“Although I’ve done a lot of scary stuff, like skiing super fast and racing, I’m the sort of person who usually, maybe less so today, has the mental discipline to control that fear. Certainly, I was better at that 20 years ago than I am now, at least on the evidence so far today,” he said.
“But you can only hold it for so long, can’t you? And now I’ve finished the run.”
But Monday’s run would not be Milton’s final chance at the mountain, with three more events still to come. And while there are more favourable mountains in the world to attempt a comeback, which may have offered a greater guarantee of a fairytale return, Milton is yet to concede to Tofane.
The ominous slope below Tofane di Mezzo.Credit: Getty Images
“Certainly, there’s a lot in this hill,” he said. “It’s not a consistent down the mountain. It’s left and right, and rolls and jumps, and shadow and light. So there’s a lot to learn, and I’m looking forward to skiing better tomorrow.”
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Milton races again on Tuesday in the men’s alpine combined slalom.
“One of the things you come back for is the emotion. It’s the pressure. It’s the feeling of standing in the start, shitting your pants because you’re scared of what you’re about to ski down and then having the mental side of things to be able to overcome that,” he said.
“[I’ll] take something from today, get a little bit angry at skiing like I did, and come out with a bit more confidence and certainly some more aggression tomorrow.”
This masthead has travelled to Cortina as a guest of Paralympics Australia.
