We used the final practice and race day at Holiday Valley as a ‘mock’ Nationals. Most of the video is from the practice day. The start section on practice day was not quite groomed out and shaped for race conditions, which created some interesting features to handle right out of the gate. The rest of the course was in good shape and would give us a solid warm-up for the Copper course.
The cool thing about how we go about prepping and conducting ourselves on race day is that we already treat each local race as a mini-nationals. So other than a few different pre-race agenda items and a higher level of intensity and focus on this weekend, we were already used to the routine and environment.
The cool thing about how we go about prepping and conducting ourselves on race day is that we already treat each local race as a mini-nationals. So other than a few different pre-race agenda items and a higher level of intensity and focus on this weekend, we were already used to the routine and environment.
There are some things you can’t always re-create when practicing for Nationals, namely the altitude and bigger, more technical course features. Luckily, Holiday Valley’s course length was similar to what we would experience on the Copper course. And we had been practicing all year on the Alley jump line at Seven Springs to be ready for bigger air and larger features at Copper, so that angle was covered. Unfortunately sponsorship funds weren’t sufficient enough this year to purchase a hyperbaric chamber to help us get ready for the high altitude environment (although we did allow for extra time at altitude prior to Nationals to give ourselves a better chance to adapt to the over 2-mile high conditions – more about that later).
8 Golds Each in Regional Racing |
Appalachian Series Did Well at Holiday Valley This Weekend! |
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