Do you remember back when you were young?  You know, way back... further back then that... back when it would snow so-o-o deep that your father couldn’t get his car out of the driveway....  when you had to walk to school... when the snow was up to your knees.  Worse yet, you had to walk two miles up hill two miles all the way to school and two miles up hill all the way back home. Do you remember that? Well I do!  I remember the snow ball fights ...(boys against girls).... the snow forts...the snowmen and snow castles that we built.   Boy, those were the days!!!

          After dinner I would help my sister with the dishes, feed the dog and head for “Black Hill”  that’s where us guys would meet at sundown to see who had the fastest sled. My favorite was the Flexible Flyer.  Boy, could it go!   I would sharpen it’s runners by rubbing the sled back and forth on the concrete porch floor.  I would wear my aviator hat and scarf... you know the one like “Snoopy” wears when he is in combat with the Red Baron.  Boy, was I bad! I was ba-a-a-d!

          With the goggles on my eyes and the scarf around my neck no one could beat me down “Black hill.”  This was a sport for men only.  You had to be tough.. Sometimes the girls would stand on the side lines and cheer us on.  But there were times when the brazen ones would try to flop on our backs as we would fly past.  Some of the girls were successfull but most of the time us guys would try to dodge them. On weekends we would build a bonfire and stay out late ( 10 PM ).  That was late in those days.  Time marches on.

Fast Forward to 1966.  Black Hills is no longer there.  I-95 took it on the way to Philadelphia .  I’m married now and have four sons.  When it snows I would take them to see what is left of the “Hill.”  They loved it too. I am now a member of the National Ski Patrol System at Camelback.

Fast forward to 1976...   I drive a school bus loaded with teens from CYO to Timber Hills in the Poconos.  My children went on these weekend trips and loved skiing.

Fast Forward to 1986. My #2 daughter is working for Systems and Computer Technology [SCT], Malvern , PA as an Instructor Trainer & Sales Representative in the computer business.  She would pack her ski boots when going West on business because SCT had a company house in Durango , Colorado .

Fast Forward to present ... I have 18 grandchildren.  I am retired and have  continued to be a member of the National Ski Patrol for 35 years.  I am enjoying good health because of my love for the outdoors. I can’t wait for the snow to fall to take my younger grandchildren sledding  and to take the older ones to the mountains to take ski lessons.

          Now that I am older, cross-country skiing has taken the place of sledding.  Earlier I commented that I loved the outdoors. Moonlit nights traversing on cross country skis is one of the things I look forward to with great expectations. If you love the winter seasons and the beauty of the outdoors, why not take up cross-country skiing.  It’s inexpensive, aerobic, exciting and stimulating.

          Why be a couch potato?  Let’s share the invigorating sport of  nordic/cross-country skiing together!            
 

W. Peter Benson 
Blazers SC/EPSC Nordic