“Insane, isn’t it?!” Kyle yelled from thirty feet below, leaning back on his snowboard to watch me struggle.

I summoned every ounce of strength in my jet-lagged body to prize my legs, still attached to skis, from several feet of fresh snow. Wedged sideways, I pulled myself up by a tree root, alternating between hysterical laughter and acute panic as little progress was made in five minutes.