Standing in awe, cold air permeated through my hair. The smell of fresh and mint pine scent complimented the beautiful view of the wilderness. With my boots wedged in the snow, a shiver came over my body. This was a place of peacefulness and tranquility. Never before had I been so close with nature.
Facing the north was the vast forest. To the left and right, only the crystal white snow was visible. While looking up, I caught a glimpse of the old ski lift with fresh blue paint on it, the single tarnished thing in this whole oasis, that moment I knew that was my passport to this great adventure. All that could be heard was the sweet chirping of birds nestled up in the tree branches. I knew that this was a moment that I was always going to remember.
As I stood admiring the clear blue sky and the world around me, I was interrupted by my friends calling me, "Come on, let's go!" They were not rookies.
A chairlift in Bad Hofgastein, Austria
Chair lift restraining bar holding a happy 6-year-...
English: Single chair from defunct Ski Lift No. 1,...They had experienced the sport of skiing and the atmosphere that surrounds it and were not as enthusiastic toward the surroundings as I was. To them it was just another Michigan ski hill that they had all been to. Their calls became louder, and more annoying. As I entered the Chalet where we had to rent our skies at the air was reminiscent of coffee and wood smoke with an old rustic cabin feel to it. We strapped up our skies and went outside
As we got ready to board the old chair lift with the new coat of fresh blue paint, I began to wonder why I did not start on the bunny hill and jump right on the chair lift maybe it was pear pressure or maybe it was adrenalin flowing through me but I was going up. When I turned to my friend Crag and asked him why I was going up the chair lift to the top of the hill on my first time he responded in a comforting voice that the hills at the top were the same as the ones at the bottom just longer. This comforting voice of lies was intended to make me have fewer nerves did the opposite it sent chills down my spine as I had wondered what I had got my self in to. He added with a smirk that is better to jump and fall than to never jump at all, that comment added to the chills going down my spine. As we reached the top he told me to put my feet down and just push off the chair lift. Then suddenly the chair lift jerked to a stop and I saw my friend fall off the chair lift when he had tried to get off, than the chair lift started up again and then it was my turn to get off the lift. I put my feet out and just pushed off and I was clear of the lift, one obstacle down, one vary large one to go I though as I approached the desired hill.
I stepped up to the edge of a great slope. The steepness of this colossal block of snow I stood upon was ever so frightening. The only way to go was down. I took a deep breath with much anxiety, you see for this was the first time I was faced with what I would call a suicide mission of some sort. In a heartbeat, the exhilarating feeling of going downhill on a pair of thin skies took over. The breeze rushed through my hair as I flew vigorously down the hill. Veering left and right, dodging people, trees, and racing with my friends at the same time was truly an amazing feeling, although dangerous one at that. Flying down a slope at what felt like a hundred miles and hour, I felt as if I could leap up and fly away just like an eagle taking off of flight. Skiing was indeed an incredible feeling, but a short lived one at that.
I reached the midpoint of the hill and decided to get a little over confident and went on the rough unskied side of the run where all my friends were and just like getting out side of the wake in water skiing the road was rougher... a lot rougher. My whole body began to shake and then smack I hit a large rut that was hidden by fresh powder. I was down by what felt like a knock out blow from a boxer. I laid there in the cold as the wet snow that had consumed my body when I had fallen down. My friends rushed over to see if I was ok I told them that physically I was ok but my ego and confidence had taken a massive blow. I got up and brushed off the snow then proceeded to slowly ski down the last bit of the hill.
When I reached the bottom of the hill, Craig told me that maybe I should set the next one out. I started to agree with him but then I thought to my self I did not pay all this money to come here and sit at the bottom of the hill watch my friends ski the rest of the day, no I was going to get back up on that chair lift and I was going to do it again and again until I got it right because the only way to get better was to keep falling and falling is what I did over and over again. Every time I fell I got back up and tried again, after a while I started to get better and not fall as much. Now I can ski with no problem but that first day taught me that when life gets you down to get up and push back even harder.
Chair lift over a ski slope at Blue Knob State Par...
Patriyata Chair Lift
English: Glencoe Ski Centre chair lift