Yesterday was the first chance Whitney and Chad had to get on the mountain. They had some fun time in the morning before they had to go to Whitney's practice after lunch. They had a really good time in the morning, enjoying the snow and the mountain.
It's really good this year to have a coach here to help Whitney. Chad was able to look the course over with her, help her figure out how to get over elements, and refine her technique to better attack the course. She (and many of the other competitors) were having a hard time with the start. After they finished the practice runs, they went over to the half pipe to work on some things that would help her starts.
By the time they all came in for the day, they were sore! Copper is a big mountain and they're not used to that. Probably the lack of oxygen doesn't help either. They're feeling better this morning, but are going to take it easy. Later today, they're going to meet up with a friend of Chad's and go explore the bowls at the top of the mountain. Should be fun.
The Opening Ceremonies were also last night. It's the 25th anniversary of the first USASA Nationals. They first do a parade of all the athletes and coaches, there's a big welcome, the national anthem, and a couple of awards. It's interesting to see the "uniforms" of the different series, apparently black was the color of choice this year. There were lots of black sweatshirts, except the Ohio Series, they were in bright yellow sweatshirts and the Northern Vermont Series, they had great flannel shirts.
So today is a day to chill then have some fun on the slopes, tomorrow is the big day.
In news from back home, today is the last day that Massanutten is open. They extended, then extended again when they were closing. We've just had that kind of winter. It was their longest season ever. They did a pretty cool video to close out the season. We'll be back next year!
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