piThe Johnny5 represents the people that changed things for skiing in the US in the last year. You wouldn’t know it from the endless whining that consumes us in the Spring, but this WAS a solid year for American Skiing. (Capitalized for a reason.) That didn’t come by accident. So here they are in no particular order the (roughly) five folks that pushed change in 08 / 09. We’ll do one a day for the week. We’ll also include some tidbits at the end of the Johnny5 from the nominations that are sure to entertain. Stay tuned.br//i/p
pZach Caldwell confounds. He frustrates, cajoles, annoys, disects and interprets. One could point at the blog Zach Caldwell has kept on behalf of Kris Freeman for the last couple years and count the “if’s” “almosts” and “so close”. One could also get frustrated that Zach is responsible for every mediocre skier from Bend to Bethel demanding a full quiver of 610s shod with ZR1’s, Q13s and YRMOM69s. (Apologies to Molly Holt.) To be honest, there may only be five or six people that can actually understand most of the things that come out of Zach Caldwell’s mouth when he’s waxing poetic on ski polemic. (Rumor is that when he took on a partnership, Nathan Schultz received a secret decoder ring that allowed him to actually grasp what the f-ck Zach is saying at all times.) Yet, to know Zach is to know that he’s captured by the sport in a way that most of us could only posture, which is to say, Zach is really afflicted. Zach writes descriptions of the minute misses that block Kris Freeman’s path to world cup domination because unlike a lot of people, Zach can see them. He gives people access to the highest levels of ski prep because he knows that skiing on those types of skis is much more pleasant. While a love of the game isn’t the precursor to landing a spot in the Johnny5, it is likely the motivation for the other bits and pieces that Zach has offerred up that made him the most nominated person to the list. So what’s he done?/p
p1. There’s the aforementioned ubiquitous ski service coverage of every skier in the US. FakeFasterSkier, the online shaman, described Zach as “ski Jesus” Face it, in the US, before Zach Caldwell, grinds only happened on skateboards, and at the Junior National mixer. (Apologies to FFS)/p
p2. ZC has elite American skiers believing. Refer back to the Johnny Klister post on the curse and realize this is a big deal. Whether it’s bravado or too much time sucking flourocarbons, Zach proceeds with very little doubt. In a recent Newsweek interview President Obama explained his leadership, “I’m going to make mistakes, but I’m going to keep going forward. I’m not going to spin my wheels with indecision.” Barry learned that from Zach./p
p3. Ski companies are calling ihim/i for
