A stippled depiction of tent life from the outside, on the inside, by Blair Habenicht. ORDERED CHAOS “Chaos is God’s body. Order is the Devil’s chains.”—Skeeter, Rabbit Redux , John Updike In a melding of Huxley and Updike, Blair and I are discussing the apathy of order versus the creativity of chaos—essentially, how society needs disarray to function. It certainly applies to our current balance in camp, and it is certainly the deepest conversation I’ve ever had on a snowboard trip. Blair doesn’t necessarily agree with my social democrat view of the world, tending to side with a more libertarian ideology. But we’re willing to hear each other’s thoughts and we have enough time. Then the sun shows through still-falling snow. We decide to shake off cabin fever with a mellow tour. Moving on the flats is easy, but breaking trail uphill is slow. We walk closer to a chute that Curtis and Austin had ridden early in the trip. After discussing conditions, Blair, the only one of us who even thought to bring snowshoes, leads the wallow, with Danny behind, and me trailing. It is knee deep, waist deep, then chest deep. Our trio tops out on loose rock just below the true peak. I realize I didn’t pack goggles. So much for a mellow tour. Danny lends me his dark sunglasses. Blair drops first and disappears into a plume of white with a toeside turn. Danny goes next, then I call my drop. Face-shot management is an issue in sunglasses, but I reach the bottom fully reset mentally—buzz-ing. One good line can do that sometimes. It feels like we’ve entered the eye of the storm. At dinner, with zero wind, snow accumulates on the bills of our caps faster than we can wipe it off—maybe two inches per hour. Will we walk out soon? For the first time during the trip, rationing becomes part of the conversa-tion. Soon, it’s just Champ and I left in the kitchen. “What makes Alaska so great is the weather, and it’s hard to predict the weather,” he says. “I feel fortunate that such a big group is willing to come out here and give it a shot. Even though we’re battling with some difficult conditions, that’s a major part of it: coming out here and putting yourself in this location and hoping for the best. “Despite the challenges, this trip has been fun. We have some tal-ented athletes in camp, and it’s been fun seeing how mountain savvy they are. But the camaraderie has been the highlight—everybody is having fun, making jokes, and making the best of all conditions. And that’s what spending time in the mountains is all about. I think we’re gonna miss the simplicity once we leave.” Laying down to sleep, snow sings a quick pitter patter on the roof. “That sound is so ominous,” Blair says. “Never have I wanted it to snow less.” THOMPSON PASS 077
The Snowboarder's Journal frequency 17.2: Page 77
