Page 33 of Just Curious

Each wore a tracking device just in case of avalanche, and they all respected the possibility of danger, but they were having so much fun, it was impossible to worry.

At first, they skied conservatively, getting the feel of navigating through such deep snow, but as they grew accustomed to it, they sped up. Willa seemed to be the speed demon of the bunch and routinely left the others a few paces behind. Lorne had to make sure she knew where she was going so she didn’t get too far out in front and wind up lost.

After three glorious hours, they headed back to the lodge for lunch.

“Our Willa’s a monster on skis!” exclaimed Casey when they sat down to lunch. “She’s bruising my ego,” he laughed.

“Show me where it hurts, and I’ll kiss it,” she said with a cheeky grin.

Jackson piped up with a snort, “Your ego needed a little adjustment, if you ask me.” Then he gave Casey a blinding smile that told him clearly that he was only kidding. “Our Willa is pretty amazing, but we knew that already.” He kissed her cheek.

Excitedly, Willa told them, “Lorne says he has a steeper slope in mind for us for this afternoon. Are you guys ready for it?”

Casey snorted, and Jackson gave her an amused look. “Maybe we were hanging back just to watch you ski, my lovely snow goddess. Ever think of that?”

“Yeah, right,” she chuckled. “Maybe we ought to have a race this afternoon. Loser has to… hmm…” She got a pensive look and continued in a hushed voice, “Nah, thewinnergets to be in the middle tonight. You guys game?” She wiggled her eyebrows at them with a lascivious grin.

“I’m in,” agreed Casey at the same time Jackson said, “Sounds like fun! No one will be a loser this way.”

When they saw the slope that Lorne had in mind for them, however, all thoughts of racing flew out of their heads.

“That sucker issteep!” exclaimed Casey with his eyes wide. “And it’s narrow. There’s no way to race each other down that.”

Lorne burst out laughing and said, “We’ll go one at a time, and I’ll use the GoPro to shoot all of you coming down. This is definitely not the place to race, but you all did so well this morning, I thought you might need more of a challenge. Is everyone cool with this?”

They all agreed to give it a go. Once again, the helicopter touched down and let them out to put on their skis. Stefan conferred with Lorne about the next meeting spot and took off.

“I’ll meet you all right down there where the slope levels out a bit. We can catch our breath and then ski some trees if you like,” Lorne explained as he pointed out where he planned to stop. “Wait for me to turn around so I can film each of your runs.” And he sped away through the snow.

Watching Lorne ski was a sight to behold. He was so comfortable and powerful as he created a wake of sparkling snow that blew around him in the bright sunlight. He checked his speed a few times, making giant slalom turns, and then finally came to a stop. He turned to face back up the mountain and waved with one of his poles.

“Ladies first,” said Jackson. Willa took off like a flash. Though her skiing was less powerful than Lorne’s, Willa was more graceful. Where Lorne seemed to attack the snow, she appeared to dance through it with her own built-in sense of rhythm. She kept her movements spare are she carved out a beautiful, even zigzag pattern down the mountainside. She made more turns than Lorne had and still made excellent time getting to him.

Next came Casey who had an aggressive style. He tended to keep his weight well forward and his hands rather high. His speed checks were erratic and choppy, but he whooped and shouted his entire way down. The man was clearly enjoying himself.

Jackson was the final skier. He stayed to the right of the other ski tracks, carving his own way through the virgin powder. Tall and strong, Jackson attacked the slope like everything in his life. He studied it, and then he conquered it. When he reached the others, his smile was as blinding as the snow surrounding them. “That wasgreat,” he exclaimed.

“Best day ever,” Casey agreed.

“I bet the video will look amazing. Anyone need a breather?” asked Lorne. When everyone shook their head, he continued, “We’ll be making tracks over there.” He indicated an area to the left of them where the trees were sparse. “Check your speed, and we’ll be going down single file. It’s not as steep as what you just did, but there’s a fun little drop-off at the end of the grove of trees, so I hope you’re all comfortable with a little ski-jumping. It’ll seem like it comes out of nowhere, so stay loose.” Seeing their happy smiles, he ordered, “Leave some space between yourself and the skier in front of you because we won’t always be able to see one another as we get close to the bottom. Let’s go!”

They took off in the same order as before. At first, Willa had to consciously make herself slow down so she didn’t overtake Lorne. He was more deliberate and careful now than he had been on the earlier slopes. Willa knew it had to do with the trees around them; Lorne was skiing through them with care.

Willa, too, had a healthy respect for the danger of crashing into a tree. Many a skier had broken bones smacking into one. Some had even died.

Before long, Willa got a sense of Lorne’s rhythm and speed, which left her free to focus on the path between the trees. She navigated carefully, following the tracks Lorne had made in the silky powder. Suddenly, Lorne disappeared from her view altogether. Within seconds, she realized why.

The path between the trees stopped at an outcropping of a snow-covered boulder with a sheer face. Gravity pulled her to the edge, and suddenly she was flying through the air. The jump was a lot higher off the ground than she’d anticipated, but the thrill she felt as she sailed through the air was exhilarating. She landed smoothly and gracefully and skied over to Lorne to watch the others.

Casey burst through the trees next and let out an ear-splitting whoop as he took to the air. Not as graceful as Willa, however, he landed on his butt—laughing his head off. He got up quickly and moved out of the way for Jackson.

“You okay?” asked Willa.

“Perfectly fine. You didn’t just see that,” he laughed.

Jackson didn’t appear for a while, and Willa had a moment of fear that he’d crashed into a tree somewhere above them. But then she thought she saw a flash of movement way above them in the trees. She scanned the tree line, but lost sight of Jackson as he made his way to the drop-off. Visible again, he took off into the air and had time to raise his arms and spread his legs in an abbreviated aerial split before pulling his feet together and making a solid landing. He skied over to them looking satisfied.

“Always the overachiever,” snorted Casey as he reached over and gave Jackson a friendly pop on the arm.

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