Today we have a guest editorial from former UW Nordic skier Kieran Jones. In his day, Jones was an avid racer, even more avid blog-writer, and had the reputation of being the fastest man on the team over 100m, and being the proud owner of a mini-van.
For the last four years, the University of Waterloo Nordic Ski Team has been a pretty cool part of my life. Now, some may remember my first few outings with the team, where I gasped along, blaming frosh week, after-frosh week, and just about everything for my lack of cojones and skiing ability. I whined about how the ski team did different things than I was used to, was a different group of people than I was used to, and above all how awesome I was.
Kieran was so awesome when he first joined the ski team, he made pies.
Some things haven’t changed – I still talk about how awesome I am, the ski team still does different things, and above all, the group of people could definitely be called ‘different’. However, a month into graduation from the ski team, I’ve realized a few things. This is my first fall in four years not suffering through Mountain Mania at fall camp, rollerskiing out to Bamburg on a crappy road full of angry church goers, running on North Campus in geese shit, or fighting traffic – foot and motorized to get to practice on time. No more wet, stinky and muddy Craft shirts, tights, and socks cluttering up the floor of my room at the Barn, rendering it practically uninhabitable.
Some lads year one.It’s also meant some other things. No fall camp tuna melts, or hiking on the Bruce Trail into the caves where somebody tries to crawl through a small whole and inevitably gets stuck. No Mennonites in carriages, crazy dudes on gigantic scooters, or Glen handing out banana’s at a corner in the middle of nowhere on a long rollerski. No discussions about the value of an Arts degree, the chances of getting sick after swimming shit creek from Student Services to Ron Edyt Village, or chirping people who are playing Beginner Campus Rec soccer while doing running on North Campus. No more debate about whether it’s possible to pick up girls when you are on rollerskis and they aren’t. No more afternoon naps on the massive couch at the Barn while you watch The Matrix, or Top Gun, or The Green Mile on free cable for the second time in two weeks.
Over the time that I was on the UW Ski Team, there were too many people to name or count. People who had nothing to do with skiing, but came out to hack around anyway. People who knew they sucked at skiing, or weren’t in great shape, but were out because they wanted to get better. People like Surabhi, who was obsessed with lower backs and having a shit-storming good time. Natasha, who no matter how enthusiastic she was, seemed to always get injured. Yudai, who started out as the man with the awesome calves, but turned into the man with the killer climbing skills. Mike, with his fancy car, his mad gym workouts, and taking his chirps as the old guy. Andrew, who came in with little ski experience and a truckload of heart and hustle, and left as an OUA All-Star.
Standing around after crawling through some tight spaces
In my four years of fall training, I learned that it is possible to puke every Saturday morning after an interval set, and still feel good about yourself. That wearing tights in residence gets you some odd looks, but because everyone else is still asleep when you get back from practice, it’s not a big deal. That showing up for a 3 hour rollerski practice after having eaten a granola bar and some water isn’t a lot of fun. That just because you think you know how to ski doesn’t make you any better or any faster than the guy who goes out and does the work. That doing your laundry on a regular basis is a good idea. That $200 in groceries is a lot, especially when 4 people with the same amount have to jam it into one car. That kites which can lift a 110lb person off the ground in a strong wind are awesome. That sometimes it’s difficult to remember what you’re actually at school to do.
It's possible to fit two grown people into a deep freeze. I shit you not.
Basically my message for those just getting on the team is; go out there, get into it, and suck it up. In four years, you might look back and realize you took something out of the experience, even if it was just the fact that there are some weird people in Waterloo, and that rollerskiing in a thunderstorm is a bad idea. For those on the team now, realize that the time on the ski team can be whatever you make it to be. If you want it to suck, then it’ll suck. If you want to go out and have a rad time, then do it. Maybe I never jumped off that concrete pad into Laurel Creek swamp on my rollerskis, but it sure wasn’t for lack of talking about it.
