Reflecting on My Second Uphill Skiing Journey this Winter

Uphill skiing for the second time on Mont Béchervaise in Gaspé, this winter 2025.

I’ve reclaimed an hour or so each week for a dedicated writing and integration space to reflect on what I’ve been learning and how I’m doing on the way to where I want to go.

A really huge celebration is something that has materialized after literal years of wanting to learn to do it, which is uphill skiing in skins. The move to the region I’m in now was a result of an offer to contribute to the teaching of English as a second language to elementary school students in the area. That was only for an 8 month period and ended last spring, but a few months after moving here I realized this was the region I had wanted to come to for a week or so to learn how to go up a mountain in skins (vegan).

It’s interesting to me that that reason wasn’t in my mind when originally moving here and only surfaced afterwards. I’ve gone twice since and have found it a truly beautiful experience.

On another note, there’s been immense learning going on for me related to my engagement with a community of practise called NGL. In having heard that self-reflecting on capacity growth accelerates your capacity growth, and also to weave myself through the immensity and complexity of what’s been going on, I’ve been wanting to reflect on a piece of it at a time.

There’s so much to choose from I’m not sure where to start but one thing I’ve learned about interrupting to care for an entire group when something isn’t working for you or you sense it’s not working for someone else, several people or even the whole group is the following:

Starting with an appreciation and ending with a question to the person you’re interrupting.

Example: I really love how you’re jumping right in there and my understanding of the exercise is different. Are you open to a reframe?

In starting to apply this, so far I am only able jump in with the what I want part…But I think at least I am interrupting to begin with and that with practise I’ll be able to pull all the pieces together.

That’s all for now!

Katherina