The Day I Hit A Tree

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Moose Mountain:The Day I Hit A Tree

I was having the most awesome time at Moose Mountain on the day I hit a tree.I don’t recall the exact day,but it was a warm day in December 1993.I was having one the most Epic days ever!I had spent the day imitating everything I saw Tommy Moe do.He was one of my heroes.

I was skiing some of the best lines I had ever done,and with no actual crashes.I came close to wiping out several times that day,but being able to stay on my skis had increased my confidence level like never before.I was invincible!

The Last Run Of The Day

So I took off on the last run of the day,absolutely blazing down the slope.I was about 15 seconds down from the top,heading towards the first drop-which was about 5 feet high.Not a lot,but super fun if you were going fast enough.There were two more drops to hit after this one,and I was going to hit them faster than ever.Or so I thought.

Fatigue

I must have had a fair amount of fatigue,because as I went off that drop,I hooked an edge on my right ski.As soon as it happened,I knew something was wrong.All my confidence vaporized in a nanosecond.I landed on one ski,and in my mind there was a faint glimmer of hope.I had been recovering from things like this all day.No sweat.I was looking down at my boots.Why?I have no clue.Then I hooked an edge on my only ski touching the ground.OOPS!

At that point I looked up,and I was heading for the trees.I was mesmerized.I couldn’t look away.Maybe you can relate.So when my skis came off the ground,I was flying through the air with my back to the ground,flying head first down hill.I focused on one tree,mainly because it was so big.It seemed to take forever.Then IMPACT!

Consciousness

I hit the tree with the lower right side of my back,and much to my surprise,I maintained consciousness.I was happy about that,because I was somewhat buried under the snow.If I had been knocked out,I may have gone unnoticed for some time.I was awake,but I couldn’t breathe.I was crawling out to the groomed part of the slope,trying to breathe.I crawled what seemed like forever.Still couldn’t breathe.I didn’t know what else to do,so I kept crawling.

Shock

I knew I was going into shock.So I stopped crawling downhill,and laid on my back,pointing my feet up hill slightly.I still couldn’t breathe.I was on the verge of passing out.I was telling my self to breathe.I was trying to speak it out loud,but all I could do was suck air into my lungs.So I started speaking as I was drawing air in.BREATHE.I repeated it about five times.I’m not sure if that kept me from passing out,but after about a minute,I started breathing again.

I’m not sure if you can relate to having the wind absolutely knocked out of you.If you can,then you know how I felt.Temporarily helpless.

As it turned out,the only injuries I sustained were bruised kidneys,back,and a severely bruised ego.

Focus

If had known what to focus on,I would have probably missed the tree and been just fine.I didn’t know it at the time,but wherever your eyes are focused,that is where your body will go.It’s kind of the same with your mind.Whatever your mind is focused on,that’s where your life will go.Guess what?I just had a personal breakthrough from the day I hit a tree.

If you found value in this article,please leave a comment,or feel free to share your breakthrough moment

Until Tomorrow

Benjamin