MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Winter 2021

17 FIELD NOTES I remember it like it was 30 years ago. I recall being on the lift with my buddies, laughing and yelling. It was a Grade 8 ski trip. I can’t visualize who was on the chair, but there was definitely denim. It was mid-week and barely anyone was on the hill. For a group of pre-teens this was the height of fun. Halfway up the chairlift, we spotted the best jump on the hill. The groomer had created a perfect little lip right under the chair. It wasn’t much, but we didn’t need much. Of course, you’ll only know this if you were around 30 years ago, and anyone younger will find this impossible to believe, but in those days you weren’t allowed to jump. In fact, they’d punch your ticket if they caught you. I’ll repeat, you were not allowed to jump. Imagine that. We knew the rules, but finding that jump was like being told not to eat the marshmallows in our hot chocolate. The temptation was too much to resist. So we hit it a couple times, getting a little more confident with each subsequent hit. We were maxing out at about 12 inches of height and four feet of distance, but it felt amazing. And we couldn’t get enough. On my fourth or fifth hit, I landed too far forward and slid to the hardpack. I felt my ski pop off.With the ski dangling from its leash, I fumbled wildly trying to get back in. I looked around for a friend to help, but they were all gone. The only person approaching was one I didn’t want to see.A ski patroller. He was offering his assistance. But only after punching my lift ticket. He helped get my ski on and escorted me to the lodge. I could hear my friends’ taunts from the chair above. It was the most humiliating moment of my then-short life. I spent the rest of the day in the lodge with my home-ec teacher, Mrs. McClure. It stung knowing my buddies were ripping around the hill having the time of their lives. I nearly regretted jumping. As a kid, stuck in that lodge with a chaperone three times my age, there was no rhyme nor reason to the rule that put me there. It was a total injustice. It’s difficult to believe that jumping was a ticket-punching kind of infraction. How do you even police that?What if you hit a mogul and accidentally catch air? What if the terrain lends itself to getting airborne over a knuckle? It’s ridiculous. The only thing it taught me was if you’re gonna jump your skis, don’t crash—and don’t get caught. Thankfully, these days you’re allowed to jump your skis. Heck, they have entire runs dedicated to getting your P-tex soaring through the air. Not only that, they allow snowboarders on the hill. Imagine! If there’s something to be thankful for in 2021 it’s that you’re allowed to jump your skis (you may have to earn your own turns though). My banged-up boards will be leaving the ground as often as possible this winter. Probably not much higher or farther than they did all those years ago, but that’s fine. It’s the feeling of leaving the earth behind, if ever so fleetingly, that I’ll be chasing. It isn’t much, but these days I’ll take joy anywhere I can find it. See you on the slopes. –Colin Field LIFTOFF "Back in my day, you'd get your ticket punched for that!" COLIN FIELD