“Skiing is just a series of continuous recoveriesâ€. This was shouted on the lift at Breckenridge, Colorado as we were going up to the top watching a skier fly over a hill and almost (almost being the operative word) eating a ton of snow.
I have never skied in Colorado. I learned how to ski 3 years ago in Jackson, Wy with my husband, Bob. For the past 2 years, we have tried to go to places that would be more challenging for me to grow my skills. We’ve skied at Killington, Vermont, Wisp, Maryland, Jackson, Wyoming, and the small hills in PA that they call “ski mountainsâ€, lol!
We traveled for Valentine’s Day to Breckenridge, Colorado because I have never been outside of Denver’s airport (ironically where I am sitting right now writing this post). The elevation in Colorado is much higher that what we are used to, so breathing itself was challenging at first. Now add on a strenuous sport. The gondola takes you to the base of the mountain and from there you can take a series of lifts to the top. The first day we played it easy. We only went up 2 lifts on Peak 7. (There are a total of 5 peaks in this massive resort).
On day 2, I decided I wanted to push myself to the advanced slopes at the top of peak 7. To gain access to this peak, you have to take a lift, ski down a slope to another lift then take another lift (total of 3) to get to the top. As we were getting on the third lift (to heaven it seemed like), I read a sign that basically said you could die on this terrain and to take the lift at your own risk. It stated that the terrain was subject to avalanches. I believe this to be true because I heard several explosions from ski patrol trying to cause controlled avalanches to make it safer for us to ski. (Kind of crazy right?). When we got off the lift it was so cold and windy. I had second thoughts, but the thing is, there is only one way back down once you get off the lift… and that’s to ski it. So I decided to not have any regrets, turn on some music in my earphones (for those who want to know what I was listening to, it was “black eyes†by Bradley Cooper from “A Star Is Bornâ€. There is just something about the electric guitar and drums in that song that make me feel invincible. Bob skied it first so he could video me coming down (no pressure right?)….So I took a few deep breaths and just let myself fly maneuvering around moguls and hoping for the best. I survived it with no regrets. It is pretty much how I take on every challenge in my life….to the fullest and to ensure that I have no regrets when I finish.
NEXT STOP: JACKSON IN MARCH
What do you challenge yourself with?
XOXO,
Jamie
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