My sister was in front, my dad was second, I was third, and my brother was forth. We were snowmobiling in the Upper Peninsula near Houghton, MI. The trails were groomed perfectly, there was about 4 inches of fresh powder on the trails, that had fallin’ the night prior. We were flying down the trails on Polaris indy 500’s, my dad decided for mid winter break we were going to drive to Houghton for a family snowmobiling trip. So this whole trip sounds really fun if you ask me, but there was also a part of me that was nervous for the trip, mainly because my whole family hadn’t snowmobiled in a long time and it was evident to me that my brother wasn’t the most experienced person on a snowmobile, but nor was I, I just hadn’t realized that yet. So, its mid winter break 2011, by this point we had been in Houghton for a few days and gone snowmobiling each day for about six hours each day. There was no trouble any of those days; trails were marked and well groomed, we hadn’t seen much traffic and, most importantly, we were all having fun.

It’s day three of the snowmobiling trip and my mom didn’t go with us today. I guess she wanted to stay warm for one day and skip the jostling ride of the sleds. I just accepted that, I wasn’t going to force her to come. Looking back on that moment, i’m glad she stayed at the hotel in the warmth. So my brother, Sister, Dad, and I got all bundled up. I had so many clothes on, I could barely move, but I was warm and thats all that mattered. We walked out of our hotel room went to the elevator and went down to level one. Once we arrived there we went outside and walked to our snowmobiles, which we started while we finished preparing ourselves for the days adventure. We let them warm up for a few minutes then we got going. We decided earlier that morning, that today was the day to ride to Copper Harbor. It’s about a 50 mile ride to get to Copper Harbor. A popular spot amongst locals and visitors because of the exceptional Lake Superior view. “You guys will like this spot,” said my older brother, “I went a few times last summer with my buddies.” Our long ride to Copper Harbor was uneventful, easy riding and great scenery. We pulled into town, found a little restaurant and decided it was time to eat lunch. We parked all four sleds right next to each other, shut them off and walked in. I walked in first and saw no one except the bartender who quickly said “you guys are more than welcome to stay here, and eat, and warm up if you’d like, eh.” I immediately started taking off all my warm clothes because I was getting uncomfortable. I threw all my stuff on the pool tables, so did my dad brother and sister. We grabbed a table and sat down. We all ordered a hamburger, only because the bartender said it was what they were known for. In retrospect that actually wasn’t the case he just wanted to make burgers because it was the easiest thing to make. He went to the freezer and grabbed 4 patties and just had to warm them up and they were ready to serve. So we ate our burgers. The burgers really weren’t bad, so I was satisfied. We sat there and discussed our ride and plans for the rest of the day. By this time we had been there for about an hour and it was time to start heading back to Houghton. So my dad paid the bill, and we got all our warm stuff back on and headed outside.

We started all the snowmobiles up, checked the gas and on our way we went! Same order, my sister in front, then Dad, then me, then my older brother. The ride is going smooth right now, every so often my brother and I will lag back a little bit and race on the straightaways. My dad really wouldn’t approve of us doing this but we did anyways. We were young and wanted to have fun. Straightaway after straightaway, we’d race. We’re approaching the next straightaway and my brother and I open it up, we’re both going about 70-75 miles per hour. Thats pretty quick on a snowmobile if you ask me, we really weren't the most experienced snowmobilers, but I definitely thought I was a good rider and I always will, but thats beside the point. So, we’re going about 70-75 mph as I said and what I see right now is just straightaway, no turns or obstructions. I was in front of my brother, he was probably 100 feet behind me, I approach a small hill, I go up the hill, and then down slightly, right then I immediately realize I need to turn left, like right now! I lock up the brakes and slid right past the turn. Thankfully where i slid to was an abandoned trail, so I didn’t hit anything. All I could think was, “get back on the trail and back to Dad and my sister ASAP.” My heart was racing. In the short seconds this happened it didn’t cross my mind that my brother is likely going to be in the same position I am, sliding past the turn onto this old trail. Just before I turned around I look back and here comes my brother. He’s coming in hot and does the same thing I did except he didn’t stop as fast, he veered right so that he wouldn’t hit me and then “BOOM!” he hits a eight inch diameter tree head on. Thankfully, he jumped off the snowmobile to the right a split second before he hit the tree. The snowmobile came to a halt and my brother was laying in the snow next to the snowmobile. “ARE YOU OKAY?!” I yell. “Yes,” he replies. Many other words came out after that, but those arent too important. My brother stood up and walked over near me, “Why’d you stop in the middle of the path!?” my brother asked me multiple times. I didn’t feel like explaining myself because that didn’t matter all that mattered was that he was okay. We sat there and waited for my dad to realize we weren’t behind him anymore and then I hear a snowmobile coming from the opposite direction we were going. It was my dad. He sees the damage and I wasn’t prepared for the upcoming conversation. Obviously he’s upset and is basically dumbfounded at the whole scene. He asked if everyone was alright and we both murmured ”yes”. Then he says, “did you not see the turn sign!?” I responded, “no I actually didn’t, where was it?” My brother said “I didn't see it either”. “It was about 50 feet in front of the hill if you were paying attention” said Dad, as he shook his head (he was livid). He called my mom to explain the situation. We then got back on our way and were forced to leave the sled there, it was totalled and not operable. So, my brother got on my sisters sled with her because we only had three snowmobiles now. We get back on the trail and continued back to Houghton. I don't really know why he chose to ride with my sister, if I were him I would’ve came with me. We came up to a road crossing about 20 minutes later and my mom was sitting there in the jeep. I was shocked and literally had no clue how she knew where we were, but I was very impressed that she figured it out. My brother was happy to see my mom and hopped right off and got in the Jeep and then my dad, sister and I kept on our way back to Houghton. When we arrived we returned our snowmobiles and explained what had happened to the one totalled sled. They had to go find it and bring it back somehow, then my mom picked us up. She had dropped my brother off at the school so he could go see what the athletic trainer could infer from his accident. The rest of us went back to the hotel, cleaned up and met my brother at a local restaurant for dinner. He got there after us and when he walked in he was limping a little and his knee was really starting to bother him. We talked and talked. My dad started talking to my brother and I about how “speed kills”. This phrase is referring to the immense danger speed can bring and about how it is not something you mess with, and can be very costly if you’re not careful.

Looking back on that moment in time I feel like I should have known better and been more aware of what was going on around me. I may love to go fast on a snowmobile but it’s important to always be looking for signs and to never go too fast because you never know what's going to happen. Thankfully for us, no one was seriously hurt and even though it was an expensive accident for my dad, he was very thankful it wasn’t worse. As the weeks went by and my brother had more tests, he found out he had a partially torn ACL from hyper-extending his knee when he bailed from the sled to avoid hitting the tree. He had to rest from football for many weeks which was not good for he or the team. Being the athlete that he is, his knee will never be the same. I have always felt like this could have been avoided if we hadn’t been riding so fast or if I hadn’t stopped where I did. Sometimes I think about this when I am riding my four wheeler or even driving my Jeep. I remember that I need to leave myself plenty of time, not rush, and know that sometimes things are not predictable so you have to be prepared for the unexpected.