As much as I have overstated how I love warm weather for outdoor activities, there is one thing I look forward to that only the winter can give me: skiing.  I typically cannot stand the cold.  I have poor circulation to my hands and feet and they go numb pretty easily, so I definitely consider myself the warm weather type.  Surprisingly, I somehow still love skiing.

When I was in fifth grade, my best friend Katie Daniels and her family brought me along for a weekend ski trip.  They have a condo in Hidden Valley which isn’t too far from where we live.  They suited me up in hand-me-down skis, boots, poles, and a helmet and took me out to the bunny hill for my first time ever skiing.  At first, the feeling was rather scary.  Feeling like you’re accelerating out of control is frightening no matter how small the slope.  Thanks to Katie’s patience, I eventually learned to stop and turn, so my confidence starting to pick up.  Despite the struggles of that first weekend, I enjoyed skiing enough to keep going on ski trips with the Daniels.

As I slowly improved, Katie took me on increasingly difficult slopes.  When I was capable of more precise turning and maneuvering, we gravitated towards the wooded slopes called glades.  These became our very favorite routes.  The trails are usually only one person wide and twist and turn between the trees.  I loved the trails because the hills were not quite as steep, but the constant turns, bumps, and ramps kept you on your toes.  Losing focus would result in crashing into a tree, so the rides were definitely an adrenaline rush.

Even now the glades are my very favorite trails to ski.  The rush of split second decision making around every bend to avoid hitting a tree makes other wide open slopes feel boring to me.  I am so excited for this ski season to come around and really hoping for a good snowy one!

I eventually got my whole family into skiing!