On the way to the athletes lounge in the morning we were mobbed by people asking for autographs. After making our way through the crowds we entered the best appointed tent I’d ever seen.
There was a juice bar, Ben & Jerry’s cart, massage rooms, video games, phones with people speaking many languages to people back home, food, drinks, anything that a person could possibly want and all the athletic rock stars lounging about.
I went up to take a practice run and my nostrils froze together, it was sooooo cold. The ground was solid ice, the ride down was no fun. So, I purchased my Turtle Fur and went back out. When it was time to go off the jump the conditions were so that we had to be pushed to get enough speed to clear the landing. Not a good sign.
During practice I flew through the air over the heads of photographers and gawkers, landing perfectly every time. It was time to do this for real now and the butterflies were nearly exiting my mouth. Thirty thousand onlookers were watching and the jumbotron caught every moment up close. It was terrifying and thrilling.
First run, down the ramp, off the jump, grab my board, tweek it out, let go, and land, ah. Not everybody landed so well, 6 people were so broken that they did not move on. We made our way through the crowd, took the snowmobile up the hill, time for jump 2.
Line up, get sling shotted down the runway, off the jump, grab my board, tweek it, let go and land, whew. More casualties, it’s an icey day.
Final jump, I’m going to do a misty flip, my toughest trick at the time. Slingshot down the ramp, off the lip, throw my left arm towards my right foot, upside down, open up, spot the landing, oh sh#@$. to be continued…