Getting Ready for Ski Season: Part Two

I grumbled as I pushed past cartons stacked as high as the ceiling to access the last of the plastic containers filled with my winter clothes.  Now what the heck am I still doing with all this?  I thought.  I eyed one box in particular marked “silver punch bowl, serving trays and flower holders.”  These grand accoutrements—along with my super fine porcelain demi-tasse cups and flouncy dining room chair covers—bore little resemblance to my current life.  I should sell these and the odd pieces of furniture that are also blocking my path on eBay.  Especially now that times are so tough.  I eyeballed them alluringly, briefly contemplating opening a box or two to remove a few cherished items such as my silver candlesticks and fancy candy dishes.  What’s the point?  I knew I couldn’t shoehorn another thing into my little apartment.  Instead I just grabbed my skis and boots (alpine and nordic) and snowshoes and closed the door on this storage area filled largely with remnants of my past life.

And in doing so, I entered my second phase of readying myself for ski season.  Thank goodness this changing out of closets and gear only takes place twice a year.  Back home I shuffled my affairs about, grateful that mountain living required me to keep a sizable collection of hats, mittens and winter jackets in my closets year-round since even in June the thermometer can easily dip to freezing on especially clear nights.  I carefully counted out my ski socks, making sure that I had enough to cover me for at least eight days, knowing full well that once the mountain gets busy I wouldn’t want to be forced to do laundry in the evening to assure myself nice clean socks.  (As a rookie ski instructor, I made the mistake of thinking I could get two days out of a pair of socks by draping them in my locker every other night.  That was a mindless mistake that created an unspeakable issue I never imagined I was capable of contracting!)

This Year’s Lineup at Paragon

Next stop to the ski shop.  Paragon on main street is my favorite.  I have bought all of my gear from them and they have been super efficient about keeping my skis in good shape.  I dropped them off for a tune and knew that they’d grind them on their state-of-the-art tuner and then wax them so that my skis would be prepped to glide and perform at their optimal level.  “Ski tuning is not just for racers,” Peter, the store manager tells me.  “You have to take care of them, get rid of the scratches, gouges and oxidation so they can better accept the wax and provide you with a superior ski experience.  We’ll make sure your edges are sharpened, too, my sweet Bessie.”  (Peter and I have quite the history together, but now is not the time to stray from my storyline.)

Paragon’s Tune Shop

I lingered a bit, looking longingly over their newly-arrived collection of Icebreaker wool sweaters, super thin jerseys from New Zealand that are so soft you can wear them directly against your skin.  You’re, in fact, encouraged to do just that since their wicking ability will keep you warm and dry throughout big efforts and great temperature fluctuations.  I pawed at a candy pink-colored model that exuded all the freshness of rosy cheeks just in from the cold.

Near-Edible Confections from Icebreaker

Out on the street, activity had hit a fever pitch.  Deliveries were being made seemingly to all the ski shops in town.  Vans and trucks occupied the center section of Colorado Avenue, a street built wide enough so that oxen and a cart could do a U turn with ease.  A load of premium skis bearing the names of K2, Nordica, Salomon, Black Diamond and Volkl were being hauled into Paragon as I was saying goodbye.  I was glad that my K2 Apaches (actually men’s skis!) still likely had some life in them since I didn’t think I had skied on them for over 200 hours.  And I knew after the tune I would feel like they were brand new, even if they might not have the bounce they once provided.

Richard Thorpe and Brad from Bootdoctors

My boots, however, were a different story.  I trotted them off to Dr. Bob Gleason at Bootdoctors, another terrific Telluride ski and snowboard shop that also specializes in top-of-the-line gear and fashions.  Located in Mountain Village, Bootdoctors is a ski instructor favorite, due partly to its proximity to the base of the mountain and our ski school headquarters.  Not surprisingly, I encountered two top ski instructors as soon as I walked in the door:  Dave Berry was eyeing the sidecuts on the skis and Richard Thorpe was trying out his new boots.

“When do you know you need new boots?”  I asked Richard.

“Basically when your feet tell you.  If you’ve skied more than 250 days in them, they’re old boots.”

I sheepishly looked down at mine that I had deposited onto the bench.

“Yep, they’ve come a long way,” said Bob, an expert in the boot-fitting world who first started focusing on helping people feel good in boots in the late seventies.  “Those boots look pretty worn.”

I mentally calculated that I must have had hundreds and hundreds of skier days in my boots in the five years I skied in them.  “Well they still feel pretty good to me,” I responded almost defensively, knowing full well that a new pair of boots would set me back an average paycheck.  “Plus you punched them out last year to accommodate my bunion.”  (Such gnarly disfigurements are pretty common in ski instructor world since we spend an average of eight hours a day in these confining clodhoppers for as many as twenty days in a row.)

Bob Cooking the Boot

“If you have a bunion, it’s probably because your liner is breaking down,” Bob said.

This remark prompted me to sit down and listen intently to the discourse carried out by Richard and Bob about the importance of having a boot that provides a stable, supportive device for your foot.  As a ski instructor, I know very well to what extent you use your feet—even those little pinky toes—to turn.   I know how important it is to have quality boots with custom footbeds that fit snug enough for every micro movement of my foot to pass through my boots to my skis and onto the snow.

“What about the breaking in part?”  I asked, now fully convinced I needed new boots but half attempting to put off such a purchase.

Brad Molding the Cast

“Nowadays we have heat moldable liners to break in the boots.  We sculpt them so that you don’t have to go through the pain and trouble of breaking them in yourself.”

I remembered many fall days growing up when my dad would stand in front of a New York Giants’ football game in our living room, creaking and crunching in his ski boots in preparation for his upcoming ski season.  The ski industry had come a long way since then and there’s no doubt that the technology applied to the gear translates into far better skiing and riding.

I laid in bed that night anticipating the upcoming season with all the excitement of a kid on Christmas Eve.  I could hear the din of the snowmakers out on the hill, the lovely white noise that would lull me to sleep.  Soon I’d be listening to the roar of the snowcats.    The mountain was readying itself for winter fun.

Telluride Booting Up for the Tourists

I mentally ticked off what remained to be done.  It occurred to me that I had to make the hour-and-a-half drive back out to my storage area to recharge it with my cargo of last season’s clothes.  Then I’ll pick up a few boxes of Christmas decorations, I thought.  And maybe even a fancy candy dish, too.

Paragon, 970-728-4525, www.paragontelluride.com

Bootdoctors, 800-592-6883, www.bootdoctors-telluride.com

Note that both Paragon and Bootdoctors offer a wide range of rental equipment and some rental clothing as well.  If you mention Bonjour Telluride to Paragon, you will receive a 10% discount on purchases and rentals.

P.S.  Ski conditioning class ended last Wednesday and I did manage to build up to the two-minute intervals (well, almost).  I had eased up on my complaining, too.