Sierra at Tahoe was known as Sierra Ski Ranch when I was there the last time. Which meant that I haven't been here since the 1990s. It's a minor resort off US-50 and that's probably why I didn't frequent it. US-50 is not as convenient as I-5, so I don't come this way for skiing too often at the first place. When I come, I'd continue to Heavenly rather than stopping here. The exile to MECFS land for 15 years certainly didn't help either. But I got a season pass for it this year instead of the Epic Pass because the price for Epic Pass went up to $800. The first Saturday of December was the season opener. I went up on Monday the 11th.
The first day of the season, and I was lacking enthusiasm for some reason. I got up late -- the alarm didn't go off -- and I almost gave up. I was still tired from biking 5 miles and then jogging 4 blocks on the 9th and the thought of skiing didn't excite me enough to get me going. It must've been the been-there-done-that syndrome. It's the 5th season since I got back on the slope and the wonderment has been slowly fading since. This year is a continuation of that. But it sure felt nice to be back on the white mountains under the bright sky once I got on the lift chair.
Only one run was open. One foot of snow the week before wasn't nearly enough to cover up the rocks and other obstacles. But they managed to open one beginner slope with the aid of snow-making machines. The lack of challenging runs was a good excuse to work on my techniques and all that squatting to get my turns in shape was enough an exercise for the first day. I skied for 2 hours in the morning and then 2 more in the afternoon before coming back.
As usual, the morning after was fine. I had a bit of head pressure, so I swallowed a Sudafed pill. In the evening, I was full of energy. I was in the kitchen for a full hour rattling pots and pans, whistling all the while. I was in the best condition that I could ever be in. Then the bottom predictably fell out the next day. I slapped on the nicotine patch in the morning hoping that I'd stay on my feet, but that did not happen. The 1-hour nap in the morning didn't help either: I was groggy and horizontal all day long. I bounced back a little in the evening though. I stayed on my nicotine/Sudafed for 4 more days till the 16th. I was back on my feet on the 14th, with an aid of the patch and 2-hour nap in the afternoon, and then crashed again on the 15th.
Back in 2020, I felt that getting knocked out for a day or two was OK. Now, getting knocked out even for a day seems too much. The more I improve, the more I expect, I guess.
So, is the nicotine patch losing its efficacy? Or was the skiing too hard an exercise to paper over with the patch? Taken together with the 40-mile bike ride after which I was under the weather for a week, the answer seems to be the latter. Nicotine patch helps, but not as much as living on the road or in the wilderness. I was able to backpack 75 miles through Yosemite in 7 days, but I'm keeling over after 4 hours of skiing. Which kind of makes sense. Nicotine is a powerful dopamine generator, but not as powerful as striving in places that you've never been before. But it is still more powerful than Sudafed.
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