Friday, March 27, 2015

Gatineau Ski Trip Reflection

Gatineau Ski Trip Reflection
By: Fatima Abdul-Kader

On Wednesday March 11th, 2015 my class went skiing in Gatineau Park! It was a very thrilling and amazing experience for me, as well as many others. As soon as we got off the bus, we headed to the trails and we were off skiing.  Awhile after skiing for a bit, we reached the biggest uphill climb we would do that day. It wasn't that difficult because I tried jogging half way up, but decided to wait for Andrew because his ski was broken. While I was waiting up on the hill, I made two new friends from another school. As they were waiting for Andrew to make his way up so they wouldn't run into him on the way down, we had a nice short conversation. Then about the mid mark point of our ski trip we reached a cabin. We sat down and ate our lunch, but because we were late, ten minutes later we had to leave and continue to head onwards for our field trip to the finish line!

Along the trails, we took breaks at the Heron and Champlain lookout. It was a breath taking scenery, which went on for miles into the distance and faded away behind the misty clouds. Finally, we all made our way back to the buses except for one dilemma: I, along side Sophia, descended downhill at incredible speed and it was then that I realized I had bent too forward; I attempted to fix my composition but in effect, tumbled down the hill and lost a ski in the process.What was kind of rude was, as I tried to get out the way, people just slid over my skis and didn’t bother helping me. I didn't realize much due to the fact that multiple things were going on around me at once, and there was an old lady who came down the hill and screamed, “Move!”. She did not realize there was also another pair of ski tracks beside those ones, as I was trying to put on a ski and push forward with my ski poles. Mr. Brouwer then remarked the lady when she screamed to move out of the way about how I might have injured her and that there was also another pair of ski tracks beside the ones I was in and she was skiing down. I felt really bad and guilty afterwards, but only to be later distracted by the buzzing pain in my knee which was subsiding away fairly slowly. Besides that, the day went fairly with all the smiles and excitement everybody had on their faces!

I learned how to downhill ski and stop my self at the bottom, since I had previously missed one of the classes where Mr. Brouwer taught the lesson on how to do so. What I enjoyed most about the field trip was going downhill skiing because it’s very exhilarating and refreshing when the wind blows against my face. The most challenging part about this field trip was keeping up with my classmates and pushing forward with my skis after non stop skiing. The least challenging obstacle about the field trip was going downhill because I didn't have to stop, nor did I have to push myself forward because the downward slope was doing it all for me. Next time I would bring my inhaler just to be safe since I have asthma, but also to keep a steady pace and to know when to stop would help keep me in check. Also, I would work even harder to keep up with my classmates pace and try different techniques to help me exceed my limits.

All in all, I skied about twelve kilometers because I took the shorter route and I’m a slower skier than others. I would definitely repeat this whole field trip, except for the last obstacle because it was really motivating to keep up with the others since i'm slow and to just be out and enjoy nature! Plus my favourite season is winter, so all the factors tie in perfectly. I had never skied in my life until this year and so it was a really good experience to get out and really enjoy winter activities.The weather was very pleasant and was easy to work with while skiing.  It was by far the best trip I have had in outdoor ed, it was definitely worthwhiled and I didn't even have to wear my jacket! My now go to motto is: Just because you don't know how to do something, does not mean you have to try your hardest to be the best!

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