Frost bitten faces
Toes so cold they feel like little rocks rolling around in my ski boots
Standing on top of Beaver Creek, in Colorado
With little snow flakes glowing in the sun.
It’s the last race in the 2010 Junior Olympics,
So there is no room for error
And I have to go all out.

My skis are all waxed with the hundred dollar wax
This makes my skis very fast.

Watching the sun appear from the darkness and into the world
Warming everyone up.
Now my toes are thawing
My face no longer frost bitten

But now in the start gate. “Wow this is it”
“the real thing”
I know my ability and that I have a chance to get into the top thirty
Hearing from a radio that the last four guys have fallen in front of me.
That didn’t help my nerves at all
So now I am nervous.
But all of a sudden I am pulling as hard as I can across the flat part of the hill.
Smacking the plastic gates around like they are rag dolls.
The gates breaking at the hinge and making a solid thud with the ground.

The red finish banner is in my sights now
I can see all the people with little gates left before the finish
Done!
Now my heart was beating a million miles per hour
My lungs gasping for air
My toes gain feeling in them
My face warm
But now my nerves are gone and i have nothing to worry about.