Yes, I've heard a few coaches suggest that LeBron probably could have been a pretty fair DHer! Pick the sport, pick the top athletes, and imagine if they had been on snow all of their lives. Scary. How about the Williams sisters? Our only ski athlete in recent years who could possibly flip the other way is probably Bode. Bode is a freakish athlete.
Based on the typical "physical testing" done by the USST at the Center of Excellence, my guess is that LeBron would pretty much set records at everything, HaHa!
You're right, it's not a new topic. Been this way for the 50 plus years that I've been around the sport.
Some who've been in the business for longer than me, and really live it, are quite concerned that today it's very difficult even for a kid who grows up in many a mountain town. Now it has to be the right mountain town, and the kid better have wealthy parents, or a very wealthy and supportive community behind him. That is why we see families relocating to those towns, or at the least young athletes entering ski academies as early as possible.
It is very troubling for a number of people that really put US ski racing on the map. They describe it as rich kid's sport, with most kids coming from metro areas, even if they relocated to the mountains and the right clubs as toddlers. I think that's a bit extreme, but the sport does cost an awful lot of money. What they say is that the kid from a hard working family of modest means, even growing up in the mountains, has an enormous challenge ahead of him. I get very enthused when I see thosekids being well supported to make the dreams attainable.
The countries that we compete with have somewhat different approaches, but even there, a lot of the field comes from very well to do families. Can't ignore the reality of things.
