Ski Trip Narrative

               Jason Rosensteel

Period 2 Senior Comp

Family Ski Trip

Over winter break, my family went on a ski trip to Snowshoe in West Virginia.  I had been looking forward to the trip ever since the fall when my dad planned it.  I hadn’t been skiing or snowboarding since third grade and it didn’t go very well.

  Me, my brother, and my dad skipped school on Valentine’s Day so we could go skiing at Mad River.  I had been snowboarding twice before, but since I was so young, I wasn’t all that good at it.  About halfway through the day I decided to try out a steeper, more difficult hill than I had ever done before.  I went speeding down the hill.  I lost control and fell. I put my arm out to break my fall and ended up breaking it. The ski patrol had to come help me get down the mountain and to the first aid station.  That was the end of my snowboarding “career”. This year however, I decided to give skiing a try.  To me, it seemed like it would be much easier to learn and a lot more safe.  I played ice hockey for 9 years and I figured some of the aspect of skating would translate into skiing.

It was supposed to be about a six hour drive to snowshoe but for us it took close to 8 hours.  Everything started out fine, that is, until my dad missed the exit that we were supposed to take.  Instead of turning around we pulled out the map and found a new route.  On the map the road looked like an interstate.  But in reality it was a narrow two lane, extremely windy road.  My sister and I had never felt more carsick in our lives.  We spent about 4 hours driving around mountains, through the forest, and in some of the poorest areas I have ever seen.  There weren’t many houses along the road, but the ones we saw were all run down and falling apart.  Except for one, as we were driving we passed an extremely large mansion.  It had multiple fountains in the front yard and up on the hill behind the house there was a large light display that read “Merry Christmas from the Murray’s” similar to the Hollywood sign.  The house was extremely out of place but still amazing. 

When we finally arrived at Snowshoe it was about 8:00 PM and we were extremely hungry.  We explored the village area for a restaurant that had a wait less than 2 hours, which was extremely difficult because there are only a few places to eat for the entire resort. While we were waiting for dinner, my brother, sister, and I went to look out over the mountain.  We walked up a large pile of snow to get a better view.  It was difficult to see anything because it was so dark but we could make out some of the trees that lined the trails.  On top of being dark it was also very cold, the wind was blowing snow around everywhere, just being out there for a matter of minutes made our faces numb. After dinner we went back to our condo and went to bed.  It had been an exciting and exhausting day.

The next morning we woke up to blue skis and an amazing view of the back of the mountain.  The beautiful weather added to my excitement as we got dressed and ready for our first day of skiing.  We left our condo at about 8:00 AM and hiked up to the village at the peak of the mountain.  We rented our equipment and hit the slopes.  Since I had never skied before, I started on the bunny hill.  I went down it a few times successfully and decided I wanted more. I wanted to try out a harder, steeper trail.  We started on the run “Hielser’s Way”. It was labeled as a green run so it wasn’t very difficult but it was still a bit of a challenge for me.  I made it down the mountain side without too much hassle.  I did fall once or twice, but I got right back up every time.  I continued to try increasingly difficult areas throughout the day. I even went down a blue trail one time, which for me was a big accomplishment. At the end of the day I had gotten the hang of skiing with a ”modified snowplow”, where you angle the front of your skis inward to help slow down, and I had even begun to learn “parallel skiing”, a slightly more advanced method for skiing and turning. I was definitely not a professional on skis after day one, but I was learning fast and progressing quickly.

On the second day, our last day, I was able to keep up with my brother who is by far the best skier/snowboarder in our family.  He and I spent most of day two together, while my parents and my sister stuck together on the easier runs.  My brother and I were all over the mountain that day.  We went on anything and everything no matter how easy or difficult.  We usually planned out our run on the lift to the top and then we would race down to the bottom.  We passed everyone we could, and went as fast as we could. We carved back and forth across the mountain, with the wind rushing across our faces, whipping back our coats.  My brother and I don’t get many opportunities to spend time together because he is in college and we don’t see each other very often. So it was really nice to get to bond with him like we used to when he lived at home. 

            We skied until about 3:00 PM, when we all agreed to meet back at the condo.  We got an early dinner together so my dad, my brother, and I could go night skiing at Silver Creek, the mountain next door.  There were shuttles that ran from Snowshoe to Silver Creek that were always entirely full of skiers and snowboarders.  It was obvious that a group of the riders were drunk; they were very loud, but also funny.  They unintentionally provided us all with entertainment on the ride over.

            Night skiing was a lot of fun, the lights on the mountain cause a lot of shadows that can be misleading and confusing. By the time we went night skiing, I had gotten pretty good at skiing; I didn’t fall a single time. Well, that is except for the time my ski fell off because it got caught in the snow when I was turning. I skied about 25 feet on one ski before I realized what had happened.  I forced myself to fall so I could walk back up the hill to get my ski. I don’t count that as a legitimate fall though because I had to do it on purpose.  

            We woke up the next morning and packed all our stuff so we could go home. It was a fun and exciting trip all and all. It was one of my favorite family vacations. I got to learn a new skill and spend quality time with my family.