Steamboat Pilot & Today

There comes a time in our lives when we must face the reality that we are growing older and that we must give up some of the things we enjoyed doing when we were younger.

Still, millions of Americans simply refuse to face the facts.

This week, many of them could be found on the ski slopes of Steamboat Ski Area, racing in the Nature Valley NASTAR National Championships.

There, among the thousands of racers that came to our city, it was easy to find countless examples of people who simply refuse to act their age.

People such as 55-year-old skier Sandy Schwindy, who is willing to put on a speed suit once a year in hopes of trimming a few seconds off her time.

I've always understand the attraction of competition, and I can relate to the lengths people will go to win and maintain a little piece of their youth.

But I never thought I would find a women in her 50s who was willing to put on a speed suit -- and wear it in public just to win a ski race. I'm almost 40, and I wouldn't do it for $1,000, but I'm betting that Schwindy is in better shape than a sometimes overworked and definitely out-of-shape sports reporter.

But although I wouldn't do it, I've never really been surprised at the lengths adults are willing to go to keep playing sports.

In summer, I see it on the softball fields, where grown men push their bodies to the limits to win a softball game in a local rec league.

They can't walk the next morning, but the smile on their face is a sure sign they won the game.

In winter, adults beat themselves up on the ice in local hockey leagues, run themselves to the point of collapse on basketball courts, and risk life and limb in Town Challenge races.

In the end, nobody really cares who won or lost except for a few players on the championship team.

Schwindy could win her age division by more than two seconds this week, but she never is going to be asked to join the ranks of the U.S. Ski Team. And her efforts will not result in million-dollar endorsements.

Yet there she is, racing down the slopes of upper Bashor with the same determination of U.S. Ski Team member Lindsey Kildow.

Yes, it's true that Schwindy has 33 years on the Ski Team star, and she may not look as good in her red, white and blue speed suit.

But that doesn't matter.

By pulling on the suit, she is winning the race against the apathy of age.

She is eluding that desire that we all have to simply sit back and say we are too old to do the things we truly love.