One minute to go. A glance to the surrounding peaks. Jagged, majestic, irrelevant. All that matters is right here in front of me, the jumble of expensive metal and carbon, full-face helmets and body armour. Deep, smooth breaths, trying to calm a heartbeat so powerful that it’s audible. Surfing between laser focus and hyperventilation, adrenaline and cortisol flooding, haven’t felt this psyched in years and it’s tough not to crumble, to curl up and shrivel, to want to be anywhere but here… The thirty-second board goes up and the cheesy techno beat kicks in, fake bugles signalling the hunt about…
