Day 1
Much like my first time on a giant slalom course back in December, my Texan skiing instincts did not serve me well the first day on a skicross course. Friday was training day at Steamboat which provided an opportunity to test my chops on a cross course for the first time. The course was relatively slow in spots at the top so that helped me gain confidence from the get go. However, there were a ton of “tweener” features meaning you could choose to absorb them or double them by jumping a bit, depending on your speed. For a new skicross racer, this was quite a daunting challenge as conditions varied from run to run and I found myself relying on my very raw instincts to press or pop on the various features. I actually think I did this well for a first-timer on the slower top part of the course. Not so much at the bottom where you pick up a tremendous amount of speed…
After one cautious test run, I proceeded to drop the hammer and go for it on my next two attempts. Both times I navigated the top two thirds of the course with no major issues (other than looking like a noob). As I approached the bottom section, I found myself with way too much speed and not enough skill to manage it over the last couple of rollers and the final jump before the finish line. The first time I wrecked there it didn’t sink in for some reason, and I proceeded to charge hard at the bottom of the course for the second (and last) time. A sprained wrist, re-aggravated shoulder injury, bloody lip, and sore nose later, my day was over. I wrecked harder than I can ever remember. The funny thing was that I dreamed about that moment a couple months ago and I remembered it as I was wiping out. I crashed the same way in my dream and in the exact same spot on the course, yet this course hadn't been built yet. Weird, huh? It’s like it was a lesson from the ski gods to take it easy… and it was well received. The part that wasn’t in my dream was the guy who helped me gather my gear after my yard sale and then told me, “I think you need to try another sport.” Thanks for the support, buddy.
Day 2
Day two almost didn’t happen. I was so sore and so afraid of falling again I almost backed out. This sport ain’t for sissies. What got me out the door was all the fresh snow that had been falling because I knew it would slow down the course and soften my crash landings. That provided a good opportunity for a timid Texan to gain some confidence back after having a bowel-shaking experience on the first day. My trial time was the slowest in the “open” class, and they only let 8 out of 10 of us qualify to race. The take away from that day was that I was only 15 seconds back from the best time of the day, whereas in my giant slalom races I was something like 45 seconds behind. I am starting from a much better place and my lack of edging skill is minimized somewhat in skicross. The other thing I learned from talking to some other racers was that you don’t go hard on training day and you save it for the race… Oops.
Day 3
Today the course was scary fast. I was still sore as could be this morning so I kept the same strategy of playing it safe and getting as many runs on the course as I could. That mindset served me very well, as there were four competitors that left in stretcher sleds this morning, all of them getting seriously hurt during practice runs before time trials even began. My time was 9th out of 11 today, and I missed qualifying for the 8th and last spot by only a second. Amidst all the carnage I was extremely pleased with that result. At the end of my run I received some constructive feedback from a course attendee (a nice one this time) who said I was doing much better but I was still skiing a little fast for my ability level. Well taken, sir. I think I will be best served by spending this entire ski season taking it easy and getting as many runs in on skicross courses as possible.
Overall, I had a great experience this weekend. It is a small group of racers and they were all supportive of the rookie as they cheered for me when I crossed the finish line today. Overcoming my fears this weekend was a great feeling, and I learned that having a little fear is healthy (and safe!) This Texan lives to race again.
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