Coping with disappointment

What a day here in France! We woke to low clouds, heavy snowfalls, and no visibilty - and it was the first day of the ski races after two days of training. Conditions were so bad that the start of the race was delayed. The boys went up the mountain early and waited around in anticipation, getting nervous and cold in equal measures. Those parents not on marshall duty (me being one of them) went up later and a moment of panic arose as I stepped off the ski gondola as I could not see more than a few meters in front of me and there was much loose snow lying on the ungroomed pistes, making skiing very difficult and trecherous. When I saw the course that had been prepared for the boys my stomach lurched with anxiety. The visibilty was so poor I wondered how they would ever get down safely.

Usually they have two runs and the best of the two counts, but today conditions were so bad that they could only do one run, so it was an all or nothing situation. Sadly my son crashed and was so bitterly disappointed to be consequently disqualified with no second run to improve on. In fact he was rather upset, but it was a lesson learnt in coping with disappointment and then having the support and encouragement of his team mates as can be seen here in this photo.(he is the boy in the middle) After all that training....

It was awful standing in the cold and continuously falling snow watching. We could hardly see anything and taking photos was difficult with snow blowing onto the lens.

After a warm drink and something to eat he was more cheerful, already focused on tomorrow's racing and doing better! Here he is at the bus stop waiting to go back, feeling brighter. (in the neon green jacket)