Not everything in life has to be poetry. Sometimes, we settle for prose. Occasionally, we beg for ordinary. Poetry and lyrics, they don’t always come from beauty. Many times, they come from digging out of the trenches and hosing off the mud.
That is what we did this winter season at Mount Peter. We made poetry out of mire, spun beauty out of tension. We are now closed for the season and I feel like I have emerged from a pressure cooker.
I’m not going to lie; I came into this season kicking and screaming. That is an exaggeration. By kicking I mean kickboxing (at CKO, to help with my nervous energy!) and by screaming, I mean quietly whispering that on a personal level, I didn’t think that I could handle what we faced. The New York State guidelines and rules were given to us in November, and before that we did not think we would be permitted to open at all. All of a sudden, we had to figure out contact tracing and sanitization, hiring more departments than ever before and wondering how on earth we would find the staff to get us through.
To put it mildly, I was freaking out. The anxiety was worse than anything I have felt before. I was worried for my staff, and for our customers. Our phones have never rung as much (which you probably know, if you tried to get through), and the stress from everyone was at an all-time high.
Thankfully, we got open, and slowly, day by day, we settled into a routine. Suddenly it was already February, and besides the masks and the constant cleaning and distancing, life started to feel almost normal. I am not the only one who felt that way, and as our mountain family started thanking us for opening, to give people a sense of normalcy, to give children some happiness, I finally was able to take in a huge breath and feel some of the weight lift.
I am just so thankful. To our customers, for trusting us enough to spend so much time here. To our staff, for coming to work and putting themselves out there when it would have been easily understood if they decided to sit this season out.
From the deepest well of my heart, I thank you for being a part of our Mount Peter family this winter. Now that we are closed, I am able to take a few moments to look back, and I am amazed at what we were able to accomplish. This, our 85th season, was our toughest one yet. We have had some rough seasons with bad weather, seasons that we did not know how we were going to make it through, but this season topped those charts. Yet the mountain still stands, the lift keeps spinning, and the echo of laughter is still in my ears. That all means one thing – at eighty-five, Mount Peter is stronger than ever.
I am sad and relieved all at once to see this season come to an end. We have a lot going on the mountain this summer, improvements, and a few new additions that we will announce as next season nears. I am thankful that we are able to keep moving forward. I do love summer, but they tend to fly by around here, and as always, I can’t wait to welcome you all back to winter for the 2021-2022 season!
Take care, get some sun, and please know how grateful we are that all of you have touched our lives this winter.
With love,
Amy
We hope you enjoy our 85th Anniversary Season in review video!