Before I moved to British Columbia I used to describe myself as an “outdoorsy person” (I even included that description of myself in my cover letter when I was applying for this job).
Believe me, I wasn’t lying. I honestly thought that I was an outdoorsy person based on the fact that I enjoyed having my coffee on the park bench, hanging out with friends at the beach and occasionally running outdoors (when all conditions were favourable).
I was raised in a city in South America that had no easy access to outdoor activities like we have here (and certainly not that many options). So as long as I went to the park once a week, I could tell people I was an outdoorsy person and feel pretty good about myself (which is what I did for 27 years).
Of course now that I live in Burns Lake I realize that my idea of being outdoorsy was completely inaccurate. Let me give you an example.
When I first started working here, I would ask my co-workers every Monday what they had done over the weekend.
I would start by telling them about all the great movies I had watched. Then one of my co-workers would describe her weekend adventures in great detail, but always making it sound like it was no big deal. She and her husband frequently went canoeing (sometimes in lakes that are half frozen), downhill skiing (even at night in remote areas), hiking and snowshoeing (even when it was below -15 C). They are probably out climbing a mountain or running with wolves as you read this column (I clearly have no idea of what happens outside my office).
Before I moved up here I had never heard of fat bikes. I used to think ice fishing was something that people did only in Alaska, and I thought it was common sense to stay indoors when it was below -15 C (I am still debating on this one).
I used to see winter as a time to stay indoors, catching up on my reading or watching lots of movies (basically waiting for April).
I was surprised to see that winter can be such a fun-filled, busy time of the year for people living up north. From snowmobiling to fat bikes, to skiing, to snowshoeing… There seems to always be something on the go! People up north seem to get even more motivated to be outdoors when the snow starts sticking to the ground. I am definitely learning from that.
I am embarrassed to say that I still haven’t done any of the amazing winter activities that are at our doorstep. Don’t get me wrong, I am well aware of the fact that we have world-class mountain biking trails, an incredible cross-country skiing club and amazing landscape all around us. But I always seem to have an excuse.
First it was because I didn’t want to get eaten alive by a bear (believe me, people really scared me about this before I moved up here); then I didn’t think I had the right clothing or equipment to be outdoors; and then it was just too cold.
Once I realized all this, I decided to take action. Burns Lake just had a pretty mild weekend with temperatures near zero degrees, and I thought this would be the perfect time to go cross-country skiing. I invited a friend and I was pretty motivated (I even posted on Twitter saying what a great weekend this was for skiing). It was really a “now or never” scenario for me.
Then Sunday came along. I opened the window expecting to see the sun, but it was snowing! To be honest, it really wasn’t that dramatic, but it was enough to make me cancel all my plans and decide to wait for next weekend.
But I am not giving up on myself. There is still two more months of winter, and I need to live up to what my cover letter said.