Whiteout by Vanessa Lanang

Author:Vanessa Lanang
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Athletes, Extreme Sports, Hi/Lo, Nature, Sports, Survival, Action & Adventure, Survival Stories, Survival, Survival Story, Sports, Sports & Recreation, Extreme Sport, Extreme Sports, Athlete, Athletics, Danger, Darby, Darby Creek, Family, Family & Relationships, Nature, Snow, snow storm, Snowboard, Snowboard Equipment, Snowboarder, Snowboarders, Snowboarding, Snowboarding Trick, Snowboarding Tricks, Sport, Sports Fiction, Sports Stories, Sports Story, Teenagers, Teens, Vanessa Lanang, Whiteout
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Published: 2018-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

I stood on the edge of one of the biggest rides of my life. Ollie was right, I reassured myself. Even though I didn’t have any experience backcountry riding, he trusted my skill and so did I. Before me lay two thousand feet of untouched snow, and it would be me, Jessamine Castillo, carving it up. “They don’t call me Shredder for nothing,” I whispered to myself.

Another gust of wind whipped around us and dusted snow across our path. I brushed off my jacket, and the wind picked up more. Beside me, Pax shivered.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“If I would’ve known it’d be snowing during this ride I would’ve worn more layers,” Pax said.

“Snowing?” I looked behind me—the ashen sky had caught up to us. The wind wasn’t picking up fallen snow off the side of the mountain like I had thought. It was full-on coming down out of the sky. The storm was closing in. “We need to get down.”

“You think?” Pax asked dryly.

I shot him a now-is-not-the-time look and focused back on the mountainside. I had to pick a line quickly and relay it to my brother so we could outride this storm.

“C’mon, Jess, tell me the plan before I turn into a snowman.” Pax tightened his bindings and wrestled with his gloves. In my family, Pax was known for his lax attitude about, well, everything, but for once, all calm had left him.

“I’m thinking,” I said. I took in the steepness of the slope. If we rode the fall line, making turns on either side of it, we’d hit the first patch of trees with controllable speed. Maybe. No doubt there’d be drops along the next section, but the large rocks dotting the middle of the slope made good reference points. If only I could see what came after the second patch of trees . . .

I didn’t know this terrain like I knew my favorite expert trail or every feature in the terrain park. And I wasn’t positive Pax could make these jumps. I wished I had asked Ollie more questions about backcountry riding.

“Well, think faster.” Pax rocked back and forth on his board. His energy crept into my body and sped up the thud of my heart. The pulse of my blood in my ears drowned out the howl of the wind. I couldn’t focus.

“Can you stop that?” I snapped. Pax stopped rocking on his board, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and sank into a slouch like an unhappy child. Think, Jessa, think. The snow fell heavier, speckling my braid, but I could navigate this—I had to trust my instincts. If anything, fresh powder was the best way to ride. “I got it.”

Pax stood at attention, relief softening his brow. “Lay it on me.”

“There.” I pointed to the next smattering of trees below us. This was the line. “The mountain levels off enough for us to slow down. Stay more to the left until you get to the trees, it’s less steep.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.