Trapped in Skiers Paradise

  “Hurry up slowpoke!! We are going to be late for the plane if your gonna walk this slowly!” my sister Emilie yelled at me from across the terminal.  I tried to catch up with my super athletic sister by running as fast as I could. But I knew it was no use. Everything was too slow for her. I arrived at the huge line behind my sister huffing and puffing.  I was very exhausted from running so much to catch up to her.

“Finally you’re here! I’ve been waiting so long for you. We’re about to board!” grumbled Emilie. I was too tired and excited to listen.

“We’re going to Alaska!” was all I could think or say. All I wanted was to go skiing. We go skiing every couple months or so. I’ve gotten really good and its the only sport I’m better than my sister at. As we went through the narrow pathway into the plane, the soft hum of familiar sound of the airplane shouted a greeting to me.

“Hello Michael, Emilie” my parents greeted as we boarded the plane. Leave it to our parents to get the first class treatment by passing security and getting on the plane in a jiffy. Although my parents are going to Alaska on a business trip, I’m still really pumped to go. My parents are the CEOs of a company which builds malls by tearing down existing environment on the property. After getting situated in my seat and prepared for the 7 hour flight, I put on my headphones and started to watch the movie “Ice Age 3”as we began to take off. Two hours into the flight, I began to feel a bit tired and I went to sleep.

         “Finally we’re here!” Emilie said as she began to do extreme stretches that looked painful. After getting our baggages, we stepped out into the freezing Alaskan air.

“OH MY!! Its so cold,” Mom shrieked. Calling over a taxi, we all quickly piled into the heated up car.

“Take us to the Hyatt Regency please,” my dad ordered.

“Right away sir,” the driver replied.  Driving to the hotel took ages. There was snow everywhere so it took about an hour to get to the hotel. When we arrived at the warm and magnificent hotel, I collapsed on to one of the couches and waited for our room.

“Get up Michael,” I heard my dad calling about 5 minutes later. Reluctantly I struggled up and followed my family to the elevator. One, two, three, and so on until we reached the 21st floor. Walked out the cramped elevator, we came to room 2169 and my dad inserted the key card for the room. The noise of the soft buzz from the door welcomed me and I ran in.

“I’m so tired!” I mumbled as I jumped on the bed. As I drifted off to sleep, I could see my sister mocking me while my parents chatted quietly.

         

The next day, I  arose at 6 am and groaned, “I hate jetlag!” Climbing out the soft welcoming bed, I looked around and surveyed the room. My parents had got us a very beautiful suite with a balcony. Seeing that my sister and parents were still sound asleep, I walked around putting my clothes and items in the drawers.  I thought of all the things I could do. Getting up, I took a relaxing shower that took care of all my drowsiness. After the shower, I went to a different room and watched TV. Browsing the channels, I stopped and watched National Geographic: Walking on Ice.

At 7:30am, we were all up and had the hotel’s bland, typical breakfast of sausages and eggs.

“Can I go to ski up at the hills?” I asked.

“Sure go ahead. Just make sure you don’t fall or get hurt.” Mom warned.

“We are going to be out so we may not come back until tomorrow morning because of a business deal.” my parents said.

“Oh, oh! Can I go?” my sister asked. “He’s fifteen and he can take care of himself.”

“Sure why not? Just be back at the hotel no matter what.” replied my parents.

After saying goodbye, I dashed out of the room. Grinning from ear to ear, I ran out the door of the hotel and out the large doors to the cool air of Alaska. Walking over to the ski rack, I picked out a size 9 and some poles.

“Going up?” the manager of the ski lift asked. Nodding I tried to walk ahead but he stops me midway. “We are gonna be closing after today, so get all your skiing done,” he said.

“Okay sure”. Going up the ski lift was so fun. I could see the amazing view of Anchorage, Alaska. When I got up to the top, I jumped off the lift and hobbled over to the hill.

         With one way down the hill, I took a deep breath. Making sure my ski straps were tight, I took a last look at the beautiful white scenery around me.  I thought of my parents saying to not fall or get hurt and I blocked it out. I needed to stay focused. Then I push off. Down, down, down I go. The slope is long, steep, and powdery. As I go down, I spot a little patch of fluff. Just what I needed to make my plunge look even cooler than it already is. Looking behind me to see if anybody was stupid enough to go down from this height.

“Nope! Nobody.” I thought to myself. I go to a roller while bending my knees. Taking a deep breath, I flew over the powdered white snow fifty plus miles per hour and I leaped off the fluff. Flying through the air, everything slowed down. My feet were up in the air and my poles under my armpits. Seems like paradise, but soon, everything started going wrong. My foot caught on an unseen object hidden under the snow and I fell. The whiteness of the snow, the blackness of my mind, and the feeling of my body betraying me. Finally little by little, the pain caught up to me.

All I could feel was the thought of my parents saying to me, “Don’t fall or get hurt.” playing over and over to me inside my head. I wake up some time later. It was dark and cold; I couldn’t feel an inch of my body. Only my consciousness. Looking around, I see one ski a hike up the entire mountain, and the other ski just a little bit over to my left. Groaning, I tried to get up. No, my body kept rejecting me. The reason of the distance between each ski was probably from clipping a rock hidden in the snow. If I had not looked back, I would have maybe noticed it. The thought dawns on me that there will be nobody to come save me. Not one person will know that I am lost until tomorrow morning. The thought of me not being able to move on the freezing snow and my parents and sister crying over my death scared me. Whether I die of pain, hypothermia, or disease, I know my hours may be numbered.

“I will not die like this!” thinking to myself. Pushing with all my strength, I got up onto my knees. It’s a start. At least now I have made up my mind. Gathering up all my energy, all my willpower, I only had one goal, survive!

As I laid there in the snow, I felt very serene yet very painful. The bottom of my body felt as if knives were jabbing me. Theoretically, I could survive for at least a week with the 2 Nutri-Grain bars in my backpack, and with all the snow to eat and drink. Testing my legs, I found that I could move my legs. Slowly, I got up and hobbles over to grab the ski next to me. Once it was retrieved, I started my painful hike up the relentless mountain.

It felt like forever. All I knew was that it was light when I started, and now it’s dark. I’m just over half way to my other ski. I understand that my skis are the last measure and that my legs are too weak to support my weight if I tried to ski down the steep, long, and fast terrain, but I could always slide down on them. I was tired, but I really wanted to get them before I freeze. I climbed, all throughout the night I made my journey up the seemingly never ending slope of the mountain. Slowly, my knees crumpled from the pain and soreness and I faceplant on the snow.

Opened my eyes a couple hours later, light flooded my eyes. I looked around, the mountain was bathed in sunlight.

“Wow! What a beautiful morning,” I murmured.  The orange morning sun’s hues contrasted with the white snow and green trees around, Everything was perfect, except for the fact that I’m lost in the mountains with barely any food and that I was in pain.” Grumbling, I started to trudge up the mountain again. Thankfully, my legs were neither as weak nor as painful. My puffy jacket and snow clothes kept me from freezing all throughout the night. I will never complain to my mom when she bought me these fluffy, big jackets ever again. At the thought of my mother, my mood darkened and I trudged on. As I climb up the mountain tripping over rocks and slipping on chunks of ice, thinking how lucky I am to survive the night. I swear that if I ever get out of this predicament, I will always have an adult come with me. No matter how old I am, it’s always good to have another person come along. Climbing for what seemed like hours, I finally see it!

“THERE” I yelled. Whooping and yelling in happiness, I try to run to it. Bad choice. My legs were not fully healed. Crumpling down to my knees I crawled. My determination, my will all combined into one power to reach my ski. Finally, grabbed hold, I pulled. Pulling as hard as I can the ski won’t budge.

“OH MY GOD!!!” I bellow so loud that people all the way on the other side of the continent probably heard me. My ski had froze over.

“Ok” I took a deep breath of the cold air and calmed myself down.

Breaking the ice took time which I did not have. Thoughts flashed through my head and right there and then I found the answer.

“I need to make a fire,” I said as I looked around for wood. Gathering twigs, dry leaves that were not touched by snow I looked for things to build a fire. Finally, I found enough dry twigs and leaves to make little teepee and I started to blow. Blowing as hard as I could, I saw a little spark. Hope rose inside me, I kept blowing. Taking deep breaths, I started to smell smoke and and saw more sparks as little lights danced around.

Flames crackled, and I felt my body warming up and I started to feel much better. I hadn’t really realized how tired I was until the warmth of the fire spreaded over me and I felt really sleepy.

“Whatever. I can sleep. I’ll get it later.” I droned as I fell into a deep sleep forgetting about getting my ski….

Waking up in the absolute darkness a some time later, with the only the fire as light, I heard some growling sounds. Looking around, I saw a large mastiff step from the darkness.

         A wolf… Reacting quickly, I grabbed a large piece of wood and thrust it into the fire. The wood burned and caught on fire. Wielding it in front of me kept the growling wolf at bay, I held all fear down and I started to push the wolf back.

         “Get back,” swinging the wood I grabbed all my stuff. Bad choice. While kneeling down to get my stuff, I left and opening and the wolf saw it too. It lunged forward and reacting with lighting fast speed, I swung the flaming piece of wood up, knocking the wolf backward.

         “Ahooooooo!” the wolf howled in pain and began circling me again. No choice. I needed to find a way to get out of this predicament. If I run, the wolf could outrun me so thats not a solution. Maybe I could make it run away by scaring it off or by wounding it. All of a sudden, the wolfs ears pricked up and the wolf ran away whining.

         What in the world is going on!! Then I heard it too. A deep rumbling from the top of the mountain. Its rare but when it strikes it strikes very ferociously.

         “AVALANCHE!!” I yelled, threw down the wood, and I ran. Running as fast as I could trying to get out of the clusters of trees, I finally broke through. Just then I realized, I didn’t have the other ski!! Abandoning all hope, I clipped on the one ski and I put my other foot on the foot clipped to the ski. Pushing off, I used the one ski like a skateboard and I soar down the mountain with the piles of snow right on my tail. Going down, I stumbled and fell but I keep at it.



         “Ow, Ow, Ow.” stumbling down the mountain, I occasionally fell and scraped some part of my body. My head hit the ground but I kept falling. Everything was spinning around and was sure I’ve gotten a concussion.  Sliding down, I saw the same exact bit of snow that made me get into this whole predicament. Turning with me poles I neatly avoided the patch of stupid powder and I kept going down. Down, I went seeing the trees, snow as blurs.

         “Wait! What in the world” I began. CRASH!!! I felt myself knocking into a wall of fur, muscle and moistness. When I came to it, I saw that I had knocked into a wolf.

         “Is it the wolf from before? Who knew?” Pushing off again, I started to slide downward and I noticed the rumbling sound has become louder. Looking behind, I saw that huge chunks of ice, water, and snow all mixed together in one big earthly clump crashing behind me slowly gaining. Bad mistake again! My ski hits into a large rock and pain flashed through my ski leg. I fell. I knew everything was over. I don’t want it to be over. Why must life be so cruel. What have I done to deserve this. I don’t even know. All I knew is that I will die. My leg had broken, unable to move. Snow, ice, rocks rain down on me. I took a last look at the beautiful land around me. The beautiful white snow and the green pine of the trees. I thought about my family. Emilie, Mom, Dad. I thought about my friends back at school. My teachers, and even the hotel manager and the ski lift manager as well.

“I’m sorry. Goodbye to all of you.” I croak. Then darkness... I feel with every second, more and more weight bores down on me. It is cold. It hurts. I finally closed my eyes and I lost consciousness. I’m trapped in paradise. That was Michael’s last thought.