Mountains
Steep and Deep
Morning cracks open cold; sharp, invasive, borderline hostile. The kind of cold that reminds you you’re alive whether you asked for it or not. Breath is visible proof that you’re still alive, as it curls like campfire ghosts. And it’s already hitting you; the cold, the anticipation, the raw hum of something about to go down. A confrontation between body and environment.
We ascend; because up there is where things still make sense.
Sun lifts and spills over the ridgeline like a quiet blessing. White terrain ignites, untouched and unapologetic, awaiting inscription. Sky screaming blue stretching into something dangerously infinite. The wind is light. It touches the face. It is good. Hawks riding thermals suggests a freedom not yet attained, like they’ve got the whole damn sky on lease, circling like aerial journalists, documenting the madness. Just vibing overhead like they’ve seen it all before.
Thread through trees, rise above them exposed, electric, leaving the smallness behind. Wind brushes the sweat from our foreheads; nature’s way of saying keep going. The ascent is not merely physical but existential. Each step resists abstraction: it insists on immediacy. No hesitation. Commitment is the only currency that matters here. The self becomes acutely aware of its placement within space. Step. Then another step. You do not think about the rest. Only the one you take. One does not climb the whole, only the present motion.
Step. Another step. Don’t think about another step.
And then, contact. You click in. That’s when things make sense. This is the drop. This is the chorus. Bindings snap shut like a loaded weapon. Gravity takes over, becomes a partner instead of an enemy. You drop. It is weightless. The fall line pulls you. It is steep and deep and true. Descent transforms intention into action. Every turn is an act of rebellion against inertia. Speed distorts reality—steep, deep, unhinged. Weightless, ripping through powder like it’s the last great sound on earth—steep, deep, and absolutely alive.
You carve it up, leave your scratches behind. Nobody cares. That’s the good part.
It is behind you upon the mountain, temporary marks, yet fully authentic. Steepness and depth become conditions of expression. You smile, do not say it, but the feeling sticks. That quiet grin, you can’t fake that, is not performance but residue; evidence of engagement. Steep and deep, yeah, that’s the deal.
And yet, the experience does not conclude. There is an inherent pull, a magnetic insistence that demands repetition, that calls you back up the slope to begin again. The cycle is both literal and symbolic, ascent and descent mirrored in the body, mind, and perception, as if the mountain itself has authored an unending lesson in persistence. Each climb teaches something new, each descent confirms skills, instincts, and courage, while the rhythm of movement becomes almost meditative. Motion and effort are inseparable, and the snow, the slope, the wind, and the light all participate in this dialogue, returning attention, commitment, and energy in equal measure.
Ascend, descend, repeat, a loop without closure, without finality, yet full of meaning. The absurdity of repetition does not diminish its significance; it reinforces it, highlighting both endurance and experience. Motion becomes its own statement, each iteration a living proof of engagement, skill, and freedom. The mountain remains constant, indifferent yet instructive, while the skier returns again and again, participating in a dialogue that is at once physical, mental, and profoundly human. There is no end, only continuation, only the act itself, repeated until fully known and fully felt.
Steep and Deep by Brian Howard
Waking up, Getting stoked. Heading out to hike the bowl
Air is cold, Breath is smoke. We ascend to a higher goal
Sun reveals, Gift of white. Bluebird skies, hawks delight
Through the trees, Above them now. Wind is gentle and it soothes our brow
Another step, Another step, Don't think about another step
Another step, Another step, Don't think...
So,
I'm clicking in, follow me, I'll meet you in, The North Woods trees
Weightless now, can't you see, freedom turns, Steep and Deep, Steep and Deep
Vibrations created, Left in snow. Smiles give away our inner glow
Air is cold, Snow is deep. There's powder turns for us to reap.
Climb back up, On the ridge. Take a step and breathe out again
Another step, Another step. Don't think about another step
Another step, Another step. Don't think...
So,
I'm clicking in, follow me, I'll meet you in, The North Woods trees
Weightless now, can't you see, freedom turns, Steep and Deep, Steep and Deep