Me Against the Mountain

There is something surreal about standing on the summit of a high mountain you hiked or in the midst of a cloud forest. Jumping in a river or ocean that you have only heard stories of or sitting under a beautiful sunset for the hundreth time. I am in awe of how nature is able to hold its own against the constantly growing economies around the world. It is amazing that there is still a rainforest to walk through and I plan to get out and see as much as I can while it still lasts.

This year we were able to get out and enjoy nature at its finest. The moment that sticks out to me the most isn’t a serene peaceful experience with nature but a battle with nature and my own frustrations. We decided to take a quick trip out to Breckenridge to hit the slopes. We are trying to commit to getting out and snowboarding at least once a year. Anyways, I hadn’t been snowboarding in quite some time, but I told myself that muscle memory would come back quickly and it shouldn’t be long until I was cruising along with Josh.

One green slope after another, and you will be happy to know I was getting closer and closer to nature. By closer I mean I was consistently falling face first into the freshly fallen snow. Face plants going 25 mph downhill aren’t always graceful or painless. As much as I love being outdoors and enjoying the fresh mountain air, my connection with nature was off. The harder I tried to perfect my snowboarding the harder the snow fell and the less visibility I had.

My personal frustrations grew (I am in shape – I should be able to conquer this mountain) but at the end of the day the mountain humbled me, slowed my pace and truly kicked my butt. There was a point where I had fallen for my last time and I had given up, my energy was zapped and on top of that beautiful mountain I sat…exhausted. Sitting quietly by myself (Josh was 1/2 way down the mountain) I was able to look around and take in the endless mountain ranges and snow covered peaks. I loved how I felt so small on top of the expansive range, I had no pride, no place I would have rather been or words to describe my battle against the mountain in Breckenridge (and yes, the mountain won).