I got off the ski lift with my brother Andrew, and my mom’s friend Diane. She was the one who taught my brother and I how to ski. I was with Andrew, my mom, my dad, and my parents' friends Joe and Diane at Hunter Mountain in New York during Winter break. Andrew already had three years experience with cross-country skiing. I had done a little bit of downhill skiing during fifth grade in a club. We headed for a blue square trail, which is for intermediate skiers. Diane told us to wait at the top, but I was tempted to just go down straight away. She went over what she had told me at the bottom of the ski lift
      “Remember to turn to slow down, and make sure to complete the turns. If you fall, turn yourself so that you’re perpendicular to the slope. Also you need to bend your knees and tilt your skis at an angle to turn,” she told us, “Take it slow so that you don’t fall.”
     When we were all ready, we went down.  It wasn't that cold and not very windy. Andrew went down first, followed by me and Diane. Diane made the turns look easy. Andrew was in front of me the whole time. About half way down, I felt myself going too fast. I tried to turn to go slower, but I didn't quite complete the turn. I tried to turn again but hit some ice and lost my balance. I fell and slid for a long time, at least that’s what it felt like. When I finally stopped, I tried to get up.
     "Are you alright?" Diane asked.
     "Yeah, I'm fine," I replied.
     I remembered that I needed turn myself so that my skis were perpendicular to the slope. That way I wouldn't slide down the hill. It really made a difference. I got up and continued down the hill.

     The next day I was one of the first to wake up. It was still dark outside. Diane was making coffee in the kitchen. The coffee machine was what woke me up, since I was sleeping on the couch right next to the kitchen.
     “Good morning," Diane said.
     “Good morning," I replied.
     "Sorry, did I wake you up?"
     "Yeah, but it's OK."
     No one else was awake, so I didn't have to worry about waiting to take a shower since there was only one bathroom. As soon as I got out of bed it was instantly colder. I didn't have the blankets to protect me from the cold. When I got out of the shower everyone else was just waking up. Joe had gone out and brought back bagels that we ate for breakfast. We also had some salmon that Joe and Diane had caught in Alaska.
     After we finished eating, all of us started to get ready. We put on our jackets and snow pants and got our goggles and gloves.
     "Here, try these goggles on," Diane handed my dad a different pair of goggles from the one he had. My dad needed bigger goggles so that he wouldn't need to take off his glasses.
     "Thanks. These fit better," my dad replied.
     Diane and Joe had their own ski equipment. Ours was rented from Hunter Mountain. It was in the car so we wouldn't have to wait in line when we got there.
     We got to Hunter Mountain and I skied toward the same ski lift with Andrew and Diane. I wanted to try the Blue Square trail again. My goal was to complete it without falling before moving on to some of the harder trails. We got to the top of the ski lift and headed for the trail. There weren't many people on it. I only fell once on this run. I expected to run into ice, but there wasn't much because the conditions were pretty good. I ended up hitting a bump and losing my balance instead. I got up more easily using the same method that Diane had taught me. I didn't meet my goal, since I fell. Guess I would have to try again tomorrow, I thought.
     When I got to the bottom I met a girl named Katie. We both tried to climb a small but very steep mountain of snow. I took my skis off thinking it would be easier. Turns out It was actually harder because walking with ski boots is harder than walking in regular shoes. When I finally got to the top I skied down.

     I waited for Andrew, who had gotten on the chair behind me on the ski lift. Diane had told us to go ahead and ski. She would meet up with us later.
     "You ready?" I asked Andrew as he got off the ski lift.
     "Yeah, let's go," He said.
    We skied down the same Blue Square trail. I was going to take it as slow as I could, but still fast enough to enjoy it. Andrew was in front of me the whole time, but I could still keep up with him. This was gonna be it. I wasn't going to fall on this run, I thought. Encountering both obstacles on that run, ice and bumps, didn't make it any easier for me. There was a bump coming up. It stood out like a snowflake in summer. I turned and didn't even come close to it. The ice was the bigger problem. It blended in with the snow like Waldo would with a big candy cane. I was just starting to turn, when I felt and heard my skis grinding on the ice. The ice almost turned me around and made me lose my balance. At the last second I saved it and completed the turn. I was so focused on the ice that I didn't notice the second and bigger bump coming up. As I went into the next turn I went over the bump and got a little bit of air. I had gone on terrain park with Andrew a few times, and I knew I wasn't very good at landing jumps. The bump wasn't as big as some of the jumps I had gone on in the terrain park, so I landed it pretty easily. That was it, I had finally completed the Blue Square trail. I could move on to Black Diamond. Andrew and I tried to find Diane. I couldn't wait to tell her what had happened. She was with my parents on a Green Circle trail.
     "I finished the Blue Square trail without falling!" I told her.
     "Nice! I'll meet you guys at the four seater ski lift in a little bit," she said.
     "OK. Andrew, want to go on a harder Green Circle?" I asked.
     "Sure," Andrew agreed.
    About 10 minutes later Andrew, Diane, Joe, and I got onto a different ski lift. It took about five minutes to get to the top. When we finally got there we headed for a Black Diamond trail. These trails were higher up so they were all Black Diamonds. The first thing I noticed was that they were steeper. That wasn't much of a surprise. They were supposed to be harder, after all. We started down. The snow was white and very soft. The sunlight reflecting off the snow made it even brighter. I was going to ski much slower than the other trails. Joe and Diane stopped occasionally to wait for Andrew and me. At one point I was going really fast because I hadn't completed the last turn. Trying to turn again, my skis got caught going over some ice. I fell and slid pretty far down before stopping. That was the only time I fell on the Black Diamond trail, which was surprising, but going slower definitely helped. I fell near the end. I got up and continued down. Finally I got to the bottom. Black Diamond trails were much longer than other trails. That didn’t really matter to me though, since I had completed a Blue Square trail and a Black Diamond trail.
     "Let's go find your parents," Diane said.
     I had started at a Green Circle trail and moved up to one of the hardest trails in only three days. It was one of the best Winter breaks I've had.