At the start of January 2021, I road tripped to Park City, Utah with a few friends. The goal was to ski, snowboard and relax. The last time I skied had been 2 years prior and I was in no shape or form an experienced skier. Little did I know Utah was known for its Olympic skiing…
The first day on the slopes I took it easy. I stuck to the bunny slopes and then ventured onto the greens, and then an easy blue or two towards the end of the day. The slopes in Utah were nothing like I expected. They were strenuous, long and unforgiving. Yet, they were also incredibly stunning – fresh white powder covered each run that felt like a gift from the heavens. I was captivated. I wanted more and I wanted to excel. I left the slopes that day eager to test my capabilities and give in to the wonders of the mountains in Park City, Utah.
The second day on the slopes I was ready. Ready to attempt and succeed on every run even remotely possible with my beginner to intermediate skiing abilities. The only issue was, I was not experienced enough to keep up with my IKON pass friends nor as inexperienced as my bunny slope friends. And so this day I went it alone.
I attempted runs all across the mountain that I never dreamed of. I ended up on the most difficult blues and some terrifying blacks that left my gut in my boots, my heart pounding at 120 miles per hour, and my eyes wanting ever so dearly to remain closed as I plummeted down the mountain at 60 miles an hour…
Despite my unimaginable fear, I continued on. Powered by adrenaline and determination I did every blue and some unfortunate blacks that I had no business skiing. I skied for 7 hours straight; no food, no water, no breaks. In 7 hours I had skied every blue and some blacks on the mountain and better yet I did it alone, in uncharted territory.
Left with quite a few gnarly bruises, starving, and amped on life I was convinced anything was possible. Coming from skiing three times prior I never would have seen myself attempting the runs I did.
This trip taught me to test my boundaries. Our capabilities are far greater than we believe. And our boundaries are far vaster than we could ever imagine. Who knows…I may be the next self taught Olympic skier.
*(spoiler: I did not become an Olympic skier…)
So She Dares 
Leave a comment