Who Needs Ski Instructions?

Mom, Dad, my buddy Britt, and I drove up to Gatlinburg, Tennessee one Friday night. The next morning, my mom casually asked, "Do you and Britt want to go snow skiing?"

"Yes, I definitely want to go snow skiing," I replied without hesitation. I was all in. We were all going to go snow skiing, armed with nothing but enthusiasm and a credit card.

We stepped right outside the door, strapped on our skis, and stood there in what we thought was triumph. We had made it. We were skiers now. How hard could it be?

The Reality Check

The reality of skiing hit us pretty quickly as we found ourselves stumbling and falling, desperately trying to make it to the ski lift. That's when he appeared – a guy who clearly knew what he was doing, watching our pathetic display with what I can only assume was a mixture of amusement and concern.

"What are y'all doing?" he asked.

"We're going skiing," I replied, as if it wasn't painfully obvious that we had no clue what we were doing.

"Give me 15 minutes and $20, and I'll teach you guys how to ski so that you don't kill yourself trying to come down this mountain."

Twenty dollars. For potentially life-saving knowledge. For the difference between gracefully gliding down the mountain and becoming a human snowball.

"We ain't got $20," I said.

Famous last words.

The Mountain's Revenge

We got to the top of the mountain, and let me tell you something about that snow in Gatlinburg – it's not the fluffy, forgiving powder you see in movies. After falling three or four times in the span of an hour, I had a moment of clarity. I was perfectly willing to get on my rear end and just inch down this mountain like a cautious toddler.

We eventually made it down to the bottom, battered but intact, where there was just a pretty decent little slope leading back to the base. We thought we were done. We thought we had survived our first skiing adventure.

We were wrong.

The Collision Course

That's when Britt caught some momentum. And when I say momentum, I mean he was going. As he picked up speed heading down the mountain, I watched in horror as I noticed what lay ahead of him – a whole group of people clustered together right in his path.

Britt was frantically trying to control his descent, putting his poles out, trying to make them work, doing anything to slow down or change direction. But physics is a cruel mistress, and gravity doesn't negotiate.

He plowed straight into the person standing closest to him, just absolutely pummeled the poor guy.

When the fake snow settled and the victim turned over, guess who it was?

The ski instructor. The same one who had tried to get our $20.

The $20 Lesson

Sometimes life has a sense of humor that's more expensive than you bargained for. That ski instructor probably would have been happy with his original $20 offer. Instead, he got a full-body collision courtesy of our stubborn refusal to invest in basic safety knowledge.

Looking back, I realize that $20 lesson would have been the bargain of the century. Not just for the skiing technique, but for the valuable life lesson about false economy – sometimes the cheapest option up front becomes the most expensive in the long run.

Moral of the story: The next time someone offers you expert advice for the price of a decent lunch, maybe don't decline. Your future self (and innocent bystanders) will thank you.

Story credit: Phillip

Watch the story being told here: https://youtu.be/bgHTUmjx7nU