When people with a passion design tools, they drag us into new territory. They make us feel at once both uncomfortable and joyous. It's like steering off the ski trail and darting into the woods. The trees are dangerous. Little Evergreens, not yet covered, show their tops through the snow, waiting to trip you.
Quarters are close.
A collision with a tree at any speed is an almost certain trip to the clinic - with alarming pronouncements from an orthopedist. Any sane person would say you shouldn't go into the trees. But you go anyway, euphoric, feeling alive, and doing something rare and challenging. An expert skier is comfortable in all kinds of terrain. Powder, ice, trees, steeps, and moguls.