It is skiing’s curse to be overburdened by gear, and it doesn’t take much to turn yourself into a junk show. How many times have you raced off the top of a chair, skated to the start of a booter, and dropped your goggles in the pow or a glove or your helmet, only to be passed by the merciless as you try to get your act together? Never? Well, I have.

There’s just so much that can go wrong. You lash you skis wrong to your pack and they bang against your heels. You a-frame them and they catch a branch or gust in the wind. You throw them over a shoulder and trip over the other pole. I’ve done it all.

Yes, there’s so much that can go wrong. But when everything goes right, it feels like magic: your kit tight, your rhythm perfect, the day unfolding as if ordained.

Photo” Stina Jakobsson and Sebastian Garhammer hiking in Zürs am Arlberg, Austria, by Mattias Fredriksson See more from Mattias here.