I got off the Imperial Express Superchair at Breckenridge, Colorado, it is the highest chairlift in North America, not a lot of people can say that they have been on that like I can, just like how my friend Alex can say he got a hole and one golfing. I saw the white powdery snow beneath my black and white ski boots, the sun was reflecting off the snow onto my clothes to make my orange pants brighter than usual, and my blue sweatshirt glow. I could smell that fresh open air with a pinch of pine from the big green pine trees down below. Everything was so peaceful, but I knew it wasn’t going to be peaceful for me for very long.

     In the book A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, he describes his life in Sierra Leone during a war in the 1990s and early 2000s, and how he had to be a soldier in the war while he was just a child. In the beginning of the book he said that the war had started and the rebels were going into villages and destroying them, by burning them down and taking all of the resources before killing everyone. Luckily for him the war hasn’t reached his village, so everything was peaceful, but he knew that the war would eventually reach his village, and the chaos of the war would begin.

     I popped off my wooden purple, green and orange colored Line Afterbangs, slammed them together hearing the brakes on the bindings lock into place.The air was thin and cold, every breath I took seemed like it was about a tenth of the amount of air I would breath if were in Michigan. I was 12840 feet above sea level, about to go up another 160 feet to the summit, every ten steps I took I found myself on my knees in the snow gasping for air to fill my lungs. Other skiers hiking to the summit passed me giving me words of encouragement like, “Keep going” or, “You can do it, c’mon get up!” As I recovered my strength and breath I remembered a story my Uncle Joel told me when I was about 8 years old about a long hike he had done to go ski some untouched powder.

     “I just got to Arapahoe Basin, they just got dumped on with 14 inches of snow. I clicked into my skis and got onto the Black Mountain Express, the high speed four person chair, when I got off I then skied down to the Lenawee Mountain Lift, that has a moving floor that I stood on until the three person chair came and swept me off my feet, that took me higher, and then I took the orange two person Montezuma Bowl Zuma Lift that took me to where I would start to hike that high rocky and jagged ridge to ski down the steep chutes between rocks, where a lot of snow gets collected. I got off the chair and when you hike something like that it is very intimidating and the trick is to just look straight ahead of you and don’t look at how far you have to go, that will only make you more tired, it is just a psychological game that you have to play with yourself. You also have to just walk at a good pace and don’t slow down or speed up, because when you are that high and you lose your breathe it is very dangerous because you might not be able to recover yourself.”

     As I prepared to continue I kept repeating that story in my head, thinking I can do it, I can do it. Using what I had remembered and went a good pace and trying not to look up, it was still very hard and the wind was blowing the snow everywhere, making my nose iced over. I took it one step at a time, I didn’t look back or forward, just in the present, getting closer and closer to reaching my final goal.

     As I kept climbing the music in my ears seemed to be getting louder, my heart was pounding faster. I knew if I kept going I would eventually get to the top, I would pass some people trying to catch their breath and I said to an older man, “Keep going”, and then to another person older than me, “You can do it, keep it up”. I didn’t wait to hear their response I just kept going. The progress I was making made me think of a story my Nana told me ever since I was very young about her dad never giving up and becoming the person he was.

      “My father was an orphan growing up in Detroit, never knew his parents and only went to school until 8th grade. After 8th grade his childhood was over and he had to get a job, he would work everyday and then when he was 18 he decided that he wanted to get a college degree to help him succeed now that he was an adult. So, he took the GED and was accepted into the University of Detroit Mercy and went on to become a very successful Certified Public Accountant (CPA). After college he married my mother and they had me, and he was always there whenever I needed him, also while building his wealth. He ended up becoming a very successful person. He was able to become successful by working hard and never giving up, from being an orphan in Detroit to becoming a very successful person.” My Nana has always told me this story and she always tells me that you can do whatever you want, but it never going to be easy, you have to work for it, and never give up or go away from your plan, then you will reach your goal.

     I kept on climbing. I felt the gust of wind pushing me back and snow covering my face, I pushed through it, knowing that if I didn’t give up I would reach the top. I knew that I couldn’t have been too far from the top, I was about to go against what I have learned and believed what would help me, I looked up to see how much farther I had to go, the good news is I was only 15 feet from the top, but the bad news before you could get on top there is a very steep part, kind of like a wall that you have to climb up that is about 5 feet tall, how am I supposed to get up that? I took it one step at a time, when I got to the wall I just threw my skis up there, to take off the extra weight. I climbed up and with only three steps, I had reached my goal, I had a plan and strategy, and I stuck with it, never giving up through the tough times. I made it to the summit, I was at 13000 feet above sea level, ready to ski down and have some fun.

     When you are up there, everyone is like your family, you all accomplished your goal together and we are all so supportive of one another. It really made me feel that I had helped make an impact on someones life and that made climbing that mountain a much better experience, knowing that I impacted someone and others impacted me. I remember that when I got to the top the people that encouraged me to keep going congratulated me before we went our separate ways and that made me feel very happy and proud of myself.

     I skied down.

     Today I realize if I want to do something all I have to do is work hard and never give up, I have done this with my school work and while I play golf and football, I believe that doing this has helped me become successful and that it will help me to continue to be successful in whatever I do as I get older and move on to bigger and better things. When I think about climbing this mountain I realize that if there is something that is want to do, even if it might be hard, I now know that if I want something bad enough I will do it, even if it might seem impossible to me, I will persevere and accomplish my goal. I realize now that the world is actually full of a lot of opportunities and it is your choice if you want venture those opportunities, and if you do the result of you taking that road will be hard, but totally worth it in the end. Just being able to say that you did that, that you took the road that everyone else was scared to take and that you came out on top.

     I found myself getting off the Imperial Express Superchair, popping off my skis, and preparing to start the very difficult 160 vertical foot hike back up to the summit at 13000 feet above sea level.