By Melody Tang and Grace Wang
ONLINE EDITOR AND STAFF WRITER
Andover High School senior Bori Kim sees her skiing career not only as an enjoyable activity, but also as an activity of persevering through and overcoming mental hurdles.
At five years old, Kim was taught the basics of skiing by her father in Korea. Kim’s love for skiing has only grown stronger since, and it has blossomed into one of her biggest passions. “I really enjoy skiing,” stated Kim. “I just love the feeling of carving though the slopes… it feels invigorating.”
Bori Kim takes to the slopes and participates in a ski race.
During the ski season, Kim races for two teams: the Andover High School ski team and a club ski team located in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. Since she skis for two different ski teams, Kim makes sure to practice with both teams. Every weekend, she makes the two-hour drive to New Hampshire to practice with the Waterville ski team. Additionally, Kim practices with the AHS ski team at Bradford in Haverhill during the week.
However, with most of her practices taking place at Waterville, Kim said that’s helped her improve the most, as she’s spent the most time working on her skills at Waterville. Along with practicing on her own, she skis with coaches who instruct her on the correct technique and mental attitude.
Nevertheless, Kim loves being part of the AHS ski team as well. There are thirty people on the AHS team who race: fifteen on varsity and fifteen on JV. “The [Andover] ski team is pretty welcoming,” Kim emphasized. Compared to Waterville, Kim sees the AHS team as “very low stress and not that competitive… It’s just a fun time.”
Although ski racing may look simple, there are multiple layers to it. Like all sports, there are many rules and techniques. The goal is to take the shortest amount of time skiing around poles known as “gates.” There are multiple forms of courses, including slalom and giant slalom, in which the gates are placed in a certain S-shaped way.
During the year, one major race is the Interscholastic Ski Race, where only the top eight skiers from each high school team in the region can qualify. Being one of the top racers in the AHS ski team, Kim has gone to the Interscholastics since freshman year.
The U.S. Ski & Snowboard (USSA) is another important event for Kim. In USSA, there is a point system in which everyone starts with 999 points, and points get deducted for doing well every race. The goal at the end is to have the least amount of points. For the last couple of years, Kim has worked hard towards her goal of excelling during races. Training every week of ski season, she constantly makes efforts to improve her skill.
Although fun, racing can be a daunting experience. Going down one by one, ski racers are often met with a crowd of spectators waiting at the bottom. While racers get multiple attempts down a route during training, they must face only one attempt in races. Since skiing is an independent sport, the fear of making mistakes while racing makes anxiety among racers quite common. “It’s hard for anyone to just not have [anxiety],” stated Kim.
“[During races] I’m a little bit jittery and… my heart is always racing,” Kim said. As it is harder to focus on technique when nervous, she’s frustrated that she never does as well as she hopes. Her ski race times never seem to match her practice times. Despite this, Kim works hard on doing better each race. With an optimistic mindset, she fights to overcome race anxiety, incorporating tips from her ski instructors at Waterville.
When it comes to skills, Kim has learned more than how to ace the slopes. Along with perfecting her ski technique, a huge portion of her growth has come mentally. “Perseverance and endurance,” she explained. Skiing has taught Kim to be a mentally tough person who doesn’t waver in the face of failure. Even when she doesn’t do as well as she likes, she picks herself up and has taught herself to keep striving for success. “I’ve learned to overcome the fact that maybe I don’t get the ribbons and awards at every race—and that’s okay,” said Kim.
