“It was the best of times. It was the BLURST of times?!”
– C. Montgomery Burns
I’ve never been great at writing reflection articles. I’ll preface this attempt at a “year in review” by saying it’s not going to be the novel-length caption on social media crying out about the challenges faced this year, all the adversity overcome, giving 2023 the middle finger, bring on the new year of opportunity, and all the other navel-gazing hogwash that will likely permeate your Meta feeds over the next week or so.
Instead, I’m going to focus on some of the lessons I’ve learned.
Mountain lifestyle is more than action sports
This one has been getting more real the last few years, but it really does take the mandatory timeout of an incapacitating injury to fully realize. Since I moved here, skiing was life. A few short years after, biking became life when skiing wasn’t life. Every winter became about how many days I logged on the mountain, how much pow I skied, how many big days of backcountry I got in.
Summers were about reaching peak fitness, fitting in multiple riding road trips, and finding the most recently-built trails via our local need-to-know network. As I’ve written in this space before, that all starts to change after the first 10 years or so. My career became more of a priority. The relationship with my partner became more of a priority.
While the skiing and biking never stopped, the focus began to shift. Acquaintances who never grew out of the insular Whistler lifestyle began to fade away. The ones who grew up became cemented as lifelong friends and real members of our community. Maintaining these friendships has itself become a priority over getting in laps or logging vert. Of course, if you can combine the two, all the better.
Sweat equity is therapeutic
We’re all familiar with the satisfaction that comes with putting a big day into the mountain activities. The beer and burger at the end feels that much more deserved. This feeling isn’t exclusive to mountain recreation. It can come from any type of DIY project, whether it’s constructing a backcountry shelter, renovating parts of your home, or building trails in the woods.
For me, it was collecting my own firewood. The money saved heating your home with wood you collected is one advantage, but another is the time you spend outside in the forest searching for the motherlode. Cruising on FSRs with rounds you just chainsawed, splitting and stacking for a winter’s worth of warmth, then kicking back on the deck with a cold IPA that I brewed in my own garage? It’s not an epic pow day, but it’s something I got a surprising amount of satisfaction from in 2023.
It’s OK to not always be OK
It’s a tough time of year for a lot of folks. Missing family back home, societal expectations weighing down on you, even feeling like you’re constantly letting down the ones you love. I’ve had more conversations about mental health with friends this year than I ever have, and I consider that a win. Seeking help should not wait until we’re in the fight-or-flight crisis mode.
Consider your mental health as a vehicle in need of periodic maintenance, even if it appears there’s nothing wrong at the time. Time in the mountains with your mates can be therapeutic in itself, but don’t use it as your only source of assistance when things get really hard. There are some great clinical counsellors in town, and the Whistler Community Services Society has outreach workers available if you need to talk.
Whatever the conditions, skiing is better than not skiing
I went for my first laps of the season the other day. It was the fastest I’d travelled outside of a car in more than nine months. Conditions were poor. Terrain was limited. Coverage was thin. But damn it felt good to be skiing again.
I wish the snow would show up and give us that spiritual winter lift we all need for the holidays. But let’s remember, there’s more going on in our brains than the number of centimetres that fell in the last 48 hours (it can be hard to imagine sometimes, I know). Take a breath, remember why you moved to Whistler, and make it the best bad start to a season you can.
Vince Shuley is maintaining a positive attitude to the 2023-24 season. For questions, comments or suggestions for The Outsider, email [email protected] or Instagram @whis_vince.
