Horsing Around in the Snow- Part 1/3

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As I stood there, shivering in the freezing cold snow, I pondered the embarrassment that could come on a snow day. You could have a snowball hit you in the face- a direct hit that made you cry out in some high-pitched wail. You could have those snow pants that never fit snag on a rock and rip up the leg, revealing skin that hadn’t seen a tan in months.

Or, you could be standing on your snowboard wearing nothing between your helmet and your boots but your underwear. Yeah, that would definitely be embarrassing.

And that’s what was happening to me right now.

On Thursday morning, our college had announced that all classes had been cancelled for the day, and everyone stumbled over to the frat houses to use alcohol to numb the cold. On Friday morning, as everyone woke up to deal with their hangovers, they rejoiced to see that classes had been cancelled again, and they promptly fell asleep.

Now that it was Saturday, my roommates and I were starting to get a little stir crazy, so when we found out that the campus gym’s outdoor department rented out snowboards, we made our way over there to get in line. We snagged three of the last five boards, and we headed over to the giant forest at the edge of campus.

Everyone else was using trash can lids and cardboard boxes to sled down the hills by the dining hall, and as we hiked into the woods, we soon arrived at the hills near the railroad tracks that went behind campus. Fresh, untouched snow awaited us, and we were so glad that our freshman year quests to find hidden spots to smoke weed had rewarded us now.

Our legs were jelly after a while of maneuvering our way down the not-quite thick enough layer of snow and then climbing back up, and we sat on our asses now on the top, catching our breath before our next run.

“Do you remember when we used to play HORSE freshman year?”

“Colin, we never rode horses freshman year. How high were you?”

That got a snowball thrown at Russ as Colin continued.

“No, you fuckwad, I’m talking about playing HORSE over at Phi Gamma. Remember, they had the basketball court behind their house.”

It was my turn to join the conversation now.

“All I remember was staring up at Chad’s window- you could see right up there so clearly. Especially when he got out of the shower…”

I was caught in a fantasy then that not even a snowball to the face could ruin.

“I think we should play it here- boarding down the hill.”

“Sorry man, but I’m wiped- it will have to be you too.” Russ was standing up now, wiping the snow off of his rented board. “How are you going to play anyway? Didn’t we used to make you do shots of Jager every time you gained a letter?”

“Fuck, that’s making me nauseous just thinking about it.”

“Why don’t we do what Tri Phi did during that one party?”

“You mean where they made you strip off clothes for every letter? That was a lot hotter when there was a crowd.” Standing up myself, I began to wipe off my own board. “And it was a lot easier to agree to that game when you were already drunk to start.”

“Then let’s up the ante- after five rounds, loser has to run back to the dorm wearing whatever outfit they are left with. Deal?”

I was tired and ready to head back, but Colin also knew that I couldn’t back down from a challenge.

“Deal!”

We shook on it, and Russ started to head back towards campus to grab a coffee before heading back to see the finale.

It started slowly as we did easy tricks to hopefully trip up the other person, but finally, Colin faceplanted and had to leave his scarf at the bottom of the hill. His next slip up was the big one as he had to shed his coat, and I could already see him shivering as he headed back up the hill towards me. I was hoping that that would be his downfall, but it very much wasn’t.

In quick succession, my coat and scarf also joined his as I skidded over a root barely a quarter of the way down the hill before face planting at the last minute on the next run.

“Bit toasty isn’t it now that the sun is really starting to come out? I wish I hadn’t worn so many shirts under here.”

He was grinning at me now, and I realized that I had been duped. I was a better snowboarder than he was, but five layers wouldn’t faze him at all. Five layers would ruin me though. Under my thicker coat, I was only wearing a sweatshirt with no shirt on underneath. I only had cotton underlayers, and if those got wet, then I’d be screwed no matter what. I wished that I would have added more though now.

He lost the next item, and his total was up to HOR. He pulled off his sweatshirt, and as he did, I saw how many layers he still had left. If he lost, he’d probably just walk back to the dorm. If I lost, I’d be sprinting no matter how tired my legs were. I was wearing my sweatshirt, my ski pants, a pair of thermal underwear… and that was it.

I only had a one item lead, and I had literally everything to lose.

On the next run, I knew that I had to play offense, and taking a deep breath, I launched myself down the hill, aiming to jump over the log near the bottom. Whipping into the air, I was almost over it before the tip of my board snagged on one of the loose branches, and I ate it hard into the powder.

Sitting up, I just had to watch in agony as Russ, against all odds, nailed the trick. He only cleared the log about an inch higher than my attempt, but that’s all that counted. Reaching out his hand, he helped me up into a standing position, and I ended up standing far too close to him, but neither of us backed up a step.

“So, what are you going to lose? The pants or that sweatshirt?”

He was joking of course, but he had no idea that I had actually had a dilemma on my hands. If I took off my sweatshirt, then all I’d be doing was showing off my chest which would have been no big deal if it wasn’t fucking freezing. If I took off my pants, then the snow could render the fabric see-through and useless, but at least I could technically tug my sweatshirt down to cover myself.

“Pants.”

He made an audible gasp after I answered, but he soon let a smirk spread across his face that almost reached up to his ski goggles.

“Then let me do the honor.”

Before I could stop him, he was unbuckling my pants and pulling them down my thighs hard enough that I had to reach down to grab onto my thermals to keep them from sliding down as well. Unsnapping the bottom of each leg, he was able to pull the pants over each boot a little too easily for my liking, and he threw them down on top of the pile of clothes.

Handing me my board, he let me lead the way back up the hill.

“I really can’t believe you didn’t strip down to your shirt- you must be feeling pretty confident.”

“Not at all- I’m not wearing anything on underneath this.”

I stayed facing straight ahead to not give him the satisfaction of seeing the worry on my face…