As we watch a child play, whether it is with friends in the back yard tree fort, riding a bike or just using his/her imagination, we think--we wish--we could be that care free and that such simple things could make us happy. We long to go back to when life was easy, where we weren’t concerned about working, cooking, cleaning, rushing or worrying about daily stresses. All of those things seem to make at least some, maybe most, of us feel old and tired. Well, let me tell you about the Mountain of Youth.

 From my own experience, I have witnessed how a ski mountain can make you younger. Even if it is just for a little while. Maybe for a day or a weekend ski trip or, if you are fortunate enough to live in a town that has a ski area, an entire winter. I have witnessed and know people in their Forties up to, and even in, their Nineties skiing and enjoying the mountain. You see, the mountain gives you a sense of freedom as you swoosh down the slopes. You feel the wind in your hair or on your face (you should wear a helmet and wouldn’t really be able to feel the wind in your hair); the rush of excitement as adrenaline streams through your body. It makes you feel alive and care-free. I’m sure there is a medical explanation for it but I am certainly no doctor so I won’t go there. All I know is that it feels good. Personally, I have never made a run where I have thought of anything but that run. We’re talking thousands of runs in my lifetime so far and on every one, I am always in the moment, thinking of nothing else. 

 I boarded with my 24-year-old son. Yes, he is just a kid but it had been a year since he had been on the mountain. I could see just in his mannerisms and the look on his face that it took him back to a time when he felt a youthful exuberance. He wasn’t thinking about work or school or homework or getting up early. He was in the moment; he was free. 

 I also was out on the mountain recently with an individual who has been skiing various mountains for as many as 50 years…an expert skier who has been in and around the industry for more than 30 years. On that day, the mountain took at least 20 years off his life. I got to see what he was like in his prime and even realized that maybe he still is in his prime. We were skiing areas that people many years younger would never even attempt. The look on his face (and probably mine too) was priceless.

 So I watch people get off that ski lift on a daily basis. The looks on their faces and in their eyes are the same as those on the face of the child on the playground or perhaps at the water park. Not a care in the world; a feeling of freedom; a sense of peace. Come to the mountain and ride with the mind of a child and let it bring you back, make you younger. Remember, those zippered vents in your ski pants aren’t to let the cool air in; they are to let the farts out. See, the mind of a child.