The climbing part came pretty easily, owing to lots of hill training for adventure racing. But the downhills were something else altogether... Many of these sections were ungroomed moguls, which were sometimes icy, sometimes lacking snow, and always steep and scary! A few races also boasted downhill sections through the trees. One important detail - Neither Nat nor James have much downhill skiing experience. James is from southwestern Ontario where the tallest hills are overpasses on the highway, and Nat hadn't done any downhill skiing since she was quite young.
James chose the option of not racing most of the SkimoEast race series, knowing that he would likely injure himself trying to race down ski hills that were clearly above his skill level. Nat chose a different path - her butt! When the downhills got too steep and scary, she just took off her skis and slid her way down the hill... On a few occasions where the course was very technical, she actually descended the moguls faster than her competitors on skis around her! And on the one occasion where the course matched Nat's skill level on the descents, she managed to finish 4th among the women.
Last weekend was the final race of the SkimoEast series at Mont Ste Anne near Quebec City. James decided to race the short course - a 5km climb followed by a long descent on a trail called "La Familiale", where the most dangerous obstacles would be the small children skiing every which way.Nat opted for the full course - the longest of the season with one of the most technical downhills to boot. James and Nat had gone the day before the race to check out this nasty downhill and it was exactly as advertised. But despite her fears, Nat chose to tackle it head on in the race. In the end she managed to make her way safely down the mountain and finish the race in just over 3 hours.
At the awards ceremony there were prizes for the podium finishers from the race, as well as prizes for the season's overall points series winners. Nat was awarded second place in the season's point series on the women's side. The photo below is her proudly sporting her prize - a new Dynafit jacket. The jacket serves as a testament to Nat's perseverance throughout the season, doing a new sport that she continuously described as more physically demanding on the uphills and scary on the downhills than any other sport she's ever done. Skimo racing took her way out of her comfort zone all season long, but she always found a way to finish each course. It goes to show the power of finding an activity you love to do - no matter how good or bad you may be at it - and just focusing on getting better each time you do it.
Congrats to Nat and all the other people out there who are willing to get out of their comfort zone to try something new!
