I’m in Steamboat Springs, CO for a few days doing some skiing with my family. My wife and I have skiied for years, but this is the first time my kids have been on the slopes. So far, so good: they’re having a blast. My son wanted to go straight to the top of the mountain. I put him (and his sisters) in ski school for a day first so they could learn how to ski right. Ski school worked wonders, and we made it halfway up the mountain today. Tomorrow we may go to the top. At Steamboat, you can go to the top of the mountain, which is 4,000 feet higher than the base, and ski all the way down on blues and greens.
Years ago, I introduced a friend to skiing. He’s one of those guys that never does anything halfway. Before we set out for the slopes, he told me he intended to learn how to ski using the TAGAPLAM method. I asked him what TAGAPLAM meant. He replied “Tuck and go and pump like a mother.” That’s pretty much how he learned, too. He’d go to the top of the mountain, point his skis downhill, and go until he disappeared into an explosion of snow. Then he’d get up, put his skis back on, and have at it again.
I’ve been without Internet access most of the week, but I found a quaint little mom-and-pop bookstore in town with wireless Internet access. I’m sitting inside with a latte right now. If I never show up back home, now you know why.