Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Dolores LaChapelle dies

Backcountry ski guru Lou Dawson is reporting on his blog that Silverton resident and powder skiing pioneer Dolores LaChapelle has died.
She was sort of the John Muir of snow -- a lyrical writer and spirited advocate. Here is a telling passage from her classic book, Deep Powder Snow:
Powder snow skiing is not fun. It’s life, fully lived, life lived in a blaze of reality. What we experience in powder is the original human self, which lies deeply inside each of us, still undamaged in spite of what our present culture tries to do to us. Once experienced, this kind of living is recognized as the only way to live–fully aware of the earth and the sky and the gods and you, the mortal, playing among them.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ahh Zen. The Tao. The inexpressible undefineable essence that is lived, breathed, experienced but never bottled and sold. Dolores understood, baby. Rest in peace sweet dear. Mu and Om.