Colin Tillson is a junior at Sam Barlow High School this year and has been a part of the Barlow Ski Race Team, which is currently being coached by his father Kevin Tillson, for three years. He had one year of race experience prior to joining Barlow’s team in his freshman year, marking this as his fourth year skiing. While he’s been competing for four years, he has been skiing since he was three years old. The reason he’s been doing this so long is because he loves the sport as well as the community and the friends he’s gained from it. His favorite part of racing has been “the practices where I get to talk with my friends and go down courses with zero pressure.” He enjoys being able to hang out with friends from different schools on race days and during practices. The most challenging thing about racing for Colin is that, “You only get two runs on race days, so you can’t make any mistakes.” To prepare himself for ski season in the winter, he participates in other sports throughout the year, specifically cross country.
Ski racing is split into two different types of racing: slalom and giant slalom. Slalom has slim gates that have been set closer together. The course is fairly short but has many tight turns that require the racer to be quick and precise in their turns. Racers wear shorter skis that are easier to maneuver. Slalom is also a slower race than giant slalom. Racers will knock the gates to the side with their fists, which are protected by covers so that they can cut around the gate faster without getting hit in the face. Colin enjoys being able to hit the gates and the adrenaline from it, which is why this style of racing is his favorite. Giant slalom has wider gates that are set farther apart. Giant slalom courses tend to be longer with wider turns, and due to the lack of sharp turns, these races are faster than slalom races. Racers wear longer and more stable skis to be able to make smooth turns while maintaining control of their edges.
By the end of the season, Colin placed 5th in the league for giant slalom, therefore qualifying for state as an individual. He also ended up finishing 6th overall in the league. After the league races finished on February 21st, training for state took place in the following week. The state championship was the next week and took place over two days. One day for slalom races and the other for giant slalom. 109 male racers participated in the giant slalom race, and out of those racers, only 83 finished both times and got a placement. Colin finished 52nd out of those 83 racers.
This is Colin’s second year going to state. Last year, the Barlow boys team finished second overall in the league and went to state. This year, though, they tied with Cleveland’s team for third place in overall points. When the individual times of each racer were added up as a tiebreaker, Barlow missed out on qualifying for state by just two seconds.
