Maybe you’re Snow Summit ski team racer Kelly Kai Tokunaga, who came up just short in his quest to compete in this month’s J2 Junior Olympics for 15-16 year-olds at Schweitzer, Idaho. Competing in late February against some of the Western region’s top racers, based at California, Arizona and Nevada resorts, he came up a mere two spots from qualifying as second alternate.

    “He deserved to go, he just didn’t quite make it,” said SSRT coach Kyle Wormsbecker.

    Tokunaga finished 30th overall, two spots behind teammate Patrick Paap, who did qualify for Schweitzer along with girls Caitlin Bishop and Kelby Nardoni. In a sport where dreams are defined in tenths, even hundredths of a second, Kelly Kai’s two-race combined time was less than a half-second behind Patrick’s.

    Or maybe you’re John Michael Fabrizi, who found himself in a similar position while trying to qualify during the Wild West Series at Northstar-at-Tahoe for the March 18-21 J3 (ages 13-14) JO event at Mt. Bachelor. “He probably needs a couple Top 25 finishes (in the last day of racing on March 1), Wormsbecker predicted the night before.

    He was only too accurate. Fabrizi, 13, turned in finishes of 22nd and 28th to earn a probable slot as Junior Olympics alternate. He probably won’t compete in the event unless a whole bunch of guys can’t make it, but still not bad for a first-year J3 who should be only better next year.

    “He had some decent runs and just made a couple mistakes,” Wormsbecker said. “He just barely missed the line coming down one of the breakovers and had to make a harder turn below, and it cost him time in the flats. Maybe I should have predicted he’d run in the Top 15.”

    Just as impressive was the performance of Tucker Keating, also at 13 another first-year J3. He entered the race pretty much out of the running for a JO slot and came into the last day of competition a distant 80th. After a couple lightning runs in which he “let it all hang out,” Wormsbecker said, Keating finished 23rd, earning him the event’s “Hard Charger Award.” Fabrizi and Keating can continue to dream big on the slopes...

    Then again, perhaps you’re just a skier who thought while watching the Vancouver Winter Olympics last month that racing looks cool. You’re right, and March is the time to check it out at Snow Summit, with two Alpine series races open to the public on March 7 and 21, plus the 14th annual Victor Alvarez Memorial race on March 27, with $3,075 cash purse.

    Not that you’ll get in on any of the dough, unless you’re one of the hotties from Squaw or Mammoth who come down to stake their claim. While the top 16 get a check (eight women), locals, ski teamers and out-of-towners who think the payday is their given right usually slice the purse to shreds...

     Still the event, which pays homage to Alvarez, an instructor at Summit and Bear who died in 1997 in a freak accident while setting up for the Pro Ski Tour, is a blast even for those who get knocked out early. The course descends down Widowmaker and is similar to what the pros used to run (minus the nasty bump), and the show is so good you can sit on the deck at Bear Bottom Lodge and take it in.

    That’s where the killer silent auction is held, which nonskiers and racers can get in on too. There’s upwards of a couple hundred items to bid on, ranging from ski and snowboard equipment and clothing to exotic trips like airfare and lodging for two to Breckenridge...food and services for two at Miracle Springs Resort and Spa in Desert Hot Springs...and much more.

    Some of the items often go for pennies on the dollar. “There’s so much stuff to bid on, many items go for great prices,” Chris Riddle of Big Bear Mountain Resorts said. Gear for cheap...the stuff dreams are made of! And the apres party ain’t bad with cheap beer and munchies.

    Tune up for the Alvarez race with the Alpine series events. Twenty bucks buys two NASTAR timed runs, once you’ve joined the longtime ski organization by paying a onetime $20 fee (which includes a year’s subscription to Ski Magazine), then you’re a member for life.

    These races are also held on Widowmaker. Standing at the starting line with the course looming ahead...starter saying “racers ready”...then flying past the gates as fast as you can, is enough to get the adrenaline flowing and ignite the Olympic dream in all of us.

    Even if, for most of us, it’s just a pipe dream. Congratulations to the Snow Summit racers who are taking their aspirations to the next level.

    Have a good one.

    Marcus