This summer I took a trip to Mt Buller in Australia to compete in the World Industries Australian National Championships snowboard race. I finished in 2nd place and felt so good to be back on the snow. Here’s my account of the trip and some pictures:
I arrived in Melbourne, Australia on Wednesday, June 30th, only to find that my snowboard and gear were still in Los Angeles. Of course. Snowboard equipment always takes its own route. With one flight a day from the States, I would have to wait until the following day for the bags to show up. I had already made reservations for lodging at the mountain, so I wasn't sticking around in Melbourne, and the Baggage representative assured me that there would be no problem delivering my bags once they arrived. Famous last words. So I rented a car and drove, on the left, 3-hours to Mount Buller.
Thursday was pretty much a wasted day, although I did enjoy the mountain village, and used my free time to take pictures, enjoy a latte, and take in some of the Australian culture. I tried my best not to worry too much about my luggage, trying to show some faith in the system that has failed so many people in the past. I had run through all the options: rent equipment (soft boots, ugh!), rent winter clothing (blue one-piece, ugh!), ask a fellow racer to borrow his ride, steal a lunch tray and show the Aussies how to have some good ole American fun?
It was 8pm Thursday, when my bags were delivered via mountain taxi (the original courier didn't have chains for his vehicle and had to summons a taxi to take the bags the final 10km up to my hotel at the base of the ski resort) just 12-hours before the race. Luckily, I had had done a splendid tuning job on this board prior to leaving my homestead in Colorado, so the board was dripping in wax and ready to be unleashed on the hard grainy pellets that the Aussies call snow.
I was like a kid on Christmas when my gear arrived. The slope was lit all night long, so I quickly mounted the bindings, threw on my snow pants, jacket, gloves and goggles and headed outside. Following a thorough scrape of the board, easily the weakest aspect of my tuning expertise (I just spent an hour waxing, why should I scrape it all off!?!), I hiked up a few hundred feet to make my first snow turns ever in the month of July. Ohh Icy. I’ve forgotten what ice feels like, being spoiled out in CO, where I complain about the 5-8inches of fresh powder because it’s going to impede on our training. I made a few turns, feeling out my edges and clearing out the cobwebs in my snowboarding senses. All set. Just one run cleared my mind of the stressful wait for my gear to arrive, and the fact that I hadn’t snowboarded for 3 months, nor had I trained on gates in preparation for the race in the morning. Regardless, I still felt confident.
On race day, it was cold, windy, foggy, and dropping a snow/sleet/rain mix. It was pretty miserable out there at 7am, but what can you do!? There was one qualifying run, women on the red course, men on the blue. I qualified in 2nd position, despite having sketched out on a heel side turn and losing my momentum. The top 8 would make the finals. It took a good 30 minutes following the qualification run to get the finals bracket, and it was a miserable wait. I was soaking wet, cold, and wind blown, more than ready to return to Denver‘s record of 90+ degree days..
I matched up with the number 7 qualifier, a young local rider. I started on the blue course and did the same heel turn sketch as I had done in qualifiers. I was down by the max differential after the first run. Whelp, I tried, all the excuses in the world entered my head following the loss of the first run. Something took over me for the second run… I had the less deteriorated red course... I smoked him, left him in my powder trail. It felt great to win a head-to-head heat, this was the first of my career. Next up was a 17-year old Aussie kid. I started in the blue course and once again, a heel turn sketch put me down by the max differential. For this round they had a snowmobile carrying the racers back to the top of the course. My competitor kindly sat down behind the driver, as I was left to hang on to the rope grasping for my life during the one-footed ascent. I tried to take my time at the top to catch my breath. But, there wasn't much of a wait until we were back in the starting gates. I threw down a stellar run, making great shaped-carves riding within the ruts that were formed. I won by the max differential, which means I went on to the finals against Hideaki Kudo, a seasoned rider from Japan. Again I started in the blue course, this time holding my ground for the entire race and finishing about one gate behind. Next run, I was smoking the course, flying from edge to edge, until I skidded out on a heel edge with about 5 gates left. I skidded quite a ways, almost making it into my competitor's course. it was while I was sliding across the slope that I realized how far ahead of him I was and that I had just handed him the win. He passed me while I was on my butt, oh well.
It was a great start to my year, a great confidence builder and experience in head-to-head competition, which is the heart of the sport. It gives me some (40) FIS points to give me a slightly better starting position this coming season.
Reflecting back on my riding, I think I had everything working correctly, my techniques and form have been ingrained in me from last years training season. I was really surprised by my fitness level. I've been biking, playing soccer/tennis, doing plyometrics, and stretching, and all have contributed to better endurance and stamina.
I've also realized that my back knee flexes too much laterally. When I'm heavy into a heel side turn, the knee pulls in underneath my body and I loose my edge pressure. This is something that I need to remedy when I get back on to snow.
Well that was that! It was a good trip and I even got to watch the Bledisoe Cup rugby match between Australia and New Zealand national teams. I spent a full day meandering the city of Melbourne and was equally impressed and comfortable walking around and checking out the site, sounds, and stores.
Oh and in case you’re wondering, my bags had no problem making it back to Denver, In fact they beat me back, as I was stuck in LA for about 8 hours waiting for a seat. Hey, you can’t win them all!
