealing with this (what I thought was the alternative to -30)
5. Fresh tracks sound awesome (swoosh!)
6. Whatever you need, you can probably get it at the thrift store
7. There is a certain zen to riding the chairlift (watch this)

So what's happening next? I've decided to stay in Rossland for the moment, and make a go of the good life. Stay tuned for updates!