Wipe Out- Scene of Struggle piece by Meredith Scott

Wipe Out

Every winter break my family takes a ski trip to Colorado, where I was born. I am always both excited and nervous. I’m excited to be back skiing again. But the nerves come from the fact that I only ski once a year, so I would not consider myself a professional. I am a decent skier, but always rusty the first day I am back on the mountain.

As usual we decided to go to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Steamboat has been our go to ski spot for a few years now and it’s starting to feel like a second home. You can always count on fluffy powder in Steamboat all winter long, making it ideal for skiing.

Steamboat is known for its tree skiing. They have some of the best tree skiing in the world. The runs vary from green (easy) to double black diamond (extremely difficult). I have always liked a challenge, so when my younger brother says, “Dad! Let’s go down the double black diamond!” I play along like I really want to go too, “Yeah!” I say, even though I am terrified.

We exit off the chair lift and push ourselves along the hard packed snow to the opening of the run. It’s called Deso’s Descent with an “E” in one diamond and an “X” in the other. The “EX” stands for extreme terrain. Which means there are tons of trees and exposed boulders could pop up on the run. I am getting more nervous by the second. My brother dives into the inches of fresh powder and soon after my dad follows. Not wanting to get left behind I force myself to go. You can tell only a few people have had the courage to go down the run because there are barely any ski or snowboard tracks.

As I go down I think to myself “I got this!”. Then I start to make “S”’s down the mountain side. Everything is going well. I stop to rest for a minute and look down the mountain trying to mentally carve out my next path. After taking a short break I start my turns again. I try to speed up and make a sharp turn when I catch my ski on a bush hidden under the inches of powder. My ski pops off and I lose my balance and tumble down the mountain. Cold snow burns my face and is shoved up the sleeves of my coat. My dad and brother are too far ahead to help me. I feel tears start to swell up in my eyes. I don’t know how I’m going to hike up the steep mountain to get my other ski.

Then I look up and see a man coming down. He grabs my ski and brings it down to me. “Are you okay?” he asks. “Yes. Thank you so much for getting my ski!” I reply, my ski goggles hiding my tears. He zips off down the mountain. I finally get myself up and struggle to pop my ski back on. Once it’s on I slowly make my way to my family. My brother asks, “How was the wipe out?” laughing at me. My dad apologizes for getting too far ahead to help me. Then my brother fly’s off and I follow, with my dad as the caboose this time.

Steamboat tree skiing

My brother getting ready to go down the mountain

My mom, me, my dad, my sister, and my brother (from left to right) skiing on Christmas day