Writers on the Storm: 1/28- 1/30

Is all beauty ephemeral? Glory is fleeting, youth is wasted on the young, and low-density powder never lasts. The lighter the snow, the shorter the lifespan. Like the loudest fraternity brother at the party, it contains so little and takes up so much space. Unlike that same genre of young man, its depths often feel limitless.

Can anything permanent feel so wonderful? Do we love it because it can’t be held? Is it the fidelity of the untracked that appeals? The loyalty of the tracks we left behind to always be ours–all others mere shadows and weak impressions. 

To covet and yearn for an experience so limited, personal, and transient is undoubtedly a sin. 

Let this be my confession. 

This past week brought Jackson nearly 3 feet of fresh snow, breaking the same dry streak that has plagued almost all of the American West. And although Instagram might lead you to believe that this was the storm that changed everything, let me be the first to tell you this: it was good, it was real–but it will happen again, this is just the beginning and the best is yet to come.  

Words by Jim Ryan.

Photos by Stephen Shelesky.