Saving Sandy

Chapter 20 - A Splendid Dinner Among Skilled Mountaineers

According to what I was told by Arnold, Murren was the center of Alpine ski-racing and winter sports. The town was a normal winter town, but it was open to the public when Arnold's father Sir Henry Lunn convinced the people who ran the hotels to open their doors for those who wanted to ski, mainly people from the surrounding countries. That was back in 1902, then in 1910, Murren officially became a winter sports center. In 1923, skiing wasn't a new thing and was extremely popular with the British people who came. In fact, since it was started in Murren by Brits, it was considered a British sport and was called British skiing.

As soon as Sandy and I dropped our stuff off in our adjacent rooms, we were off with Arnold and Peter to get our skis. I never knew I would be so happy to be given a pair of skis. These were wooden skis, not the plastic ones that I had used before, but still looked very much like skis. The supply room at which Arnold gave Sandy and I the skis was connected to the hotel and led straight to the outside. Excitement tickled me as Arnold, Sandy, me and Peter trekked to the practice runs. We all carried our skis as we trudged in the deep snow, maybe a foot deep, and the sun shined down on the snow, making it illuminate and sparkle. I really couldn't take it anymore, especially since we walked on a slope.

"Okay, guys, hold up!" I shouted, and the three males stopped. They all turned to face me as I dropped my skis into the snow and fastened my boots to them.

"The snow is far too powdery at the moment, Miss Hearst," said Arnold. "It will be tough to ski here."

"I've skied in deeper snow, and in higher elevations than this." I stood up straight after fastening and took my stance with my skiing poles. "Alright, here I go."

I stuck the poles into the snow and propelled myself off. I zoomed passed the guys down the hill while shouting with glee as I did so. The chilly wind hit my face and blew through my curly hair falling out of my black winter hat. What an amazing feeling! I missed this.

I zig-zagged my way down, bending my knees as I did so, and once the hill became flatter, I skidded, zipped myself around, and stopped. I saw those three up there, staring down at me, mouths dropped open. Peter was the first one to run as fast as he could down the hill to me. He was bundled up in his winter coat, hat and gloves.

"Miss Hearst, that was amazing!" he shouted once he came up to me, his pale cheeks pink from the cold. "You most definitely skied before."

"A bunch of times, yes," I said as the two men came running down. "Wow, that was so much fun! I can't wait to get on the steeper slopes!"

"Yes, I cannot wait for that, either," Arnold exclaimed. "Just in that one run, you performed the telemark turn and the Christiania, both of which I was going to teach Mr. Irvine once we got to the practice slopes."

I blinked a few times. "I performed those two moves? I've heard of them, but I didn't even think about it as I was doing them. I guess I skied so many times, it's second nature."

"I think you should be one of the teachers here," said Peter. "What do you think of that?"

I recalled what Sandy and I talked about on the bus. "I'm not that good."

"From what you just did, you are very much so," said Sandy. "I did say that you could teach me a thing or two on this trip."

I grinned, proud that my love of winter sports and knowledge of skiing helped me impress these three, one of which was an expert skier. "I, well... I would be happy to help out with Sandy's training, if that's okay."

"Why would it not be?" asked Arnold. "You are most impressive. Come, let us go to the training slopes and you can show me what else you know so I can decide if I should step back while you teach Mr. Irvine in preparation for his tests and competitions."