The Life of a Ski Racer
With the motion of angels, out of Snow-spume and swirl of gold mist, they emerge to the positive sun. With the color of birds or angels, they swoop, sway, and descend as fast as a hawk diving down towards it’s pray. This is ski racing at its finest.
“Skiing is as close as one can get to the true feeling of what it would be like to fly, and there is nothing better than flying down a mountain as fast as possible.” said 21 year old, Casey Thomas.
Casey used to ski race back in his high school days. He raced for Pats Peak, a small mountain in New Hampshire and for his high school team as well. There is so much involved with ski racing that many people do not understand the commitment racers have to put in. The early mornings and long days can take a large toll on both the mind and body. Waking up around 6:30 a.m. for school and then even earlier on the weekends to train or race was never a fun time for Casey.
“I never got to sleep, between waking up for school every morning during the week and then waking up even early on the weekends to go train or travel to a race there was no time to sleep,” said Casey.
Even though sleeping was never in Casey’s schedule during the winter he never forgot why he did it. He would wake up, load his ski equipment in his car and a smile would come across his face. He knew why he was awake so early; he had to go enjoy life for a while.
Skiing racing has four events: Downhill, Super G, Giant Slalom, and Slalom. But in high school and USSA (United States Ski Association) which is the association all the mountain racers compete in, they only race in the original two events, Giant Slalom (GS) and Slalom (SL) to compete in. Casey trained hard, seven days a week, to try and perfect these two events.
“ I would have training two nights a week for my high school team unless we had a race during one of those nights, and then when I wasn’t with my school team I was training weeknights and racing and training weekends with my mountain team,” said Thomas.
Casey is all about the speed when it comes to racing so it was easy for him to find his favorite between GS and Slalom. Slalom is a race course that consists of tight short turns while a GS course is more spread out.
“GS is my favorite event. The gates are more spread out which means you gain more speed,” he said.
There is a lot of equipment and special race terms in the sport of ski racing. Things like GS suits, shin guards, shinning, the fall line, pole guards, slipping, ruts, kick start, pulling the course, setting the course and etc.
The very thin spandex suits that people might see racers wearing are called GS suits. The suits are all about aerodynamics, they are thin and tight so there is nothing blowing in the wind and holding the racer back. Not only is the GS suit aerodynamic but it is also apparently freezing to wear.
“I hate GS suits, they're tight and freezing, people think they are insulated but they’re wrong, and you can’t wear a lot of clothing under them either. I would only wear some long underwear and a polypropylene shirt under mine,” he said.
Even before the race begins the racers have to get focused and start concentrating right away because they have to go through and “slip” the course. Slipping the course means that the racers go through and purposely make the course icy by pushing the excess snow away. Not only are the racers making the course icy but while doing this they are also checking out the layout of the course and paying attention to the type of line they want to have going into different parts of the course or just and individual gate.
“Slipping is one of the most important things a racer has to do. When we slip we are not only making the course icy to help prevent it from rutting up but we are also mentally preparing our minds for how we are going to ski it,” said Thomas.
“If you do not get to slip the course then you are in trouble. It’s like skiing blind, you will not know what to expect and where the trouble areas on the course are,” he said.
Not only is GS Casey’s favorite event because of the speed, but he also likes it because there is less equipment needed for it compared to slalom.
“Slalom is just a pain in the butt, you need shin guards, and pole guards, when all you need for GS is your poles and ski’s. Slalom was just too technical for me,” said Thomas.
According to Casey the reason for the shin guards and pole guards is because of the slalom gates. A slalom gate is one flexible pole that racers intentionally hit. When a racer is good enough their line is so tight to the gate that they literally hit the gate with both their shins and hands.
“Slalom can hurt, if you are late on a gate you can hit it with your thigh where you are not protected and the gate can come back and hit you in the face or head,” said Thomas.
“I actually saw a guy have a gate come back and hit him in the face so hard that he lost a few teeth!” he said.
Like most individual sports ski racing does not just come with a physical toughness, it also comes with mental toughness. Where most of the physical aspects of racing starts with the racers “kick start” (a certain way to jump out of the start gate) and continuing to race through the actual course, the mental toughness has to go straight through the day from start to finish.
“You have to always be focused mentally while ski racing,” Thomas said.
“There is a lot of sitting around and waiting during the day because you only race twice and there are over a hundred races in each race. So waiting around and still trying to keep your head focused on why you are there can be tough on your mind,” he said.
“There are also the moments where you watch some of the racers to see how the course is holding up and where people are having the most trouble. Those trouble spots start to get into your head and sometimes you focus on the trouble spots so much that you end up falling on an easier part of the course,” he said.
“The waiting around and trouble spots are not the worst thing that can mess with your head though, the worst part about ski racing is watching the racer before you fall. That mess’s with your head to the extreme!” he said.
Casey was an ok ski racer, he always finished in the middle of the pact for his mountain races and then in his high school racers he was good enough to make it to the state finals all four years because high school racing is not as competitive. But it was never really about how good he was, it was about the speed, the feeling of freedom and the adrenaline rush that made him keep waking up early every morning just to come back for more.
“Think about it, you’re standing in the start gate at the top of the mountain, you look down at the steep pitch that you are about to ski as fast as possible and all you can do is shake your head back and forth because there are no words to describe it, it’s the best feeling in the world!”
People of the Driving Range
Dan Pilkington, a 54 year old roofer, slowly takes a shiny Callaway pitching wedge out of his bag like a sword being drawn from its sleeve. He grips the club softly as if he were holding a water balloon. He shakes his black spikes into the fake turf and spreads his feet shoulder width apart like a baseball player at bat. His hips, shoulders, and club move back and forth in a smooth fluent motion like a pendulum. Pilkington is not hitting anything; he just keeps swaying his body back and forth trying to find his swing.
“I like to start off with the smaller clubs to find my rhythm and then move up” said Pilkington.
Once Pilkington finds his rhythm he steps up to the little white ball laying on the fake green turf, plants his feet, puts his head down, stares down at the ball like a hawk staring down its prey, he takes a slow swing backward with his hips and shoulders aligned, then swings down and powers all his weight forward. “Ping,” the club strikes the ball launching it into the air like a rocket. Pilkington watches as the ball soars straight for 90 yards and then drops down out of the sky like a solid piece of hail.
“Straight as an arrow,” he said.
“I play the game because it’s a challenge against yourself, it’s just you against the golf course,” he says. Pilkington works on his swing three times a week during the winter and makes it a daily routine in the summer. The time he spends practicing depends on how his game is going. If he is struggling with a particular club then he will work on that for a hitting session. He has been playing for 20 years and is still perfecting his swing. Pilkington changes clubs as an older gentlemen walks by.
“You want to talk to a guy who knows the game, go talk to him, he’s the best!” he says, while pointing at the old man.
An old man stands at the cash register bandaging up his finger after cutting it on one of the machines. The man is Fred Bruno, the golf pro at the range who has been teaching for 40 years. Credited in 1968, Bruno is not the average pro. For the past ten years he has hosted the CVS Charity Classic at the Rhode Island Country Club and has met many of golf’s classic players.
“I had breakfast with Arnold Palmer,” he says, as he sighs and shakes his head like it was the best thing that had ever happened to him. According to Bruno, Arnold Palmer defines the definition of golf and people see him as some type of golf god.
“They would never call him Arnold, it was Mr. Palmer,” he says.
Along with Mr. Palmer, Bruno has also met the great Jack Nicholas, Fred Couples, David Toms and many more. According to Bruno, Jack Nicholas was a nice man but nothing like Palmer.
“Jack is the best but Palmer defines the game,” he says.
Bruno started playing golf when he was eight years old. According to Bruno, it was very unusual for a kid to be playing golf at such a young age back then. Bruno loves the game to the extreme and believes that the game teaches great life lessons.
“The struggles on the golf course, the decisions you have to make, it helps build character,” he says.
Bruno loves the challenges the game brings. The mental and physical aspects, along with the calming feeling and presence it has. Like many individual sports, golf is a game where one has to concentrate and suffers more from the mental aspects than the physical. Bruno’s favorite thing about the game is that there is no age limit and it’s always the same.
“I can play this game for the rest of my life, and it won’t change, it will always be me against the golf course!”
The Musician
In an old banana colored house down on Hope Street lays a world of undiscovered music. The sounds and thoughts of the Poetic Champions, Van Morrison and Bob Dylan swarm around the room, as an acoustic guitar sits on its stand just waiting to belt out the next song. The man behind all of this undiscovered music is left handed guitarist and singer-songwriter, Ross Malpere.
Ross Started playing the guitar at the age of 12 and was taught by his father. “I never had to make many adjustments while playing the guitar righty. I started playing the guitar that way, that’s how dad taught me,” he said. Two years later, Ross started writing his own music at the age of 14.
Ross Started playing the guitar at the age of 12 and was taught by his father. “I never had to make many adjustments while playing the guitar righty. I started playing the guitar that way, that’s how dad taught me,” he said. Two years later, Ross started writing his own music at the age of 14.
The first song he ever wrote was called “Things You Do.” The song basically explains the crazy things that girls do. Ross enjoys writing songs and the way music makes him feel in general. He is inspired by music and loves to play when he’s feeling down because it brings him right back up. Much of his inspiration comes from the musical stylings of Dispatch, Jack Johnson, and John Mayer. All three artists strive at playing great guitar.
“Café Arabica in my hometown, Morristown New Jersey, is my favorite place to perform.” Ross loves to perform live. He enjoys the rush that goes through him while singing in front of a crowd, and he loves the fact that he gets to share his music. He saw the Dave Matthews Band play live in Hershey Pennsylvania, “best show I have ever seen, man, those guys can jam.” All the aspects that Ross loves from performing live himself surrounded him in the crowd that was watching the Dave Matthews Band rock out. He loved the way they incorporate the crowd and fool around with them. The band plays a lot of note teases and the crowd will start singing before Dave does. Ross was very amused and started to incorporate some of these ideas into his own live performances.
Though he has fun performing, the performances do not always go as well as planned. There was one issue where Ross felt pretty embarrassed while performing. He likes to sit down when he plays because that’s where he feels most comfortable. During the middle of one of his songs he started to notice that the microphone stand was not completely locked and it started sliding down on him. It got to the point where he was in a complete squat while still trying to sing and play the guitar. Fortunately, one of the technicians realized he was having a problem and he came over and put the stand back up for him. “It was humiliating. I felt like a sitting duck and it felt like forever had passed before someone finally came and helped me out,” he said.
Ross performs around campus very often. He attends most “open mic” nights on the Roger Williams campus. He has also been asked to perform at some fundraising events as well. Recently, Ross was asked by the Roger Williams equestrian team to sing a few songs for a fundraiser they were having. I attended this event myself because I had never seen Ross play and had only heard good things about him. Ross was the opening act for two other bands that were playing that night, two bands that actually had record deals. There was a lot of noise and commotion throughout the room but when he started to sing, people started to listen. He was strumming away at his guitar while his eyes were closed; he was lost in his music. Many people were very intrigued and surprised by his talent as a musician. “The best thing about performing is the compliments that come after,” he said. The two bands approached him after he opened up and said that they were very impressed and liked him a lot. Ross was also approached by many individuals, especially the ladies that were admiring him from afar. “He’s a babe magnet when he performs,” said Dimitry Gershfield, Ross’s childhood friend.
Ross is very dedicated to his music and has written over 50 songs. Some songs take 3 minutes to write and some take a few days or a few weeks. Some are long, some are short. He has put many songs up on his “myspace” page where people can feel free to go and listen. He is still writing, and has no intentions of stopping. The new thoughts and ideas will continue to be written down on the blank sheets of paper, and the dark and gloomy room, in the corner of the old banana colored house, will continue to be fulfilled with the new poetic sounds of Ross Malpere.
The Saudi-Arabian Exchange Student Majed Alqahtani walks out of his room and sits down on his couch. He is wearing jeans, and a hoodie that matches the color of his darker skin. He is not dressed any differently from any other American college student and it is not the clothing that he’s worried about. Majed is nervous; as he shakes his knees up and down. He is a 21-year- old international student from Saudi Arabia and is not very confident with his English speaking abilities.
Majed is not alone. There are 3,480 undergraduate students at Roger Williams and 103 of them are International according to 30- year-old Maria Adkins, Assistant Director of the Roger Williams Intercultural Center. Those include students from: Afghanistan, Brazil, Egypt, Germany, India, Nepal, Nigeria, Poland, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela, Vietnam, and many others. Of these, Turkey has 12 students and Saudi Arabia has nine making them the two largest international populations. Majed is one of these 103 international students that had to go through all the struggles and hassles just to be eligible to come to America.
“”I had to make an appointment for my visa at the American Embassy and I had to pay 100 hundred dollars just to get in,” he said.
Majed was not just signing his life away with all the paper work at the embassy but he was also basically telling his life story and family history. He even had to bring a police report in with him.
“If I had any criminal charges I would not have been allowed to come to America,” he said.
Majed and all other Saudi Arabians are only allowed to apply for a one to two year visa while other countries are allowed to get four to five years. All of his friends have five year visas and he still does not understand why he is only allowed two.
“Maybe it’s just because I am Saudi,” he said.
After waiting for two months Majed finally received his visa and the jitters about coming to America started to kick in.
“I was scared on the plane ride over, people had told me that Americans are not nice,” he said.
Majed arrived in New York and had to go through a long and scary immigration process.
“The people who work at the New York immigration are mean,” he said. “Some of the people I had flown over with were sent back to Saudi Arabia right away.”
It took seven hours for Majed to get through immigration. After leaving New York, Majed had to head south to Washington DC. He had to go to the Saudi Arabian embassy to check in and let them know that he had arrived. It was in DC that Majed started to realize the culture change.
“I saw a policeman riding around on a bike,” he said.
According to Majed, Saudi Arabian police only have their cruisers and motorcycles to ride around with.
Majed also started to realize the freedoms that both men and women have in America. There are only so many jobs that women are allowed to do in Saudi Arabia. Most of them are teachers and nurses. Majed’s sisters are all in the teaching business.
Majed was also amazed at the freedom’s the men who are 18 and older have here. While Americans are free to live and go as we please at the age of 18 the Saudi Arabian’s are stuck living at home.
“We are not allowed to leave the house at 18 or older until we are married,” he said.
Being in America, Majed has enjoyed living with his three other roommates all over the age of 18. His roommates, Justin Coumo, Ross Malpere, and Dimitry Gershfield have been enjoying Majed’s company and have been learning some Saudi Arabian culture.
“I’ve been cooking for the roommates,” Majed said.
“That’s right, whatever he made the other day was damn good, don’t really know what it was, or what was in it, but it was damn good!” said Dimitry Gershfield, one of his roommates.
Majed does not mind the American foods but he enjoys cooking some old fashioned Saudi meals for him and his roommates. It allows him to enjoy a taste of his home land.
While the food and the company is good for Majed here in America there is something that does bother him. Majed does not understand the popular American sports.
“I don’t understand this baseball, and basketball,” he said. As he points to the TV while UCLA and Memphis is playing in their semi final game.
“I miss the Soccer, I do not understand why they are always talking about baseball, basketball and American football on the news and never soccer!” he said.
Like most Internationals, Majed loves the game that the world knows as the “Beautiful Game.” Unlike most Internationals Majed has a closer bond with the game. His cousin, Yasser, plays for the Saudi Arabian national team which played in the 2006 World Cup. Yasser is one of the team’s top players as he is a great goal scorer with amazing foot skills. When Yasser is not playing with the national team he is playing in the professional Saudi league but is looking to be leaving soon.
“Yasser has recently been talking to Manchester City,” said Majed.
Manchester city is a team that plays in the Premier League in England. The Premier League is the top soccer league in the world and is made up of the best players worldwide.
“I am proud of my cousin, to play in both the World Cup and hopefully the Premier League are the two highest honors a soccer player could ask for!” he said.
Majed does miss his family every now and then but for the most part he is enjoying his stay and is learning a lot. Majed has learned that Americans are actually very nice people and welcoming for the most part and he is no longer scared of them. Majed has even learned one of the most popular lines of an American college student.
“I like it here, it’s all good!”Miller's Back
He’s back! Bode Miller, New Hampshire
For the past two years, the 32 year-old NH native decided not to race with the U.S. U.S. Vancouver
The two-time overall World Cup Champion who contemplated retirement last spring, said he could relate to Brett Farve who has retired twice and returned to play football.
“As I reflected on things, it was obvious I still had more to give,” said Miller, who appeared at a news conference in Los Angeles
According to the New York times Miller was close to expressing remorse for his behavior at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin , Italy America
However, Miller, a tough and rugged mountain man from Franconia Notch, NH, who grew up in a house that was a mile hike into the woods and had no electricity, was not ready to admit any mistakes from the past.
“I think everyone can look back at any area of their life with hindsight and make judgment calls,” Miller said. “I don’t think this is an arena for me to make apologies. My actions from here will speak much more loudly than an apology.”
Despite all of the past issues between bode and the U.S.
“To have Bode come back to the family is extremely exciting for us,” Rearick said. "I'm looking forward to Bode coming back as a leader.”
Rearick said Miller will train with the team for the World Cup season opener in Austria Beaver Creek , Colorado
Miller still has some work cut out for him however. He will still have to qualify for the United States Olympic Team and after taking the summer off from training he is very well aware that he needs to get back into shape.
“I think it's better to be fully prepared when I start racing,” Miller said. “I'm not in bad shape, but it's a far cry from being in race shape.”
It is clear to see that the man who joined the U.S. Ski Team at the age of 18 is not ready to let go of what he loves. All of the years spent training at Cannon Mountain
“To know that I've done more work than everyone else that's where my confidence comes from,” he said.
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