Just yesterday, we had our very first "Shabbat on the Slopes." About 40 of us met on Snowmass, outside Gwyn's High Alpine, at 12:30 pm for a short service. We began by singing Mah Tovu, a text spoken by Balaam, a non-Israelite prophet who was asked to curse the Israelites, but who instead blessed them. He looks down from a mountaintop and is overtaken by the beauty of their tents below. How well we could relate when marveling at the views from Snowmass! We then sang the words "Elohai n'shama shenatata bi, t'horah hi," my God the soul you have given me is pure. The word n'shama can mean "soul" and also "breath" and as we sang, we breathed in the crisp mountain air. Somehow, singing these prayers together on the mountain made me appreciate the whole day of skiing in a new way.
After skiing for a few hours, about 25 of us met up at The Sweet Life at the Snowmass Base Village at 3:15 pm for a brief havdalah ceremony to celebrate the end of Shabbat. We all talked about what we're looking forward to in the next week -- most people have visitors in town and are excited to spend time with them!
If you made it to our first Shabbat on the Slopes, thanks for coming! If you didn't make it, we hope to see you at the next one. We will be having services on all the mountains (rotating locations) twice a month starting in January and going through April. Stay tuned for details!
