Liam Schoeller: Beyond The Glitter

AMBASSADÖRK Liam shares his inner-most thoughts about why we do the things we do on skinny skis. Or more importantly, what happens before - and after - the race days.

With that, let's get to it.

AMBASSADÖRK Liam doing what nordies do when faced with a recovery day, and a camera.

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ambassadörks

Liam: Beyond The Glitter

Race day is the part of Nordic skiing that people see. The fast skis, the tight suits, the music at the start, the noise, and most importantly, the glitter!

But why do skiers do this?

Why would anyone willingly put themselves through months of training just for one day of racing? Why roller ski on pavement in July when its 85 degrees? Why run hill intervals until your legs feel like concrete? Why wake up 5:30 in January when its pitch black and negative something outside?

To be honest, I find myself asking these questions sometimes too.

From the outside, racing looks fun. And it is fun. There's nothing like standing on the line heart pounding, knowing you’re about to send it. There is nothing like when your skis are fast and you’re flowing through a race course. And, the glitter is pretty awesome too. But race day is only like 1% of skiing. The other 99% is just… work.

It’s roller skiing alone in the summer. Its long runs where your only entertainment is your own thoughts. its strength sessions when your arms are shaking and you still have another set. Its skiing intervals when your lungs are on fire and your brain is screaming “slow down”, but you don’t.

So why do we do it?

For me, it’s not necessarily just about performing well. If it was, I probably would have quit a long time ago.

Nordic skiing is brutal. Progress is never linear. You don’t always feel awesome, sometimes you have races where you just feel flat. You train for months and sometimes the result is still not what you hoped for.

But, that’s kind of the point.

Training isn’t just about race results. It’s about becoming someone who can handle hard things. There is something about choosing discomfort on purpose. Nobody is forcing us to go ski in a snowstorm. Nobody is forcing us to double pole for 3 hours. We choose it, and every time you choose it, you get a little tougher. I personally think that’s why a lot of skiers train. Not only to be fast, but to see how good they can be.

Skiing gives you a constant question, “what if I actually went all in”

What if I didn’t skip the hard days?

What if I showed up even when I was tired?

What if I really committed?

Skiing gives you a way to answer that. It’s weirdly simple, but when your out skiing, your world shrinks. It’s just snow, breath and your movement. On interval days it just making it to the next tree before you allow yourself to back off. On long skis, it’s finding your rhythm and staying there. In a world where everything is loud and chaotic, skiing is honest. If you trained, you feel it. If you didn’t, you definitely feel it. And yeah, race day matters. It’s fun, it’s exciting, and it’s what we circle on the calendar.

But the reason we train isn’t just for that one moment when the gun goes off. We train because we love the process, even when it might not be the most fun. We train because there is something addicting about progress. About hitting splits you couldn’t last year. About climbing a hill that used to destroy you and realizing you are still pushing. We train because we want to find our limit and then move the limit higher.

At the end of the day, the glitter washes off, the results are posted, and people go home. But what sticks is knowing you did the work. Knowing you showed up on those cold mornings, that you finished that last interval, and that you didn’t quit when it could be easy. That’s why we do it, not just for race day, but for who we become on all the days no one sees.

Authors Note: Yo! My name is Liam Schoeller, I’m 14 years old, and I race skinny skis with the Sisu Endurance Race Team in Ironwood, MI. My biggest passion is being outside in the woods, whether that’s biking, skiing, running, or fishing and hunting. Liam can be found over on the grid doing things @skilongandprosper

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What We're Thinking About.

That Liam is an absolute gem. We don't know about you, but Liam is one introspective 15 year old and we can't wait to see what kind of world he builds for himself!