Sidelined at a recent high school ski race, it dawned on me how ridiculous
racing is. All the downsides of downhill skiing are essential aspects of
alpine racing. Let’s see, you wait at the top of the mountain while others
ski, then wait some more in anticipate of your turn. Then you ski in the
same icy rutted trenches as everyone else as the gates dictate.
Did I mention that you have stripped off your warm winter jacket, and are
now embarrassingly underdressed for the elements in thin, tight, stretchy,
unflattering lycra one piece suits in neon colors? Body armor and gate
whacking, gee the fun keeps coming, helps you win.
So you skid and scrape and skate and tuck your way towards the finish with no time to take in the view of the particular venue. It could be Wachussett or Whistler, you aren’t exploring the unique terrain of that resort, just the race hill.
So you fly across the finish line and wait – this time for your time which
is the sole criteria of your skiing. No style points or good attitude marks
are awarded. Odds are in your favor that you will eventually injur your ACL
or MCL pdq. If you are lucky, and don’t DNF (read: crash) then you get to go
do it again, taking two runs while others on the mountain are bagging
bountiful vertical on their trails of choice.
OK, I’m not a complete gate hater (I know the camaraderie and discipline
that develop with racing), I’m just glad my son is done chasing sticks on
stellar ski days. For all you gatekeeper moms and dads sidelined and
standing in the cold, I will wave to you when I ski by.
