My rides for the day had never been better. My warming-up never been easier. My short opening run through the fun park went great. Everything went great. Somewhere behind me, Jacob was following me around while picking the easier routes down the slopes, all to videotape me while I did my thing.

And somewhere that night, we would edit the videos into a new awesome compilation to post on YouTube and my personal website. On both, I had tons of followers, always excited whenever I showed a new trick, or head out to a new area to ski.

If only I knew what was ahead of me in the near future.

If only I knew I should’ve skipped the fun park the third time we descended down the same route, trying to videotape new epic tricks.

But I steered towards it, starting with the half-pipe at the very top of it, making sure there’s not a living soul in my way of making a new awesome descent.

I wait at the top until Jacob is able to catch up with me, him stopping below me with a huge grin on his face.

‘It’s epic so far, Mil.’ He smirked, pointing towards the go-pro he’s holding, right before he checks if mine is still right in it’s place. ‘I already have the perfect song to go under the new vid.’

‘I’ll leave that up to you, as always.’

‘Right, well, let’s make sure we show off your new outfit right before you start your tricks. The sponsors aren’t sending you shit without you showing it off to the fans.’

‘They’ll sue my ass if I won’t advertise for them.’ I chuckled and nodded, tapped my chest with a finger near the brand logo, while he turned the camera in the right direction. ‘Lads, this jacket, I swear, brings luck. So far, today’s been awesome, and I figured my brand-new outfit is magic.’ I smirked daringly towards the camera, right before I turned my skis towards the start of the halfpipe, speeding up as I neared the entrance.

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I started with easy tricks to speed up enough and did a more difficult trick by the third lift-off. I enjoyed the wind in my face, the cheering of Jacob in the background, and the overall feeling of freedom that always holds me in its grip whenever I’m on my skis, doing whatever I want, days in a row.

And two months from this day, I was actually going to compete in a tournament again. I was actually entered into a big tournament, to show off my abilities in the halfpipe to the bigger crowd.

I was actually about to start making an even bigger career in skiing, not even sure if that was what I wanted to pursue the rest of my life.

But I was having fun, and that was what was most important to me back then. I lived life while I still could.

As I lifted of for the forth and last big jump, I decided on my favourite trick, only to have a near-heart attack once I saw another skier shoot through the halfpipe, at course of collision with none other then me, right after I was going to land.

In surprise, and definitely due to the incapability of changing directions mid-air, I made the mistake of leaning the wrong way. It had been a futile attempt to change my directions after landing, but it had been too late.

And before I knew, I hit the edge of the halfpipe as the other skier shoots by, being knocked over as I had no control over where I was going, and I slide against him on my way down.

And I didn’t even try to not hit him, because all I could think of, had been the unbearable pain that was radiating through my back, neck and head.

When I came to a stop, the other guy jumped up in anger, shouting profanities at me while waving his hands in the air as the hot-head he was.

But I simply laid still, closed my eyes, biting the pain while trying to fight the dizziness and the need to throw up.

I vaguely heard Jacob’s angry voice insulting the idiot who cut my off in my path, before I lose consciousness, knowing that things didn’t look too good for me in that moment.