Balance: Mountains and Movies
Posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2009
One of my favorite aspects of mountain culture is the constant search for balance.
It seems like most people I know in Jackson are either severely imbalanced or seek balance through extremes. Selfish outdoor pursuits vs. helping others, a 206-mile bike ride vs. reading a book, roadtrips to Indian Creek vs. making a career and/or money. I am almost perpetually torn by how I should spend my time.
I typically subscribe to the Extreme Method of life balance: binging on physical activity until my body shuts down, then going into hermitude and reading books until I’m out of shape. Then repeat.
This past month has seen some of my best, if Extreme, balancing to date. It started out with a ski trip to British Columbia. We got helicoptered to the middle of nowhere, we skied pillow lines in the woods, powder above a glacier and even had a naked Randonnée race one night! Upon my return to Jackson, I found uninspiring snow conditions and limiting avy hazard (and worn out legs), so I thought it the perfect time to bring some balance back to The Force.
For anyone needing a way to balance out their backcountry ski adventures with some quality couch time, I highly suggest checking out Netflix.
It’s perfect for the mountain town “denizens” who don’t have a television, but do have a computer, which is nearly all of my mountain town friends. For the price of two D.O.G. burritos per month, you can easily watch five to six hours of movies per day if you do little else with your free time.
Still, I fear that after a few weeks on the couch, my balance may be off again. I sleep on the couch under my sleeping bag, wake up for breakfast, then it’s back to the couch for a movie or a TV show (Netflix has both). Then, maybe a short workout at the climbing gym followed by an evening of movie watching.
My buddy down the road – also recently unemployed – just watched the four-hour extended version of Lord of The Rings followed by the other two Tolkien-inspired epics. I asked him what his plans for tomorrow will be. Any peak bagging, any Village runs, any skins on The Pass? Nah, he said. I just got a couple new Netflix videos. I think I’ll hang out at my desk, maybe move to the couch midday. Wanna join?
Hell yes.
Peter Griffin lives on a couch in Jackson Hole and keeps his clothes in a cardboard box in the corner. He hasn’t skied in weeks. Too many movies to watch.
So how many shares in Netfliks did you buy?
Good question! Zero. However, I am contractually required to let you know that it is “Netflix,” not “Netfliks.” Maybe I’ll get some stock options when I receive their Lifetime Sloth Award though.
If you like netflix, check out Boxee. http://www.boxee.tv It is an open source media center that incorporates web content from a number of providers including abc, cbs, hulu, revision3, netflix and other providers. Since I tried boxee I have canceled my cable and couldn’t be happier!