I used to go skiing a lot until my knees got too wobbly with advancing age. Now I tie flies or even go winter trout fishing instead. That inclination was substantially reinforced by some news this week from Colorado.
Some poor guy was skiing at Vail when he got tangled up and
dumped by a chairlift seat. As reported on The Smoking Gun website, he was left not just hanging upside down from
the lift, but also with his pants pulled down around his ankles...bare-assed in the wind.
Of the many accidents I've suffered while fishing, hanging
upside down and naked has not been among them. There's some pretty
good winter trout action available not far from Vail, which obviously
is what this guy should have been doing instead of skiing. He might
get cold and wet in the river, but at least he'd be able to keep his
pants on.
John Merwin lives in Vermont, where, when he's not tying flies, building lures, or digging up worms with his backhoe, he writes the monthly Fishing Column for Field & Stream magazine.