By the middle of my second climb up Shady Grove, I hear Carina again. I ski furiously down the long gradual trail from the top of Shady Grove, past the Lodge, and on down towards the finish. This is the time to give it every ounce of strength that can be squeezed out of my burning leg, shoulder and arm muscles. I try to go faster and faster, telling myself that the pain will be over in just a few seconds. Crossing the line, I turn around gasping for air, to watch Carina finish.
Skiers often collapse in exhaustion just over the finish line.
I know what they feel like, but I think most of the time they could recover by just leaning on their poles for a while as I was then doing while focusing on Carina. It looked as if she was going a little slower down the final stretch that I felt I had skied. Then she crossed the line. I greeted her, and we waited. A parent-official told us that she was 18 seconds back.