Ten Alta Snowboard Team riders are scheduled to compete at the North Face Masters of snowboarding this week. Two events are scheduled. The first event will take place at Alpine Meadows and is classified as a 2 star event. Following Alpine Meadows is a 4 star event to be held at Squaw Valley. The venues have been announced. At Alpine Meadows the athletes will be riding “High Yellow”. The Squaw Valley venue is set for Cornice 2 Bowl also called the Light Towers. Conditions are not ideal for a big mountain competition, so there is a bit of suspense for the riders.
In order to understand what kind of preparations it takes to do an event like this, the Alta Snowboard Team Athletes were asked “What preparations have they been making for the competition in California?” and also if they “Have snowboarded at Alpine Meadows or Squaw Valley?”
Males:
Dave Zook has been riding the fresh snow at Snowbird everyday in preparation for the Cali contest. He is going to get his board tuned up at the Peruvian and let his legs rest on the 10 hour ride to the Golden State.
Matt Carter bought a new board because his current ride is thrashed. He is hoping not to destroy it before competition day. He also had his base tuned with a special “structure” pattern. Structures are going to be important in California because if it is warm Matt still wants to be able to slide fast. He keeps saying he is going to do some yoga. Matt has been to Squaw Valley twice. Once on Memorial Day and later on the 4th of July, but has never ridden Alpine Meadows.
Jacob Levine has been out riding with Team Utah. Jacob is dedicated to his coaching job, but last year he decided to try a little competition himself. Jacob is a veteran slopestyle competitor. However, he had not competed in 6 seasons until he tried at Snowbird last season. Furthermore his discipline was parks and jumps so this was the first big mountain competition he had done. Low and behold he finished 4th at Snowbird. This year he is going to give competition snowboarding a try again. With results like that Why not? Jacob was in Salt Lake less than 24 hours before flying to Reno. He has been in Jackson Hole this last week warming up his legs up on the hard pack. Jacob has been to both Squaw Valley and Alpine, but it has been a long time.
Jesse Maddox has been out snowmobiling and splitboarding in the backcountry. He works the graveyard shift drivings cats at the Bird and rides all day until he is a walking zombie. He sleeps and repeats. Jesse is super pumped to get a few days off work to go enjoy the California sun.
Ryan Hudson has been out snowboarding at Snowbird and has been putting the final touches on his speech. Ryan is part of The North Face Speaker Series. He will be giving a presentation Friday February 15th at 6:00pm. The audience will be at full attention to hear Ryan speak.
Females:
Beth Weissman has been skiing at Alta to prepare for the contest. She said she wanted to snowboard but it has been too crowded at the Bird. (Agreed) She has never been to Alpine Meadows and she went to Squaw once nine years ago.
Camilla Brown has been out shredding the Utah powder. She finished 5th in the Canis Lupus at Canyons resort on February 2nd. Camilla had a ball at Kirkwood last year finishing 3rd and getting a super fresh run down the forbidden Cirque. Camila went to Alpine Meadows ten years ago and never to Squaw Valley.
Kaitlynn Elliot has been training all summer and fall with Shannan at Vitality Fitness. She has been riding hard on the powder days. She is mentally preparing herself by trying to visualize her lines. She is strong right now and confident in her abilities. Mountain biking has helped Kaitlynn stay fit in the off season and feeds her need to speed down the mountain.
Shannan Yates is prepared for anything anytime. Shannan has dedicated herself to nursing school and yet is still getting it done on the competition scene. Shannan took the top finish at the SWATCH Freeride World Tour in the ladie’s snowboarding division in Revelstoke on January 7th 2013. She was just at the Mt. Baker Legendary Banked Slalom this past weekend where she finished 6th in the pro womens division.
We wish all the athletes a safe trip to California and we already know they are going to have a good time.