So what exactly is "boarder cross?"

You may have been wondering what exactly is this snowboard cross thing that my daughter does. There are no high flying tricks, no flipping upside down, no jumping on rails or walls or pipes. She does get off the ground a bit going over jumps, but not too high. Mainly she just races down the mountain. Really, it's this simple - first one to the bottom wins. They do have a course to follow that includes things like rollers and tables, hip turns, spines, and other things with crazy names that I don't always understand.

The Washington Post Kid's Post on Sunday was all about the new winter Olympic sports and some not so new ones. They had.a great description of boarder cross.

"Only daredevils are allowed in this sport. Four snowboarders race down a winding, hilly course at breakneck speed. Every race has spills, thrills and plenty of excitement.

What I like best is that it's a real race. The snowboarders compete against one another, not just the clock. The winners move on; the losers go home."

Yep, that about sums it up. In the Olympics, you'll see four or maybe six racers start and race to the bottom. The top two move on, the rest are done and go home. Then there will be eight in the semi-finals (two heats), top two finishers from each race move on to the finals. Then it's a race to the bottom for the gold medal.

It's not too often Whitney gets to actually race against someone; there's very few girls her age that compete. One race last season, it was her, a guy that was in the age group above her's, his sister in one of the older groups and her husband. They were racing together but not against each other. In most of her races last season, it was either just her or her and one other racer until she got to Nationals.

I'm not sure when it's actually going to air on tv, but the women's BX is Feb. 16 and the men's is the 17th. Looks like the prelim races are in the afternoon and the finals are in prime time. There's plenty of other exciting snowboarding Olympic events to watch, plenty that Whitney's mom is just happy that she's not interested in.