These young Alyeska Ski Club racers are sharing a snowy seat on the deck of the Alyeska Race Training Center on a snowy day on the last day of 2017.  And they are likely to be still enjoying skiing 50-to-70 years from now.  At the moment, they are enjoying one of skiing's profoundest pleasures: the companionship of other skiers.  But when I took this picture (and asked two of the standing girls to sit beside the others) what most interested me was their shared hair style of tucking braids and pony tails into their goggle bands.  It interested me because I had taken a similar photo some years before, of a different crop of young ladies, sitting in the snow high on Alyeska. (I haven't yet found that photo, but I will.)  At the time, I attributed the style to Margo Lane, pictured below in the Western Regional U16 Championships held in 2013 at Alyeska.  

Ski racing is a sport of non-conformists, in the sense that racers do things non-racers don't  - and can't - do.  But there are conformist tendencies internally in the sport, ranging from hair styles to clothing and equipment choices. Much of the conformity is for good reason:  if you want to be a really good racer, you need to emulate the movements of the very best models.  Some - like Bode Miller - have had unworldly gifts, both physical and mental, and others - like Mikaela Shiffren - are brilliantly so perfect and so dedicated that for now, at least, no one can catch them.  But that doesn't keep everyone from trying to do what they do.  Likewise, most equipment choices are driven by known qualities of a few race-proven brands.  Not all, though.  Julia Mancuso single-handedly made blue POC helmets ("Julia Blue") essential for countless racers.   

What makes skiing and ski racing so popular and so addictive?  There is the companionship, noted above.  But there are other factors and there have been attempts from at least the 1930s to identify the reasons for the attraction.   

For now, just consider this range of images: 

First, one of the top U16s at the 2013 WR Championships in the Super-G.  This was very serious, high-level racing just above the Waterfall pitch at Alyeska.

Then consider Marc Eid in one of the annual fun races.  Now a coach after a distinguished FIS and college (UAA) career, he here demonstrates a classic and crowd-pleasing move in lederhosen on lower Tanaka.  He saved it, by the way.

Finally, this junior in a Bryan Russell Memorial race several years ago  is now a junior coach.  Be sure to tell him you recognized him.