When you read the words ‘hand-me-down’ and ‘leftover’, what images come to mind?

Our culture feeds on the idea that new is better. You can buy ‘new car scent’ to make your car smell less worn. Some people will buy a new car even when the one they have runs perfectly well, just because it’s starting to feel ‘old’.

We want to be fresh and modern and first, and when it comes to our time on the ski slopes, things are no different.

I’m not saying I purposely stay away when nature decides to drop a fresh blanket of fluff on the mountain. But, I have also learned to look at that leftover powder with a little bit more affection.

That was the lesson today. We got 8″ of powder Wednesday and 4″ on Thursday. Those days were AMAZING (check out photos here). But, with a paltry 2″ yesterday and 2″ today, we were facing the prospect of re-using the powder that had already been used by someone else. The leftovers from the night before, the hand-me-down jeans worn in by another, the second-hand boots that never really mold to the contour of your foot.

As with most things in life, this is all a matter of perspective. As it turns out, this leftover powder we found on Day 2 was just as good (better?) than it was the day before.

Like my mother’s home-made lasagna, or the coveted last piece of pizza, leftovers re-served cold can be even better than when they were first served up fresh.

But surely, that kind of hand-me-down fortune can’t continue for a second day. Maybe it was the frigid overnight temperatures, or that last two inches of fresh snow that changed the slopes, or maybe it was just a shift in my perspective, but I couldn’t find anything wrong with the fresh stashes in the trees today. (“Masses of stashes” says our friend, Loren Roberts.)

These guys didn’t hesitate to drop down this line, even though the entrance was pre-used.

And I couldn’t find anything unappetizing about this line, even though I wasn’t the first to test it out.

I guess that’s the whole point of the second-hand-me-down reuse/recycle movement. Nothing of value need go to waste simply because you weren’t the first one to use it. Sometimes a great ‘vintage’ find is just as good as the latest thing.

– April