Читать книгу Edge of the Map. The Mountain Life of Christine Boskoff онлайн

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In the winter of 1983, the girls were at Nordic Mountain in central Wisconsin. “I can’t believe you’re in tenth grade and you’ve never been downhill skiing before,” Nadine said to Chris. She looked at her friend, who was gazing up at the mountain. Although it was a foothill compared to what Chris would be on in a decade, the mountain was the first to irresistibly entice her.

“I don’t need the bunny hill,” Chris said. “I wanna go with you. I can handle it.”

Nadine wasn’t so sure. “I’ve been on skis since I was four years old. That’s probably not the best place to start, way up there.” But she lost the argument and the pair took the lift up, scooching off at the top and inching closer to the mountain’s smooth, downhill slope.

“Just give me a little push! I’ll be fine,” Chris said as she positioned her skis parallel as instructed.

Watching Chris begin her first descent, Nadine’s tummy knotted. Wind blew against her neon down jacket as she took off behind her friend. Gaining speed, she picked the fastest line to catch up to Chris, who appeared to be disobeying Nadine’s five-minute lesson on how to slow down or stop. “I couldn’t catch her,” Nadine recalled. “She went straight down, and I found her at the bottom, just sitting on the snow, smiling.”