A Snowy Thursday…

A long day of waiting and anticipation had begun on a snowy Thursday. Butterflies had been flying in my stomach all day as they do every Thursday during the winter season. It was almost my very last snowboard club event and I was excited to finally try some tricks that I had been thinking about doing the last few times but got too scared to follow through with them. As I looked out the window I admired how good the weather was for this exciting snowboarding trip. Most of the day snow appeared to be falling and covering the ground like as if it were a blanket. Little did I know it was not there was not only snow but there was freezing rain mixing into the snow. This mixture would not result in a good equation for me and my snowboarding expectations.

As we loaded the bus talk of how it snowed all day was the main conversation but no one has realized that it had rained during the day and late last night. I began to tell my friend about how excited I was to try my new tricks and they were all excited to see if I would finally do them. As we pulled up to Lost Valley I unloaded my things for the bus staring at the ski lift with excitement for some reason something felt at this time. As if just the air felt different and it felt a little darker than normal outside. I ignored the signs the earth was giving me. I put my things on and Lindsey and I headed to the lift and got on. All seemed to be going well and there was a nice layer of fresh powder covering the ground. As we got to the very top we decided for our first run that we should go big. I agreed and that I was going to try to jump a little but if there was any way I could. As we start to get to the main trail I felt that my board was not going over the ground as smoothly as it normally does but, nothing was going to stop me from snowboarding I was too excited. I began to go down the hill and my speed began to increase rapidly. I loved going fast and feeling the wind against my skin. Little did I know mother nature had different plans for me. Ahead of me a kid on skis fell and to move out of the way in the time I took a sharp right to the side and all of a sudden I saw the powder snow move beneath my feet to reveal a layer of ice like I had never seen. My board caught the edge of the ice and I fell back unlike normal and the next thing I saw was darkness. Everything was quiet for a minute. The earth seemed to stand still as my body slowly slipped down this long piece of ice. Then a gust of wind felt colder than normal and my eyes shot open to see my friend waiting in shock at the bottom of the hill. I got up struggling to stay up. I began to feel dizzy and my vision began to blur. It looked like static on an old tv. When I finally got to the bottom I knew something was very wrong.

The earth truly did do something and influence me that day that made me learn a huge lesson. I ended up going inside and getting tested for a concussion and could not even drive home. Time felt slowed and it seemed that when it began to snow again it was all in slow motion. Everything about me and the world around me seemed so off for a few days following the event. Now when I go snowboarding I am more observant to the weather from the day and the people around me. This year I hope that mother nature does not throw another event like that at me again.