Imagine flying off a cliff, arms spread wide with ski poles in your hand. Being able to look around and be the height of some trees. Being able to look far away and see white, fluffy snow all around. You know this is being watched by friends so you will have proof that it happened. Then, all of a sudden, you drop, all of your sights to see and everything else, just gone but you know it was a great experience. That’s what happened to me over winter break.

Every year I go skiing in Squaw Valley, California. My family and my grandparents and my cousins own a couple of condos at a lodge right next to the mountains. We have a perfect view of the mountain. After I finish my skiing for the day I sit down at my bed and watch the night skiers ski under the night lights and race down the mountain at speeds I don’t even go at, they do all sorts of tricks like turning around and skiing backwards. Also, skiing in general is a bunch of fun and there are numerous amounts of activities to do. You can go bungy jumping on trampolines and you could also go to a restaurant. Or you can ski down one of the 3 ski areas that are 15 minutes away from each other.

There are many different types of skiers. There are speed skiers that race down mountains at superb speeds. There are trick skiers that  can do numerous sorts of tricks in the terrain park that include grinding on rails. There are also terrain skiers that do skiing as a sport in a certain terrain, for example some skiers in the Olympics train to ski in moguled terrains. Last but not least there are skiers who just try everything and ski for the fun of it. I am definitely a kind of skier that does everything and that skis for the fun of it. For example every year I try to progress as a skier in a certain area of skill. I have accomplished many feats including going on a run that is called KT-22, that is the hardest mountain to ski in in the Squaw Valley area.

I was skiing down a moguled terrain when suddenly, a skier comes flying right above me as I ski down the mountain. I immediately look up to see where he came from and I see a giant cliff. Then another person comes from the cliff.  I look at their faces and they look like they are having the most fun anyone could have while skiing. I then come to a recognition in my head, that is the only thing I have not tried as a skier. I then think to myself, “ I am definitely going to accomplish that feat this year.”

Later in the day I go skiing with my uncle. We are going on some black diamonds (the second hardest type of skiing terrain).  The whole day I had been skiing with my younger cousins and I had found no cliffs that looked decent enough for me to go off of. I had my eyes peeled and as I was scanning the ski run I see it. Right as I am skiing by it I see a 7 foot cliff that would look so fun to go off of. I was too far away currently to go off it so I will have to do the run again if I want a chance at going on it.

As we were getting a ride up the chairlift I projected my voice so my uncle could hear one chair away from me and I said, “You see that cliff over there, I am going to go off that on this next run”. He nods in recognition and then I wait for him once I had made it to the top of the ski run. We were up at the top of the run and immediately I just went flying down the run. I had to slow down as I approached the cliff. I was about 30 feet away when I saw the cliff and I stopped. I wanted to make sure I planned the route just right so I didn’t miss it. Then I took off, I wanted to have maximum fun so I tried to build up as much speed as I could. Then I came upon the cliff and I just kept on skiing. I angled my skis upward a little bit and then I flew off the cliff, I could see for miles around, suddenly I dropped and I came to the ground and rolled over, I used the momentum to pick myself back up and I kept on skiing all in one swift motion.

 About half an hour later, I was skiing down a run called squaw 6, it is a hidden run that goes through some powder snow in trees, and I saw a cliff. I know I could already jump off cliffs and I thought to myself, “I am a pro at this and I can go off this”. I was not able to tell how high it was and I just kept on skiing. I was skiing and I just flew right off as if I was still skiing, except on air. This was an amazing feeling, if I was near some trees, I would’ve been high enough to touch them. My poles were outstretched and I felt like a leaf. Just lightly falling through the air. Yet again, I dropped and I rested on the ground safely and just continued to ski.

Later that day I went down a run that takes you all the way down the mountain. I saw another snow cliff and I went off that. When I got all the way down the mountain I went inside my condo. Then I told my grandfather about the cliffs that I went off of. He said, “You were skiing today with a pro, he used to go off cliffs all the time when he was your age and he did it so much that he broke some pairs of skis”. I never had known that before and that made me realize how good of a skier he really is. I thought back on what I had accomplished that day and now know that I had accomplished something that a pretty good skier had accomplished at the same age as I was.