I’ve always said that this sport just amplifies the normal human experience: the highs are higher and the lows are lower, and the swing between them can happen incredibly fast. You can be on top of the world one day, and the world will find a way to cut you down the next before bringing you back up.

The past weekend in Bormio exemplified this better than any I’ve ever seen. It was the comeback race for Wiley Maple, and for those of you who don’t know his story, it’s a special one. He has been on and off the team for some years, with a long career as an American downhiller. However four years ago he was forced out of the sport, in Bormio of all places, with so much back pain he could hardly stand, let alone ski. After a back fusion and years of retirement with no intention to race again, he decided to give it another go, because why not take advantage of this brief window we have to ski and inspire people with it? As it was fated to happen, the first World Cup back was Bormio, the most difficult of any and the one that retired him in the first place. But this time he came out of top. With a 12th place, the best of his entire career thus far, it was a monumental day in proving to never give up on your dreams.

The only other comeback I’ve seen recently to rival Wiley’s was Sam Dupratt’s. After breaking not just one, but both of his legs in Val Gardena three years ago, nobody in their right mind would have expected him to ski again, let alone World Cup downhill. I think even he didn’t really expect it, except maybe in some far-away dream. But almost three years later, he was back in a World Cup start gate again, the first that I’ve heard of in recent memory competing after such a severe injury. Years of hard work and perseverance went into standing in that start gate, and even though if you’d ask him he’d shrug it off like it was no big deal, it was without a doubt the most inspiring display of someone’s tenacity and commitment that I’ve ever seen. It was a pleasure to witness every stage of the recovery, from his wheelchair days to learning to walk again to learning to ski again, and to finally witnessing him being fully back. He was poised to keep proving that he was finally where he belonged, but fate or otherwise had different ideas. He crashed off the first jump in the downhill, tearing his ACL and ending his season much too early. It seems the least deserved injury that I’ve seen, not that any injury is deserved, but brutal nonetheless.

Right before we went out of the lodge to race that fateful downhill, Sam turned around to a group of us and said “It’s worth it boys”. Seems ironic the timing of that, but after every one of these brutal injuries it leads you to question if it really is worth it. To spend that much time in physical therapy and rehab clinics just to climb your way out for the chance to do it again and risk ending up in the same place seems a cruel ask. But the other side of that ask is to have moments like Wiley did last weekend, where all of the sudden the numerous sacrifices you’ve made for the last decade seem worth it. So it’s always a question as a downhill racer, and one you have to honestly decide if you’re prepared to be held accountable for. I don’t know why this sport seems so unfair at times, but I try to have faith that even beyond the objective results deeming it worth the risk, the people you meet and lessons you learn from this job are worth almost anything. To witness stories like these first-hand is a gift, and to experience the full gamut of emotion so intensely is something not many people ever get the chance to do. So I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s worth it.