4th Place = 1st Place

Henry headed back up the mountain again today for day two of the Raven's Edge race. He's had such a fun ski season, and part of that is due to the fact that he got to ski every weekend with his friend, Reese. Reese is such a cool kid - when he took 2nd in the race yesterday, and Henry didn't place, Reese was so supportive. Starting out this morning, the two of them were convinced that they would take 1st and 2nd - didn't matter who got which place.

Today, Reese took 2nd again. Congratulations, Reese!

Yesterday, Henry's combined time for his run was 1 minute, 30 seconds. Today, it was 1 minute, 22 seconds. The kid who got the 3rd place medal was 1 minute, 21 seconds. That's right, Henry missed a medal by 1 second and came in 4th out of 12 skiers.

However, Henry walked in the door today with a 1st place medal.

Many of the racers yesterday and today were DQ'd - disqualified - for missing a gate going down the run. Henry skied four flawless runs. This was Henry's very first time competing, even though many of the other racers have been at this for years. Henry was one of the youngest skiers on the course. From yesterday to today, Henry improved his time by eight seconds. That's impressive! Impressive enough for one of the race coordinators, Steve, to take note. Steve also raced and had two 1st place medals. Upon seeing Henry looking disheartened, Steve took it upon himself to give Henry one of his medals. Even though Henry didn't earn 1st, this medal meant a lot to him. Steve used to ski competitively in college, which is what Henry would like to do someday. We hope he can look back on this race medal as one that signified his attitude and his willingness to jump in there with the big dogs and race down the mountain.

He's really excited tonight. Excited about all the new skills he learned this year - pole placement and parallel turns - and excited to take 1st not in just Raven's Edge, but also the Loup Loup Wolf Chase, next year. We know he can do it!