Fickle snow.(frozen WORLD)

Snow makes our world possible. Without snow we cannot ski: That's a fact, simple and irrefutable. As a cyclist needs road, a paddler water, a climber rock, we need snow. But here's the rub: We have no guarantee of snow. The cyclist, the paddler, the climber--they will find what they need. They enjoy a predictably Not so the skier.

Snow may come early, it may come late, it may not come at all. It is unpredictable in amount, in consistency in location. It is impermanent and fickle. We cannot, with certainty, plan on snow, yet it is the most basic element in our sport, the foundation on which all else builds. Without snow, we are bound to dry earth.

Now, as autumn wanes, winter draws near. Calendar pages fall as leaves to the ground. Skiers stir restlessly with the days and think: Calendar dates be …