Ronin Mission | The Colorado Snowboard Blog

Posted by: Dave Berry | Jan 24, 10

For those that don't know, a ronin is a samurai without a master, like Homaru and Genjiro from the Samurai Showdown video games. Ronins are typically depicted as loners who travel with the wind and are total badasses. If you really need more clarification get Ninja Scroll, Yojimbo, Shogun Assassin, or A Fist Full of Dollars from Netflix. Yesterday I found myself in my bed with a gnarly hangover and nobody to ride with. I thought about it and I came to the conclusion that I didn't have anything better to do and despite the fact that it was already 10:30 in the morning I kicked my own ass into gear and headed up to Mary Jane.

My boss kicks the word "zen" around when I'm assigned mundane busy-work. He is indeed a foolish man. Busy-work is not zen; it's degrading, but enough of that. Zen is riding alone. Yesterday was the first time that I've been up by myself in a long time and I forgot how nice it is. I didn't even get on the lift until almost one in the afternoon and it didn't matter. The snow was alright, not great, and it didn't matter. My edges were a bit dull so I had a little trouble pulling off the White Line Nightmare and it didn't matter. I took two runs and decided to take a beer break and it didn't matter. Nothing mattered and for the first time in a long time I felt completely unrestricted. It was beautiful.

Don't get me wrong here, I love riding with my possee of assholes and drunks and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but when you're up alone there's just something about it. It's mellow. You don't have to worry about the straggler getting down to the lift and you can take any run you want at any given moment with no deliberation. Granted it sucks not getting props from your boys when you boost a fatty rock shot or shash a clean line through the trees but you know that you did it regardless of who was watching and it still feels good. 

Riding alone gives you time to think about things. If you are a busy person like I tend to be then you've got quite a bit to sort out in that head of yours. This is a double-edged sword though because if you get lost in thought while caressing the sweet trees of Mary Jane then you're going to end up in a tree well and possibly die and that would suck. You must focus! At the same time though the turns come more naturally  and everything tends to flow with ease. Simply put, if you've never been up alone then you've never been free.

Shred Hard.

Dave Berry.