As we climbed into the chairlift at Pats Peak, I could see it would be perfect for skiing. It was slightly snowing, and not a patch of ice to be found. Perfect weather for a perfect birthday! (I wish) My friends and I were going on a ski trip as my birthday present, so we got to the ski resort early. While my friends got their skis on, I tried my new goggles. They were almost perfect, except for the fact that they cut off my peripheral vision.
 Since I hadn’t been skiing for awhile, we decided to go on the easier right side of the mountain to warm up. All the trails were perfectly smooth, with no hidden ice. My friends and I were doing well so far, so we went through the glade connecting the right and left sides of the mountain. (A glade is a trail where there is no trail, kind of like off road skiing.) It was incredible, even the glade was covered with snow! (That’s rare because glades don’t get artificial snow put on them.) While we rode up the left side chairlift, I proposed that we go down twister. (Twister is a double black diamond trail. (Double black diamond is the hardest trail)) Twister got it name, because it naturally weaves three different high speed trails through it.
We went down the first time with no problem, and it was epic. There were a lot of people going down it, and we had fun weaving our way through. The second time, there was a close call when a snowboarder came blasting out of a glade, but luckily no one got hurt. The third time was when it happened. I got ahead of my friends, and started to get a head start. Then, BOOM! This speeding snowboarder shoots out of nowhere, and slams me in the gut. We go tumbling down the trail, and finally slow down near the middle.
About a minute later my friends showed up. They brought me my skis (they have a safety feature where if there is pressure on the ski, it will detach from your boot before it rips off your leg), and informed me that I lost a tooth. (I wasn’t too happy about that). One of my friends went to the lodge to get someone to help, and the rest stayed with me. Once a ski patrol medic showed up, he loaded me onto a sled and I slid headfirst behind him. (That part would’ve been fun, but I was in excruciating pain at the time.)
When we reached the little hospital, I was informed that I bruised a kidney and nothing worse. I got better soon, and am still skiing whenever I can. The crash taught me that I can never get over confident, and to always wear a helmet.  (I had one on at the time and I can only imagine how bad it would be if I wasn’t wearing one.)