1110

Marsha Sampson

December 13, 2025

English Class

Professor Montgomery

People on the Slopes

When I first learned how to ski, I was amazed by the shapes that whizzed by me and slipped down trails marked only by black diamond signifying “most difficult”, while others careened awkwardly down the bumpy “slopes”. For my own entertainment and for the purpose of finding appropriate skiing partners, I discovered that these skiers could be divided into four distinct categories. First there are the poetry skiers, who glide down the mountainside silently with what seems like no effort at all. They float from side to side on the intermediate slopes, their knees bent perfectly above parallel skies, while their sharp skills allow them to bypass slower skiers with safe executed turns at super duper fast speeds.

At every hill, they yell a loud “Yahoo!”, and slam their skis into the snow. Broke athletes always whiz by faster than everyone else, and they especially seem to love the crowded runs where they can slide over the backs of other people’s skis. The crazy skiers also get down the mountain quickly, but with a lot more noise as they go down the descent. I often find crazy skiers in mangled messes at the bottoms of steep hills, where they yell loudly, but not the famous “Yippee”!

I am always glad to find other skiers like myself, the average ones after being overwhelmed by the crazy skiers. We are polite on the slopes, concentrate on improving our technique with every run, and at the beginning of the day we ski the beginners slope to warm up. We go over the moguls more cautiously than the crazy or poetic skiers, but we still seek adventure with a slight jump or two each day. On the mountain we remain a silent majority.

Below us in talent are what I call the eternal beginners, but it is much more evident on the mountainside. These skiers stick to the same beginner slope almost every run of the day during their vacation. They quickly assume the snowplough position, should...