Fifty 2
by Russ Vilhauer, Mogul Busters Ski School, Alpine Level 2

“Billy Clyde wasn’t insane.
If it doesn’t work out
There’ll never be any doubt
That the pleasure was worth all the pain.”
Jimmy Buffet

The odometer of my life turned 52 on 040404. I decided that this once in a lifetime milestone was cause for a memorable event. What better way to celebrate life than with a near death experience? I ran a marathon on Whidbey Island. My sister Nancy said it best. “You really know how to party!”

At the starting area I overheard some guys talking about running the previous day in Yakima and then commuting 3-4 hours to the island to make the 8:00 start on Sunday morning. I finally turned to one of them and said, “Excuse me for eavesdropping, but do I understand that you ran a marathon in Yakima yesterday?” When he said “yes” I had to ask “Didn’t you learn anything?”

One of the key components to running multiple marathons is amnesia. You have to forget what it’s like to have your legs micro-waved and any bastion of male ego crushed by a woman with hips that wouldn’t fit through the Ballard Locks cruising past you at the 23 mile mark.

The race promoters billed their event as “one of the most scenic courses in the nation”. Yes this course from Coronet Bay to Coupeville passes through rural farmland, lush forests and by breathtaking harbors. What was truly breathtaking was perpetual climbing. After a few miles I stopped looking up because all I could see was another hill to redline my altimeter. It was all for that little medal they hang around your neck with the inscription “I RAN THE ISLAND, MARATHON FINISHER, APRIL 4, 2004”. The PSIA symposium in Sun Valley was only 4 days away. No problem.

I was introduced to alpine skiing by my uncle and aunt, John and Jean Westfall at Spout Springs in the winter of 1964. That day on the rope tow inspired a lifelong passion for the mountain experience. (Isn’t that a clever statement?) I figure that I can take up a new snow sport every 40 years so I signed up for a beginning snow board class at Symposium.

Al Gore claims to have invented the internet. I take credit for the term “dark side” when referring to snow boarding, so you can imagine the reactions I got from my alpine colleagues when they heard about my plan. After scanning the list of classes offered I expressed doubts about my choice to my board head daughter Morgan. She put me back on course with those awe inspiring words, “You’re a wimp.”

Just south of Ketchum is what looks like a modern medical facility. I told my traveling companions to look for me there if I failed to rendezvous with them after class on Saturday.

My fellow classmates included Stuart who is approximately my age from Mt. Hood Meadows, Tom from North Carolina and 20 years my senior and Shannon from Utah. Our clinician was the incomparable TJ Kauth from Bogus Basin. TJ has a progression, manner and movement analysis that can only be characterized as life saving.

I had visions, going in, that I would be the victim of numerous train wrecks. While I did take some hard falls the count was low and TJ was always there to gauge my pulse and offer advice. I debated whether to don my helmet given the warmth of day. It was a question of being cool or being conscious. Snow boarding dictates cool so I went sans helmet. Besides why wear a helmet when you’ve got nothing to protect? Next time I’ll wear my helmet and take the heat. It would have been useful when I did a cartwheel with my head as a pivot point.

I took this lesson to give me some perspective on how my students feel when facing down a slope the size of a speed bump. What they’re experiencing is terror and the question “what the hell were you thinking?”. This is especially true the first time you find both feet locked in a death grip on one board. TJ was a mitigating force with his knowledge and calm demeanor. I learned the very basics of a new sport. More importantly I rediscovered how valuable empathy is to an effective instructor. I may not become the next snowboard technical director for my school, but then again I am in it for the long run.