Top Snowboardcross Athletes Take New Zealand

WANAKA, New Zealand (Sept. 14) – U.S. Snowboarding’s top snowboardcross athletes, including double Olympic gold medalist Seth Wescott (Sugarloaf, ME), seven-time X Games gold medalist Nate Holland (Squaw Valley, ID) and three-time World Champion Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, VT), began on-snow preparation for the upcoming World Championship season with training at Cardrona Resort. Cardrona has a minute-long course which riders are utilizing to hone their starts along with quick transitions between banks and turns. The FIS World Cup season opens Dec. 7 in Montafan, Austria and then rolls into the U.S. with the U.S. Snowboardcross Cup presented by USANA Dec. 14 in Telluride, CO.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Some of the top U.S. Snowboarding snowboardcross athletes are training on Cardrona Resort, New Zealand.
• Athletes attending are Seth Wescott (Sugarloaf, ME), Nate Holland (Squaw Valley, CA), Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, VT), Jackie Hernandez (Londonderry, VT), Hagen Kearney (Telluride, CO), Nick Baumgartner (Iron River, MI), Alex Deibold (Manchester Center, VT).
• Cardrona features a minute-long course with banks and turns to assist athletes with quick twitch training.
• Athletes are getting training time on snow in before the FIS World Cup Dec. 7 in Montafan, Austria.
• The U.S. FIS World Cup takes place on Dec. 14 with the U.S. Snowboardcross Cup presented by USANA in Telluride, CO.

QUOTES
Nate Holland
It’s been great to be able to get on snow here in New Zealand and get our “race legs” back on. The team has had a lot of time to get to know some of the new additions to the team like Jackie [Hernandez] and Hagen [Kearney]. The snow and the course have been helpful to practice starts, speed and simulated competition.   

Peter Foley, U.S. Snowboarding Head Coach
We have a great mix of young athletes that are new to the team and charge down the mountain and veterans that have a ton of experience. Everyone has been learning from each other. It's a good team and we are staying at apartments in Wanaka and there is lots of interaction.

Cardrona has been a great spot to train with real technical features on their course. The weather has been a bit tricky, but the last two days have been awesome. We’ve been enjoying Frisbee golf, lots of skateboarding and paintball on our days off too.

FOLLOW US
Twitter: USSnowboarding
Facebook: U.S. Snowboarding