I Had No Idea

About two weeks into my most recent trip to Asia, flakes started flying around ski areas across the Northern Hemisphere. I, however, was too engulfed in shooting photos and doing Navy public affairs in Southeast Asia to notice.

I caught the occasional Facebook or Twitter update, but it never hit me really - until now.

Now that I'm home there's nothing here that even signifies the start of a ski season the way it has for me over the past seven or eight years. No company or person has sent me anything. There's no waiting for my skis to get here or haggling for my assignments for the year from a magazine.

No "free" skis. No "free" magazines, movies, outerwear, goggles, helmet, under layer, tuning, bindings, mountings, ski passes - no nothing. Matter of fact I'm still hassling to get paid for a story I did last January. Now what?

Conversely, I've checked the weather once so far and only at Government Camp on Mt. Hood, Camp Muir on Mt. Rainier and Steven's Pass. I know it's snowing in the mountains right now but I'm not remotely interested in risking my ankle, nor am I packing up my family and broken car to head for the snow. Hell, I don't even have a pair of fitting ski boots. What happened?