My Ski Story..........

Hello Everyone,

Okay, so yesterday, I went skiing for the first time in my life, and something happened up on the mountain. Here's the story.......... =)

Since it was my first time skiing, I took a 2 hour lesson in the morning. We learned how to turn, stop and get on and off ski-lifts. (Getting off backfired on me later, I got off the chair to late and it swung around and knocked me over, and when I was awkwardly trying to get back up on my skis I got taken out by a snowboarder getting off the lift......). 

Anyway, after the lesson, Sydney, Jake, Dane and I all started skiing the green slopes. It was a lot of fun, but the runs were so short we spend more time on the lifts than actually skiing. So after a few hours of greens, we decided to try a blue run. The green runs were so easy, so we thought the blue would just be a little bit more of a challenge.

What and understatement. 'A little bit more of a challenge' is NOT the phrase for the run we went on.

After we rode up the ridiculously slow lift, I took one look at the run and started sweating. It was long, steep and icy. Plus the wind was blowing the snow around, so it was hard to see a times. We all started to go down, but I totally lost everything I had learned and done in the past several hours. I kept crashing because it was so steep, and sliding because of the ice.  After about five crash-and-slides I decided to give it up and walk down the slope. 

It took me a while to actually get my skis OFF, I had to find a spot where I had some traction so I wouldn't slide down the slope in the middle of taking them off. I finally got my skis situated and started the trek down when a lady stopped in front of me. She asked if I was okay, and I told her yeah, that I had just gotten into more than I could handle and I was gonna walk down. 

Well, she wouldn't stand for that. She told me her name was Samantha, and then she told me to put my skis back on that instant, and she was going to teach me how to get down a mountain I can't ski. I was like, "Okayyy....whatever." and put my skis back on. 

Samantha showed me how to cut my skis in the snow so I wouldn't keep sliding, and then we started snowplow turning down the slope. It was taking forever, so I finally asked her if I could just slide down. She said a bad word (one of many) and then told me no way, I was gonna learn how to get down a mountain I couldn't ski down if it took the rest of the day.

And it did. We slowplowed our way down the mountain for a while, me near tears every single time I got my tips crossed and face-planted, then slid crazily down the slope until she was able to stop me. She then decided I needed a break from snowplowing, so Samantha taught me how to "slide" parallel to the mountain. It was very slow, and it was killing my shins, but I didn't fall as much, and felt less like a five-year-old when doing that. (Crying in front of anyone makes me feel like a toddler). 

We finally got down the first big slope when I saw the best thing I'd ever seen---Dane hiking back up the slope to make sure I wasn't hurt or stuck.  I figured we were almost to the bottom at that point, so we told Dane it was okay, he could go back down, and we would be there in a few minutes.

WRONG!!

I came over the slope and saw that we weren't even HALFWAY DOWN. (At that moment I was about as mature as my chihuahua). Samantha told me not to worry, that this would go quicker, but I felt like plopping down right there and waiting for Ski Patrol. (Ski Patrol actually came for me later on.....). 

I'm pretty sure Samantha had been in the military or something, because she wouldn't let me stop. We started sliding some more, seemly making no progress to me. My blood-sugar was starting to drop--fast--so we had to stop a lot more. (Some of you know my blood-sugar is really weird, it drops at random times, and I start shaking until I have some protein or sugar). 

We slowly worked our way down, and I felt like shouting for joy when I saw the bottom of the run. A Ski-Patrol guy came by with a sled and asked if we needed a ride down. I was about to yell, "YES! Get me off of this mountain!" when Samantha told him that we didn't need it, and he snowboarded away. 

I think that was the worst temptation I have ever had to push someone down a hill. I wanted to get down to the bottom SO bad, and my only chance to get down without skiing was snowboarding away because of Samantha........ =P 

I was shaking so badly it was hard to stand up. Thankfully we only had a little bit more to slowplow before it was at my skiing level. I skied the rest of the way down and a worried Mrs. Duerksen met us at the bottom. She thanked Samantha for helping me, and helped me ski to the lodge and sit down where Sydney helped me get my equipment off. Dane gave me a power bar to get my blood sugar back up, but it took me a long time to stop shaking. 

We headed back to the Duerksen's house then, and Mrs. Duerksen feed us more food than I could eat. =) I had a fun day skiing, but next time I go, (and I will go again) I'm staying away from the blue slopes. Maybe after a few years of experience I can try again. =)

So, there's my first skiing adventure! Sorry it's so long. 

Do any of you have a good ski story? I'd love to hear them! =)

Have a great week, and Merry Christmas!!

Mikayla

-- The humble shall see their God at work for them. No wonder they will be so glad! All who seek for God shall live in joy. Psalm 69:32