THE PASSING OF a new decade doesn’t seem to be that big a deal, except
for remembering to write “2010” on anything needing a date. I’m all for a
good, self-indulgent bout of reminiscing, but the year 2000 really doesn’t
seem that far into the past. Maybe some others have aged a bit, showing
a few more gray hairs or carrying a little more baggage around the waist
— but certainly not me.
Admittedly, the hills on my mountain bike-rides have gotten steeper and
longer; I seem to start tapping the brakes while ski racing at 30 miles per
hour, instead of 60; and my three-sports-in-one-day routine of the past has
been reduced to one (or even one-half). But except for those minor details
and two knee surgeries and occasionally bouts of tendonitis, I’m still as hale
and hearty as I was 10 years ago. Really…
Just to reassure myself that the passing of 10 years is just a drop in the
proverbial bucket of life, I dig up the yellowed, 36-page tabloid edition of
the Jan. 7, 2000 Ski Racing. The magazine has certainly undergone more
than a few different looks since then, but the names and events in ski racing
couldn’t be that much different from those of Jan. 7, 2010, could they? After
all, ski boots are still ski boots, skis still turn up on the front end, and the
fastest one down the hill still wins.
Proving that things in the ski racing world are just the same-old, same-old,
that issue reads, “Hermann Maier donned rose-colored millennial glasses
on the podium in Saalbach, Austria, where the darn near invincible Austrian men’s team swept the top three places in the last men’s World Cup of the
century.” (The event was in 1999.) Yep, the Austrians are still top dogs, but
then again, of the podium finishers, only Benni Raich is still active. Hmm,
maybe some of the names have changed.
Upon further reading I stumble upon what has to be a misprint. “Julia
Mancuso, 15, skied in her first European World Cup, finishing 51st in the
first run.” I fully realize that the passing of time accelerates with each successive year of age, but even if Mancuso is currently 25, she had to be older
than 15 in 2000. Right? There just hasn’t been enough time for her to have
won an Olympic gold medal and umpteen other titles.
I then flip through the newspaper to the Kids Klub section, and the pas-
sage of time soon becomes even more wrinkled. Current U.S. Development
Team member Erika Ghent, age 11 at the time, has written a piece on USST
ski technician Willi Wiltz. Farther down the page are comments from her
future USST teammate Kiley Staples, age 10, who excitedly adds that she
now skis on different pairs of skis for slalom and GS. Yes, kids grow up
quickly, but no one goes from fifth grade to the U.S. Ski Team that quickly.
And there seem to have been some technical advancements over the past
10 years that have escaped my notice. I’m absolutely convinced that I’ve been
racing on short slalom skis for much longer than a decade until I notice the
following story from a Super Series race at Hunter Mountain, N.Y.: “Erik
Schlopy, who won the race on Jan. 3 by .02 seconds over development team
member Tom Rothrock, found himself on the wrong side of a .05-second
margin in losing to Bode Miller on Jan. 4. With slalom ski lengths varying
as much as 20 centimeters, Schlopy also noted that the different shaped ruts
added to the challenge.”
In an attempt to restore the passing of time to its proper pace, I quickly
turn to the masters ski racing page. One would think that 10 years ago, the
same names would appear in the results and probably in the same finish
order, but it seems that even masters ski racers come and go. Where are
you now, Sally Tauber, winner of the Jan. 1 Intermountain masters race at
Park City? And second place finisher Sue Lipke? Even the first and second
place overall finishers in the men’s race, Mike Faulk and George Crown,
have dropped off the radar screen. Of the six overall podium positions in
that race, only Bill Skinner remains a fixture on the circuit. Does this mean
there are really other things to do with one’s time in the winter than ski
race? Now that’s a scary concept.
