To Jump Or Not To Jump Veda Tsoi

"Don't be such a wimp, just jump!" I glanced up to see the smirking face of a blonde riding the chairlift above me. For the past five minutes, I had sat perched atop a fifteen-foot boulder directly under Snake Creek chairlift, snowboard strapped to my feet, debating whether I could jump or not. Several times, I had slid towards the edge of what I came to call "the rock". Each peek down prompted an immediate topple backwards. Zean, my brother, sat waiting for me at the bottom of the rock. After seeing the same people passing on the chairlift more than once, he declared that he was hungry. The moment had come; I needed to decide: to jump or not to jump. I chose not to jump. I slumped down the side of the rock and followed my brother to the lodge. Disappointed by my failure, I hid my face in my mittens and refused to lift my head. Maybe I was a wimp - one of those kids who never risked anything.

I have been terrified of heights since I was a child. I would stand at the top of a single floor staircase and recoil in horror at the height. My friends would tease me about my unreasonable fear and I would laugh nervously with them as I inched away from the stairs. Taking up snowboarding defied my fear of heights....