During my 7+ years as part of the Athens Christian Bible Quiz team, we were blessed with our fair share of success on the quiz chairs. I could write a small stack of articles highlighting some of our team’s nail-biting victories, most satisfying tournament experiences, and the importance of chemistry and teamwork… But that’s not what we’re here for today. No, today I want to tell you about a not-so-shining moment of the Athens Bible Quiz program, about a time when a group of kids from Georgia were immensely out of their element—in more ways than one.

The Year: 2013
The Tournament: Colorado Invitational

Our Athens team had just attended our first Colorado Invitational Tournament, an event known in equal parts for intense quizzing and the tremendous hospitality of Woodside Baptist. At this point in our quizzing careers, our team of mostly freshman quizzers had ZERO hopes or expectations of winning CI. We were stoked just to be invited. I couldn’t even tell you how we performed in the tournament… probably not well… but we considered it a victory just to have convinced our school/parents to let us make the trip!

After the tournament activities, some teams opted to stay for the long weekend and participate in a Ski Day up in the mountains. Now remember, we’re from Georgia. My reaction when leaving the Denver airport for the first time was something like, “GUYS! LOOK! There’s snow on top of those mountains over there!” We rarely even SEE snow. Nevertheless, despite our lack of experience with winter activities, our team was primed with the unhealthy energy of 14-year-olds who knew they were missing school on Monday! We had no fear!

… We should have had fear.

Bundled up in our winter jackets (which had likely never been worn), our team gathered our rented ski equipment and took a bus to the bunny slopes. I vaguely remember our coaching staff promising that we’d all get ski lessons before hitting the slopes….we received no lesson. The more experienced skiers in our group quickly went off to test their skills on the blue and black slopes, leaving a nervous but excited cohort of Athens quizzers to fend for ourselves.

After about 20 minutes of standing in the cold, watching groups of 5-year-old girls successfully navigate the bunny slope, I decided it was time. Who needs lessons anyway?? Calvin Pettyjohn and I awkwardly shuffled our way over to the ski lift, stumbled our way in line, and plopped down on the lift.

After overcoming the initial fear of falling out of the ski lift, I enjoyed the rest of the short ride to the top of the bunny hill. Awash with confidence, I lifted my ski tips just as we crested the top of the hill, stood up from the chair, experienced 4 glorious seconds of gliding over the fresh powder… and promptly fell on my face. Not to be deterred, I picked myself up and tried to remember the few pointers Cullen Baggett and my other more-experienced friends had shared…“If you want to slow down, just make a pizza shape with your skis.” Quality advice! Unfortunately, however, the implementation on my end was not so good. Despite my best efforts, my pizza form failed to halt my rapid descent. I performed what some might call a “pro gamer move” and threw myself on the ground to avoid crashing into the unsuspecting folks at the bottom of the hill. First run of the day. Complete.

Never ones to admit defeat quickly, Calvin and I proceeded to slide, fall, and crash our way down the bunny slopes for a couple of hours. Finally, after MUCH trial and error, we were able to make it down the bunny hill without falling! Success! Now is when things get dangerous. Calvin decided his next challenge would be to ski down a narrow path between a grove of trees while I figured it was time to move up to the green slopes. We parted ways and I hopped on a lift a few rows down from my standard bunny slope. I immediately realized I had made a tremendous mistake. The incline was FAR steeper than expected, and I realized I was on a blue slope instead of the easier green. During my mini-panic attack ride up, I glanced to my right and spotted a misshapen blob wearing Calvin’s ski equipment crumpled on the ground near a patch of trees. I’m ashamed to say I gave no immediate concern to Calvin as I was intensely planning on how to get down the mountain without dying.

Alone on the top of the slope, I concluded that I could either A) Stay put until someone came to help me, or B) Throw myself down the mountain and hope for the best. After some intense deliberation, I went with Option B and started my descent. Within about 5 seconds I was completely out of control and realized my mediocre pizza form would be ZERO help on this downhill journey. Zooming down the mountain at an insane speed, I briefly saw a dark blur out of the corner of my eye before CRASHING into it at full speed. My left ski ended up 40 feet behind me while my right one was dangling loosely from my boot. Looking up at the face of my victim I recognized it was none other than the patriarch of the Bethel Calvary quiz team, Roscoe Ziemer! (Mr. Ziemer, if in my dazed and embarrassed state I neglected to apologize for almost killing us, please forgive me.)

Thankfully, Ziemer and I survived our crash, but my ski day was done. I stumbled my way back to the lodge and found a group of quizzers playing board games by the fire – a much safer activity. Throughout the next couple hours, other Athens team members trickled into the lodge with similar stories of pain and woe. When Calvin attempted to shoot the gap between that path of trees, he fell directly on a rock and had to be tobogganed down the mountain by the ski patrol. Not one but TWO other quizzers on our team also had to be lifted down the mountain. Chase H stayed at the lodge as he was getting over the flu, and he probably had the best experience out of all of us!

Needless to say, the ski day following CI 2013 wasn’t the proudest moment for the Athens Bible Quiz team. Our group left that day with several bruised bodies and egos, having learned some valuable lessons on the dangers of overconfidence. But! There is no group that I would have rather learned that lesson with. The community of quizzing has made and continues to make such an incredible impact on my life.

I’ll close with two pieces of advice:

1. Dive into your quizzing community. Connect with teams from other states and ministries. They absolutely will change your life.
2. If you’ve never skied before and you get the chance to go after the Colorado Invitational… Take the lesson =)