Frictionless
I was excited. After a few cross-country ski outings at the tail end of the season last year, I knew that I wanted to ski much more in the year ahead. So, this year, I bought a season pass which gave me access to five cross country ski stations that surround our home in La Seu d’Urgell. Our local ski club even loaned me all of the necessary gear.
The first snowfall came in November. It was not a lot of snow nor very widespread. Only one of the five stations, Tuixent-La Vansa, had enough snow to open.
Tuixent-La Vansa is a little further away from La Seu than the other stations. The hour plus drive along narrow, curvy roads tops over not one but two mountain passes before arriving at Tuixent-La Vansa.
My first ski outings would take place here but I thought with the arrival of more snow further into winter, these ski sessions would shift to some of the other stations closer to La Seu.
That “more snow” did not come for a while. In fact, the early winter was mild in the Pyrenees. It started to feel like a minor miracle that Tuixent-La Vansa could stay open.
Ski day after ski day, I could see snow at Tuixent-La Vansa disappearing around me, yet the trails always seemed to have just enough snow to continue skiing. At the end of a typical December ski session, I thought, “This is it. No more skiing until there is more snow.”
And then, as skiers leave for the day, the trail crew goes to work with a simple goal:
Do whatever is possible to keep a trail open.
Careful and diligent trail grooming, even on the smallest section of ski trails, keeps the station open for another day. And another day means:
A fresh air escape to the mountains for people from Barcelona
A first time skiing experience for school students on a field trip
Uninterrupted ski training for local athletes preparing for international competition
Another day means another day of paid work for the employees of the ski station.
This seems so obvious. Why wouldn’t a ski station do the little things to ensure another day?
I ask this question to an Olympic level ski technician and coach. He tells me that many station operators do not want to groom trails unless there are a LOT of trails to groom. More trails mean more people. More people mean more business. Economics guide the decision.
To operate the machines to groom just a few ski trails is an expensive endeavor. There is no guarantee of a return on the investment.
But, when you believe that your superpower delivers to the greater good of your people, the decision-making process becomes frictionless.
For Tuixent-La Vansa, a few glides of the ski or a conversation over café amb llet in its restaurant build and sustain the community connection that wins the day.
Which begs the question, how much friction lives between the world and your superpower?
With gratitude,
-Joe
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