A day for Skiing & Proposing

So let’s talk about this proposal… I don’t think I can disagree with anything Janey said in her account at all. I would, however, like to clarify a few points… Or more specifically, I’l like to speak in my own defense on some things.

Snowbird was indeed a bit of a let-down. My last visit must have been somewhere between drumline rehearsals in early high school. Somewhere in the 10 or so years since then, the memory seems to have been romanticized a bit. I remember being totally amazed by the Arial Tram. Riding up in comfort, protected from the wind, while I look outside at a view that seems to go on forever. Reaching the top of the mountain warm and ready to ski, then floating down on perfect snow through awesome terrain. Wind in my hair (yeah that was a few years ago), smile on my face, and my Walkman playing in my ears. Then with the news that they actually dug a tunnel THROUGH the mountain that I could right a magic carpet through… well comon! How awesome is that.

It seemed like a no-brainer that I could take the love of my life on a leisurely ride to the top of the world. We would pause to bask in the beauty God put on this planet. I would find an out-of-the way place for she and I to share a moment and make small talk about how beautiful the day was. The sun is shining, the sky is blue with some fluffy white clouds to match the perfect freshly fallen white Utah powder. While she looked out over the amazing mountain vistas I would kneel down beside her and say something wonderfully romantic, then I would ask her to be my wife. She would say “YES, of course! Your wonderful, amazing, smart, handsome, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, cheerful, brave, clean, thrifty, and romantic! How could I possibly say no to such a wonderful man!” (at least thats how it went in my dream). See… no-brainer! It would be awesome.

So I set about planning this day of skiing & proposing and things seemed to go quite well. The trip up was fantastic. The ring was in my pocket. The skis were in the car… and off we went.

On the way there I’m realizing that sky is grey… visibility is low, damn. OK… adopt, adapt, and improve. OK at least we’ll be in a beautiful mountain setting.

We found what seemed to be a great parking spot and walk the short 5 or 6 million miles uphill to the main lodge. The parking lot had a great fresh layer of about 4 inches of snow on top of the concrete. You know… not enough to get a foot hold in, just enough to make it an ice rink or slushy mess, slippery either way. So walking 5 million miles uphill in ski boots holding skis and poles becomes a bit dicey. At the very least, we got the part where we get shin splints out of the way.

We reach Snowbird Centre (that’s the main building) only to be faced with 5 or 6 million flights of stairs to get up to the ticket windows. I had that movie moment when I looked at the stairs and the world seemed to go into tunnel vision. But I had to be the man and make this happen… so I sucked it up and just started climbing. Janey was close behind.

We reached the ticket booths: Tram closed, damn. OK… adopt, adapt, and improve. I changed the plan a bit, got a chair pass, and got us on our way.

The first half of the lift was a wonderful peaceful experience. The second half, the wind started. It was one of those really mean winds that finds every weakness in your clothing. When you least expect it, the wind shifts and sends an icy frost up your back, or into the zipper in your coat you didn’t realize wasn’t all the way done-up.

So we reach the top a little chilly but in quite good spirits. The first run down was a lot of fun. I will still maintain that Snowbird, despite it’s shortfalls, has some really fun terrain. We got to the bottom of that first run and called it lunch! (yeah I know, we’re lightweights. Cut us a break, we were on vacation) As a story point, you should know that when we finished the first run we saw that the Tram had begun running. Awesome! I can put my plan into action.

At this point I’m just not sure how the proposal is going to happen with wind and grey skies, but I haven’t given up hope.

So lunch is done, we trudged the 5 million miles to and from the car, found an elevator to circumvent the 5 million flights of stairs, upgraded our tickets to include the tram, and readied ourselves for the oh-so-magical tram ride.

So we queue up for the tram. Everything is exactly as I remember it. The huge exposed bright red flywheels that drive the tram were spinning. We went through the turnstiles to the outer landing area where the tram loads. We were nearly first in line… just a few people in front of us. The loading queue was sort of a group staging area, not really a formal line… so as it filled in folks spread out and chatted with their skiing partners. Moods were great, people seemed happy with the great snow. The stage is set for a wonderful trip up the mountain.

Now, I pride myself on being a theme park veteran… Really, Janey and I both are. We can navigate packed theme parks with the greatest ease and efficiency. I am very confident in my ability to read crowds and predict their movements. I used this a lot when I worked in the parks to know when I needed to jump into a crowd and direct things, or get out of the way and let it happen. That is why I was so caught off guard when the tram arrived, doors opened, and all hell broke loose. I just didn’t see it coming.

Everyone turned from happy skier to hungry man-eating Yeti who is protecting it’s nest. The rush of humanity was totally insane. An out of control mob just smashing into this bus sized gondola. They were rushing to get everywhere in this tiny space. Many fought for places next to windows… widows that were frosted over so thick there was no possibility of a view, just a vague perception of blurry movement as trees passed close to the gondola.

And people kept coming. It got tighter and tighter until there was literally not room for one more. This was not sardines, this was a whole new level of closeness to strangers. The smell was awful. It was this terrible mix of alcohol, coffee, and ski clothes saturated with sweat. But people were packed in so tight that you couldn’t adjust away from the really smelly folks. All I could do was sort of contort my neck to face my nostrils away. Seriously… couldn’t turn, couldn’t lean… just head movements. And so began the magical trip to the top of the world.

Skip past the ride that seemed to last forever because you were standing up the whole time and unable to adjust… and we reached the top of the mountain.

When the doors opened, the mountain unleashed the winds from an icy hell upon us. Violent, ice filled, stinging wind that pushed ice through your coat like a million tiny syringes. It’s been many years since I have experienced a chill like that. I can only imagine what Janey was feeling. At least I HAD been in a wind like that before.

So… we’re off the unloading platform and getting skis. An unbelievable blizzard is whipping us around. Visibility is about three feet. The temperature is about 5 million degrees below zero. At this point I’ve decided to postpone my romantic proposal. I didn’t think it the best time to ask Janey to take off her glove. My job is just to get my girl off this damned mountain.

We did come off that top mountain run and had several great runs lower on the hill, in places where the wind didn’t take off a layer of skin. We really did have a great time.

So… when was I going to propose now?!? We didn’t really schedule any more alone time!?! crap!

Later that night, as we readied for bed. We were in my old room just chatting. Who knows what we were talking about. Something about skiing for sure… All I could see was this incredibly beautiful smile that has come to mean so much to me. A smile that fills me up makes me feel whole. A smile that I just don’t want to ever go a day without seeing. I was sitting in this downstairs bedroom sharing a wonderful personal moment with the woman I love and I realize, this is it. This is the moment. It’s time to let her know how much you really love her.

I knelt down beside the bed. And thinking about our life together so far, all the wonderful experiences we’ve had together. I’m thinking of our ski trip that day… we came through the nastiness the world threw at us with love and support. We skied together through it all. We came down the mountain together and still wanted more. We helped each other. We stuck by each other. I knew that no matter what happened or how scared Janey might have been, she was sticking with me because she loved me and I loved her. With that in mind I asked Janey to be my ski partner forever. I asked her to be my partner on every mountain that is in front of us. I asked if she would give me the honor of being with her through every blizzard the world can conjure.

I have no idea what words came out of my mouth. My brain wanted to say everything my heart was feeling, and there is just no words that could come close to conveying what I feel for her. At the very least I was able to get the important words out. “Will you marry me.”

She said yes.