Hold them off. Once you have the lead, keep people out of your draft until the finish line. Drag your poles to kick up ice and snow to lose pursuers—sort of like James Bond throwing tacks on the road during a car chase. But find a balance: You want to shoot off enough agonizing ice and snow to fight off your rivals, but not enough to slow yourself down on the way to victory.

When Not To Chinese Downhill: When ski patrol is out in force. Holiday weekends. If you haven’t waxed your skis since the word “parabolic” was in vogue. New Year’s Day. In a whiteout.

Squaw Valley’s Cody Townsend has Hot Dog…the Movie posters decorating his bedroom walls. Look for Cody in Rage Films’s new flick, Such is Life. Watch the trailer here.