Banzai Tour give racers chance to ski against Olympian Rahlves
By Jill Oberly, Reno Gazette-Journal
In Japanese culture, banzai is a joyous cheer of enthusiasm that loosely means, “May you live 10,000 years.”
This winter, on the slopes of three Tahoe resorts, skiers and snowboarders will be shouting banzai — with hopes of capturing $10,000 and more in prize money as part of the first-ever Rahlves Banzai Tour.
The tour is the brainchild of Daron Rahlves, a four-time Olympian as a member of the U.S. Alpine Ski Team and current Sugar Bowl Ski Ambassador. Rahlves retired from World Cup ski racing in 2006, but soon returned to high-level competition when he made the transition to the budding sport of skicross.
Skicross, which features four skiers navigating the same terrain at the same time, made its Olympic debut at the 2010 Winter Games, where Rahlves was a hopeful but did not medal.
