The Son, The Wife and I all went to Killington after Thanksgiving to watch the women’s World Cup races and ski a bit too. It’s been quite awhile since the last world cup race I attended. So long ago that there was no such thing as B-netting or other safety equipment. Back then, I was able to hike up the side of the hill and watch from a prime viewing location at the top of a knoll.
On both days we watched primarily from the side of the course, just slightly above the finish line. We got a great view of the course and had a good time doing it. The crowds were amazing and I loved seeing all of the ski clubs represented. I also got to see one of my teammates from my college ski team and met his daughter for the first time. She is a very accomplished ski racer herself. We also ran into several families from our home ski club and said hello. The fun was as much in the atmosphere as the ski racing itself. In the US one often thinks of Baseball, Basketball, Football as the major spectator sports. Skiing certainly doesn’t compare with those sports from a spectator perspective, but on the World Cup level it really is a spectator sport and it was nice for me, The Son and The Wife to see. Hopefully the World Cup will be back in the coming years. Considering that there was around 15,000 attendees each day, I suspect that they will schedule other early season races on the east coast in the coming years.
While the racing was top notch, the skiing was so so. On Saturday the top of the mountain was in the clouds and visibility was near zero. That coupled with thin snow cover and crowded slopes made for a less enjoyable time skiing. The Son and I did some early season drills and basically just tried to get our ski legs back as well as get accustomed to the new boots that both of us got this fall. Sunday was a bit better from a visibility perspective the conditions continued to deteriorate due to the warm temperatures and the larger crowds skiing. Still it was nice to work on getting the form back in November as opposed to last year when the first day skiing was on Dec 31.
As we truly head into the season I’ll write more frequently and I intend on covering the junior races going on around the region as well as covering specific athletes for all to learn about. If you have any suggestions feel free to contact me via a reply or the contact form in the sidebar to the right.