“I’m gonna beat you!” 

I challenged my sister as we hopped off the ski lift, and with all of our gear, we waddled over to the top of the next slope. We counted down together and then began to race down the slopes. 

I felt a burst of energy and excitement hit me. My heart began to beat faster and faster as I raced down the mountain as fast as I could. I avoided trees, rocks, and any obstacles that could have gotten in the way of beating my sister. She was catching up to me as we were nearing halfway, and looking back at her caused me to lose my balance. I wobbled side to side a little bit, but I crouched down and sped down the rest of the mountain. I finally got to the bottom, just barely beating her. A rush of adrenaline shot through my body, which reminded me why I loved to ski so much. 

“I almost fell and I still beat you.”

“Whatever, I don’t want to hear it. I’ll beat you next time.”

We went back up the mountain and down again what felt like a million more times. We could barely feel our feet, and we thought we were about to get hypothermia from the combination of the frigid air and wet snow. A gust of wind blew in, and snow started to fall from the sky. We decided that now was the perfect time to take a break and get some lunch. 

My sister sat down and slouched in her chair, dropping her skis and goggles right next to her. 

Sitting in the restaurant, I smelled the familiar aroma of warm soup and got even more hungry. As we sat and ordered our food and talked about the fun we were having, I realized how lucky I was to be able to spend this time with my sister doing something we both loved. The adrenaline, the competition, and the cold were all things that I could find in Colorado while skiing that I couldn’t find as easily at home. 

With our legs sore and our we hopped back on the ski lift and did the same thing that we had done that morning. We went up and down the mountains again and again and again. It never got old, but we grew cold and tired and decided that now was a good time to head back to the house. We gathered our things and said our goodbyes, knowing that we would be back tomorrow.   

Getting back to the house, I stomped my snow boots to shake any remaining snow off. We ripped our warm jackets off and ran upstairs to take warm showers. Getting out of the shower, I grabbed a warm towel and sat on the couch, excited to get ready for dinner and do it all again tomorrow.