Replying to John Denver and Skiing

If anyone else out there has a true appreciation for music, and a good taste in it, then they thoroughly enjoy the timeless tracks of John Denver.

I'll take this memory to the grave with me...
My grandparents had a rinky dink little condo in Steamboat, and I'll never forget the mornings where I'd wake up to my dad playing rocky mountain high, looking up to the top of Storm Peak, and thinking about the adventures the day would bring. There was just something magical about how closely his songs portrayed the alpine lifestyle that we call skiing. That was a sort of tradition from my first ski trip out west, to the last trip we made to the Boat.

That was 10 plus years ago, and now moving onto college I cannot think of myself anywhere else but in the mountains.

I feel like skiing has sort of lost its way with property debates (VAIL's monopoly), materialism of the sport, and the aspiring "sponser me, im 12" videos. But my rant aside, I feel that the true core of the sport comes from the joy we all experience on snow, in the mountains, and within the elements. Whether I'm on my pvc rails in the front yard of my Illinois home, dropping cliffs at snowbird, or taking in slushy mushy park laps at PCMR, the rush and thrill of skiing is present. And I feel like few 17 year old guys can put that into words. Skiing has so much more to it than the newest technology and gear. I just love to ski.

The culture that surrounds true skiers it what I love most. It's the hard working, beer drinking community present in each and every ski town. I saw this most in Steamboat. I could ride up with an instructor from Argentina, or your typical fry cook bum from the valley, and the all had the same passion and stoke for the sport, the community, and the environment.

All in all i feel it's john denver's music that can convey all of this in song. And being an appreciative musician myself, and an avid skier, I feel as though this summer the ski community should take to time reflect and see what it is they truly ski for. For me, its for the love of the rush that is skiing.