keep on keepin' on

  I work as a hut keeper, and just returned from a two week stint. One of those two weeks I was lucky enough to share the cabin with a group of individuals from another generation. The majority have been walking this earth twice as long as I, and provided some insight on how to keep on keepin’ on.

"This is an old man skin track, not very steep and no kick turns."

  On the slopes they farmed whole mountain sides with the kind of efficiency one might expect to find in German engineering. Though some were happy to take an afternoon nap, other skied until it was dark.

  The group did it right; ski while the sun is up, then feasts and games. They even had a disco themed night, completed by a disco ball. While some sported leather pants and ruffled blouses, the self-proclaimed curmudgeons filled the peanut gallery with remarks like “I thought I’d reached a point in my life when I’d never have to hear this song again.”

What better way to relax after a long ski day than watch the sunset in a wood fired hot tub?

  Many of these folks are richer in turns than money and they seem happier for it. While there may have been more grey hairs than not, these folks remain young at heart.

  The eldest, having traveled around the sun 71 times, has been skiing for 51 of those rotations. He started on the little slopes in Ontario before planning trips to Tremblant and eventually finding his way out west. “It became a lifestyle,” he said, “It keeps friends close, and it keeps you alive. I’ll talk to old class mates and they’re old people now; or dead, knocked off by a heart attack.”

  Another individual proclaimed that “It keeps me working honestly. If it wasn’t for skiing, I’d be under a thatch roof on a beach somewhere, living off $100 a month.”

  A parting piece of advice for your next hut trip? “Treat yourself to a new pair of ski socks… It’s well worth it.”