First Sight Read Online Free PDF

hopped onto the chair s as they came by.  As the line crept forward, it appeared there weren’t enough coaches for someone to ride with me.   Sue was standing directly in front of us with another student, and she turned around to look at us, assessing the situation.  “Travis, you can probably ride up with Maddy , right?” she asked. “It looks like we’re one instructor short.”
    “Sure, we’ll be fine.”
    “Okay, great , ” Sue replied.  She looked toward me now.  “ H e’ll be able to sh ow you how to get on and off.”
    “Okay,” I said, nodding nervously.  My palms felt sweaty in my gloves as we got closer to the beginning of the line.  I watched as Sue got on the chairlift with the last remaining student from our class and felt a pit in my stomach as I realized that Travis and I were next.   We got into position, standing side by side, and as the chair came from behind us, suddenly I was seated next to Travis, rising up into the air.  I watched as the ground moved f a rther away from us , everything getting smaller by the second, and felt my skis dangling beneath me.  What on earth had I gotten myself into?  I clutched my ski poles, feeling my heartbeat rapidly increase, and I realized that I would somehow have to get back off of the chair lift with my skis on when we reached the top .
    “How are we supposed to get off this?” I asked frantically.
    “It’s okay,” Travis said, reaching over to touch my arm , obviously hearing the panic in my voice.   His gloved hand rested on the waterproof fabric of my parka, and he leaned his head down slightly toward me.  I couldn’t see his eyes though his mirrored goggles, and I didn’t feel any calmer at his touch through our bulky winter clothes.   “When we get to the top you just stand up and g lide away.  It’s really easy.”
    “I hope so,” I said uncertainly , still completely terrified.
    “Just watch the people in front of us when we get close.  You’ll have no problem.”
    We continued to rise , and I looked down at the people beneath us, skiing down the hill .  I watched as a snowboarder fell over and thought that snowboarding looked even harder than skiing.  The other people on the slopes did not seem to be having any problems though.  They were skiing down easily, looking like they were having a great time. B efore I knew it , we had reached the top.  Sue and the student in the chair ahead of us each stood as their skis came into contact with solid ground, and they slid down the small incline , coming to a stop.  When Travis’s and my turn came, I was so relieved to be getting off the chairlift that I had no time to worry about balancing on my skis , and I effortlessly glided down behind them , even coming to a decent , if wobbly , stop.
    “See, you did great!” Travis said from beside me.   He had stayed right next to me, and I wondered if he would have been able to catch me if I did fall.
    “Yeah, that wasn’t too bad.”
    I managed to maneuver around to the hill sloping down in front of me.  Others were skiing gracefully down it, gently swerving from side to side.  A few kids were whizzing straight down on their tiny little skis, not using any ski poles.
    “Are you rea dy?” Travis asked .
    “ As ready as I’ll ever be, ” I said hesitantly. He waited for me, so I pushed off and started skiing down the hill.  I was moving so slowly that practically everyone else was passing by us as we made our way down.  I had to fight to keep my skis straight—I was trying to go so slowly, to remain in control, that it was actually hard to straighten my skis out and move forward.  Travis patiently skied at my side, in no rush to get down.
    “Try to look where you want to go,” Travis encouraged.   “Don’t keep looking down.”
    “Okay, it’s just hard to turn in these.”
    “I know, just keep focusing o n the direction that you want to be going , and it will be easier for you .”
    I finally made my way to