Too much of a good thing

Yesterday, the New York Times told his readers that Mikaela Shiffrin brought “only” 35 pairs of racing skis with her here at the PyeongChang Winter Games instead of the 70 pairs she “normally” carries to races.

I don't know how she along with her “helicopter-mom, Kim Erlandsson her technician and Mike Day her coach decide which board to pick, but this must be an impossible task.

Between this impossible choice and the pressures of all kinds, including those coming from the media, it's a miracle that she was able to win so many races back-to-back until recently.

Something is blatently wrong when there seems to be an “arm race” waged on behalf of the major “stars” by equipment suppliers, while developing skiers in the U.S are barely supported by the Ski Team.

At the end of January, ski legend's Ingemar Stenmark who attended the Ispo winter trade show was quoted as saying: "I got four pairs of skis for the whole winter from my ski manufacturer Elan: two for slalom, two for giant slalom..."

Just like Ingemar, I “only” have four pairs of skis; they're not great, but they work for me; two are rock-skis and two are in pretty good condition. I feel blessed, content and never blame my equipment for any reason.