What the fuck is Chinese Downhill?

Chinese Downhill is an event similar to boardercross or skiercross, only we don't have permission to do it, so the event therefore must be held on a distant wooded trail, far from the eye of a ski patroller.

Last night we discovered our beloved competition hill, Westwood, had been renamed "Sobe - No Fear" (idiots) and turned into a terrain park. For lack of a better option, we opted to hold our event on Rustler. Ordinarily not one of the more difficult routes in the resort (if there are any difficult routes at all), Rustler's narrow path and intermittent lift towers presented an interesting playing field for the Chinese Downhill. The real fun would come at the bottom, where the path narrowed considerably (much more than shown on the trail map).

On January 19^th, 2005, around 9:00 p.m., twenty or so skiers and snowboarders from Ohio State lined up at the top of Rustler. "Three. Two. One. Go!" We were off.

I got a good start, skating wide to keep my neighboring competitors at bay. I hung to the left side of the trail, clear of any lift towers. On my far right, some valiants took the lead, but I was more concerned with the contenders attempting a pass on my side of the trail. A shadow to my left - I veered left, blocked him. A shadow to my right - I quickly switched edges, blocked her. And then, the lift line approacheth...

Out of nowhere Jon veering left in front of me he hit random girl I don't know her she's not in our group New Guy crashing into Tim Tim flying off trail New Guy sliding into my path me hitting New Guy falling on top of him as Jon careens into me from my right side.

The snow settled. Four OSU skiers and their detached equipment in a scattered pile. Five feet away sat random girl, laughing at us, apparently okay.

Call it idiocy. Call it the strong wills of four people vying for 3rd place. Call it what you will. I believe it was the trail's fault. You see, never in my four years on the team had I ever witnessed a collision during Chinese Downhill. This new trail brought nothing but devastation (and amusement for some). I will miss you, Westwood.