I was 11 and dreading the possibility of hitting center stage as we rode up the red lift when my friend will says  

“You think we could go on center?” 

As my friend Tucker and my brother Hugo agree, I feel obligated to agree as well and to face my fears. I was just starting to get decent but still had many things on my mind that I knew were things to improve on, including my mentality that I knew would need a big confidence boost before I try my best, at the most popular slope in Perfect North. 

As we creep up the treacherous mountain with the ice-cold gusts of wind, pounding and filling my face with discomfort, we start to embark upon the top of the mountain and see the abundance of trees that seem to surround us in every direction and what look to be professionals gliding on the snow with their flashy and expensive skis. This reminded me how concentrated and confident I would need to be before I make my first attempt at Center Stage.

 The gusts of wind feel even louder now as we come upon center stage. As the four of us pushed ourselves with our rented poles we got from many feet down below, I think we all started to question ourselves. When we got to the very edge, we were all too nervous to talk, as the wind suddenly felt a whole lot colder on our bare faces, and that’s 

when I said “who wants to lead the way”. 

The silence is quickly broken with 2 “not it”

 and a “not it” from me followed shortly after.

 I felt great relief when I knew I wouldn’t be leading the way down the longest and most treacherous slope in Perfect North. 

As we crept towards the edge of the slope in a single file line the scenery of the fields and farms that lay on perfectly sculpted hills that seemed to go on for miles and miles surrounding perfect north calmed my panicking nerves. 

When suddenly one of my friends disappeared. and another, and then it was my turn. I quickly follow behind my two friends in front of me as my brother is following closely behind me. Suddenly the leader of our four-man group skis across a big patch of ice and loses all control as he falls on the rigid ice. The purpose of the leader dawns upon us as we try our best to smoothly glide across or around the ice patch. We make our way down the slope skiing from side to side, almost running into the trees that secluded us into the slope to slow us down as much as we can as the pros dodge and weave our petrified and terrified minds. 

The chair lift doesn’t help as a bunch of teenagers taunt us for skiing as slow as we were and messing up the pros, as most of the pros skied straight down gliding around all of the other rookies at the sport trying center stage, with perfect composure and technique. As we skied from tree to tree we finally made it down the steepest section of center stage, and just cruised down the long, but not steep conclusion of center stage. 

After what felt like an hour of skiing down the treacherous slope, and waiting for my friend who unfortunately crashed on the dangerous big bit of ice we collectively agreed that after facing our biggest fears on Center Stage to go get some nice, warm, and overpriced food to eat at the lodge. In the end, I learned that the worst that will happen is falling on the powdery, sometimes icy snow. This experience also helped me gain confidence that was worth a million dollars because I ended up pushing myself beyond my comfort zone and attempted many different slopes after center stage that I had never done before.