Skiing has been my drug like obsession for close to 20 years. I began skiing when I was 10 and recently turned 29. I instantly fell in love. I have spent much of the past 19 years dreaming of being on the mountain, visualizing new tricks or watching the weather praying for snow. Skiing, for me, is a spiritual experience of sorts. I believe the meaning of life and everything that is really important in this world can be discovered on the mountain. I know all this may sound like some hippy bullshit, but these are the sensations and emotions I experience when I strap planks to my feet and slide down a frozen mountain.
The real issue arises in my knees. I skied 100 days a year, jumping everyday, for many years. There was once a time when I could overshoot a big jump with impunity, unfortunately those days are behind me. If I had been asked 10 years ago if I would feel as i do now, I would have said you were crazy. I thought I was indestructible. The past couple of years, my body, particularly my knees, have been trying to tell me that I should stop jumping. I believe I have developed tendonitis in both knees. Recently I have been experiencing extreme pain in my knees after walking a few blocks. It seems to come out of nowhere, one week I'm skiing and feel great, the next week it hurts to crouch down and grab a pan from under the stove. The time has come where I should stop jumping, but this is much easier said than done. I am in no way, shape, or form the skier I once was, but sticking a big slow cork 7 still gets me going and I don't want to let that go. My point being, I love jumping more than I can efficiently articulate and it pains me deeply to admit that it may be a poor choice to continue jumping.
There must be some people here with similar experiences and if so, please feel free to comment.
