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Ski ing the blues away

Mount Van Hoevenberg Nordic center general manager Kris Cheney-Seymour, left, instructs Griffin Kelly during a beginner’s cross-country ski lesson.

I

By GRIFFIN KELLY

’ve never cross-country skied. OK, that’s a lie. I did last year, but I fell most of time, so I don’t really like to count it as an actual outing. Most folks today are aware of the funnily named SAD, which stands for seasonal affective disorder. It’s a form of depression caused by lack of sunlight, cold weather and little motivation to do recreational activities. In a part of the world where winter lasts from November to May, SAD can hit hard. Now, if you grew up in the North Country, you might be well prepared for the mental stresses of the season. You hike with snowshoes, go ice fishing, ride a snowmobile or slip on some skates. I, however, am from the suburbs outside New York City. Instead of spending my winter weekends on a ski mountain, I was cooped up in a humid wrestling room with 20 other boys doing up-downs and what seemed like infinite sprints across the sweatsoaked mats. Those were good days —

tough but good. Depression wasn’t a factor in my life then. But that was high school, seven years ago. Since then, I’ve moved to the Adirondacks, and all of last winter, I really just did not know what to do with my time. Sleep and endless YouTube holes of “Top 100 ‘Oh My God’ moments in WWE history” were less of a cure and more of a painkiller for my situation. And I don’t even watch wrestling, which is the weird part. I didn’t want to repeat the same thing this winter, so I made a promise to myself. I was going to learn to how to ski, cross country, that is. I still have a big fear of anything downhill ever since I went snowboarding at Sterling Forest in the 10th grade and got my face bashed in by another rider. I was on a trail I shouldn’t have been, fell and got steamrolled by a more experienced snowboarder. I was fine, no concussion, but I did black out for a few seconds and had a large yellow bruise on my

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I made a promise to myself. I was going to learn to how to ski.

Continued on page 8

PHOTO BY JESSE ADCOCK

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February-March 2019

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