Weird, Warm Winter

This has been the weirdest, warmest winter so far. It was cold enough at night for a few days that Massanutten was able to blow some snow, then it got warm and it all melted. I think they made more later and were open a day or so then had to close because on Christmas it was 70* outside! So there's been no snowboarding in Virginia so far and I'm doubting that Whitney will have the chance to hit the slopes before she heads back to college. It is supposed to get cold again towards the weekend so snowmaking should resume but we'll see how long it takes to get open again. Not really worth it for a season pass for Whitney at this point.

Up in Maine they had some snow over the weekend and are under a winter storm warning tonight/tomorrow. That means that they should have some good snow on the slopes when she gets back and also probably in town. Hopefully she'll have plenty of time to get out on the slopes before she has a race. She just found out that the Maine Mountain Series is moving the date of the first bx race to February. Major bummer. Her boyfriend was going to drive back up to school with her and watch her race next month. It also means that she won't be coming home for her February break since the race is the end weekend of break and because of that she won't be racing down here. Maybe she should have stayed part of the Appalachian Series. Oh well. It will all work out in the end.

Where's the Cold....and the Snow?

Here in Virginia we had a few days in the 70s recently. Not exactly snow making weather. Even in Maine it's been a tad on the warm side. From what I've been hearing from my source in the North, she said it's been in the 50s and not nearly cold enough for her. She loves the cold weather and they're not getting it. Sunday River had some man-made snow and opened for weekends last month but I'm not sure if they're still open or not. Hopefully the cold will return and the snow will come with it. As far as I know Sugarloaf has had some snow on the peaks but not really much. They posted some pretty pictures of "snowliage," snow on the peaks and pretty yellow and orange trees in the valley. The college has posted the ski and snowboard team schedule and the good thing is that races don't start until January. By the time she gets back to school after Thanksgiving she should be able to get on the slopes.

A Great Day in Maine

So if the highlight of her year was becoming National Champion in April, the second highlight came yesterday. The snowboard team coach, who also is in charge of the alpine operations certificate at UMF, invited Whitney to sit in on his class last night because Seth Wescott was coming in to speak. He's one of Whitney's idols. He grew up in Farmington and his "home mountain" is Sugarloaf, which is where the UMF team practices. He is a two time gold medal winner in the Olympics for boardercross (2006 Torino, 2010 Vancouver), he also has a gold medal in the World Championships as well as several silver medals in the World Championships and Winter X Games.

Seth is one reason she went into boardercross. I'm not sure what the class was about but she had a chance to talk to him for a few minutes after he was finished then the two of them walked out together (neither was staying for the rest of the class). She was super excited last night when I talked to her! She had the chance to talk to him for about 15-20 minutes after the class and they talked about her snowboarding, his snowboarding, and he gave her some advice on next steps in her snowboarding career. She found it interesting that he started doing half-pipe but moved to boarder cross when he saw people like Shaun White coming up behind him. I think that was probably a good move! He thought it was funny that she didn't do half-pipe because mom said no and she was not as coordinated as you need to be to survive half-pipe (never mind the fact that there are no half-pipes in Virginia).

I'm so excited for her to meet one of her idols, especially since she missed her chance to talk to Alex Deibold (bronze medalist, 2014 Sochi Olympics) when we were at Nationals in April. This sounds like a good start to her season...now for the snow to start falling.

Fall into Winter

Tomorrow is October 1 and a new season is getting so close. There are signs of it everywhere - the leaves are slowly starting to shed their green and change colors, pumpkin spice lattes are back at Starbucks and Panera, the weather is starting to cool down which means that in New England it's getting really cool, especially at night. Another sign is that we got an early look at the Appalachian Series schedule for the winter. The big news there, at least for us, is that there will be a bx race at Massanutten again and the timing is such that Whitney will be home from school on her first spring break (or is it her winter break, I'm not sure). Whitney has already registered with USASA again and has made some big changes. She's moved up to the Open class and she also switched to the Maine Mountain Series. The good news is that since she's the Jams Champion from last season, she has an automatic invite to Nationals this year.

Another sign of the coming season is that dry ground training has started up in Maine. Whitney has had several meetings with the ski and snowboard team at school and they've started running and working out. She said that the other day they were playing football. Not sure how exactly that gets them in shape for skiing or snowboarding, but it sounded fun.

The snow is going to start falling in Maine pretty soon and they'll be able to start making snow there long before we have a chance to here in Virginia. Here's to an awesome season!

Making Progress Towards the Season

Winter is getting closer. The weather may not feel like it (it was still hot and humid until yesterday) but the calendar, my email, and my Facebook feed say otherwise.

Signs of the coming season -

• Whitney registered yesterday with USASA for the new season. She's moved to the Maine Mountain Series and to the open class. Should be a challenging season for her. {we'll miss the Appalachian Series}
• Whitney has a meeting with the UMF ski and snowboard team in a couple of weeks.
• I've seen postings on Facebook from the Appalachian Series director that she's been making phone calls about the new season. That means that she's calling resorts to set up the competition schedule. She can't say anything yet, but I sure hope there's a race at Massanutten.
• Also on Facebook I saw a posting by Whitetail about getting ready for winter.
• I had an email today from Copper Mountain that they are opening on Nov. 6. Yes, they're in the Rockies but that's soon! Hopefully Sugarloaf, which is where Whitney will be this winter, will be opening soon after that.
• Bob and I have been talking about which ski passes would be best to get this year. We'll have to take a look at our options and figure out when we'll be down at Massanutten. We also need to decide if Sarah is getting skis for Christmas or if we're going to rent for her again. 

I'm looking forward to winter. Once I see Whitney's schedule I'll make some plans to head to Maine and watch her race. I'm not sure what I'm going to with all my free time this winter; for the first time in four years I won't have to take her to practice or races.

A New Season, Just Around the Corner

It's getting towards the end of August and a new season is just around the corner. No, really, it is. USASA is opening it's early registration for the season on Sept. 1. I just saw something today on the Appalachian Series facebook page about training for coaches. All the snowboard gear has been pulled out and weather reports are already being checked. OK so the gear was pulled out to be packed in the car to make the trip to college. Exciting times! Whitney's plan is to compete for the University of Maine at Farmington while working toward her bigger goals. Being on the team will push her, she's not used to strength and condition training, working out before the season starts, and I'm sure the practices will be more than she's used to doing. Hopefully the coach will know something about boardercross and will help take her to the next level of competition. Lots of unknowns right now. If you're interested in following her adventures this season her instagram and twitter feed can be found at whit_lemay.

What Was I Thinking??

I haven't been on my bike all summer. Just wasn't interested this year. But did that stop me from signing up for a ride that was today? Nope! What was I thinking?? I even signed Bob and I up a month ago for this 25 mile ride, had the date in the back of my head, and did nothing about getting on my bike. So last night Bob and I went out for an 8-mile ride, just to take my bike for a spin and so today wouldn't be my first time in the saddle. Good thing we went out! Found out my rear break wasn't working at all. When we got to our turn around point, he messed with it and got it fixed. Better last night than this morning. So this morning we were up early and out the door by 7 to get to the start by 7:30 to meet my friend. We were on the road riding just before 8 and finished in 2 hours, 15 minutes, pretty darn good for not riding at all. I was happy to finish before it got too hot. I'm still in one piece, I'm just going to have a sore tush for a few days. And now my bike is back in the garage, we'll see if I pull it out again this summer.

The End of Another Season

The end of another season has come around and it's been a really good one. There were some pretty awesome race days, like the snowy day at Massanutten followed by the beautiful sunny day after.

in the start gate at Massanutten

the snowy race

the beautiful day after

There were some ok race days, like at Blue Mountain which took forever. Even though it lasted way longer than we thought it would, the racing was really good; Whitney beat the boys!

the neon orange really helps her stand out

Whitney's skills improved this year, she was stronger, racing faster, and had a better grasp on the technical side of racing this season.

Of course, Nationals was the cap to an awesome season. Heading out there, confident but not overly so, having her coach out there again as well as a couple of teammates really helped. The weather was beautiful, the course was good, and the racing was even better. To finish the season as National Champion was a major goal reached and exceeded.

Whitney and Chad, a relaxed moment in the start gate

the National Champion

It's the end of the season, but it's also the end of our time with the Massanutten Snowboard team. She'll be heading to college in the fall and will join the University of Maine, Farmington ski and snowboard team. It's been a really good experience at Massanutten, although it had it's frustrations. I'll miss going to all of Whitney's races next year as it's a long drive to Maine, but I'll try to get to some. Hopefully there will be a race at Massanutten again next year and if the timing is right, she'll be home on break and can race there again. Huge thanks go out to Chad, Target, and all the other coaches at Massanutten that have worked with Whitney over the last four years. Thanks also to Ellen and Mark, directors of the USASA Appalachian Series for their help and friendship the last couple of years and the hard work they've put in getting races set up for the kids (and adults). One chapter ends and a new one begins.

Race day, Part 2

What an exciting day! The way things went, I'm not sure she's stopped smiling yet!

Whitney went out to meet Chad early to get her board and put it back together (he had waxed it and sharpened the edges but she had the bindings), then the two of them headed up to the race course. Bob, Sarah, and I went out later, took a few runs on the easier slopes then went to the bx course. We got there in the middle of time trials which was good timing. The way they ran things for Whitney's group was practice runs, time trials, then they set up the brackets. There were only 10 girls in Whitney's age group so the seven fastest moved on to the semi-finals, then there was one bracket of the other three. The top one from that race moved on to the semis. They ran four girls at a time in the semi's (two brackets) and the top two from each moved on to the finals and the bottom two went to the consolation bracket.

Whitney was the top ranked girl there in her age group so she got to go first in the time trials. That's not always a good thing, but here it was. They had waited a long time already so going first meant not having to wait any longer and having the nerves build up more. Whitney had the fastest time of her group, not as fast as she would have liked but it was a good time. This meant she was the top seed and had first lane choice. That can be key to winning or losing a bx race and it seemed to be on Wednesday.

In her semi-final race she picked the far right gate. I'm assuming a consultation with Chad went into the decision and while it didn't look like a good choice at the start it turned out to be a very good one. Chad and I were standing just below and to the left of the start gate so had a good view of the first elements and most of the course. When they were off it didn't look good for Whitney; she was the third over the first element but because of her gate choice she was able to ride high on the turn, stay out of the fray, pass the other girls and get ahead. A bit further down they spread out more and Whitney was in charge and the first over the last jump and across the finish line.

She had a short break while the other races were going on, long enough to let a few nerves build again, then it was time for the finals. Since she had been first in her semi race she had first gate choice again and again it was the far right. I wasn't sure this was good but she knew what she was doing. Again, she was second or third going over the first element but went high. By this time it had warmed up some (although not as much as earlier in the week) and the other girls weren't used to the soft snow and two wiped out pretty quick. Whitney took advantage, passed them, lengthened her lead, and went on to win the race. It was amazing watching her race! She said later that early she could hear the clatter of the other boards behind her then as she got further ahead it got quiet, eerily quiet. The girls actually ended up spaced pretty far apart by the time they crossed the finish line.

It was SO exciting! All her hard work this season (and seasons past) came to fruition. Her goal at the beginning of the season was to make the podium. As one of her coaches said "you have certainly done that and MORE!!...You are literally the best!" We went to get her USASA Nationals sweatshirt and her original thought was to get the first place logo on it but they told her that they had "national champion" she could get and that's what she went with because she is the National Champion!

Race Day, Part 1

Race day is finally here. I think the longest wait has been this week. We got here Friday afternoon, she had her practice on Saturday afternoon, so she's had a lot of time to think and wait. She was up early, meet Chad to get her board (he waxed her board and sharpened the edges), put her bindings back on, and now they're off to the course. Race day is a lot of hurry and wait.

The last few days I've had the chance to watch the half pipe which was fun. I enjoyed watching the little kids, most of them had a hard time getting very far up the sides of the pipe. They also generally didn't do much in the way of tricks.

Super pipe

Yesterday was the group with the teen/older guys. Some of them were really good! A few had great runs, then fell at the bottom.

Whitney and I went out Monday together. It was the first time I'd been skiing in Colorado. Lots of fun! The lift to ski ratio here is great. They have high speed lifts which is good since they are long, then it's a long way back down. It's been warm here so the conditions have been icy in the morning and slushy (mashed potatoes) by mid-morning. It's just what Whitney and other East Coast riders are used to riding on so is no big deal for them but other riders are complaining. We'll see how it plays out today.

Copper

Last night was the official opening of the USASA Nationals. It started with the parade of the different series, the national anthem (sung by one of the girls from the Appalachian Series), and a few awards.

Today the competitions started. One of the boys from Massanutten competed in slope style, did well and finished in the middle of the pack. Since it's his first year out here it's a good learning experience. Tomorrow he competes in bx, along with another guy from Massanutten.

I've spent time the last couple of days walking around, sitting outside people watching in the sun, and relaxing. They are having warmer than usual temperatures here, the sun is out, and it's great as long as you're not racing. The snow is very much East Coast type snow. Must remember the sunscreen!

The big thing that happened today is Whitney was fan-girl-ing! Amy Purdy was here during awards and spoke about being in USASA, losing her legs, getting back into snowboarding, and the adaptive snowboarding organization she's started which is based here at Copper. Then, even more exciting for Whitney, Alex Deibold was helping hand out medals tonight. We walked right past him as he was leaving. I didn't realize it soon enough and she didn't say anything, like ask for a picture. If she gets lucky, he'll be back another night like maybe the one she races.

Left - Appalachian Series at the parade
Top right - all the series gathering for opening
Bottom right - Alex Deibold in the white shirt

We're off!

We hit the road to the airport early yesterday to head west to Colorado. I was going to post a nice "sunrise at the airport" picture because we were up that early but there was no sun. It was a rainy morning when we left, but here's one anyway.

After clearing the clouds in Washington, it was a good flight to Denver. We got there and Whitney was not feeling good. It seems to be a combination of not enough sleep the night before, dehydration, needing food, and probably the altitude. Thankfully she's fine now.

We got our bags, some food, and meet the shuttle which took is to Copper. Checked in, got Whitney registered, and we're good to go.

Our room is in Center Village, overlooking Burning Stones Plaza, the heart of things. Today Whitney is off trying out the new board on good snow, she has her practice time after lunch, her first and only time to see the boardercross course before race day. Tonight is the parade and opening ceremonies, our series is having a get together, then racing starts tomorrow. Should be a fun week!

Rankings

What do the national rankings mean? This is something I've been thinking about the last few days. The regional/series rankings make sense - for each age group it ranks the snowboarders based on how they do against the others in their series. Each series holds 3-5 races for each discipline and they earn points based on how they finish. The riders are then ranked based on their points. This makes sense, they race against each other then are ranked.

What doesn't make as much sense, or at least doesn't provide much useful information, is the national rankings. Based on the points earned at each race, the riders are ranked nationally. The problem is that you don't know how good the other riders really are (or aren't) since you're not riding against them, it's strictly based on the points earned. What that means is that if you're the only one in a race, you earn 1010 points (1000 for first plus 10 for each racer, so if there were three racers first place would earn 1030 points). Surprisingly, at least in Whitney's age group, there wasn't a bunch up towards the top. There were several girls who were the only ones in their series, the only series that had more than one girl racing was the Western New York series, the Great Lakes series and maybe one out west. I'm a bit surprised that there weren't a bunch of girls with 3030 points, Whitney was only tied with one other girl at the last rankings.

So, while on the one hand I was super excited that Whitney was ranked 1st for a week earlier in the season and finished tied for 3rd, what does that really mean? There's no way to really compare her to the other racers until they get to Nationals. The other downside is that not all the racers go to Nationals. Whitney will be the top ranked girl in her age group there and to fill out the numbers, they eventually ended up inviting all the girls and only 12 accepted.

We do have a pretty good idea of how good she is though. At several of her races this year she  had the opportunity to race against guys who were in her age group or older. She was able to either beat them or keep pace with them. These were guys who were competitive, not slackers, so for her to keep up with them was really good; she can also keep up with her coaches. She's a strong rider and should do really well at Nationals, no matter her ranking.

Nearing the End of Another Season

The end of the season is getting closer and closer. We were down at the mountain on Wednesday and it was definitely spring skiing. If you can ski in Virginia, you can ski pretty much anywhere. We had decent man-made snow conditions for a lot of the winter, but we also had some awesome powder, not so awesome ice, and then the spring slush. I think we'll only make it down there once more, over the weekend. The resort is planning on Sunday being the last day of the season so this week/weekend will be it. Whitney and I had talked about going up to NH again so she could get in some more time on the slopes before Nationals, but neither of us was looking forward to the 9-hour trip. She'll just make do with what's here in Virginia while it lasts and also spend some time focused on school.

We're looking forward to our trip to Colorado in a couple of weeks. As of now, Whitney is the top ranked girl in her age group going and there's only 12 registered. There's still some invites out so we're not sure of the final numbers yet. It looks like she could reach her goal of making the podium this year. And she'll have a couple of the crazy boys from the Massanutten team to hang out with, cheer on, and board with while we're out there.

Although this season isn't quite finished yet, she's already looking towards next year. She's decided to go to college at the University of Maine at Farmington and has been talking with the ski and snowboard team coach there. When we were up for a visit, she had a chance to talk with a couple of guys on the ski team; they could tell her general details about conditioning, practices, and things like that but not much about snowboarding. She emailed the coach and has also been in contact with another snowboarder who is already there and is looking to build the snowboard team. I think this will be a good fit for her, she's already had experience building a team up and is excited about going there. The team competes in both USASA and the USCSA so she'll be able to keep working towards her snowboarding goals.

I can't wait to see how things go at Nationals this year and where she goes with snowboarding next season.

Nationals

USASA Nationals are getting closer! The invites have started going out and Whitney got hers on Thursday. She's registered, ready to go. I booked our rooms a month ago to make sure that we could get something in Center Village at Copper, near the action (and the lifts). The flights were taken care of this morning, now I just need to book the shuttle from the airport to Copper and I think we're set.

For a while Whitney was ranked 1st in her age group but currently she's tied for 3rd. A pretty good accomplishment for a girl from a small mountain in Virginia. I'm not sure that really matters though. She's had some awesome coaches this year, done really well in her races, gotten stronger and faster, races smarter, and expects to do well at Nationals.

She was talking with Chad last week and he encouraged her to move to the Open Class next year. She had been thinking about her plan moving forward and was planning to do her age group for another year then move to the Open Class. After this weekend I think she'll be moving to Open Class next year. We looked a bit at the Maine Mountain Series, which is where she'll be competing next year while she's in college and they have no one in the 18-22 age group, but four or five girls in the Open Class. She was also talking with one of the guys who competes in the Appalachian Series in the men's Open Class and he also said she should move up next year, that she's definitely ready for it. Guess it's been a good year for her!

Holiday Valley

Although I was really trying to avoid the trek all the way up to Holiday Valley we went for two boardercross races yesterday. The main reason I didn't want to go there was that Whitney wanted to go to the last practice of the season at Massanutten and the team picnic on Saturday morning, then head to HV. That meant a very long day for us and also a long day yesterday to get home after the races. I was really trying to get her to go to Blue Mountain again for the bx races there on Sunday, but she won out and we went to Holiday Valley. It was actually a good decision even though it made for a very long weekend with lots of driving.

Massanutten had gotten about 8" of new snow on Thursday (which cancelled the last weeknight practice) so the snowboarding/skiing was great on Friday and Saturday morning. I really wish we could have stayed longer to ski on Saturday, but the drive was still ahead of us. We left the picnic, packed up our stuff at the house, then hit the road north. The good thing about Holiday Valley is that they have a tougher course than Blue Mountain and they also have a start gate like they use at Nationals (which one of the competitors broke!). Whitney said it was worth going, she had a good time. She had hoped to finally have competitors in her age group to race against and two had preregistered but they didn't show up. Initially she wasn't too thrilled to race them (they're ranked 1 and 5, she's tied for 3rd) but when they didn't show, she was disappointed. It would have been a good preview of Nationals. Even though she had no competition, she said she felt race 1 and 4 yesterday were her best of the season. It's good that she's peaking right before Nationals. Now if only the snow will stick around long enough for her to keep working out on it.

Last Practice

It's hard to believe how fast this season has gone! Tomorrow is the last practice with a picnic following after at the grill. It's been an amazing season, Whitney has gotten so much better; she's faster and stronger and much more confident. This weekend might be a good test of that. We're heading up to Holiday Valley, NY, for a boardercross race in the Western New York series. We looked at the rankings in her age group the other day and the top ranked girl and the fifth place girl are both in the Western NY series. Right now Whitney is tied in third so if they both come to the race it will be a good challenge for her and give her a preview of what she'll face at Nationals. She's looking forward to it though, finally a race with true competition.

Speaking of Nationals, the invitations have started going out and Whitney got hers yesterday. She accepted her invitation and is ready to go. I already made our room reservations but still need to book our flights. The best news about Nationals this year is not only is Chad going again to coach her but there will also be two other boys from the Massanutten team going as well. Actually, three boys will be going but one is a skier so he won't be there until after we leave (the free ski Nationals are the week after snowboarding). It will be great to have teammates out there.

Yesterday we had another good snowstorm, about 8". We couldn't get out to the slopes yesterday, it started snowing in the morning and continued all day. The storm started with sleet so there was a coating of ice underneath the snow. We went out this afternoon after Whitney finished school and the conditions were awesome. The sun was out, there was plenty of new snow, it was great. The only problem was that one of the lifts was broken and shut down so on the expert slopes there were plenty of people who perhaps shouldn't have been on those slopes and wouldn't have been normally. This is probably the last big snowstorm of the season. The weather is supposed to warm up a bit in the middle of the week but hopefully the snow will be around for several more weeks, at least until closer to when we head to Colorado.

Massanutten, Day 2

After a day of all day snow and a foot of new powder on Saturday, the day started off with a bit of fog on the top of the mountain then cleared up to be a sunny, beautiful day. The groomers worked hard on the course to have it in shape for day 2 of racing. It seemed like a very different course today because of the snow conditions. I helped again at registration and Bob was a gate judge again.

Whitney was the only one in her age group but she didn't get her chance to race with the boys. There was a girl in the open class so Whitney was paired up with her. It was nice to have someone to race against since on Saturday Whitney was the only one to race by herself. Racing against someone in the open class was good for her, gave her a chance to see a small piece of the competition if she moves up into the open class next year. Whitney beat her in three of the four races so that was good. She'll have to spend some time on the course at Nationals when the women's open class is racing to get a feel for what she wants to do next year. There's been some changes to the rules about open class and now she's not sure if she should move up or not.

All in all, it was great to have the races at Massanutten. We only heard good things about the time and effort they put into building the race course. There was nothing anyone could do about the snow (which was actually pretty awesome) or the power issues that cut Saturday's races short. Hopefully there will be more races at Massanutten in future years even if Whitney won't be competing there. Maybe if her college schedule works out right she'll be at home for Massanutten races, otherwise she'll be up in Maine racing.

We're moving into the in-between time now. We're in New Hampshire for our February vacation and there's only one week of practice left once we get home. After that we'll be at Massanutten as often as we can be and as long as it's open for more practice before we head to Nationals at the end of March. Then it will be time for rest and recovery before moving on to spring and summer pursuits.

The weekend we've been waiting for is here!

We're finally here, the weekend of the Massanutten bx races. We've been waiting for a long time for this and it's totally been worth it! According to Whitney the course is awesome. We got almost a foot of snow today which made things really interesting.

This morning I helped with registration, a small peek behind the scenes. Bob was a gate judge and had a good view of part of the course. For the second race I helped at the start. Ellen, the series director couldn't make it back up the mountain because of the snow, so I did her job.

As usual Whitney was the only girl in her age group but today she ended up racing by herself. There were four older guys who were grouped together but they said tomorrow they would put her in with them since they were only expecting three of them.

From talking to one of the other competitors, they really liked the course. They said it was the best one the Appalachian Series has had in years. I know since Whitney has been competing the courses have ranged from pretty bad to good, but this is one of the best she's been on except at Nationals.

As for that crazy snowfall. Wow! It started and just didn't stop. Early it was fun to ski in, but later it was almost too much for me. Our house lost power early in the morning but later in the day the resort was having problems. They finally shut down the chair lifts because of power surges; they didn't want to have anyone get stuck on the lifts. I'm not surprised, the wind was kicking up pretty good as well; it would not have been fun to either be stuck up there or have to use plan b to get down. Because the lifts shut down they only got through part of the second race. They are going to finish in the morning then move on to the next two races. Hopefully tomorrow will have better weather.

Blue Mountain

Last weekend we were at Blue Mountain in Pennsylvania for races in the Mid-Atlantic Series. There was one race on Saturday and another on Sunday. We left Massanutten on Friday morning, stopped at home long enough to unpack, repack, Whitney to work, then we were off. One nice thing about the weekend was we got to see one of Bob's cousins. He lives in NY and Blue Mountain is where he boards so he came to watch the races and hang out with me for a bit.

Saturday's Race
The race on Saturday went really well, although it was a really long day! We got to the mountain, checked in, then Whitney met up with a couple of girls she met last year and was off to the course. As it turned out she was the only one in her age group (jams women, 18-23) and there were several other older "singles" as well. They put all four of them together so it was her, a jams man, a master woman (30-39), and a kahuna man (50-59). The good part about this was racing the jams guy, kind of like racing one of her coaches, and as it turned out it was mostly the two of them out front then the other two a bit behind them.

They started with time trials for everyone, even if they were the only ones in their age group. This took forever since there were 72 people registered and they go down one at a time. Once that was done they set up the brackets for the age groups that needed them and started racing.

The three races they did were close! In the first race, Whitney came in second about a board length or so behind the jams guy. The second race was exciting! From where we were standing towards the end of the race we saw the jams guy fall and Whitney catch up to him then it was a race to the finish. With a big crowd watching there was lots of yelling and cheering. When I talked to Whitney after she said that she had fallen just a bit earlier and figured that there was no way she'd be able to catch up to him then he fell. Problem was that he fell on a rather flat part of the course so he had a hard time getting going again. We could see them neck-and-neck over the hill towards the finish but couldn't tell who got there first. Whitney beat him by about a board length! Very exciting! The third race she was just behind him again.

She said that she impressed both the guys she was racing with; they were surprised at how well she could keep up with the younger guy.

Sunday's Race
Another early morning at the mountain but the rest of the day went much faster. Whitney was with the same jams guy and master woman but the older man couldn't make it. Instead their fourth was a senior guy (23-29); he had another in his age group on Saturday but was the only one on Sunday.

It's tough racing against two guys who are older and bigger, but she held her own. On Sunday, she came in third, second, and third. In the second race the younger guy fell and ended up in fourth. In the first and third race, she may have come in third, but she was right on the heels of the two guys. What she found really frustrating was being a girl. She said she had the best start of the four of them but because of their size the two guys were able to get speed faster than she could. In the end she had a really good time, which is what it's all about.

Wintergreen

The first race of the season was at Wintergreen. We were surprised at the number of people there, almost twice as many as we were used to seeing at Appalachian Series BX events. Probably the best news of the day was that there were four kids from Massanutten competing so a coach was sent along. The other good news is that the course was much better than last time we were there two years ago.

As usual Whitney was the only girl in her age group. She raced with a girl in the next lower group. She did amazingly well! She took off super fast from the start, did not speed check at the first turn, and flew it down the mountain. She didn't really realize how fast she was going until she crossed the finish line and crashed. She overshot the landing for some rollers just before the finish and ended up on the ground just after the finish line. The other girl she was with crashed into the nets at the first turn. When we were talking to her coach after that run, was impressed with her speed and said he heard some of the other competitors comment about her lack of a speed check are turn.

Her second run she took a slight bit slower but was still pretty fast. It helped to have a coach there and she really enjoyed having the other boys from the team there to cheer her on.

Practice Makes Perfect, or at Least Better

The season's gotten off to a good start so far. The coaches have some sort of rotating schedule; still not sure who is going to be the coach at each practice but they've committed to having two coaches there each time. That's nice, it makes it so they can start practice together then divide and conquer so to speak. From what I hear, usually part of the team goes to the park to work on skills there and the other part heads to the top of the mountain to work on a different set of skills. Surprisingly Whitney has been going to the park  recently. Some nights she has a choice, sometimes she doesn't. I asked her about it and she said she's working on her jumps/landings and in her free time she's working on other skills (carving, speed) on the mountain. She rode with Scott one night last week and she said that he was surprised at how much better she's gotten since last season when he saw her (he had knee surgery just after Christmas last year and hasn't seen her ride since then).

She's signed up for the first Appalachian Series BX at Wintergreen next Sunday. There's at least one boy from the Massanutten team signed up and there's two more thinking about it; looks like there's a good chance a coach will be going along with them. I'll need to talk to them about that. February will be a busy month with lots of racing, then we head into March, the end of the season here but Nationals are on the horizon at the end of the month. Snowboard season always goes by fast!