Fearless? Not so, say high-flying freestyle skiers and snowboarders

LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb 11 : The Olympic freestyle skiers and snowboarders who flip, spin and twist high above the Alps might look fearless, but they say the reality is very different. Fear is part of the job, and they feel it every day.

At the Milano Cortina Winter Games, competitors described fear as a constant companion, whether it is dropping in from high start gates, hitting new jumps or pushing into bigger spins. They said outsiders presume they are immune to fear, but even those with the experience of several Olympics admitted they were often frightened of falls and injury, particularly when attempting new tricks.

"People come up to us and say, ‘Oh, you’re so fearless. Like, how do you not get scared to do these things?'," said American snowboarder Hahna Norman, who competes in the big air and slopestyle events.

"That’s actually not true at all. I think everything we do is really scary, and we all feel scared, but it’s just more managing that fear and doing it anyway, because it’s fun once you get past the scare.”

INTOXICATING FEELING

Canada’s Evan McEachran and Elena Gaskell said they chase the adrenaline that comes with confronting fear, using it to push their limits, while Norway’s Mons Roisland described the process of trusting his skills to land a trick as “intoxicating".

"I am not going to be the one to say that it's not scary, but I just love that feeling," said McEachran, a freestyle skier. "I like the adrenaline rush of it, I'm addicted to it and think that's what keeps me going."

Gaskell said she often experienced fear.

"There are so many times where I'm nervous and I'm just like, okay, I've got to do it," she said. "Like at some point, I'm going to have to do it, or else I'm not going to keep progressing as an