Brysons Blog Entry "Trouble on the mountain" #6

 When i was about 17 years old I went snowboarding for the 3rd time ever in my life with my father, admittedly i was more eager than i was good at snowboarding. The day was nice it was about 7:00 am up in snowbowl flagstaff. It had just snowed the night prior so the air was a crisp and cold 30 degrees we had just left our hotel to head up to the mountain to snowboard.

In the car we 3 people it was; My father, My uncle, and Me. we were geared up and ready to head up to the mountain and have a great time it was about a 30 minute drive from our hotel to the mountain we we gonna be on. Once we arrived we parked a little ways down the mountain grabbed our snowboards and our goggles and proceeded to the base of the mountain where we got out lift passes.

When we got to the ticket booths we waited in lines for about another 45 minutes to get out lift passes. There was at least 200 people on that mountain that day each one just as excited as the next to head up the mountain. we had acquired our passes and proceeded towards the mountain when my dad looked and me and said we are starting on the hard hill this time. I looked at him with shock in my eyes but eager to have fun and filled with the thought that i was able to do it due to prior experiences i said "alright, sounds like a plan"

We made our way over to the lift and we sat down now the lift rides very depending where you get off on the mountain where we were getting off was at the highest point we could. Once arriving at the top i slid around to the side and prepared to go down with my dad. Headphones Check. Goggles check. I was ready to go I looked at my dad and he started to go down the mountain. So i followed my uncle trailing behind. Foolishly i tried to keep up with my father. My dad has over 15 years of experience with snowboarding and i tried to follow him at his max speed. Doing this caused me to pick up ALOT of speed.

When picking up speed i began to panic and in my panic i leaned to far forward resulting in me doing what's called a scorpion, where you feet touch your head. From that i began to tumble for a while down the mountain when i finally stopped i sat up my dad in front of me and my uncle behind me looking at me with concern. My dad then asks if i'm ok with which i respond i cant move my left arm, but there was no pain and i couldn't tell i broke anything. After hearing that my dad rushed down the mountain and got the emergency ski patrol who made it to me within 20 minutes they transported me down the mountain via sled and my dad held onto my snowboard as he made his way down the mountain with us. We get back down and the in field doctors tell me that I had broken my collar bone. After finding out this information my dad too me to the hospital and i got numerous X-Rays and the doctor informed me that i would be in a sling for about 2-3 months. This experience hasn't stopped me from liking snowboarding. Would you let this kind of experience influence how you feel about a sport or something you enjoy?