I’m not a downhill skier but I have become pretty skilled at pothole slalom driving since I moved to Rocky Point.

It’s a sport that involves careful maneuvering of your vehicle and extreme awareness of the other cars and obstructions that could be hazards.

You also need to be on high alert for law enforcement because driving in a slalom pattern can be easily mistaken for drunk driving.

As with the winter Olympics, the course is never the same as the last time you competed. If there’s been a heavy rain, new and deeper holes will develop in placed that were previously clear.

Then there’s the futile attempt they make to disguise the potholes by filling them with sand. Don’t fall for that trick; the sand is no match for the weight of your vehicle.

There may be times when you just have to shoot straight through the moguls, tires and suspension be damned. My advice is take them as slow as possible and be sure to keep your knees flexed.

One more word of caution, these killer divots are not limited to the paved streets. Our sandy road to Cholla can go from smooth and beautiful to bone-rattling washboard in one busy weekend.

The ripples are bad, but lately the road has been pock marked with board dips of super soft sand that can cause you to lose traction and the grip on your beverage.

Slalom driving will never become an Olympic sport, but I always picture myself as Mikaela Shiffrin as I gracefully and powerfully weave in and around the maze of sinkholes that challenge my run to the Super Ley!

As I slip into a parking spot with all four tires intact, I’m tempted to pull off my goggles (nay glasses), raise my arms in the air and do a victory dance. Yup. Just another day in paradise!

# # #

Cutline:

World Cup slalom ski racer Mikaela Shiffrin would probably be an ace at driving Peñasco’s streets. Photo from Dailysabah.com.