I am carrying my snowboard up a snowy slope on a small but steep hill, similar to some of those
we saw today in the Okanogan Highlands. The snow isn't very deep; underneath it is low Alpine
vegetation with scattered granite cobbles, reminiscent of Snoqualmie Mountain. I use my foot
to try to kick some snow over a bare spot and I use a stick to beat down some vegetation
protruding above the snow. Ed is with me but I don't interact with him or even clearly see him
at any point during the dream.
Gaining the summit, an elongated dome only about ten feet wide with very steep sides, I suddenly
feel anxious that I might fall off so I start snowboarding down the way I came up. The snow is
hardpacked and smooth so my board skids some but I manage the descent easily with just a bit of
difficulty pulling out of heelside turns. After just five or six turns I am off the steep pitch and
out on a broad gentle ski slope. Feeling a little concern that Ed might have difficulty with the
steep pitch I look back and see that he has descended it successfully.
At first glance it is difficult to derive much meaning of this dream. Earlier during the day
I was trying to imagine what it would be like to cross country ski or snowboard the snowy hillsides
around us in the Highlands. The dream seems to be just a continuation of that line of thought,
and I don't find any new associations with symbols such as the snow and the snowboard.
I do not recall any prior dreams about Ed, and his presence in this one seems odd. As far as I know
Ed has never been snowboarding; he is afraid of steep slopes and dislikes cold weather. One theory
of dreaming holds that people who appear only vaguely in a dream actually represent some part of the
self while people who appear clearly in a dream probably represent themselves. Based on that, Ed
probably embodies the fears I felt in the dream, and perhaps also fears I did not feel. Fear was
almost always part of the experience of backcountry snowboarding - fear of actual hazards such as
avalanche along with fear that my skills might not be up to the challenge ahead. What is that
challenge ahead in real life? Perhaps the challenge of dying. The dream seems to indicate some level
of confidence that when that time comes, I will be able to do it.