The Bunny Hill

 Emma Schutrop

Thomas Maltman

College writing 1101-4

A Call To Adventure 

1/20//23

The Bunny Hill  

The Second that I got onto the Ski lift at Buck Hill I knew there was no turning back now, I would have to commit so what is the point of being afraid? One thing that I have felt ashamed of all of my life is that I was born and raised in Minnesota and I do not know how to snowboard or ski. The only reason I have never gotten around to learning is that I don't want to be bad at it, my nerves were not that bad once I got to the top of the hill, but by the time I got to the bottom I was covered in snow from falling so much. 

My friend Daniel has begged me all winter long for me to go snowboarding with him, the only problem is I had never gone before and I am scared to be bad at something new. When I finally called him and told him that I was finally ready for him to teach me I swear I could see him jumping from excitement through the phone. He just got a new snowboard so I was able to use his old one and did not have to rent one, which was nice. He picked me up and as we were driving on the icy roads to the hill I was whining and making excuses the whole time as to why I should not do this and that we should just go get lunch or something. He was not having it and was determined for me to learn. We got there and he told me we were going to start with the bunny hill which made me feel like a five year old but I would rather feel five than die. 

We were going up the magic carpet ski lift and when we made it to the top of the hill somehow all of my nerves melted away and the cocky confident side came out of me. I watched actual five year olds going down the hill. If they can do it there is no way I’m not going down this hill. I struggled so hard to just stand up and all of the confidence that I had was gone. If I cannot even stand up, how am I ever going to make it to the bottom?  Daniel just starts throwing snow at my face because I looked stupid just trying to get up and he finally helps me up after probably three minutes of pure struggle. He told me that I just needed to bind up on a slip and angle my board down. I looked at him with a blank expression as I had absolutely no clue what any of that meant. He showed me and I finally started to move. The wind air pierced my nose as I gained the tiniest bit of speed. I got cocky and was going to turn and yell at him that this was easy but right as I turned my head, I caught the front edge of my board and fell straight into the snow. This is not fun. Why do people think this is fun? The snow was so cold and the bottom was nowhere in sight. After about five more minutes of struggling to get going and keep my balance, I finally got the hang of it and was able to make it to the bottom. My confidence had returned and I wanted to go down again. For the next hour, we went up and down. Slowly. I was getting better. Daniel was showing off the entire time rightfully so because I sucked and it was funny. By the fourth time I had gotten down the hill, I had fallen one too many times and I was done for the day.

I dragged Daniel into the warming house long before he was done but my heart was beating so fast, I had to catch my breath, and I couldn't feel my face because of the number of times I fell. The warmth from my hot chocolate felt like a warm hug as I drank it. Daniel decided that he wanted to go out for a little longer on his own while I stayed and warmed up. My fingers slowly began to tingle as I was getting a little bit of feeling back into them. My gloves had gotten so packed with snow that my hands had gone numb and I did not even notice. I watched all of the people who were really good at what they were doing and did some amazing tricks that I know I will never be able to do. Daniel finally got back,  he went down what I call the hill of death a few times and worked on his tricks. He told me next time I have to go with him and take videos. There is no way in hell you will ever find me going down the hill of death, but we will see if there even will ever be a next time. 

I am definitely not built for the winter sports I learned that day, I am sure I will go again but try to fall on my face a few fewer times next time. After my entire body warmed up again and I could feel my face I will admit I had a lot of fun and felt initiated in the ski world that Minnesota has. I might not be the absolute worst at what I was doing and the confidence I had is absolutely crushed, but at least I made it down the bunny hill which automatically makes me as good as those five year olds I saw, and honestly, that is enough for me.