Last winter I learned a valuable lesson, don't ski in the trees alone. Skiing is a very enjoyable and very rewarding hobby, but if skied incorrectly it can turn into a painful experience. This was my first time skiing Mt. Bachelor after only skiing at Mt. Hood all year so I didn't know the layout of the mountain and I was skiing alone without my friends who were still in Portland.

I ratched up my boots in the cozy, warm lodge after arriving soon before to the mountain. Then I zipped up my jacket and plugged in my earbuds, turning on some tunes. I opened the door into the blistering cold of the monstrous mountain. My skis were on a rack nearby so I grabbed them and clipped in my boots. The lift line was extra short today because of the active snow storm, but the small amount of people there were extra stoked because of the recent snowfall. The lift was running slow today because the winds were too high for them to run at full speed. As I was slowly being taken to the top of the hill I glanced around in awe seeing the surrounding mountains and snow covered peaks. I got to the top of the lift and started to ski towards the northwest bowls. I hit some gnarly side hits on the way, throwing some sick grabs and shiftys. 

I stopped at the top of the bowl to look around surveying what the best route would be. The run was called snapshot bowl. I gazed down into the seemingly endless concoction of powder, trees and rocks. I pointed my tips downhill and started to float on the snow. I felt like I was gliding on clouds. I steered right and hit a gnarly rock drop and landed switch. I hit a quick revert and dug my edges into the snow to turn left into a small forest of snow covered douglas firs. As I entered the trees I had to slow down so I could turn and avoid the thick, tall trees. The snow quality in the trees was twice as good because not many people went in and tore up the snow. I went off a drop, not knowing what was at the bottom, thankfully it was some powder covered pillows for me to bounce off of instead of rocks. Coming out of the pillows I had gained more speed than I would have wanted. I was rapidly heading straight for a tree, I dug my rightmost edges into the powder and leaned as far right as I could. Thankfully I dodged that tree but as I was exiting the turn I looked up and I was looking straight at the bark of a frozen tree. I smacked my body into the tree and fell into the tree well.

Fortunately I wasn't completely buried in snow, but I still struggled to wiggle myself out of the snow. I climbed out of the tree well and picked up my skis and my poles. My head was throbbing with pain, but thankfully I was wearing a helmet which prevented further damage. I clipped my boots into my skis and carefully skied out of the trees. I was suddenly greeted with a warm sensation as the sun gleamed down on me as I entered the groomed slope. I waited to board the northwest lift which brought me halfway up the mountain. I traversed over to the north side of the mountain and skied toward the main lodge to take a break. 

When I arrived at the lodge I went to the medical office and took some aspirin to soothe my headache. After about an hour of sitting in the lodge eating lunch I was back outside ready to shred again.