I had my first big speed crash this week. I got a little off line, thought I was totally fine, and next thing I knew I was cartwheeling through the air skis, poles, arms guards, and mittens flying. It happened very quickly but I had an interesting sense of processing every little movement, and momentarily thought “this is it.” Then I landed and immediately realized I was totally fine, rolled over and waved my hand signaling I was okay. I then attempted to stand up and realized I was quite sore and had a sharp pain deep in my groin which continued to grow as I put my skis back on and slipped down the course and called it a day.
I was really sore that night, and didn’t sleep very well, but woke up the next day feeling much better, so I decided to ski. I then proceeded to have a terrible Super G session because I was still feeling pain in my groin and a little in my left shin and knee, but mostly I was just skiing very timid and scared and this made me back seat and put me in a sketchy position. I called it quits after three runs because I wasn’t making any progress and I was putting myself in risky situations.
The next day I woke up feeling almost 100% and was frustrated with how scared I was skiing the day before, so I told myself ‘I had already wasted one day, if I wanted to ski, I needed to find the confidence to attack and not be timid.’ It is pretty crazy how much a change in mindset can make. I skied so much better, safer, and faster.
This was a big learning lesson for me for a couple reasons. One, it felt good to know my hard work in the gym paid off and I didn’t break during my first big crash. Although there is definitely a luck factor involved in crashes and injuries, so for now I’m just thankful I’m not hurt.
I also realized the importance of confidence in not only performing well but also skiing safe. As soon as I was a little bit scared I put myself in a terrible position that was far more risky. The effect the difference in my mindset from one day to the next had on my skiing was massive. My ability didn’t change, my body was relatively the exact same (I still felt a little pain on the second day), the course and conditions were almost identical. The only thing that changed was my approach. This is really empowering to realize. Yes preparation and practice give you the skills needed, but mindset gives you the power to execute.
Update
As an update, I am still training at Copper Mountain, Colorado. We have switched from GS to speed focus because the speed venue is open which means we can ski full length super g and downhill. I have decided not to race the Nor Am GS races at Copper this week, and also forego any chance at Killington WC GS because, after many many chats with my coaches, we’ve decided that it will be best to take full advantage of the speed training and focus solely on that in preparation for all the Speed WC races I already have a guaranteed start at. This was a really hard decision for me because I love GS and have been skiing very fast in training. But I think I need to trust my coaches, and they believe that my best chance is SG and that I need to put all my ducks in that basket right now.