It’s all downhill from here.

I went skiing the other weekend for the first time in several years. I wanted to start slow and easy, so I asked a resort guide whether there were any really easy hills I could practice on (given my limited skills). He encouraged me to head out to a “flat” run on the other side of the resort aptly named Marshmallow.

I was immediately a little skeptical. The last time a skier told me to try out a “flat” hill, I learned that “flat” was not actually flat by objective standards. But this guide assured me that “Oh yeah, it’s very easy.. barely sloping downhill. You’ll be fine.” 

So, off I went to ski on a “flat” hill. 

Spoiler alert: the f*cking hill was not flat. 

While a downward sloping hill with a vertical drop of nearly 1000 feet (okay, 804 feet to be exact) might not subjectively be a hill for a seasoned skier, it’s not flat. It requires skill. More than I had at that point.

So there I was, standing at the top and looking down the mountain with both trepidation and determination. I tried to ski. I fell. I got up. I fell again. I accepted that I was not ready for this. 

There was no escape. 

So right there, I took my skis off, threw them over my shoulder, and started hiking. One mile (and -804 feet) later, I was tired, sweaty, and ready for a beer at 10am. Since I reached the bottom with all limbs intact, I decided to skip the beer (for the time being) and take a ski lesson. 

It turns out that a couple hours of lessons and a great ski instructor (shoutout to Richard!) went a long way in teaching me to trust my skis and myself. With some support and practice, I started to have fun with the hills while staying in control of where I wanted to go. By the third day, I was still a little wobbly but skiing much more confidently and almost ready for Marshmallow.

Thinking about this whole experience, I’ve thought that maybe navigating the challenges of life is a bit like learning to ski. Our emotions can be a bit like ski runs. What we are willing to face and how we handle it depends a lot on what we’ve been taught by our upbringing or people around us, and what we’ve learned and practiced. Some of us never really learn to “ski” or to lean into our emotions. We see the downhills of life with fear, we refuse to face them, and we exit to the metaphorical ski lodge and drink beer all day. Anything but to face the discomfort of leaning into that downhill. 

I've also realized that to learn how to ski requires bravery and support. We can’t figure it out alone. And in life, we all need great teachers and people who have practiced what it takes to navigate even the toughest downhills of life. And with time, we may eventually be teachers too. 

And most of all, we need encouragement from people who know and remember what it is like to be in our shoes. We need to surround ourselves with those who will be proud of us for getting out there and facing even the smallest downhill… those who nod their head in support and understand when we are adamant that the f*cking hill is not flat.