When you spend your whole life striving towards a goal and you reach the end of that road, what happens next?
Alex Mysko found himself grappling with that question last April, when he officially retired from moguls skiing. The Barrie, Ont. native had been in Whistler for roughly two years competing with Freestyle BC, yet he knew the end had come.
No longer was Mysko willing to push himself to the limit. Moguls athletes walk a razor's edge between amplitude and precision, and in order to be great one must endure his or her fair share of bone-rattling falls. Shy away from doing so, and you'll find your progress plateauing or stagnating outright.
Change is afoot, too. Judges no longer evaluate the discipline as they did when Alexandre Bilodeau won his first of two Olympic championships at Vancouver 2010. Different styles of turning and new strategic approaches now play into the hands of certain individuals—of which Mysko is not one.
You can labour for years to ply your craft by the book, but the book can always change. Mysko found that experience "demeaning," and his commitment waned once he felt like he no longer had a solid benchmark to aim for in training.
Nevertheless, the early days of retirement were by no means pleasant.
"Originally I was pretty lost," Mysko admitted. "I never knew who Alex was other than Alex the Skier. My entire identity was Alex the Skier. People would just ask me about skiing, and everything was always about skiing because that's how people knew me—that's how I knew myself. When you close that chapter and no longer have that identity, it's terrifying."
Mysko's brother, Paul, called him out. Knowing Mysko needed to hold his head up and get going again in life, Paul did what any caring family member would do.
He exhorted Mysko to run a marathon.
Memories and experiences
Forty-two-odd kilometres of aerobic punishment isn't everybody's cup of tea, but Mysko found it life-giving. He was able to point the skills and habits from his skiing career in a new direction, training six days per week. It felt natural, like he'd never truly ceased working. He loved the newfound grind.
Back in late October, the brothers started the Niagara Falls International Marathon. Mysko placed 48th and Paul finished a very respectable 20th overall among men, but their results weren't the point.
"I truly think that marathon and training all summer was the saving grace to my retirement," said Mysko.
When asked to reflect on his career, the 21-year-old alludes to countless memories and lessons learned through world travel, observing and competing against the best. He now understands medals and performance goals aren't the be-all and end-all.
"Skiing really teaches you that it's about the journey and what you get from the experiences," Mysko elaborated. "On a bad day, one of your teammates can pick you up and carry you along. As an athlete, you're so focused on trying to be the best, working hard every day and getting better. There's egos involved and conflict, and everyone's young.
"You're so engaged and involved that you lose sense of what you're actually doing. I think the coolest part is to look back and think: damn, those are just memories and experiences we all got to cherish together."
'Realize what you're doing'
One of Mysko's formative memories came at 11 years of age, when coach Kaelan Doucette brought him to his first moguls event in Caledon, Ont.
Mysko began skiing as a toddler but had spent a year away from the sport. Doucette convinced him to try a different discipline, and he won. Nascent dreams burst to life inside the youngster's mind, and he could scarcely stop thinking about his new favourite pastime.
Watching Bilodeau fly to gold on home snow provided additional inspiration, and Mysko aimed for a competitive pathway. The Olympics and World Cup circuit ultimately remained out of reach, but he did become a veteran of provincial teams in Ontario and British Columbia.
"If you're an athlete, you really have to take a step back and realize what you're doing, and how cool it is," he said. "On hard days, I asked myself: 'would 10-year-old Alex be happy with what I'm doing?'
"Of course there was more on the table I would've loved to accomplish, however, I still accomplished way more in my career than I could ever have thought. Ten-year-old Alex would never believe what I did."
Mysko is back in Ontario for now. He sees himself working in business long-term, a field he's prepared for due to years of trial, error and personal growth in sport. The allure of the Sea to Sky still calls to him, though, and he plans to return one day.
"Whistler's just a magical place," Mysko remarked. "You can do everything all the time. In the spring, you can ski and golf on the same day, and in winter you can go find the best powder all over the mountain. There's always something to do. There's always an adventure to go on in Whistler."
