Hug Your Mountain

We arrived early on the bus from Bainbridge Island. The Crystal Mountain parking was already starting to fill up. Through the wind and driving snow, hundreds of skiers were arriving at the base of the giant mountain to enjoy several feet of new snow that had fallen at the tail end of last week's winter storm.

I had agreed to chaperone my son and nearly 20 other teenagers who take the ski bus to the large resort in the shadow of Mount Rainier every week. It was my turn to be the responsible adult, make sure the kids all got back on the bus and be there in case of an emergency.

I hadn't been to...