Playing favorites: Choosing the perfect trail

A few weeks ago, I gave an interview for my boarding school magazine, after which I was sent only one follow up question: What is your favorite trail?

Now the first thought out of my head was something snarky Lambonics phrase like, the one with the most snow on it. Or the one with the least amount of tracks or people. But this interview had been so thought provoking that it really did make me stop and think for a minute.  

If you know me or have ever really skied with me, you would know that I don’t like to play favorites and that I love all my children equally. They are all so special in their own unique ways that I really don’t like some over others. But, for the sake of argument, I did have a favorite trail…which one would it be?

When I was 5, it was Needle’s Eye. Top to Bottom. I freaking loved that trail. I worked so hard to be able to get through all those bumpies with my dad and ski a big kid trail. It wasn’t that I loved bumps more than groomies but that this was the trail under my favorite lift at the time (the Needle’s Eye Double), and I saw how challenging and awesome it was on a regular basis. I wanted to master that.

When I was ski racing in junior high, I loved Chute. Shootin’ the Chute, to be precise. Nailing slalom turns all down the left side, from the top of the trail straight down to the lift. No stops, no pauses, nothing but clean repetitive slalom turns with my dad right behind me. It was awesome. Of course, then they cut out that one section when they put in the tunnel…

In my 20s, I discovered the woods, and my life completely changed. For the past 25  years, it’s been almost impossible to get me out of them. I love the variability, challenge, and adventure. I spent most of my time in Low Rider. I knew every variation, every transition, and every nuance of where you had to duck down or jump over a downed branch to make it through. But then they put bike trails through the bottom half and broke my heart …

In my 30s I preferred the uphill. I meandered all around the mountain, under cover of darkness and with the utmost secrecy. I learned every little bit of this mountain by skinning around it in the predawn hours, trying to find new descents to explore at speed during the daytime. But I had to find them first and break a few branches to make my way. But then they invented rules for uphill travel, and I am, unfortunately, a rule follower…

Now that I am in my 40s my young athletes on Team PomPom would tell you that I like to ski all the “crazy, weird things.” If you see a trail with a bamboo X and a little button stating “Thin Cover,” then that’s the trail I want to explore. I want to slide over a section of grass, jump over a rock or two, sidestep some dirt, and then have to squeeze onto the far slider’s right to avoid a huge frozen granular section. The stuff that makes me think, pay attention, and really focus to get down safely.

In the fall, Rime is the greatest of all. It’s so wonderful to see all my ski family together again, laughing and playing in the snow. In the spring, I could ski Superstar non-stop day after day, as we all celebrate one more lap on snow before we all say farewell for the season. Or maybe it’s RockStar parking lot, where we all stay until the sun sets each night, unwilling to let the day’s magic leave us behind.   

But looking back on all my favorites, I think my favorite trail is the one that provides the hardest challenge. Period. The trail that makes me a better skier and a better person.  A trail that makes me focus on my technique and manipulate my skis rather than just standing on them. I love that when the BF and I hear someone complaining about a trail in the lift line and we look at each other, smile knowingly, and head right over to that trail. Of course, it usually meant heading straight to Double Dipper, but hey, if you don’t go for the challenge, you will never improve. You will stagnate. You will be the same. You will be…boring.  

So what is my actual favorite trail? Whichever one I’m on right now! Just kidding. It has and always will be Echo Woods. But that, my friends, is a story for another time.

Merisa is a long time Killington resident and global real estate advisor.  She serves as a town lister and member of the development review board and is also Coach PomPom.  You can reach her at Merisa.Sherman@SothebysRealty.com