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.