Unexpected Surprises

 You don’t always head out the door expecting greatness.  Sometimes you’re not that inspired, your motivation level is low and you just can’t seem to get stoked.  A long night of drinking, lots of crowds, gray-skull and no new snow, maybe you’re tired and just want to chill.  But some one or some thing gets you out there, gets you going, and you find a spark.  The rhythm of the skin track lets your mind wander, a hole in the clouds burns through and a sunlit ridgeline beckons.  You make it to a summit, the snow is softer then you thought, you’re with a friend you love, and you can’t think of anything better in the world.

It’s times like these that we seldom recall and hardly count on, but these are the moments that shape our lives, the times that remind us why we live in the mountains.  When we start out with no expectations, little interest, and the mountains punch us in the chest with a great big dose of perspective, dropping us to our knees and leaving us gasping for more.  

The stark contrasts of snow, ice, and rock, summit and air, sunlight and shadows, have a knack for reminding us of this perspective, one that’s all to easy to lose sight of amidst the chaos and insanity that is our modern world.  Indeed that’s why most of us structure our lives around the easy and often access to the mountains, they keep us grounded in a way that most of us just couldn't function without.  Lot’s of us know that if more folks got out there, and saw the things we see, our world might be a much less fucked up place, but we continue to keep our mouths shut about it if it means we can keep the wilderness to ourselves, and some sanity in our lives.  The mountains always have a surprise, sometimes it’s a smackdown, sometime’s it’s scary, but often it’s the most beautiful and rewarding experience you’ll have in your lifetime.  Sometime’s you even remember to throw in a camera, and you get to share it with your friends.

~Burleigh