Hi folks,

I know that there are a couple people here whose kids have started or 
are flirting with the idea of racing, and some others who are threatened 
with the possibility some years in the future. After this weekend, I 
feel it is my duty to warn you about what horrors you may be called upon 
to perform.

Saturday, of course, was the day we've been waiting for all winter. I 
woke up early, loaded up the car, and headed up to the Snow Bowl in 
heavy snow all the way. Once there, I booted up, met the other 
gatekeepers, grabbed my chair, and headed out to the finish line to 
begin my morning as finish ref for the Devo race. That's right, while 
everyone else was out tearing the holy snot out of all my long-awaited 
powder, I sat on my butt and watched 8-year-olds ski by. It was snowing 
so hard that the course was challenging for all the little 60-pounders, 
but the course workers were out in force sideslipping and raking it 
flat. Yes, this is the fate that awaits the race parent.

I did have time to sneak in one pre-race run. I made the unfortunate 
decision to see if the woods were ready, and found to my dismay that 
they're not. They looked beautiful, but the snow was hiding very little 
base, and a plethora of stumps, rocks, and ankle-high branches, one of 
which stopped me cold. It became an exercise in survival skiing, and I 
tiptoed back down to the base to begin my chores.

After the race, I stuck to the trails, and despite the lateness of the 
hour managed to find plenty of untracked to keep me busy for the 
afternoon. It was very good, and I tried not to think about how much 
better it could have been farther north and higher up. (The face shots I 
alluded to in an earlier post, alas, were not mine.)

Today was no better. It wasn't a working day, but it was race day for my 
own boys, so we made the early morning trek not to the snowbound peaks 
of the north, but to all-but-snowless Woodstock and our race at Suicide 
Six. I never even put on skis, but I did have fun hiking up the hill, 
taking lots of pictures in the brilliant sunshine, and spending hours of 
quality time with my kids and the rest of their racer buddies. It was a 
fun, sunny day, in the way that taking your kids to the zoo can be a fun 
day. Again, I found myself trying to focus on the good parts of the day, 
and not what could have been.

The boys did not make it to States, so this was our last race of the 
year. OK, I'm ready now. Let it snow! Again! Please!

Dave G.

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