The next morning, I was woken up early to go skiing. Clarke, Hannah, Ryder, and Jack all had snowboards, but I picked up some rental skis instead since that's what I was most familiar with. I hadn't skied in six years by then, so I honestly had no idea what I was doing. Clarke said he'd teach me, but he didn't teach me the way I thought he would. 

While Hannah and Ryder went to go snowboarding on a black diamond, Clarke took me and Jack on a moderate ski course. Unlike my dad, Clarke just gave me some ski poles and stuck me on the lift next to him, rather than making sure I knew I was doing on the bunny hill without poles before taking me up the mountain. All Clarke said to me on the ski lift was, "Remember! Use the pizza position to stop, and straighten your skis out to go, and never cross your skis. If you cross your skis, you'll skid down the mountain on your face! Also, to turn, lean left or right, but don't lean too hard or else you'll run into a tree! And make sure you put your skis in the pizza position while you're still on the mountain, or else you'll launch yourself into the parking lot! You understand?"

I just stared at him, slack-jawed. 

"Good!" Clarke nodded, "Don't worry. I'll be close by. It's not like I'm throwing you to the wolves yet!" 

We got off the ski lift, and I immediately forgot all of Clarke's instructions. I stopped just at the crest of the mountain and gazed down below. It was really busy and steep. The snow wasn't soft and fluffy. It was hard and icy, and it looked like it would really suck to crash on it. I started to question my decision to go skiing. I should've just stayed at the cabin with my mom and grandparents, rather than risking some broken bones. My grandpa broke his leg on a busy day on the slopes like that after all. But before I could think or say anything else, Clarke gave me a strong shove and I was off to the races. 

I picked up some pretty good speed, but then someone crashed ahead of me, and I immediately tried to slow down. I narrowly avoided the crashed skier, and Clarke snowboarded with my brother past me. I kept my skis in the pizza position, while Clarke slowly taught Jack how to lean from side to side on his snowboard. I was going slow, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop. I was too light to really dig my skis into the hardened snow so I could stop completely, and that scared me. Clarke occasionally looked back and tried to get me to go faster, but I didn't want to. The mountain was very busy, and I didn't know what to do or where to go. I knew there was a very real possibility that I would run into someone else. My legs were on fire, my mind was blank, everything else was freezing from the cold, and I was convinced I would go too fast if I straightened out my skis, and wouldn't be able to stop. I'd either crash into someone else, or I'd launch myself into the parking lot and get hit by a car. 

It took me much longer than it should've to get down the mountain. I was in a lot of pain by the time I got down. I couldn't feel my fingers or my face, even though I was dressed in tons of layers and wore the warmest ski helmet and goggles I could find. And my legs were so exhausted that I ended up falling over on my face when Clarke tried to help me get out of my skis. I couldn't even stand back up, and Clarke had to carry me to the nearest bench. I clearly wasn't meant for skiing. 

Jack still wanted to go for another snowboarding run, but I was done for. I just picked up my skis and poles, and limped to the nearest restaurant, while Clarke and Jack got on the ski lift again. I left my skis and poles on the ski rack inside the restaurant, bought myself some hot chocolate, and sat by the window. Clarke and Jack agreed to meet me there once they were down the mountain again, and we'd regroup. 

Clarke and Jack were back in almost no time. My hot chocolate was actually still too hot to drink when they came back. However, as soon as they found me at my table, Clarke got a phone call, and his smile immediately dropped. Hannah had been involved in a serious accident, and we needed to meet her at the ER right away! So, we gathered our stuff, and ran as fast as we could with our ski boots on, down to the ER that was just a block or so away. 

I stayed in the waiting room with my little brother while a nurse led Clarke to one of the back rooms. I texted my mom and grandparents about what was going on, and they said they'd meet us at the ER. 10 minutes later, they arrived, and another half-hour later, Clarke and Ryder emerged from the back room with Hannah between them.

She was ok, but could hardly walk. She launched herself into a tree with her snowboard going almost 40 miles per hour. Her snowboard was bent, but it saved her from breaking her leg. She sort of bounced off her board, grazed her body against the tree, and skidded to a stop at the edge of the woods. There, she screamed for help, and within 5 minutes, EMTs arrived on their snowmobiles. They loaded Hannah onto a sled, strapped her down, and brought her to the ER while Ryder snowboarded after them and called Clarke. She was bruised and shaken, but I knew she was just fine when I teased her, and she playfully punched me in my ribs when I refused to shut up. 

That was the end of our skiing/snowboarding adventure, and Hannah stayed on the couch surrounded by ice packs while everyone else went to dinner. She didn't mind being alone for awhile, just as long as we bought her something from the restaurant. Of course, I used her crash to justify why I refused to go any faster than 5 miles per hour down the mountain, and decided I'd never go skiing ever again. 

The next day, while Hannah went home with my mom, the rest of us went to a snow tubing center in Telluride. That was a lot more fun for me. We had an hour to do as many runs on our snow tubes as possible, before we'd get some lunch, and head home. I had a lot of fun flying down the hills on my snow tube, especially on the hills that had a few jumps, but it was a short day. Before I even knew it, we were on the way home. No one was hungry yet, but we picked up some lunch as soon as we got back to Littleton. By then, I was exhausted, and just wanted to relax.