Out with the old, in with the new, snow so fresh, sky so blue. It is a time so prime anyone would be jealous. I am ripping through a spruce wood forest, Italian moss hanging from the trees. The fresh powdered snow, cresting just above my waste line. Dozens of cardinals, robins, and blue jays twerp as I float past them like a bullet train. I leap off freshly encrusted rocks so old, so ancient, so geriatric not even Steven King or the dinosaurs have seen their birth. There is no need for fancy tricks and flips when I’m lucky enough just to live in this moment. As I soar through the woods in absolute happiness, my body’s senses begin to take over, my breathing gets heavy, my muscles get exhausted, and I have to stop. I collapse into the unspoiled snow. As I lay in absolute serenity, lost in a canopy of breathtaking trees, I am in awe at how lucky I am. Fate does not hand me these opportunities everyday. It is my nature to seize this kind of moment, because in my short existence, I never know what life changing experience is just around the next tree. Don't be lazy, grab onto every opportunity and get up and explore your thoughts just as you would the physical world. These are the words I live by.
I slowly boost myself out of nature’s blanket, utterly enchanted, and continue my trek through the endless array of beautiful trees. The journey back to the chair lift is never long enough. I’ve always been a free skier, a free rider, and most recently a free heeler. I never liked the idea of meticulously hitting gates or bounding through a field of moguls. Unconventionalism is the name of the game, whether it’s on or off the mountain. I somehow always find myself thinking differently than those around me. I don’t do it to be rebellious or hip, that would be too simple. I do it because it is just how I think. Maybe that's why I have to take those opportunities. I need to go out and discover, find, and create something new. Exploration is in the very marrow I was born with.
I am a telemark skier. Normal, classic skiing was not enough. After sixteen years, I was not getting that adrenaline rush skiing down the mountain anymore. Change was something I needed; skiing was becoming ordinary. I had always heard telemark skiing was difficult, so I had to try it. When I first got onto the snow, it was noticeably different. I would slide everywhere, fall down, and bruise up my whole body. It felt like learning to walk all over again. Occasionally, I would catch an edge and flip head over heels in the middle of the trail. But with persistence, I can officially say I have become a telemark skier, although I haven’t even come close to my limit. Like Steven Hawkings and Bill Gates, I defy mainstream thinking because it’s what I believe.