When I arrived and began my ski lessons, my initial confidence dwindled as I realised it was actually harder than I anticipated and my dream of whizzing past people was actually, in reality, a slow sluggish shuffle across a flat bit of land at the bottom of the hill.
After a few days I eventually got into the ski off things and sure enough I was catching the ski lifts and tackling the red runs that suited amateurs like me perfectly! My ski instructor however was a tad adventurous as he was like the action man of the slopes, showing off his tricks and skills as he taught us simple things such as stopping. This is where I should probably mention that I definitely blame him for my disastrous day that took me out of my comfort zone entirely and got me into a bit of a pickle ….
So my enthusiastic instructor decided on our last day to take us up to the top of the mountain on the chair lift to finish the holiday off with some fantastic views and an amazing ski down to the bottom. Being drawn in by his enthusiasm, a small group decided to head up and make the most of the opportunity (the others decided to head to the pub, something I now regret not doing!)
As we were enjoying the ride on the chair lift, my friend and I decided it would be a clever idea to pretend to have a sword fight mid air with our ski poles as you do! Needless to say one of us was bound to be the loser and I guess that was definitely me seeing as not only did I loose my ski beanie during the stupidity, but one of my ski poles also plummeted to the ground and ended up stuck in the deep snow that lay off piste.
After insisting endlessly that I would just pay to replace the ski pole, my ski instructor thought we could have a little adventure and go on a ‘ski pole’ rescue mission, much to everyone’s disapproval. Apart from having to slide on my bum half way down the mountain as the slope was almost vertical, we also had to drag our tired bodies through thick deep snow on the flatter areas and needless to say I was very unpopular within our group by this point.
Eventually after petrifyingly making our way down to rescue the ‘sword in the snow’, we felt a massive sense of accomplishment and for a split second everyone had a big smile on their face! This didn’t last very long however as our instructor then turned and pointed to the only route that would get us back safe and sound at the bottom of the mountain.
Laid in front of us was a ravine that was over 12ft deep and literally was in the form of a letter U! Yes, the sides were really that steep! He then went on to tell us that if we picked up enough speed and judged the distance right we would theoretically just dip in and swoosh up the other side. After watching the action man take the lead and succeeding in proving his theory, I built up enough confidence and speed to tackle that ravine head on! And that is literally what I did …. Smack! Having missed the dip entirely I just flew through the air like a penguin mid panic attack and belted straight into the side of the crevasse with half my skis wedge into the snow and my head frozen into the big dint I had just made.
Having regained my consciousness, I eased my skis out of the big wall of snow and just dropped into the bottom of the ditch and decided that my adventure would end there. When I eventually got rescued and hauled out of the ravine, made it back to the resort in sort of one piece and finished dying with embarrassment, I then realised that after all that I never even rescued that ski pole and still had to pay the fine.
So the moral of the story is always part with your money, if not your dignity could be lost forever! But that’s up to you.
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