While living in Grand Rapids, Michigan there was a small ski resort called Cannonsburg that I often used as an escape from school while I remembered Robert Redford in Downhill racer.However, this was a popular place for a lot of high school students to hang out and have a hot-toddy and ski as a recreational sport. I remember, one time that, as a novice skier I reluctantly found myself at odds skiing (by accident) on suicide hill.
Somehow I crossed the boundary that separated the beginners hill from the intermediate / advanced hill...Let me tell you what that's like...when all you could do is snow plow...and everyone is watching below from the lodge.
Imagine seeing your life flash before your eyes and yet there was a sensation of freedom, not unlike free falling that parachutist describe, but when you have the wind at your back and acceleration of speed at every twist and turn on moguls that you confront --the law of attraction based on gravity which now become a law of momentum i like a free fall at 32 seconds squared
My Alpine ski were classical styled wooden skis that I found in a thrift store in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan (see icon) that I painted a soft yellow with black trim. Unlike the new material that conventional skis are made of such as fiber glass and ski wear made of gortex material ; I felt protected warm and comfortable while skiing from the highest point to the lowest point. It was here that "suicide hill" was name because if you misjudged the remaining distance of slope you could end up free falling and if you did not stop before the lodge you could end up in the man-made pond located at the front entrance of the lodge. It also did not hurt to say a prayer...
Needless to say I avoided the edge and the man-made pond...and I walked inside the lodge to drink my hot-toddy -- that is a natural high that I will never forget.
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