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Ski Moms - Thoughts of a Skier's Mum
By:  Laura Clements   (2003/10/05)

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Canadian skiers are largely funded by the Bank of Mom and Dad. If you aren’t a ski racer or parent of one, you may wonder why it is that parents allow their children to spend hundreds of hours gliding on skis at their expense. Seems silly, almost as crazy as those racing suits they wear. Well XC Ottawa athletes asked their mothers to share their thoughts on having a ski racer in the family. Maybe the advice of these experienced Ski Moms will encourage parents to enroll their kids in a Jackrabbit or Junior racing program.




  • Loading up the car with several pairs of skis, clothes, boots, wax boxes, lunch and snack foods for a day of skiing - annoying
  • Driving for two hours to the ski practice location and back every weekend day and holidays - exhausting
  • Watching your girl juggle school, ski racing, independent living, and a boy or two - amazing
  • Standing in the snow for two hours to watch two minutes of your girl ski racing - crazy (but worth it)
  • Hand warmers, foot warmers and hot tea - hundreds
  • Buying souvenir T-shirts at every race - essential
  • Finding storage space for 8 years of race souvenir T-shirts - impossible
  • Seeing pre-race jitters (anything from laughing, crying, sulking, brooding, anger) - unnerving
  • Watching the friendships grow among competitors and fellow racers - heart warming
  • Seeing dozens of beautiful, healthy, lean, fit young people dressed in every colour of lycra - pleasure
  • New skis, boots, more skis, tops, bottoms, more boots, wax, favorite socks, hats, team fees, hotels, meals, gas, airfares - thousands
  • That drooling smile at the end of a good race - priceless!
 
Interesting Reading. . .
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