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Patience paying off in Chamonix | Photo : Barclay Idsal/Unofficial Networks | Cover Photo: Georgio

Patience– In today’s social media driven, hourly oriented, and constantly contacted world, patience is running out.

Waking up to find face-shots on Instagram from across the globe, FOMO floods our brains’ frontal lobe. We yell at our roommates “to drink your coffee and hurry the fuck up already.” And while outsiders might say that humility and diligence are the virtues that ski bums most lack, I say patience is what’s causing most of our troubles. I for one have been getting in a lot of trouble lately. The bases of my skis will agree– I could use some old fashioned restraint.

Last season, I walked up to the main lift at Chamonix Mont Blanc’s Les Grand Montets to find the mountain closed due to blistering winds that battered the upper mountain.

Dejected, I drug my boots in the snow and walked back to the bus stop. I cursed the ground, cursed the ski patrol, cursed the lift ops, and cursed myself. Silently thinking, “I should have stayed home and got a jumpstart on work.” Once on the bus, I sat crammed next to a British man in his late 30’s.

Bonjour. Bonjour.

“Tomorrow will be good, can’t be that great up there anyway.” He laughed. It snowed 40cm overnight. Upon exiting the bus in the town of Flegere he smiled, stood up, and spoke again, “tomorrow, there’s always tomorrow.”

From our short encounter I knew the one undeniable trait that happy man possessed– patience.

During my time skiing, it’s always been patience that sowed the seeds of reward. Waiting for a patroller to drop the rope. Patience. Waiting for first tram to spin even though the gondola is running. Patience. Finding time to work so you can play harder, later. Patience.

And the thing about patience– it’s complete and it’s clean. Free of guilt, ego, or dishonesty, patience cleanses whatever we do and leaves behind untracked lines glimmering in the recesses of a snowy day fondly remembered.

It was patience that delivered snow. It was patience that allows me to ski and then work. And it’s patience still that makes life worth living.

Also Read: The Art Of Skiing – First Tracks

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