A Slippery Slope - A Middle-Aged Guy's Bumpy Run from Early Retirement to Ski Bum To Ski Patroller t

"Three months ago, I found myself hurtling down a trail on New Hampshire's Gunstock Mountain, toboggan in tow, bellowing for skiers to clear the way - a rookie ski patroller on my way to respond to God only knew what. I couldn't think about the frightening wailing I'd heard in the background when Karen radioed for help. I could only ski for all I was worth and hope I was equal to whatever I would find in the woods off the trail below me." "The same day a year earlier, I was settling comfortably into my new life as a 46-year-old, recently retired businessman turned ski bum. But the bum's life turned lonely and the offhand suggestion of a guy behind a deli counter last summer sent my life ricocheting off in a new direction." And that was just the beginning of this 5-year journey. We all know what happens when you point a pair of skis downhill - gravity takes over. You're simply along for the ride, using whatever skills you have to hopefully control the outcome. When Gerry Dougherty signed up for ski patrol school in 2001, gravity took over big time. Candidly admitting he decided to become a patroller in good part for the free skiing, he'd never given a moment's thought to the realities of practicing emergency medicine on an incline. Gerry's first clue: patroller class met in the first aid room at the base of the mountain. Gulp! What Gerry learned by the end of that rookie season: that he had a passion for emergency medicine. Come along for the ride as a guy with a love for skiing and too much time on his hands becomes a certified patroller, gets into - and back out of - nursing school, en route to becoming, in 2006, a newly-minted 52-year-old physician assistant. Part diary, part memoir, this is one run that will occasionally tug on your emotions, but will keep you laughing most of the way.