Personal Narrative

Liam Vereb

Ms. Asuncion

English 9 Honors, Block 2

13 January 2016

Conquering The Double Diamond

“Wakeup! We’re going to be late,” shouted my sister as she jumped up and down on my bed. I sprang up out of my bed, showered, threw on my ski clothes and ran downstairs to join my family for breakfast. No trouble getting out of bed today as this was the day I would ski my first Black Run.

I helped my father load the last of our bags into the back of the car, double-checked with mom that we had everything, and then we were off on our three-hour journey to the ski resort.

"Look there it is," my sister said, pointing at the massive mountains that rose up above the clouds. Finally, after an exhausting three-hour drive we had arrived at the ski resort. Since we had been through the ticketing system before, we decided to divide and conquer. My mom and I would go and get in the line for the ski rentals while my dad and my sister would get us lockers. We would rendezvous in the outdoor café in front of the ski slopes. After what felt like an eternity battling all the annoying first-time skiers who were gridlocking the system, we finally made it to queue for the ski lift. The plan was Mom, who was an expert skier, and I would split off and conquer the more difficult runs while my dad and my sister would practice on easier runs.

Just like all great athletes we had to warm up first, which would consist of doing Blue runs plus Black runs before we tackled the mighty king of the resort, the Double Diamond.

Ever since I had first learned how to ski it had been my dream to conquer the mighty Double Diamond. Finally the time had come, we got onto the ski lift that would take us up to the hardest ski run at the resort. We disembarked from the ski lift and for the first time I got a look at just how steep this run was. I could feel my heart thumping in my chest, my face was pale and my legs felt like jelly but there was no turning back now. Just like with astronauts after the countdown reaches zero there is no going back. I ease myself forward; I start to feel the wind picking up on my face. I feel my skies starting to follow the slope of the mountain and I start to feel my breath calm down as I gain more control. Swinging left and swinging right, kicking up snow being with that rhythmic whoosh me I started to gain more confidence.

Things were starting to feel good, I started to relax and enjoy myself. Double Diamonds weren’t that bad, what was all the fuss about? Then suddenly without warning it was like the slope disappeared from under me and felt like a cliff face, not only that it was a mogul field. I panicked momentarily then slid to the far right and paused. I was going to have to assess the situation if I was going to make it down in on piece. While standing there I traced a clear path through the moguls in a zigzag pattern to where the slope became more gradual. I checked it one more time, then glanced up to be sure I wasn’t going to hit anyone on their way down. Then I pushed forward, left, right, left, and right again. Beads of sweat appeared on my forehead and my goggles started to mist up but I kept going. It felt like an hour had passed my thighs were burning and I felt a headache from the intense concentration. Just when I though it was never going to end, the ski lodge started to come clear into view. I finally made it to the bottom, where my mother was waiting. I pulled up next to her and took a deep sigh of relief and shouted, “That was awesome!” creating a grin on her face. I couldn’t believe after all those years I had finally conquered the mighty Double Diamond. We ended up doing that same double black diamond run at least five more times during out trip. That was the time I skied my first Double Black Diamond. It was a pity they didn’t have a triple diamond because I was feeling invincible.