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Of everything that I am involved in, be it school, sports or activities, the one thing that has stayed constant in my life is skiing. It is an ongoing love affair for me, and it truly dominates every aspect of my life in a very positive way. My obsession with skiing lasts year round, from the closing day of the ski resorts until the opening day six months later. Although I have always loved to ski, the first time that I skied powder snow was moment that I became addicted to skiing for life.
I have skied my entire life. My parents would take me every chance they could when I was young. Up until about age 11, this was not as often as I would have liked. My family would go twice a month or so, going to either Alta or Brighton resorts. Because of the nature of my family, we would always go on sunny days, so as to not be bothered by wind, cold, and falling snow. One Friday in mid-January, my mother and I planned to go skiing at Alta ski resort the next day. When we woke up, we were greeted by a blanket of new snow, and more accumulating every hour as it fell from the sky. I had my heart set on skiing that day, so despite the conditions, my mother and I decided to break the status quo and go storm skiing. The drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon was treacherous. All of the new snow made for some very slow progress. As we were ascending the canyon, I couldn’t help but notice all the other cars that were driving up the canyon. It seemed strange to me that all these people would want to go skiing in the storm. In hindsight, I should have realized that the storm, the snowfall, and the amount of people going skiing that day were related, but at the time I dismissed it. |
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When we finally arrived at Alta, we got out of the car, strapped our
boots on, and headed towards the ski lifts. As I was riding up the
lift, getting battered by wind and snow, I wished that I was back in
bed where it was warm. When I got off the lift, my only goal was to
make it down to the bottom of the lift before I got blown off the
mountain by the wind or contracted hypothermia. When I pushed off, I immediately noticed a difference in the snow. There was no scratching sound of my metal ski edges on cold, hard snow. There was an entirely different feeling. It was almost as if i couldn’t feel my skis at all on the snow. It felt like I was flying. This new feeling of weightless floating made me forget about how cold I was. Now I had a new goal. To ski as much of this light, fluffy snow as I could. By the time I got to the bottom, I was having the time of my life. Every run was amazing. The feeling of floating on the snow captured me that day. It was then that I realized I wanted to continue skiing for the rest of my life. I learned an incredibly valuable lesson that day. Always try new things, because if you pass up an opportunity, you will never know if you should have taken it. The great hockey player Wayne Gretzky paraphrased this best: “You miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take”. From that day skiing at Alta, my life changed forever. |
Lacrosse I Rowing I Skiing I Soccer I Softball I Swimming I Tennis I Track and Field
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To Ski is to be Free by Ross Caravati. For me, the one thing that really helps me forget all about school, homework and the stress of everyday high school life, is to go up to the mountains with the greatest snow on earth and carve a trail through the freshly laid powder.
Something bigger By Lexi Hanks. Skiing is the drive for everything I do. It makes me the person I am today, a person I’m proud of. It’s such a big part of my life.