I fell in love with snow skiing despite the challenging experiences I had during my first two times on the slopes. I was initially hesitant to try skiing at the age of fifteen, but my family persuaded me to go on a skiing trip to Apex during Christmas. I had no proper skiing equipment, so my aunt gave me her old lace ski boots and cable bindings skis. On the slopes, I struggled to figure out what to do and kept wiping out, even colliding with another skier.
I rode in my uncle's Chevy Station wagon on the way home. The winding steep one lane road was a sheet of ice. Coming around a corner, we began to slide. My uncle could not stop the slide, and as we neared the cliff, he yelled, “Hang on! We are going over!” Sure enough, we flew straight off the road and plunged about 30-40 feet down. Fortunately, we plowed nose-first into the snow. No one was hurt.
A wrecker was called from town, and an hour later, a small pickup-size wrecker showed up. It did not have enough weight to pull us up. So another wrecker was called. This time, a sizeable semi-truck wrecker showed up, but the cable broke as it was hauling up the station wagon. So they had to go to town to get a new one. By the time I got home, I was frozen and starved.
Despite my first skiing experience, I decided to give it another try with my brother at Mount Hood Meadows. With our skis on, my brother directed me to the Blue chair. Being a Sunday, the loading line snaked back and forth for what seemed like a mile. It took us over an hour to find ourselves next in line for the chairlift. I was on the inside as we moved into position. Looking over my left shoulder, I reached the chair when my brother bumped me. I lost my balance as the chair arm hit me on my bottom. My left ski shot outward, and my right went under the chair. I twisted around and grabbed the chair to pull myself up as I was being dragged along. My brother sat down, reached over, grabbed me by the coat, and started to pull me up. Just then, the chair cleared the snow, and I could start pulling myself up. I still need my brother's help, but all of a sudden, he let go. I fell 10-12 feet down in a mess of twisted skis and pulls. I will never forget the roar of my brother’s laughter as he continued up the hill. The concerned chairlift monitor peering over the edge, asked if I was OK. He told me I could come around and get on. Embarrassing.
To make matters worse, when I finally got to the top of the lift, my brother promptly took me down a black diamond run called the Face. I literally tumbled and slid down the run on my face. Though my first two skiing experiences were unpleasant, I persevered and eventually fell in love with the sport. It taught me the importance of persistence and determination, and I continue skiing whenever possible. Thomas Edison said, "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."