After years of hoping to see the wonders of the ‘Land of Opportunity’ my chance finally cropped up in the February half-term. Skiing in New Hampshire, located conveniently three hours away from Boston, was on my agenda.
Since my days as I child, I had always desired to try extreme sports. Unconventional sports to football or rugby were what I loved. However, an exhaustive seven hours lay ahead of me as I flew over from London Heathrow, treating myself to the in-flight movies such as ‘Pitch Perfect’ and ‘The Perks of being a wallflower’. As we landed, the cool American air hit me, refreshing me of the journey. Getting through security was a journey within itself but once our hotel for the week was explored, the joys of shopping were fulfilled. Dessert consisted of a heavenly, decadent chocolate brownie and I slept like a log from fatigue.
Saturday arrived quicker than expectation. Excitement was high as we all travelled to the ski resort in an American yellow bus. I was all geared up in the right-fitting boots and was fully equipped with my skis, all of this being brand new to me. Each ski was put on slowly as I initially struggled with the concept of locking my foot in. We began by learning the basics of skiing such as how to put on our skis, gliding with one ski across the hill, side-stepping and gradually using two skis to travel a short distance across the hill. Getting down the hill was then worked on as we attempted to master the “pizza” or “wedge” to try and stop ourselves. You can only guess as to what happened next. My first fall was experienced as I tumbled head first to the bottom of the hill. There’s a first time for everything. Inevitably, our class fell over continuously until a domino effect of practice finally helped us get to grips with the art of stopping precisely.
When our first day’s skiing came to a halt, we visited a beautiful Church in America and were able to go shopping in the evening. My next day of skiing involved using a fascinating invention known as ‘The Magic Carpet’ – if you’re thinking Disney, it was unbelievably a lot longer than the one in ‘Aladdin’. This gave me a boost to the top of the hill so I would be able to practice my turns. Over the next few days, I improved my turns and was able to stop faster. Falling over was also becoming less of a habit but understandably, most of us didn’t manage a day without experiencing the odd plummet. On Tuesday, I was finally ready for the mountains as I enjoyed the 7 minute chair-lift ride absorbing all the magnificent views surrounding me. Once at the top, glorious sights were captured on my camera – although in real life the beauty contained within the landscape is a million times more extraordinary. Skiing down was tiring but exhilarating and once you reach the bottom, a feeling of accomplishment flows within your veins.
In between long hours of skiing and the anomaly of almost falling off at the start of a chairlift, I was able to visit the cinema and watched ‘Side Effects’, yet to be released in the UK. If 5 hours skiing a day wasn’t enough, I also went bowling. Food glorious food lived up to the excruciatingly high expectations as I indulged in the delights of burgers and fries, pizza, tacos and more.
America was an amazing and unforgettable experience. If you fancy trying a new sport or travelling abroad, I would greatly encourage you to try out skiing which offers you fun, excitement and adrenaline.
Go on and try something new today.
