Mount Hood Meadows

From the top of Mount Hood Meadows, the world falls away into a cathedral of white and blue. It's breathtaking—and it's lonely. This year, skiing has given me an exhilarating rush of downhill acceleration, the wind screaming past, and the deep accomplishment of holding an edge at three G's. But every time I click out of my bindings at the summit, I turn to an empty space beside me. I wish you were here to feel this beauty, the speed, the force. Some joys are too big to keep to yourself.