“Standing in the Light” by Sharman Apt Russell is a mediocre, book-length personal essay. The book is a history of pantheism told through a personal lens.
Using the braided structure popularized by creative nonfiction and personal essayists, Russell weaves back and forth between the story of her own life as a naturalistic, pantheist Quaker, and the story of pantheism and its key thinkers through the ages.
2015 has been a bad year to live in a Colorado ski town, so far.
The last flurry of big snows came before Christmas. We were blessed with one powder day two weeks ago, but only six inches.
After a week of high temperatures, conditions on Vail Mountain are the worst they have been all season. Warm days plus cold nights equals icy snow and tough work for the snowmakers.
Although everything on Vail Mountain is technically open, it is not all covered by snow. There are plenty of exposed rocks, bushes, and treetops sticking through the base.
We’re praying for snow.
Our focus this weekend is on speed flying. Speed flying is a combination of skiing and paragliding, a combination which results in what is without a doubt some of the most stomach-clenching POV footage ever shot. Super cool stuff.
I first saw speed flying at the 2013 Warren Miller film No Turning Back. Unfortunately that particular segment doesn’t seem to be freely available online. If you have never been to one of Warren Miller’s ski films, I recommend the experience. At the time I saw Ticket to Ride, I was not even skiing or snowboarding very much, and it was still exhilarating. The cinematography is top-notch and they give away plenty of skis and gear at the showings. Warren Miller is a cool outfit.
And Warren Miller introduces you to cool stuff such as speed flying. Which brings us back to our ski video Sunday.
Our first video comes from 2006, before the advent of the GoPro. If you look closely, you can see that these guys have duct-taped cameras to their helmets. It is POV footage of the first speed flying descent of the Eiger.
Our second video is a more professional, controlled scene showing a team of speed fliers descending Mont–Blanc. The removed perspective gives you a sense of the beauty of this movement.
Hope you spent your weekend doing something life-affirming. I went to the X-Games. Those guys and gals don’t need the parachute to go flying. Post on it coming soon. Anyways. Have a good week, and
Here’s a fact I bet most ski bums don’t know: Vail Resorts is a publicly traded company. It is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker MTN. You can buy and sell shares in the company using any online stock-trading tool.
Another fact many skiiers may not know: Vail Resorts owns not just Vail Mountain and Beaver Creek in Colorado, but also Breckenridge and Keystone. The company also owns Heavenly, Northstar, and Kirkwood in California, and plans to combine Park City and Canyons in Utah to reclaim the crown of the largest ski resort in the U.S. next year (the record is currently held by Big Sky Resort in Montana).
Vail Resorts also owns much of the real estate and many of the businesses in the town of Vail. I suspect it is a similar situation near their other resorts.
To put those facts in context: Vail Resorts is a large corporation with well-diversified assets. They are positioned as an industry leader in a luxury market.
The stock market is rewarding them.
But the brand standard persists for one simple reason:
Two guys doing shit I can’t even think about without breaking into cold sweats.
Happy Sunday! Stay stoked!
thisisyouth 