WINTER /SPRING2016
MOUNTAINLIFE
67
Professional ski star,DanaFlahr agrees: “I spend
time in the sensorydeprivation tanks atWestCoast
Float to calmdownmymindwhen I amnot out
in themountains. In the tanks you are forced to go
inside your ownhead and create the flow internally.
Youdon’t have the outside surroundings tohelp get
into that state. I think it is always a part of us.”
Flow is a universal energy, constantlymoving all
aroundus. If this is the case, it’s likely thatDana
ismore tapped in thanmost. Aftermoving to
Whistler theminute he graduated fromhigh
school,Dana has spent the last 16 years living
his dreamof being a professional skier.He’s been
featuredon the cover of
PowderMagazine
three
times and travels theworld filming for the biggest
skimovie companies in the industry. For him,
skiing in the flow is the point of it all.
“Maybe some people think it’s an adrenaline high,
but I really enjoy themix of style and flowon a
longer line. For sure youneed100per cent focus
or there are going tobe problems, butmy favourite
is tobe so focusedonmy run that I get towhere
I am super fluid and skiing throughblind rollers
without having to slowdown, look, or think about
mapping it out inmyhead.When I get to that
place, I like to just gowith it and appreciate an
unprecedented amount of flow.”
Wemaynotneed themountains toget into that flow
state, but theywill alwaysbeable to takeus there.
Mountains inspiregoalswithinus and theypresent
challengeswemust overcome.Mountainshaveno
concept of time and there is certainlyno room for
egosupamongst their sprawling emptiness.The
mountains are just there; the rest isup tous.
MihalyCsikszentmihalyi was certainly familiar
with themountains, but as an intellectual and
universityprofessor, it’s unlikelyhe dedicatedhis
life to them. So for the closingwordon flow and
mountains, let’s pass it over toNejcZaplotnik,
one of the founding fathers of Slovenian climbing
andmountaineering and an incredible author/
philosopher ofmountain life. Inhis book
Pot
(translation:
The Path),
Zaplotnikwrites:
“Alpinism is like art.Youput all your strength, your
entire soul into yourwork.You forget everything.You
only live for thatmetre ahead of you, andwhen you
stand, exhausted, on the top of a snowymountainand
bask in thewarmth of the sun, you feel beautywithin
you that cannot be described.You feel theworld.You
feel the earth, the sun, thewind; everything breathes
with youand intoxicates you.The friendwith you
keeps silent.Only his eyes glowabove his sunken cheeks.
Andwithout asking him, youknow that he has exactly
the same experience.That he is living life itself.”
*
*Note:This portionofNejcZaplotnik’s,
Pot
is taken frompage 317of BernadetteMcDonald’s excellent book
AlpineWarriors.
Checkour review inLocal Picks onPage 106of thismagazine.
My favourite is to be so focused on my run that I
get to where I am super fluid and skiing through
blind rollers without having to slow down, look, or
think about mapping it out in my head. –Dana Flahr
Dana Flahr. NICALEGRE.
