Allison pushes off and leads the way down. I follow. Cooper stays back with Katy, which means it’s really just me trailing behind Allison like a very overdressed shadow while those two figure out the fundamentals of standing.
I pause at the edge of the deck.
The slope drops away in front of me, wide and white and groomed smooth, pine trees lining both sides. It looked manageable from inside the lodge. Looked like something a person could do. Out here it looks significantly steeper.
“Relax,” Allison says. “It’s a beginner run.”
Easy for her to say.
I shift awkwardly in the boots, still not used to the stiffness of them, and the skis are worse — long and heavy and strapped to my feet in a way that makes every step feel like I’m about to trip and die.
Why did I agree to this again? Righ
