Heroics

Staying with C4 in Vail was a definite athlete experience. We packed more than capacity in the house, so the first night I slept in the pool room on a lounge chair mattress. One of the other ambassadors, Ryan Levinson was next to me, so we got chatting and I asked him whether he was charging to win. He answered with a deadly conviction that no, he had muscular distrophy and definitely would not be coming near the podium, but in a lighter tone that he would still enjoy it. We went on to talk about how it sucks to have your body break down, to feel like you are always holding your buddies up. Having been able to only ski for an hour or so at a time for the past two years, I knew where he was coming from.

Having my knees deteriorate on me this year felt worse than a let down, it was that feeling that you get when you find out that Santa isn't real, or dad doesn't actually know everything. It is a feeling that you are and have always been fallible and everything that you did early on is catching up to you, quick.

We talked about how sometimes the guilt and anger boils up and agreed that staying busy was key. He talked about how he switched from shortboards to longboards and now can only catch a wave with a palleboard. I admire him on how he has adapted and not given up. I know that my knees might not want to telemark race for the rest of my life, but am determined to mix things up and stay busy. Maybe I will take on yoga or climbing or paddleboarding. Maybe I will tackle the river at Teva Games next year. There is one thing for sure, I will continue to bring others into the outdoors and share my passion. Standing in water all weekend and teaching paddleboarding has left my heels cracked and me exhausted, but it is a fulfilling exhaustion that I could live on.

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