Here, at an altitude of 35,000
feet, I am relieved to go back to Canada . My adventure to Russia
was exactly as one who travels the world wants it to be; eye opening,
challenging, and making you want more.
Just being in Russia makes
you grateful for our friendly North American atmosphere and surroundings.
Smiles from the locals were hard to come by and they were not excited to
speak to you in English. Actually, they would just speak louder in Russian, some
how expecting you to understand, as if the decibels were a type of translation.
The construction there was constant,
which brings with it grey and rough scenes from all angles. The buildings that
were built were already on the verge of crumbling, as if it were all going to
be taken down after the Games…which is true for a lot of the hotels there.
Rumor was around every corner,
right from the building scandals of both snow features and infrastructure, how
many snipers were in the brush keep us safe, to what actually happens to the
town when Vladamir Putin arrives and how much he looks like coach Crispin. It really kept for good dinner
conversations.
But on the whole the contest went
well, not perfect, but well enough.
The pipe was beautiful, thanks to Development Snowparks and their magician pipe shapper John Melville. Many do
not understand the feats these people overcome to make us a safe and superb
feature to ride. They shaped the pipe with a Zuagg this time, but there are
talks of getting my favorite shapper for the Games, a Global Cutter. I will be
so excited for that.
I have to admit this was the most
emotional contest thus far. My first run delivered one of my best performances
and I was not rewarded for my hard work, runs that were inferior scored
significantly higher, what I get for not racing I guess. But for a fair chunk of the contest
the judging seemed off, there are a few things us snowboarders need to fine
tune before we can boost that we have a fair system in place. But I regress.
After seeing the score board on the
first runs I was passionately charged with a feeling of just going and riding
for myself. I called on the spirit of who is now my riding Saint, Anthony
Crute, and dropped with a love that was grater then I have ever imagined. It
began to be the prime run of my carrier, but was broken by a major butt drag on
my frontside 720. I didn’t fully complete the run. I was heartbroken. I had
semi finals in my grasp and I blew it.
With tears filling my goggles I
ascended back to the start, disappointed with myself, I had at least top
Canadian in front of me and I let it slip away.
Coach Crispin greeted me at the top
with delight in his eyes. He was proud of what I did, he always said “Go big,
or bail” unfortunately this time I bailed, but it was the first time I didn’t
play it safe and took a step out of my comfort zone; the only way to take
contests to the next level.
I couldn’t see his point then
because I was so hung up over delivering a clean and appropriate first run but
not being rewarded for it. Crispin admitted to being perplexed by that outcome,
but quickly added that it was not to be dwelled upon, and we were a head of
schedule according to our game plan.
Our freeriding adventure immediately
after helped to put things into perspective that in the end all we have are the
experiences life brings to us, the people who are special in our lives, and the
way we choose to handle the outcomes, which sometimes we have no control over.
As of now there is one year, twelve
months, or 365 days to make the changes necessary to make myself an indisputable candidate for a Winter Games quota spot. We are even doing work on
the plane back to North America to keep my
leaning on a roll. Just like Rocky I am ready to take shots and get back up,
fight to the end with nothing to lose!
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