Ski Racing - Big and Small

One of the many things I do to entertain myself in this Adirondack sylvan splendor is follow and participate in ski racing. My version of ski racing is cross-country skiing, and I favor longer races; 15 - 50 k. Having a goal like finishing the race helps me stay fit year round. My favorite race is the Lake Placid Loppet, scheduled for Saturday, February 9. Lake Placid and the Adirondacks are a great place to train for ski racing. The region has produced many real ski racers such as biathlete  Lowell Bailey, alpine racer Andrew Weibrecht, and my son who was on the U.S. Telemark Ski Team, among many others. The ski racing kids go through the great ski-training program at NYSEF and work with the fantastic coaches there. In addition, the Adirondacks host many international events so we have the opportunity to watch world-class athletes in action. I've done my time as a gate-keeping, volunteer mom, so it is a good thing I love watching ski racing. After Bode Miller, another of my favorite ski racers is Hermann Maier. Maier is the skier pictured on the left and on the right is Jean-Claude Killy. Watching Killy at the Grenoble Olympics on television when I was a kid got me interested in skiing. Like so many other kids, I wanted to ski fast like the people in the Olympics. When I saw Maier skiing I was totally blown away by the power and strength of today's alpine racers - so different than in Killy's era. Some of you may recall Maier's devastating crash at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. He is quite an impressive athlete.
And then there is my paisano, Alberto Tomba....ah, but that is a post for another day!