Race day at Snowbasin

Whoever is following this blog closely (all two of you at least, and no Jana, one's spouse doesn't count in the marketable circulation numbers…) will remember the December 5th “Proud moment” (click to view) posting about my son Max making it onto the Park City Devo (as in development) team. Well after a few training sessions, today was the first race day and the venue was Snowbasin. A wonderful ski resort with a solid and sustained 3,000’+ fall line and very varied terrain that is not all groomed into terminal lame-hood. This was the venue for the SLC 2002 Olympic alpine downhill race by virtue of its sustained fall line and generally strong infrastructure. The men’s and women’s starting cabins for that event are still there as you can see in the picture to the left (click to enlarge). In any case this was race day and although most of the mornings Max has a hard time getting up at 7 am for school, today 6 am for the race was no problem at all… He was up at 6 sharp ready, willing and quite able. He went in to this race with his usual mix of excitement, anticipation and tension (and a touch of anguish for the parents) right up to the moment when he gets into the starting gate when it seems winning is becoming everything for him. To everyone’s great relief he performed very solidly in this giant slalom two run race which always turns these days into great party that goes on into the night. You can see Max expressing himself in the picture to the right (click to enlarge). Below is a general view of the Snowbasin cliff bands at the top of the John Allen Express lift.