Salt Lake City, Nicknamed “Ski City”, seems like the prototype for ski trips. Salt Lake City, Utah is known for its incredible skiing which it provides to travelers from all over the country. Its mountainous range holds steep routes filled with powdered snow and amazing views. 

This past President’s Day weekend my friends and I in the Pennridge High School Ski Club took a long trek out west to experience these conditions first hand. We arrived at our house Thursday night. The house was nothing short of a mansion as it sat propped on a mountain. We explored every inch of the house and enjoyed the amenities it offered, such as the hot tub and massive theater room. Not soon after though, everyone began to turn in for the night after the long day filled with flights and checking bags. 

The next day was our first day of skiing. I woke up extra early due to the anxious flutter that filled my stomach. We packed our car and headed to a mountain called “Solitude”. We arrived and quickly scrambled to get dressed and then headed out to the ski lift only to see that the map of trails only offered black diamonds. Black diamonds are the most difficult trails and are usually meant for experts only. My friends and I were intimidated but also filled with excitement. We did the trails and realized that black diamonds in Utah are powdery, unlike Pennsylvania, making them much easier to ski down. 

The second day we went to Powder Mountain. This mountain had more variety in its level of trail difficulty. We went skiing through the trees and got lost, but eventually found our way back. We laughed a lot and did terrain that allowed us to fall into soft cushions of powdery snow. We skied for 6 hours and tried to push past the pain that filled our sore legs.

Our third day of skiing took place, again, at Powder Mountain, except this day was only a half-day. We skied from 9 in the morning until 1 in the afternoon. This day was especially powdery because it had snowed the whole night before and continued the entire day as we skied. We bounced through the powder, falling and laughing the entire time. When the time came to leave we packed the car up and drove thirty minutes to IFLY Utah to do an indoor skydiving simulator and the Flo Rider, which makes waves for the participant to ride on a bodyboard or surfboard. I was the fourth to go for the IFLY and I was extremely anxious. When the time came, however,  I had so much fun and was proud of myself for overcoming my fear. Then we headed over to the Flo Rider and I tried the bodyboard and surfboard. I fell many times, but it wasn’t too painful and I got a lot of good laughs. 

Our fourth and final day of skiing was devastated by the natural avalanches that occurred that night and blocked the roads to our last mountain destination, Snow Bird. The teachers were forced to improvise and decided to take us to Neff Canyon where we hiked. We started as a group of twenty and slowly dwindled down as people got tired and turned back around. The motivated though, continued 3 miles uphill in knee-deep snow to attempt to get to the top for a promised view. I was one of the four students accompanied by 3 teachers. We finally got to a point where the trail ended and we thought it’d be best to turn back and go down. With sore legs and cold toes we took pictures of the stunning view of Salt Lake City and then continued on with our descent.

Our fifth day consisted of waking up early to clean and pack to then leave for the airport. We waited for two hours in the Salt Lake City Airport then arrived at the St. Louis Airport. From there we finally landed in Philadelphia. We drove home on a school bus and reminisced on our amazing trip. 

This trip put some parts of the complex idea of living in perspective for me. I realized that these little moments are the ones I’ll carry with me for life and that time waits for no one. It moves swiftly and you must cherish each moment while you’re in them because before you know it, it will only be a distant thought that fills you with nostalgia.