A...L...M...O...S...T...

In many years of mountain fun, there have been few mishaps.  Every now and again, a moment of, "HOLY COW THAT WAS A CLOSE ONE," occurs.  My brain follows with, "That was almost IT, the BIG ONE, the END."

Seared into past memories is a day that my loving brother duped me into going off a jump with 40 feet of air beneath.  Upon impact, flesh, bones, and equipment bounced three times before coming to rest. 

Another memory of sudden impact followed a scream of,  "LOOK OUT!" as an out-of-control snowboarder tested the strength of my body to stay in one piece.

Well, today will join those other memories.

Knee-deep powder took me among the trees, but it also entertained another skier on the opposite side of the trees.  Awareness of each other only took place as we both rounded the same tree from opposite directions at exactly the same moment.   C  R  A  S  H  !

I was able to stay upright, but the poor fellow ended up kissing a tree, losing a ski, and burying himself head-first at the base of said tree.  I turned around to help as I heard the calls from the lift, "Are you okay?"  This is always an indicator from those with an excellent observation point that things are not okay.

And then, this is not a lie.....my partner of ALMOST biting the big one didn't move for a little while.  Relief came to my shocked, but still beating heart, when his legs started twitching so I knew he was alive.  Guys do not like to be helped up by ladies that they have just hit, but I dug his equipment out and helped get things straightened around.  We both agreed that, "It could have been a lot worse."  He instructed me to tell "the leopard guy" that he was coming.  Yes, his ski partner was dressed in a leopard outfit, but that's another story.

We did see him skiing later in the day, so all was well. However, as we ate our lunch in the car, sweet hubbie exclaimed, "Isn't that the guy you hit?"  Sure enough, he was putting his equipment on his car to leave....and....I....think....I....detected....a....limp.