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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#129: Ski Season

For some of us in the Northern hemisphere, the cold wintery months of January and February come with the promise of the ski season — a light at the end of the tunnel of short, dark days. Whether you’re gallivanting around the Alps, or just taking a sledge to your local snowy hillside, there’s definitely adventure to be found at this time of year. 


Whether you find the chill bracing, biting, or something else entirely, let’s thaw any ice that formed over your creative spirit this winter with the help of this week’s prompts!

This week's prompts

Begin your story with a character crashing into something (or someone) while skiing.

Adventure – 30 stories

Write about a skier who accidentally strays off-piste.

Adventure – 30 stories

Set your story in a snowed-in chalet.

Winter – 56 stories

Write your story from the point of view of someone learning or teaching an extreme hobby.

Narrative – 19 stories

Your character runs an inn for resting mountaineers. It’s a calm life, until they encounter a twist of fate.

Winter – 47 stories

Stories

“Heat in the Snow” by Inaya F

Submitted to Contest #129

“Checking out of room 302 under the name Ferhat Jafar” a tall man said with full snow gear on. “Sure, you’re all set, have a nice day, sir.” I said, looking to see if the lady behind him would follow him up. Yup, that’s my life. I people-watch, check families in, and basically have lived in the snow my whole life. Well, since the age of twelve.  My parents own an Inn for incoming skiers in Southern Colorado. Now our inn isn’t in the middle of the resort area, it’s actually on the edge of a highway in the middle of nowhere. But, just 3...

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“Where Am I?” by L. S

Submitted to Contest #129

It was brisk out. Tanya inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with the chilling air. She focused on her heartbeat, which was increasing rapidly. A feeling of panic started to rise in her throat, but it was quickly choked back as she took in another breath. “Everything will be just fine.” She whispered to herself, though she was not quite sure she had even said it aloud.  Just as her thoughts started to race, they were interrupted by a heavy hand on her shoulder. “You look a little green around the gills champ!” Tanya recogn...

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“An Absurd (And Absurdly Literal) Interpretation of the Great Beyond” by Christopher Linehan

Submitted to Contest #129

He gazed out from behind his coal black eyes at the mountain. It stood there, freshly blanketed with the snow that was both the beauty and the essence of life for him. Staring at this holy place he could not help but think of his cosmic insignificance. The permanence, the ancientness of the mountain in comparison to his transient existence did not fill him with dread though. Instead, he found hope in that permanence, confidence in that ancient and everlasting presence. A sensation of familiarity arose in him as the sun crested over the peak,...

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“Viola” by Alana Topakian

Submitted to Contest #129

When Viola crashed into the tree, her ski’s unlocking from her boots and flying off the edge of the mountain, her body rolling across the cold, wet ground, she was sure death was keeping watch from below. Of course, she had taken the wrong turn. Of course, she was stuck in the areas left unexplored, dangerous, and wild. With the snow, packed heavy on the ground as it continued to fall in sprinkles around her, Viola knew any marks she might’ve left would be long gone soon enough. Even if she had her skis, still banging and crashing their...

1 comment 1
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“Hidden in the Snow” by Hannah Weller

Submitted to Contest #129

We hop off the ski lift, then trudge across the snow to come to a stop at the edge of the slope. We fall silent as we stare into the distance, and the other skiers around us seem to do the same. The air becomes very still and quiet as we collectively fall captive to the magical trance. The great, white Himalayan mountains stretch out before us, protruding from the earth and reaching for the sky, its snowy caps glittering golden underneath the suns rays and its peaks piercing through low wispy clouds. Breathing in this crisp air feels like a ...

2 comments 2
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“Cabin in the Wilderness of My Mind” by Bob Faszczewski

Submitted to Contest #129

                             Cabin in the Wilderness of My Mind      My asinine, dead end job really has left me on the edge of depression lately. Add to this catching my scumbag boss in the sack with my brainless Barbie of a wife and the fact that my creditors seem ready to foreclose on the precious few possessions I haven’t hocked to satisfy my 15-year addiction to the...

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“The Storm from Hell by C.E. Metcalf” by Conrad M

Submitted to Contest #129

It was a cold winter in main. I sat at my kitchen table drinking a hot cup of coffee. I had spent the day cutting firewood. I had gotten an early start this morning because I knew a storm was coming. I had given up listening to the weather report years ago because most of the time they were wrong. I have lived in my cabin for 22 years and seen all kinds of weather. But this time I had a feeling the storm coming was going to be different. My cabin was about the size of a large 1- bedroom apartment. I had built it myself 23 years ago. It had t...

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“Avalanche” by Jack Coey

Submitted to Contest #129

Eliot watched the snow fall and felt a chill go down his spine. He heard the shower. He didn’t think Mona was having fun. He thought she was a better skier. Last night was frustrating; she got defensive after three glasses of wine. The paper she writes for, in his opinion, does too many dog stories. She said the paper had to entertain its audience, and he said no, it had to inform its audience. She got sullen. He heard the shower turn off.                 &...

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“Game Night” by Kathleen Smith

Submitted to Contest #129

Zoey stared forlornly at the frost-tinted window she sat in front of, watching the swirling tufts of snow dance in tune to the sorrowful sounds of the winds. She sighed dramatically and placed her hand on the window, the cold glass biting her hand. Oh what tragedy, to be trapped in this log prison, unable to go out and fly down those fluffy slopes that were just a distant shape behind the howling storm.   She watched the scenery outside for a while, green eyes and bright frizzy red hair reflected in the glass.The fireplace in ...

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“The Perfect Family Vacation” by Genevieve Willingham

Submitted to Contest #129

The Perfect Family Vacation (This story contains references to mental illness and explicit language.)            Lucy’d had her misgivings about this trip from the get-go. She and her sisters got along just fine. They lived together, true, but they each had their own lives, their own space, their own places to go, their separate friends – plenty of time apart.            And it worked. When people asked if they liked living toget...

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“Chalet from Hell” by Rebecca Stack

Submitted to Contest #129

Story has multiple sensitive themes but not in graphic detail. Abuse, physical, sexual, drug abuse, suicide mentioned. Chalet from Hell Ambushed in a ski chalet, just minutes after an avalanche snowed them in together. This was not what Rose had had in mind, when she jet off for this once in a lifetime opportunity; to work in a ski resort for the season. She had absolutely no idea that her Ex; desperate in his bid to get her back; had found out the details from her back stabbing best friend and booked to stay in the exact chale...

4 comments 4
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“Trapped” by Heather McGuire

Submitted to Contest #129

There is the whoosh of water spraying from the shower, the insistent chime of a phone, and the dull pounding of her head. The bed that just a few days ago had been a pristine, white cloud is now a crumpled pile of distorted comforter, twisted bed sheets, and strewn pillows. Sarah risks the opening of an eye but when the brightness of the room sears her throbbing brain, she squeezes it shut again.  Their last night of vacation and they had made the most of it. Bottles of red wine, bourbon, and, oh Jesus, had they done shots? The acrid ta...

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“The Mountaineer” by Rosie Loosemore

Submitted to Contest #129

Experienced mountaineers are extremely cautious and always avoid taking unnecessary risks. Jake was not an experienced mountaineer.He had been to a few classes, of course; he wasn’t that stupid. He knew to check the harness every time, double check the knots, how to haul himself out of an icy crevasse with altitude sickness and a broken arm…that sort of thing. In fact, altitude sickness was the one thing that they’d covered on the course that had spooked him a little. High-altitude cerebral edema, they said, is what happens when fluid collec...

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“A Fugue of Fugues ” by P.J. Byrd

Submitted to Contest #129

Oh to reach the apex, to cross the rubicon, to land on the moon. This was the byproduct of men with money and time. They would traverse the great mother leaving plastic bottles and wrappers frozen in time beneath ice and wind. If the world of men was to still itself by some great war and completely waive themselves from the face of the earth, thought Ang Phurba Phuti, the world would slowly wake, turn, and groan back to life. Humans would reemerge eventually. They would reinvent everything; the wheel, combustible engines, then the ...

3 comments 3
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“Sky's Edge” by Mark Baxter

Submitted to Contest #129

Sky’s Edge Dear Catherine, The first thing we learn, when we go on the run, is to never ask questions. Questions are, after all, doorways. Those who are running away lock those doors behind them. The second thing we learn, perhaps the most disturbing lesson, is that no one is who they seem to be. It is this discovery that makes the runner stumble, and lose their way. More often than not, this insight starts the runner’s mind on the path to the revelation that, in the end, running away is futile. There is nothing more dangerous than t...

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$250

Prize money

182

Contest entries

92

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 21, 2022 EST

Won by Erica Vogel 🏆

Title: At the Whitemare

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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