Recalling Experience Analysis

Recalling an Experience Thinking my eyes had literally deceived me, I contemplated what would occur next. Trembling with fear, my only recollection was the period of time before getting on the chair lift. When I was eight years old our family took our annual winter vacation to Lake Tahoe, California. Although I had skied before, I had never ventured beyond the low intermediate, beginner runs. Making my way to what I thought was a slightly more advanced chair lift I soon realized that it had been a grave mistake when I reached the top. Ultimately, I had two choices: to try my luck and hopefully make it down the mountain alive, or to wait to board a returning chairlift to the bottom. In the heat of the moment I decided to go for it, not knowing

When my fright somewhat subsided, I figured I realistically had two decisions: to take a chair down, facing the humility of everyone ascending the chairlift, or to just go for it and hopefully make it down in one piece. As I stood there contemplating my choices I could barely make out the noises of people having a good time at the lodge near the bottom of the mountain. The cool breeze started to spray my face with ice particles coming from the slushy snow and it signified that the wind was just going to get worse up at the top of the peak. After weighing the consequences, I thought to myself, “Maybe this is a turning point for me as an individual,” and just like that, I set off down the seemingly treacherous crag. Holding my breath while negotiating my first turn, I completely wiped out and almost hit a tree, but that didn’t stop my desire to accomplish the feat. After brushing the snow from my clothing, clapping my hands together to alleviate the numbness in my freezing fingers, I did my best to try and proceed cautiously, consciously aware of numerous professional skiers that flew by me. Consequently, I was alone going down the grade by myself as my anxiety skyrocketed with each difficult turn. I came to the conclusion that I was bound to either live or die on this peak. My body shuddered as the icy breeze hit my face with more force and the shrieking sound of the wind became apparent. Stopping on the precarious slope, I closed my eyes, hoping that all my problems would go away. When my eyes opened I was aware that I had actually skied down half of the slope. This sudden realization lifted my spirits and heightened my confidence to where I thought to myself, “You know what, I may live after all”. The skills I honed from my countless times on the beginner hill began to show and I quickly adjusted to the more challenging style of skiing. Before I knew it the run had