Failure

Before I begin talking about this there are two things I want to bring to your attention first, for a bit of context.

Relationship with Dad: At this point in my life my Dad’s opinion of me matters more than pretty much everyone else. When he’s proud of me the sun shines and the world goes round and I’m as happy as a nut filled squirrel. But if I disappoint him then I want one of those holes to open underneath me and suck me up so I don’t have to face it. I’m unable to look at him, unable to speak to him, and I can barely stand it.

Mountains: My father, Grandfather, Great-Grandfather and back have always been attracted to mountains. I am too, the mountains are an incredible place to be for me, and I love being here in the mountains. I feel awed by them; I do not believe there is more than a mere handful of things that could truly destroy a mountain. They are like sleeping giants, only more dangerous, larger, and far more incredible. They are everything humans wish to build, grand and everlasting. There is nothing quite as beautiful as the mountains on Earth.

Now we enter the day. Two years ago I took an avalanche course with my Dad and brother. My Dad was interested in it because he wanted to get into back country skiing, I was doing it partly because I wanted that too, but also because I got credit for my PE course. Last year my Dad and I took the Level 2 Avalanche course and passed. We could now go out together and ski in the backcountry. This year we got the chance to go out together. The day today is January 23, 2014. The last two days we’ve gone out, although we haven’t gotten the chance to go higher than treeline. But today the conditions were perfect and the risk forecast was low. Let’s hit the hills. We started off a couple hours late, but no biggy; it’s about an hour’s drive to the place where we’ve decided to ski. We get there, we scope it out and we park. It’s now 11 o’clock. Ten minutes after the truck was turned off I’m forced to look at my Dad and tell him that I have forgotten to bring my avalanche beacon. For those of you who don’t know what this is I’ll briefly explain. If I get buried in an avalanche, my beacon is the only way I’m going to get found. Without that beacon I can’t go, and since it’s stupid to go up without a partner, my Dad can’t go. Because of my careless organization I’ve just ruined my Dad’s day. So we drive back to the resort and he drops me off. He decides to go with the rest of the family to the little ski hill nearby full of icy groomers and absolutely no powder.

So for all of you who read this I want you to learn by it, don’t make your own mistakes because the disappointment you feel is truly unbearable. Instead plan ahead, take responsibility for your jobs and complete them. Yes you will sometimes screw up, but if you plan ahead and finish your jobs your chance at screwing up the way I have for the last two years is incredibly low. Several people commit suicide from this happening, luckily I’m fairly realistic and have a lot to live for so I won’t be going out anytime soon.

Learn from my mistake, have a happy life.

~MrKijani