Warmth In The Snow
Anastasia Andreeva
November 5th, 2019
Writers Workshop
Warmth in the Snow
My parents speak in excited whispers, and I groggily wake.
“Што?” I ask, tired after 6 hours of flying
“Снег!” They exclaim, and I leap out of my seat, face pressed against the window. Finally, we got to Vail. Half an hour later we check into our hotel, tired and hungry. As I flop onto my bed, I see snowflakes starting to fall.
In the morning, we wake up, dress quickly, and slurp down breakfast and get our skis.
Me and my Dad shove through crowds of people, we finally stop before the gondola, an imposing black building silhouetted against the snow, and entered into a dark room with the mechanical noises of metal screeching and motors whirring. From a hole in the back wall came a gondola clanking steadily along, the size of a small room and with a low hiss the doors opened, slowly, as if they had woken up too early and had forgotten their coffee. “Into the cabin!” an employee yelled, rushing to get the people behind us ready. Once we got in the gondola car it started jerking forward, slowly accelerating and whisking us out of the building and onto the mountain.
Gathering speed, I looked out through the glass into a blurry scene: Skiers popping up between the pine trees, crows swooping and circling, and even a stray hare, jumping across the snowy trails. Two long lines stretched as far as the eye could see, whisking excited skiers up the mountain, and dragging the ones that had enough down.
My dad and I tore through the map, checking out which trails we wanted to do, and speaking animatedly about the moguls we would go through, the views we would see, and finally, what food we would eat. We readied ourselves as the end of the lift came into view and got ready to have fun.
We ski through many courses and side paths and fall quite a few times, as it is our first time on the slopes in years! We carve through the fresh snow, fly between the trees, and finally end at a small, tree surrounded clearing that has a one man ski lift up to the very top of the mountain! We quickly went up the lift and after about twenty minutes of dangling high in the air, we finally arrived. The ski lift creaks and groans, finally depositing its passengers. I gently popped out of the lift and looked around. The scene was incredible! Mountains looming out of the ivory fog, trees covered in snow, and the biggest surprise of all: Looking up, it seemes as if someone is lightly sprinkling powdered sugar. As the snowflakes fall, everything around becomes harder and harder to see. Pulling myself to join my dad, we smile and continue down a run, but with every passing moment the trees seem to drift away in a sea of white, and the other skiers just fish, zooming past.
We do the run a couple times, and every time it gets colder and colder. When our feet become numb and our fingers are white, we slowly ski down to a light through a flurry of powder, A warmth in the frigid scene. Teetering and tottering into the Elk Den where order hot chocolate with a mountain of whipped cream, and recount the day’s adventures.
