It usually starts when I'm waiting for the train at Manchester Airport. Suddenly I become acutely aware that not everyone is wearing big huge coats and baggy pants. Some people aren't even carrying skis or boards. What's going on? Gradually I start to realize that people are staring at me. Why? It's not that unusual to carry a snowboard on a train is it? It could be my goggle tan? No. Everyone knows what a goggle tan is, I've purposely been cultivating mine to try and get a better one. I'm afraid it's time to face the truth...........I'm Home. Not my spiritual home where I've been for most of the winter. Not the mountains. Home. The place where I live, where people speak the same language as me, where I............dare I say it...........work.
       It gets worse when I'm on the train. People start to stare at my newly acquired "Powder to the People" T-shirt, presumably thinking I'm some sort of drug addict. Which is true of course, I am a sort of drug addict. I sit on the train deciding what memories to store and in what order. Which of those countless powder turns to commit to memory for evermore. Other things start to bother me now. People are driving cars and walking around, obviously unaware of the truly epic powder that exists in the world.
       When I finally summon up the courage to go back to work other little things start to worry me. I can't walk up to a complete stranger and say "How do you like your boots?" Nore can I sit next to someone on the bus and spark up a conversation about the weather. I can do that on a chairlift. It doesn't even matter if the person speaks English or not. The only thing that seems to happen on the bus is that people stare at my (now fading) goggle tan.
       My workmates ask me if I've had a good time. "Yes" I say, desperate to tell them about the day we had 80 cm of overnight snow followed by a day of face shots and cliff drops. They don't understand. "I like to go somewhere warm for my holidays. It doesn't sound like fun to me, too much like hard work". I can't even escape back to my apartment. For some reason it doesn't smell of Deep Heat and sweaty socks. I gradually start to watch my snowboarding videos over and over again until the tapes wear thin and the picture goes fuzzy. I strap my board on hoping that will help. It doesn't. There's only so many times you can practice doing 360's in your lounge without eventually getting bored or nearly totaling your TV in the process.
       I'm starting to really feel it now. As summer rapidly approaches, I've thumbed through 100 pictures and sat through 2 hours of video footage searching for that elusive image that will spend the next 12 months staring back at me from my computer wallpaper. I've already started planning next years trips. I'm still trying to summon up the courage to pack it all in and move to the mountains forever. This year. Definitely.