A -- My Informal Education!

Since I was a little girl I have loved the outdoors. Fortunately for me, I grew up in the north Maine woods so I was able to spend my days climbing trees, finding hidden rock piles that I could climb in and out of, and making mud pies. My parents were great, they never tried to kill time by sticking my sister and I in front of a T.V.. We went for walks, hiking, we wrote stories, baked, and all kinds of other things. For this I will always be grateful, but, I will never be able to thank my parents enough for the first time they brought me skiing.


If I had to choose one thing that I could do all day every day, it would be ripping up the slopes! A passion like this did not come from a classroom. It came from many freezing cold afternoons in Sugarloaf when I knew my mom had to have turned into an icicle, but she always let me take that one last run. I remember being told about my first skiing experience, for I was too young to recall it myself. My mom told me that I was about two and a half years old and she let my dad take me all the way to the top of Crab Mountain, a little resort by where I grew up. At this point, my dad had jumped in laughing, wanting to tell the rest of the story himself. He said that I had on a bright red snowsuit with these goggles that were entirely way too big for my little face. When we got to the top he said that I showed no fear whatsoever. He told me mom was waiting for me at the bottom and off I went. I did not stop or turn for anyone, I just tucked and went screaming “look out” the whole way down! My mom then went on to say, with her being an onlooker waiting for me to come down, that once I did reach the bottom the only think that could stop me was the base lodge. Apparently the ground had flattened out quite a bit and I did lose most of my speed so hitting the building wasn’t a big thing (Thank god!). And from that day on, my dad recalled, he knew I was going to be a skier.


Throughout the rest of my childhood, during the my family would take my sister and I on little ski vacations, but only to mountains in Maine. Once I reached college, at UNH, I was able to ski all of New Hampshire. Although growing up skiing in New England was great, I still had my sights set on bigger mountains and more snow! I took a break from college and decided to make that dream a realization for myself. I packed up and moved to Sun Valley, Id, where I lived for the next two years. In those two years, I was able to ski all of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Oregon. It was AMAZING! In those two years, I was able to learn more about skiing, life, and myself than I ever could in a classroom. Those experiences and adventures are something that I will have with me for the rest of my life!