I learnt how to stand on skis in Ischgl when I was 4 years old, straight lining with a rope around my waist tied to my dad’s (or mom’s) pole. It was a really good start in life. But, during the 20 years following that week in the Alps, I never really got past the skills of straight lining. For one, I (as most swedes) thought that going to ski school was kind of something that nerds did. In contrast to other Swedes though, I didn’t have the energy to learn by myself. In addition, I didn’t really have any friends to skiing with so I just went with my family to the mountains. Now, I have a great family, but and as you can imagine, going to the mountains with my parents wasn’t exactly my favorite activity when I was a teenager…
So I more or less stopped skiing. Instead, I spent my time trying to look cool and discuss deeeep issues at smokey cafés. It wasn’t a bad life at all, I got to know some of the greatest people in the world that way, but I always felt kind of restless sitting in those chairs hour after hour.
Then one day, I met the Fullpris crew.
The Fullpris crew (named after Mats who always managed to miss the sale and therefore bought everything at full price) loved skiing, and they were really good at it. As we all know, I wasn’t, I sucked.
No really, I’m not being modest, I truly sucked.
But they didn’t care. They dragged me along anyway, into the woods, up to Kobåset, way off to Engelberg. They waited while I cartwheeled between the saxophone bent birches in Västerbotten, and as I tumbled down the alps. I was sooo slooooow, but no one in the crew complained. Quite the opposite, they always encouraged me, noted my improvements, laughed at my mistakes, and gave me a high five every time I did something just above my ability.
Going with the Fullpris crew to the mountains made me realize that I truly belonged there, and seeing their skills on the mountain was the best inspiration I could ever have to get better.
As is probably fairly obvious from this blog, skiing the backcountry is one of my absolute favorite things in life. Going out there and experiencing all the beauty of the wilderness, and having the ability ski down those wonderful mountains, gives me more joy than I can express. I owe a whole lot of that to the Fullpris gang. So, Jonas, Henrik, Cilla, Frenkan, Mats and Lina, thanks for waiting, I really appreciate it.
Synd att min kommentar försvann! Men fortfarande underbart när livet gör oväntade förändringar ! Det är bara att önskar lycka till!
Men nu kom den fram! Och ja, livet är ballt, på så många olika sätt! Tack!