You just have to love Ski Cross (aka skiercross or Skier-X). It's crazy. It's insane. It's wicked and wild and wooly and just so much fun to watch. I really don't know how these guys do it. It's the sport of tube-fed, genetically-modified (oft alcohol fueled) adrenalin junkies.
If you're not familiar with it, this is how it goes. Four skiers race simultaneously down a winding snake of a course filled with bumps, jumps, and steeply banked turns. Competitors are not supposed to push, shove, or elbow each other, but in a sport that's like roller derby down the bobsled run, you won't get penalized if you don't get caught.
Naturally, the risk is high and the crashes can be severe, but these guys are tough and probably little mental. American Daron Rahlves, previously an Olympian in the Apline events, crashed horribly just three weeks ago at the X-Games and dislocated his hip. But that didn't stop him from competing in Vancouver.
Skicross has long been a part of the Winter X Games but was added as a full-medal sport in the Olympic lineup for 2010 after it received recognition from the IOC. I highly recommend checking out the vids on the NBC website, if you didn't catch the broadcast.
*If you don't get this reference it probably mean you're weren't a male teen in the mid-80s. sorry
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