Bode Miller: Skiing Drunk 'Not Easy'

AP via Yahoo! News ^ | 01/05/2006

[GeneD]

NEW YORK - Bode Miller knows he puts his life at risk when he skis drunk, but the outspoken Olympic favorite admits he may try the dangerous activity again.

"Talk about a hard challenge right there. ... If you ever tried to ski when you're wasted, it's not easy," Miller told "60 Minutes" for a segment that will air Sunday. "Try and ski a slalom when ... you hit a gate less than every one second, so it's risky. You're putting your life at risk. ... It's like driving drunk, only there are no rules about it in ski racing."

Asked if the risk meant he would never ski drunk again, Miller replied "No, I'm not saying that."

In the interview, the 28-year-old Miller acknowledged that his partying has affected his performance in the past.

"There have been times when I've been in really tough shape at the top of the course," he said.

Miller, the defending World Cup overall champion and a two-time silver medalist at the Salt Lake City Olympics, was also blase about the possibility of winning gold in Turin.

"Whether somebody wants me to get five gold medals or whatever it is, I sort of feel like they are all other people's concerns and issues, not really mine. ... I don't really care what everybody else says," he said.

Miller has drawn attention — and criticism — for his outspokenness before. He has called drug rules in skiing that he deems too strict "a joke" and was fined last month for refusing to take a boot test after a World Cup slalom race.

[krb]

boot test

?

[nuconvert]

boot > blood?

[nuconvert]

What a talent. It's a shame to read this.

[krb]

I dunno...I thought it sounded a little "Brokeback" though :-)

[Yossarian]

It's funny that Bode comes across as blase (can't do the accent here in Lynx browser) about winning, when he has a lot of sponsorship income based on his success the last year.

As a matter of fact, I was just looking at the Atomic catalog for this year, and there's a little Bode drawn character all over it saying how Atomic equipment meets his strenuous demands.

Keep op the attitude, Miller, and you'll be losing those sponsorships before you can say "Alcoholics Anonymous"....

[Scott from the Left Coast]

I've skied after a couple of beers (hasn't everyone?)...but never truly drunk. I'm not sure it's even possible (well, at least at MY skill level!)

There was a tradition at some ski resorts (like Taos) to have Martini trees...essentially cocktails in bota bags hung in trees along runs on special days in the spring. You found them, they were yours. Not a safe day on the slopes that.

[George Smiley]

Not me.

Sometimes when I ski, I may LOOK drunk, though.

: ^ )

[Hot Tabasco]

"Whether somebody wants me to get five gold medals or whatever it is, I sort of feel like they are all other people's concerns and issues, not really mine

My past contributions to the U.S. Olympic ski team helped make it possible for you you ignorant jerk! Maybe if you didn't have corp. sponsorship and U.S. ski team sponsorship you just might have a different attitude.

With the exception of the Mahre brothers, there is a reason why the Europeans consistently dominate world cup skiing: national pride and hard work!

FWIW, my all time favorite was Marc Girardelli. Born in Austria but said screw the Austrian ski team and raced on his own under the Luxembourg flag and was coached by his dad. Pride, hard work and dedication, something that Bode Miller will never understand......

[Hot Tabasco]

I've skied after a couple of beers (hasn't everyone?)...

I sure have but never any more......alcohol and altitude do not make for a fun day of skiing. There is plenty of time at the bottom of the slopes at the end of the day for drinking.....

[Brad's Gramma]

Free Drinks!

[MotleyGirl70]

I've seen my share of wasteoids on the slopes.

They're crazy.

[LibFreeOrDie]

A boot test "checks whether the height of the base of the boot is permissible", according to this:

http://sports.yahoo.com/ski/news?slug=ap-millerfined&prov=ap&type=lgns

Don't know what difference it would make, though...

[nuconvert]

Thanks. Sounds like checking his boots should be way down on the priority list.

[alisasny]

He is leading the WC circuit right now.

Not a waste at all.

[nuconvert]

I never said it was a waste.
I know he's doing well. It's still a shame to read about his drinking, which doesn't sound like an occasional cocktail with dinner.

[alisasny]

I would not expect a downhill skier to be a straight arrow. TURINO 06 every winter sport I cant wait : ))

[nuconvert]

February 10 - 26.

I'll be watching, too

[alisasny]

We had a daily thread in 2002

[Yossarian]

Don't know what difference it would make, though...

Well, the higher up you can get, the more leverage you can put on the ski in turns. The skier / binding / ski system is a lever-arm system, and in such systems the longer the lever arm, the greater the force multiplier.

It is the same reason why racing ski bindings are so tall - there are FIS limits on those as well.

-Yossarian
(Who is driving up to Tahoe today to do some GS and Slalom racing....)

[originalbuckeye]

Always enjoyed skiing after lunch and a glass of beer. Much more relaxed. Had a friend who always skiied with red wine in her bota. Had a big wipe-out and her bota split. People thought she was seriously injured! Very funny but only because she really was OK.

[freepatriot32]

I wonder if the will set up sui checkpoints in the middle of the slalom courses at the winter olympics this year to crack down on drunk skiers?

[elkfersupper]

I wonder if the will set up sui checkpoints in the middle of the slalom courses at the winter olympics this year to crack down on drunk skiers?

Nah! More lucrative to set up a roadblock and check the crowd.

Here in NM, we have numerous govt.-sponsored events at govt.-owned venues, where the govt. charges you parking and admission, sanctions alcohol sales (for which the vendors pay an up-front fee and a percentage to the govt.), then the same govt.'s pistol-toting revenue enforcement officers roadblock the spectators on the way out, confiscate their automobiles and take control of their lives for 2-10 years, during which they extract more dollars both lump-sum and monthly.

It's a racket and an industry, I tell ya'.

[george76]

"New Hampshire skiing legend Bode Miller causes a stir"

"Skier Bode Miller told CBS News he was partying into the dawn hours after securing the World Cup overall victory in 2005, and then took to the slalom gates drunk to finish off the season."

Since 2003, Miller has held a contract with the resort to promote it as a family ski destination.

“For us, Bode represented the epitome of the local boy who made the big time, and we were certainly there for support,” Ellms said.

“However, the remarks of Bode are, right now, not representative of what we are trying to represent at Bretton Woods. We want to be seen as the finest family resort in the East, a safe, comfortable place for the family without reckless behavior. It is something we all strive for.

“We have to distance ourselves from those comments because, clearly, on the surface, those remarks are not good for kids.”

In addition to being sponsored by Bretton Woods, Miller has contracts with Visa, Charles Schwabb, Sirrius satellite radio and a host of ski hardware companies.

Miller races on the World Cup circuit in Adelboden, Switzerland, today and tomorrow.

Taub, Miller’s agent, said he had spoken to his client about the matter yesterday but that it likely would not affect his races this weekend.

[SamAdams76]

I guess it's safe to call Bode a waste now.

[Malcolm]

Bode Miller enjoyed his slacker paradise in Turin/Torino. Let's not make the same mistake again. Something should be done to prevent him from being on the U.S. Olympic team in 2010, if he doesn't kill himself in the interim (drunk driving, hitting a tree while skiing inebriated, etc).