"What a waste of time," Florian muttered to himself as he grabbed his snowboard from the ski rack outside. "It's not like he'd ever make a move if he got the chance. The guy avoids risks like they're contagious."

Florian was the opposite, he lived for the thrill of risks. Thus, while Moritz freshened up for a girl he wasn't going to talk to, Florian hopped onto the first gondola back up to the peak and fearlessly tackled the black diamond his friend had deemed too challenging.

He cruised down the slope like it was nothing. The snow was perfect in texture, the sun was dripping into the distant mountain chains, and when he got to the snowpark, he was fully convinced that it was his lucky day! 

He discovered a ghost town; empty rails and boxes, abandoned tubes, and untouched ramps. Not a soul in sight, which was surprising given that the setting sun and golden glow over the rose-colored snow was every rider's dream.

He tried himself on some rails first. Gently, he hopped on and off, sometimes with a backside 180, sometimes with a smooth 360. "Not bad, not bad!" he thought. "Let's see if I can nail this next jump!"

With determination, he pushed off a small ramp, feeling the rush as he tucked into a frontside backflip. 

Time seemed to slow down, his heart pounding, his mind empty. 

And then, BAM! He stuck the landing perfectly! He started laughing out loud, lost in pure joy. The kind of joy that keeps you weightless even after you've touched ground.

"Fuck yeah!" He celebrated himself with an energetic punch in the air. "That's what I'm talking about!"

Feeling lucky, he decided to raise the stakes. A bigger ramp was coming up quickly, and he didn't hesitate for a moment! 

With the adrenaline still buzzing, he turned his torso and rotated his body while his hands gripped the nose of his board. A flawless quad cork; four off axis flips and five full rotations—his signature trick!

The moment his board made contact with the ground, a lightning bolt of pain shot from his knee straight to his brain! 

"SHIT," was his last thought before the ground rushed up to him.