Unexpected Bro Trip III (continued)

What I looked like right after my ski popped off

The lodge was nothing extraordinary, it had a lower level with food and a seating area and the same thing on the upper level.  We (my ski team) started putting on our ski stuff on and grabbed some breakfast burritos for the lift.  I was one of the last people to get on the hill because I take my time getting ready.  Who am I kidding, I am just overall slow at starting my day.  Once the process of getting ready was over I grabbed my pack and started my way up the lift.

15 Minutes Later…

After the ride up the chairlift and a ten minute cat track (a flat road used to get around a ski mountain) I had finally made it to the next chair lift which was what took me to the top of the race hill.  When I was sitting on the padded seat of the chairlift I was thinking to myself if I was still capable of winning a speed race.  I was at that time the younger generation of the U16’s I was fourteen while most everyone else was fifteen.  A majority of them had four inches and most likely twenty to thirty pounds on me.  After that thought passed through my head it dropped my confidence a little bit which is a grave mistake in ski racing.  I was then nearing the top of the lift with hesitation on my mental.

Left, right, left, right, delay, left right, jump, this was me memorizing the course.  Ski racers do this so they know exactly what is coming at them and to be ready for anything the hill throws at them.  It also helps me keep my head clear and focused because if I am not thinking about the course then I am usually getting side tracked or goofing off with my friends.  So it helps me mentally and physically in the sport.  The boy were running first today and i was bib fourteen so I had to lap around quick to get warmed up and strip down to my speed suit (the women usually run first in ski racing but this wasn’t the case today).

What a tuck looks like

Racer Ready? Ten seconds…. Five, Four, Three out I go from the start gate.  I drop straight into my tuck to gain some speed before the first pitch (a tuck is when you get low to the ground and put your elbows in-between your knees to stay aerodynamic.  A couple seconds later I was making turns down the pitch.  Left, right, Outside ski pressure! I told myself every turn.  Here comes the money gate (money gate is the most important gate in the course).  I started rolling my ski up onto edge and put all of my body weight on my outside ski.  A couple tenths later I hit a giant hole and my ski popped off.  I was going around fifty miles an hour and I was holding on for dear life so I wouldn’t go into the safety netting that lines the side of the runs.  It is supposed to keep you safe but sometimes I wonder if hitting a tree would hurt less than hitting the safety netting.  Thankfully I stayed on my feet and safely came to stop with anger in my veins.  I let out a f-bomb that all of the spectators could hear.  Once I cooled down a little a went down to my coach to tell him how much BS it is that my ski is popping off under those circumstances.

To Be Continued...

Unexpected Bro Trip III

Super-G Jump

It was around 11:30 in the afternoon when I packed up all of my ski stuff to load it on the van with a destination of Bogus Basin.  It was my first Super-G race of the year and I was stoked to actually get some real speed and get my adrenaline pumpin'.  The drive was about five or six hours through flat, boring, cattle filled plains.  Our team took a grey hound bus there and it smelled like a porta-potty the entire way there.  All of the older kids on the bus were saying how badly put together the race was and how there is always course holds.  Despite some empty doubts I was still so excited to get on my skis in a town other than my own (Park City, Utah).

We finally arrived at the hotel after a couple naps, headaches, and a terrible stench in my nose the entire way.  The hotel was very spread out and big and I could already tell that it was going to be a pain in the butt to get to my room.  I picked up both of my pairs of skis and my backpacks and starting walking up to my room.  It was on the second story and as far away from the stairs I come up then any other room in the hall.  The upside was that the beds were so damn comfortable that I never really wanted to get out of them.  I was rooming with my buddies Shane, and Charlie who I have known for basically my whole life.  Once we got settled in we had to go buff out our skis for the next day and put on all the necessary wax to get our skis as fast as possible.

Next Day

Beep... Beep... Beep.. went our alarm at around 6:30 in the morning and we all groaned in unison.  I stayed in bed for another five minutes while Charlie and Shane went back to the waxing room to scrape their skis that they didn't finish the night before.  I finally got up and took a quick shower to get woken up and started throwing on my ski clothes so I could make breakfast in time.  I had fifteen minutes to get all of skis, poles, and backpacks in the van and get something in my stomach.  I ran out with two skis on my shoulder and a backpack hanging from my arm.  I threw everything into the van and sprinted to breakfast.  Got there with just enough time to sit down for a couple of minutes and eat a couple bites before I had to make my way back to the van.  I got to the van with two minutes to spare and shortness of breath.  Now I had to sit through an hour long, windy road up to the ski resort. I put in my headphone and closed my eyes...

About an Hour and a Half later

I opened my eyes and looked out the window to see what was supposed to be a ski resort.  There was barely any snow to cover the trails.  This took away all of my excitement for the race and I was all of a sudden in not so good of a mood.  Coming from a dry season in Park City right back to another resort with a snow shortage.  After emptying the vans I headed up to the lodge and put on my ski clothes and decided to make the best with what I have...

To Be Continued....

Jackson Hole III

I was laying on the ground next to a couple of my other ski racer friends listening to some music to pump me up before my start.  Everyone around me was singing along and having a great time.  Number forty was in the start gate and I was getting stoked to send it!!  I stripped down to my speed suit from all of my warm up clothes that I had on.  I boot skied down to the start to cheer on some of my team mates before my run.  Scottie was in the gate “Go Scooch!!” all of us yelled as he pulled out of the start.  This went on for around ten more racers until I had to go click in for my run.

Thump Thump went my boots as my coach Cam knocked the snow off of the bottoms of them.  Cam said to me, “Alright Ben when you pull out of the start gate you want to put your foot in the groove and ride it out.  The track is getting a little sketchy and the ruts are deep.  All you got to do is ski athletically and do what you do.  Have fun Ben Good luck.”  I told him thanks and slid down to the beginning of the start gate.  There was around five racers in front of me so I was going through the course in my head trying to remember where I need to nail the course.

Before I knew I was in the start gate with the gate keep saying, “Racer Ready? Go!”  I pulled as hard as I could out of the gate towards the first gate.  The visibility was terrible and I could barely see seven gates in front of me.  Not only that but the ruts in the course were so deep I was basically jumping to each turn.  I was around half way down the course and I got flung from a rut to one side and ended up skiing backwards for five feet or so and managed to make the gate and turn my skis back around.  The best part about this run for me was not the quality of my skiing but how much fun I was having going down the course.  It was on of the most thrilling courses that I have ever skied so thrilling I was laughing through part of it and if you know me you know that is not usual for a ski race.