Diary of a Tournament... Day 3

En route to the lake. Can you tell I enjoy the back truck bed?

This post was supposed to go out last night but due to some difficulties finding a connection I've had to wait until now. Keep in mind that this post is about yesterday, Wednesday.


This morning was fairly hardcore but it planed out after that. A 6:30am call time & roll out. We had a few more practice sets to take before the tournament starts tomorrow but we started early and finished early. Today was mostly about finishing off our acclimation to the sites, straightening out a few more details, and resting for tomorrow's performances.

What the typical Peruvian
countryside looks like. There's
a lot of dirt.

We get to the lake by seven am and I'm tricking fifteen minutes later. I finish off my passes, keeping it short and sweet. Forty seconds of skiing and I'm done. I won't trick again until the tournament and I'm feeling well-prepared. Half an hour later and I'm on the dock of the other lake, gearing up for a couple jumps. Our allotted practice time today for the Colombian team was even shorter than yesterday's, if we want to have everybody ski then we've got to be quick and on point. No room for error. No time to waste.

The view of the entrance into the lake site. I had no idea how
much I missed the greenery.

I'm out and feeling the water before long. It's similar to back home, very soft and very sheltered, definitely no chance of wind for the tournament. This is most likely a good thing. First jump and I'm slightly early, I underestimate how slow the water is. Second jump and I'm liking the site, the ramp holds up nicely and there's plenty of float in the air. It's barely nine-thirty and I'm done skiing for the day. The next time on the water will have to be well-defined and prepared, completely focused.

Speaking of details—here's the
Peruvian currency. It literally
translates to: "A new sun".

My cousin's new business. Check out antsbars.com
to order some REAL athlete's energy bars. Created
using all natural fruits, vegetables, and Chia seeds.

We finished practice pretty quickly today—by late morning—and we decided to stay at the lake for a while. Homework had to faced and a ton of details had to be addressed. What time would we be at the lake the next day? Who's on the list to ski first? Where will we be eating lunch tomorrow? If athlete A is skiing on lake X and has to be on lake Y ten minutes later then how can we work that out? Who's going to be covering the toe release for Z skier? Plenty of detailed info but it all needs to be covered. It's a very important aspect of keeping the entire tournament running smoothly.

Once we get everything worked out a few of us decide to go catch some waves at a nearby beach. We grab some surfboards and boardshorts and we all pile into three cars. Half an hour later and we're paddling out to sea. That's another thing I love about skiing—meeting such great talent. I'm constantly surrounded by a huge array of people who are hugely gifted and completely dedicated to what they do. People who aren't cut out for the amount of work it takes quickly are overcome and weeded out. To stand out you've got to be consistent and cut out for the effort.

Some of our talent, geared up to surf.

Wading out to sea. The break we chose was perfect; creating some really nice,
consistent, smooth waves.

Sitting on my board, waiting for a good wave. Taking a second to reflect on how lucky I am to be living in this moment.

The waves are brutal and beautiful at the same time and we make sure to wrap it up before we're too worn out—we've got to ski tomorrow, bright and early. We get back home, grab some quick grub, and head up to bed. Early night tonight, we've got to get a good night's sleep. There's a generous call time of 8:00am tomorrow morning and we're going to make the most of it. Juan is slaloming by 9:30am and I'll be on the water, tricking, by ten o' clock.

Tomorrow is Day 1 of the tournament. I hope you'll join us.