We made it home from Copper just fine. They ended up getting 6+" of snow; Whitney really wanted to head back out there for more boarding in the powder. Alas, school and the rest of life was calling. At least now, a few weeks later, there's not as much snow falling and Copper is closed for the winter.
Whitney had an awesome season this year. For whatever reason, there were many nights at practice where it was just her and one or two others; one night it was just her. It made for some great one on one coaching and since the one boy that was usually there didn't really care what they did, she got to work on boarder cross skills quite a bit. I think the coaches, seeing how well she did this year and how serious she is, will help her more next year. She enjoyed the local competitions. I think the one at Wisp was the best and probably the best preparation for Nationals. They had a tough course and it was long, although not quite as long as the one at Nationals. She was really stoked to be ranked 6th at one point, she ended the season at 12th in her age group. Both her coaches were really excited for her and how well she did at Nationals.
As far as I know, no decisions have been made about next season yet. She really wants to compete again next season and we're trying to decide if we stay in Virginia or head north, probably to New Hampshire. I think the coaching would just as good in NH, but the mountains are bigger and more challenging/fun. Plus it would be nice not to have to drive so much for practice. Up there, we could probably find someplace within 20-30 minutes of a ski resort, if not closer. On the other hand, she does have a lot of things going on here at home that she can't do in NH, her horse, work, some of her church activities. School is portable, her Girl Scout troop doesn't meet in the winter, so those things don't matter. We'll see what she decides, I really don't know what it's going to be although I think she's leaning towards staying here.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Copper Mountain, Days 4 & 5
The last two days were mostly just days to relax and have fun. Whitney went snowboarding for a few hours yesterday morning, then came down to say good-bye to Bob who had to head back East. She and I got lunch, then she went out for more fun on the snow. The day was pretty nice and she had a good time. We caught the awards ceremony where a friend got a second in boardercross, then we had an early dinner. After a bit of last minute shopping (I had to get a shirt from Copper), we went back to the condo.
This morning we got up, packed, then went to enjoy some sun while watching the Open category half pipe. Some of them were really good! It was a beautiful, warm morning, then about when we were leaving the clouds started rolling in.
Once we got on the shuttle, it was some crazy weather! It started snowing as we were leaving Copper, then it turned into hail for a bit (longer than I've seen it hail before), then more snow, and finally fog and rain. It's really rather dreary here in Denver.
This morning we got up, packed, then went to enjoy some sun while watching the Open category half pipe. Some of them were really good! It was a beautiful, warm morning, then about when we were leaving the clouds started rolling in.
Once we got on the shuttle, it was some crazy weather! It started snowing as we were leaving Copper, then it turned into hail for a bit (longer than I've seen it hail before), then more snow, and finally fog and rain. It's really rather dreary here in Denver.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Copper Mountain, Day 3
Yesterday was a busy day, filled with fun and lots of hurry up and wait. Whitney was up early to head out to the boarder cross course. They had an early inspection of the course, then since they had made changes to the bottom, they had two practice runs. Bob and I came up a bit later; took the chair lift up then walked down to the course. We walked past the slope style course and saw them getting ready to get started.
The competition was run a bit differently than we were used to. They started with time trials, each girl went down by herself, racing the clock. After that, the girls were ranked by time, then put into brackets. The long wait occurred here. There was a problem with the times for the Youth Women group, so they had to fix that, then redo their brackets. It took quite a while so the race start was pretty delayed since that group was the first to race.
While we waited, we spent lots of time sitting on the mountain, enjoying the beautiful day. It was warm, sunny with clear blue skies. Really nice. I've got some pictures I'll share when we get home.
Once the races started, we had to wait for Whitney's turn. She was in a group of three; she was ranked 16 in the time trials, the other two girls were 6 and 11. She had a poor start but got it together and did really well. She ended up in third, which meant she didn't move on, but she said she had her best run down the course. She felt really good about how the race went.
When she was done, Bob and I walked the rest of the way down the mountain, the three of us grabbed some lunch at the outdoor grill, and walked back to the condo. Whitney was pretty pooped, so we relaxed for a while.
Later we went out and walked around a bit, got a sweatshirt for her and something for her sister. We watched the crowd at Burning Stones plaza and part of the awards ceremonies, went to find dinner.
Whitney said she had a great time, it was lots of fun, and she was really glad she came. One more day here to get in some good snowboarding, then we'll be heading home. We're glad she had her race yesterday, the weather is taking a turn for the worse (possibly some rain/snow today, and warmer temperatures coming).
The competition was run a bit differently than we were used to. They started with time trials, each girl went down by herself, racing the clock. After that, the girls were ranked by time, then put into brackets. The long wait occurred here. There was a problem with the times for the Youth Women group, so they had to fix that, then redo their brackets. It took quite a while so the race start was pretty delayed since that group was the first to race.
While we waited, we spent lots of time sitting on the mountain, enjoying the beautiful day. It was warm, sunny with clear blue skies. Really nice. I've got some pictures I'll share when we get home.
Once the races started, we had to wait for Whitney's turn. She was in a group of three; she was ranked 16 in the time trials, the other two girls were 6 and 11. She had a poor start but got it together and did really well. She ended up in third, which meant she didn't move on, but she said she had her best run down the course. She felt really good about how the race went.
When she was done, Bob and I walked the rest of the way down the mountain, the three of us grabbed some lunch at the outdoor grill, and walked back to the condo. Whitney was pretty pooped, so we relaxed for a while.
Later we went out and walked around a bit, got a sweatshirt for her and something for her sister. We watched the crowd at Burning Stones plaza and part of the awards ceremonies, went to find dinner.
Whitney said she had a great time, it was lots of fun, and she was really glad she came. One more day here to get in some good snowboarding, then we'll be heading home. We're glad she had her race yesterday, the weather is taking a turn for the worse (possibly some rain/snow today, and warmer temperatures coming).
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Copper Mountain, Day 2
Yesterday was day 2 and it was a busy one. Whitney got her competition bib first thing then she and Bob were off. They went up and did some snowboarding/skiing, getting used to the altitude and the slopes here. I went out and wandered around the village some and checked out a few of the shops. We met for an early lunch, then they went back out. Whitney's group had their practice from 12:30-1:45.
It was god that they had the practice time. Although she only got in three runs, it was really helpful. They use a different start gate here than what she's used to using. It was tough the first time out, especially since it's a pretty steep drop down right out of the gate. She also encountered features on the course that she hadn't seen before; don't ask me what they were, I don't know! It was a hard first run down, the course is longer and harder than what she's done before, but she learned with each run.
After practice she was pretty much done. We met up and she and Bob got changed so we could wander around the village for a bit. We found a cool Christmas ornament for our tree and looked at the various tshirts and sweatshirts. After some relaxing time, we went back out for the opening ceremonies. There was a parade of all the series teams, lots of colorful sweatshirts, and banners. Everyone gathered at Burning Stones Plaza for the National Anthem and, speeches, and awards. We met up with a friend she had met at Wisp and Whitney got some encouragement from her. Then it was time for dinner, some tv, and early to bed.
The altitude here is a lot higher than I thought it was going to be. I was thinking it was around 7,000 - 8,000' but it's 12,313'. No wonder I had a bad headache on Friday! At least it's gone now. Just need to keep drinking water, put on the sunscreen, and wait until we get back home to our measly 75' elevation.
It was god that they had the practice time. Although she only got in three runs, it was really helpful. They use a different start gate here than what she's used to using. It was tough the first time out, especially since it's a pretty steep drop down right out of the gate. She also encountered features on the course that she hadn't seen before; don't ask me what they were, I don't know! It was a hard first run down, the course is longer and harder than what she's done before, but she learned with each run.
After practice she was pretty much done. We met up and she and Bob got changed so we could wander around the village for a bit. We found a cool Christmas ornament for our tree and looked at the various tshirts and sweatshirts. After some relaxing time, we went back out for the opening ceremonies. There was a parade of all the series teams, lots of colorful sweatshirts, and banners. Everyone gathered at Burning Stones Plaza for the National Anthem and, speeches, and awards. We met up with a friend she had met at Wisp and Whitney got some encouragement from her. Then it was time for dinner, some tv, and early to bed.
The altitude here is a lot higher than I thought it was going to be. I was thinking it was around 7,000 - 8,000' but it's 12,313'. No wonder I had a bad headache on Friday! At least it's gone now. Just need to keep drinking water, put on the sunscreen, and wait until we get back home to our measly 75' elevation.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Copper Mountain, Day 1
Yesterday we were up super early so we could head out and get our flight to Denver. Got there in plenty of time, got on the plane (saw a couple of other families heading to Nationals), had a smooth flight and landed in Denver on time. Our bags were off the plane pretty quick, we just had to wait for the snowboard and skis, then we grabbed some breakfast to go and found our shuttle.
It was a nice drive up into the mountains west of Denver. The shuttle driver was very chatty so we learned a few things about the area. We drove through some snow showers, lots of sun. After we checked into our condo, we got Whitney registered and checked in for the competition.
Copper Resort is a tpical ski resort town. We don't really see many like this in the East so I guess it's a tpical western ski town. There's a small village of shops with condos on top, a conference center, and lots of restaurants and walking space. We wandered around a bit yesterday, took a nap (it was a long day with the early morning and time change), and went out to dinner. Our condo has a balcony so we spent some time out there watching the ski lift and the minimul action in the plaza outside .
More fun coming up!
It was a nice drive up into the mountains west of Denver. The shuttle driver was very chatty so we learned a few things about the area. We drove through some snow showers, lots of sun. After we checked into our condo, we got Whitney registered and checked in for the competition.
Copper Resort is a tpical ski resort town. We don't really see many like this in the East so I guess it's a tpical western ski town. There's a small village of shops with condos on top, a conference center, and lots of restaurants and walking space. We wandered around a bit yesterday, took a nap (it was a long day with the early morning and time change), and went out to dinner. Our condo has a balcony so we spent some time out there watching the ski lift and the minimul action in the plaza outside .
More fun coming up!
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Another New Hampshire trip
I just got back from another New Hampshire trip last night. The season is winding down, with exciting things still to come. Whitney has done really well in the competitions this season at Wintergreen and Wisp and will be going to Colorado next week for Nationals. We spent the end of February going to the regular practices, went to NH for our annual visit and she did some snowboarding while we were there, then the last couple of practices at Massanutten. We went to NH for a few more days of practice since the resorts closer to home are now closed for the season. She had a really good day on Sunday and again on Monday. She was looking forward to Tuesday but we got 10" of snow overnight and into the day on Tuesday. With the roads we had to travel to get to Mt. Sunapee, we decided to stay home and be safe. Definitely the right decision! Besides the snow, the upper part of the mountain was closed due to windy conditions so she wouldn't have been able to get to the part of the mountain with the BX course. She spent the day playing with her cousin and did get out in the snow, just not snowboarding.
Now we're looking ahead to Copper Mountain and Nationals next week. We leave on Friday, she competes on Sunday, we'll have a couple days to hang around, then home, and the season is done.
Now we're looking ahead to Copper Mountain and Nationals next week. We leave on Friday, she competes on Sunday, we'll have a couple days to hang around, then home, and the season is done.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Wisp
Wisp was interesting. It's in a really pretty part of Maryland and I'd love to go back, either in the winter or summer. The day we were there it was REALLY cold, 5* when we got to the resort and windy. Not sure it made it much above 20* that day. Check in was easy this time, we waited around in the lodge a bit, then drove around to the top of the mountain, which was much closer to where the race was being held.
Again, there weren't too many racers so if things went smoothly, we should have been done in good time even though there were two races. Things did not go smoothly however. Whitney said that the course was hard (a good hard - challenging but not too hard), it was also longer than ones she's been on in the past. It had a couple of jumps, a hip turn, a banana turn, and some other things. On one of the practice runs, a boy fell going over the first jump. While he was swinging his arm all around, complaining that it hurt, the ski patrol was on it's way. Found out later that he broke his arm. That was a long delay while they took care of him. Finally the races started about 10:30. Later there was a delay in the afternoon race when a girl in the 14-15 group fell on the same jump (bruised tailbone and looked like she did something to her elbow).
Whitney was the only one in her age group. Usually when that happens, the racer can either go down by themselves or be grouped with a higher or lower age group that has fewer than four racers. This time was a bit different and they had to get the ok from the race judges. There was a guy in the same age group as her plus an older female racer and an older male racer that were also the only ones in their age groups and they decided to race together. This worked out really well; it was good to have the competition even though they weren't racing against each other. It was kind of funny, they were the mixed age/sex group, the odd-balls.
So being the only one in her age group meant that Whitney came in first and got a couple more snowflakes to add to her collection, this time with blue ribbons. She also picked up the medal from Wintergreen that we missed getting last week. All this raises an interesting question - is she going to get an invitation to Nationals? We think so, but we're not really sure. She will be the Series champ for her age group but does that get her an invite or does she need to be the regional champ? Is she the regional champ? With 2 first place finishes and a second, I don't know. I just know she's got a lot of points. Nationals is the last week of March at Copper Mountain in Colorado. I sure wouldn't mind a trip to Colorado! I guess we'll have to keep checking the website and see what happens but for now, the race season is over.
Again, there weren't too many racers so if things went smoothly, we should have been done in good time even though there were two races. Things did not go smoothly however. Whitney said that the course was hard (a good hard - challenging but not too hard), it was also longer than ones she's been on in the past. It had a couple of jumps, a hip turn, a banana turn, and some other things. On one of the practice runs, a boy fell going over the first jump. While he was swinging his arm all around, complaining that it hurt, the ski patrol was on it's way. Found out later that he broke his arm. That was a long delay while they took care of him. Finally the races started about 10:30. Later there was a delay in the afternoon race when a girl in the 14-15 group fell on the same jump (bruised tailbone and looked like she did something to her elbow).
Whitney was the only one in her age group. Usually when that happens, the racer can either go down by themselves or be grouped with a higher or lower age group that has fewer than four racers. This time was a bit different and they had to get the ok from the race judges. There was a guy in the same age group as her plus an older female racer and an older male racer that were also the only ones in their age groups and they decided to race together. This worked out really well; it was good to have the competition even though they weren't racing against each other. It was kind of funny, they were the mixed age/sex group, the odd-balls.
So being the only one in her age group meant that Whitney came in first and got a couple more snowflakes to add to her collection, this time with blue ribbons. She also picked up the medal from Wintergreen that we missed getting last week. All this raises an interesting question - is she going to get an invitation to Nationals? We think so, but we're not really sure. She will be the Series champ for her age group but does that get her an invite or does she need to be the regional champ? Is she the regional champ? With 2 first place finishes and a second, I don't know. I just know she's got a lot of points. Nationals is the last week of March at Copper Mountain in Colorado. I sure wouldn't mind a trip to Colorado! I guess we'll have to keep checking the website and see what happens but for now, the race season is over.
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