Upon arrival at the top of Isola 2000, it was blizzarding with snow, which was surprising to me that it did not feel like rain. Of course I knew that it was iced water, snow particles I mean, but it was just fascinating to me. We went inside a building, which was filled with shops selling winter, snow-specific clothes and a bunch of ski and snowboard equipment that people could buy last minute. There were little restaurants and cafes and there was also a supermarket and a souvenir shop or two. I realised, after finally feeling more awake, that we were all on top of a mountain, which was also a hotel for the wealthy who could afford a luxurious getaway at the top of a snow-filled tourist mountain. This explained why the shop was there, the supermarket.

My chief officer eventually left me to my own devices to go start her day of snowboarding. I knew this wouldn’t be a girls day of lounging around and building snowmen together, so I took the opportunity to enjoy being alone. As the morning went by, the blizzard began to slow down and the sun began to shine through the thick clouds. It was great, I was getting the best of both worlds. We came early enough for the depressing sight of the grey blizzard and spent enough time to watch the sun come out and the snow to stop falling from the sky.

I constantly wanted to touch the snow on the ground with my hands and found that it froze my fingers each time. I wanted to play with it and roll around in it but I felt shy and subconscious as a 24-year-old adult. Instead I watched the young kids roll down the side of a small hill and make snow angels and throw snowballs at one another and I felt envious of their care-free lives and how they were too young to feel any shame or judgement to be playing in the snow. I smiled watching them play, wondering if I was the same at 4-years-old when my mother was still in England for the first four years of my life. Did I enjoy the snow as a child? Was I unphased? I didn’t know because I was too young to remember anything at the time, but as an adult, I knew the snow would hold a special place in my heart.

I eventually found a spot where I could lay on a sun chair and watch the families and couples ski by and found myself wishing I had come more prepared so that I could also try ski. But I didn’t have enough money at the time and I had my expensive camera in my backpack which I had no one to look after. My eyes hovered over the skilled adults and small children learning to ski and I was quite impressed. I ordered a croissant and the young barista warmed it up for me. I was so thrilled to not only be in the snow, but to be in a completely different country for the first time in a while! It only hit me later on that I was actually in France, and not because a boat was docked in a marina, but because we just took a few hour drive and crossed the border from Italy to France. My mind was filled with fascination and excitement.

Not wanting to have this experience completely on my own, I decided to go inside where it was warm and video call my mother with the restaurant’s wifi. She was so happy and excited for me that I wished she were with me.

I also decided to phone a friend from Cape Town, who is unfortunately no longer my friend anymore, but he was also super happy for me. I bought a stuffed teddy bear, a mountain goat that has a scarf with the name Isola 2000 on it, and showed it to my friend. I was just so full of delight to be there.

After my phone calls, I decided to ask a stranger to take a few photos of me on the camera and my polaroid camera. She was a mother waiting for her kids and husband to come back from skiing and politely took my pictures. It wasn’t exactly like I wanted but they were still good. I took many photos and videos of the mountain and eventually decided to go exploring towards the edge of the hill. I had to cross the iced ground where skiers flew by and found it to be quite the struggle to walk on the slippery ice with normal shoes.

I had somehow managed to cross but the real challenge was walking in the deep snow. It looked so inviting where I was, to run around in the snow and take a few images from the edge and play in the snow, but when I got to where I wanted to be, it was terrifyingly deep and absolutely freezing. The further I stepped to peer over the small hill, the deeper my legs went into the snow and I felt my legs and feet begin to freeze over. It was not as easy as I thought it was and I realised that is why no one was frolicking on the side of the ski trail.

I snapped a few photos and attempted to make my way back. Panic did set in, as I was essentially alone, no one knew where I was and none of the tourists skiing by would care about a stranger who clearly did not understand the dangers of the snow. I was also worried that if I sunk too deep my camera would get wet along with my drawing pad in my back pack. The longer I lingered, the colder my feet felt.

It started to begin to feel unpleasant and I was becoming increasingly frustrated with the situation I had put myself in. Eventually I made it back to the ice and crossed again back to the wooden hut that was reception, almost in tears from the cold stinging my feet. I removed the shoes I was lending and watched as a bunch of ice fell out each shoe and tried rubbing my feet to bring warmth back to them. My socks were soaking wet and it was uncomfortable for me to even walk. I knew my best bet was to suck it up, put the socks back on and the shoes and make my way back to the restaurant with the warm fire place.

I managed to do that and felt immediate relief. The afternoon was slowly coming to an end and I was waiting for my chief officer to finish up her snowboarding. I was grateful for my experience in the snow but I just wanted to return to my warm cabin and curl up into a ball and fall asleep. I also asked her to take a few pictures of me before we left and she happily did so. I took some of her as well.

Overall it was a fun day, but I did wish I had someone to share it with. Luckily for me, I am used to doing so many things on my own. I also enjoyed the alone downtime from the rest of the crew on the boat. In conclusion, I would 1000% return to a place with snow and hopefully have the opportunity to try out skiing!