Greetings from Snowy Wisconsin!

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Last winter was my first time skiing. My aunt and uncle bought a new condo in Wisconsin in December and invited my family and I to stay with them for three days.  The adults planned to spend two days at a ski resort. The first day everyone would spend time learning how to ski and the second was a free day to take on any course we wanted to attempt. We had packed at least ten suit cases full of winter clothes; boots, sweatshirts, hats, gloves, socks, coats, scarves, and ski masks. My brother ended up sitting on a suit case because there wasn't enough room for the bags in my mom's five seat car. We were so excited and definitely weren't going to freeze on the slopes.

 

We planned to leave the afternoon of Saturday the 22nd and arrive around dinner time. The car ride wan't very long at all, about three hours. Most of the time spent in the car was watching movies I downloaded off Netflix or napping. When we arrived in Wisconsin, my family and I met up with my aunt and uncle's family at a small bowling alley for dinner and fun. 

 

The next morning we got up early and dressed in all of our winter clothes. We didn't realize it might cause problems until my aunt, uncle, three cousins, family, and I all tried to fit in a minivan. we were so squished in the car, it was impossible to buckle our seat belts. It was a very uncomfortable ride to the ski resort.

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When we arrived at the ski resort, the parking lot was already filling up with cars. You could see some of the slopes from the parking lot. They ranged from steep and tall to gradual short slopes. I immediately started to study the steep and tall ones which I later learned were called black diamond (based on their level of difficulty.) I knew I wasn't going to start on that advanced of a slope but I was eager to experience it. We checked in for ski school and was given our boots, skis, and poles. We were ready to learn how to ski!

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Ski school lasted for about an hour and my whole group went through the process. Our instructors were very kind and patient with every person. We learned how to walk with our skis, propel ourselves, move around obstacles, and stop ourselves. The first tiny bunny hill (easiest slope) I went down was even exhilarating, gliding over the snow in a short moment of time was such a different experience. 

Right after the hour of ski school my sister, mom, and I attempted an actual slope. We had to maneuver to get on a ski lift which was pretty difficult if you couldn't move quickly. The ride up was really cool, as the lift climbed higher and higher the view became more captivating. The snow glittered as the light bounced off it. I wasn't the best at skiing, I wiped out a ton the first day. My skis would go flying across the snow. It was really difficult for me to stop when I had gained a lot of speeding going down slopes.

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The second day I was ready to take on the black diamond. I got on all my equipment and headed straight for the ski lift with my mom. My heart was racing as the lift climbed higher than before. When we got off the lift the wind was blowing the snow so hard it was difficult to keep my eyes open. I made my way to the edge, all the people at the bottom looked like toy figurines. It was a very large and steep drop. After a few minutes of thinking about how I was going to ski down safely and getting too close to the edge, I ended up rolling down the black diamond. Luckily I was able to stop myself about half way. I grabbed my equipment that was flung in many directions, and skied safely to the bottom. I did it! I went down a black diamond (kinda).

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I really enjoyed my first ski trip even with all the unsuccessful runs. I hope everyone has the opportunity to take a trip to go skiing and experience how amazing and fun it can be. I hope to go again this winter and maybe this time I'll be able to make it down all the slopes successfully. 

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