Telluride training camp

Once again we were fortunate enough to spend five days in Telluride, CO for one more training camp before the competition season begins. There wasn't much snow when we arrived but close to three feet fell while we were there.

Telluride is hosting the Snowboard World Cup Boarder Cross and Parallel Giant Slalom next week so there was a lot of activity on the hill. Special thanks goes to Elizabeth Howe and the Telluride Ski Company for opening their arms to us and making such great training available.

We had a start set up with two "Wu-Tang" jumps, a step down and three big bank turns with whoops in between. Our objective as a team is to master these Wu-Tangs because we think that's what we'll see in Vancouver. We trained on this type of terrain feature in Mt. Hood and now in Telluride and have gotten a pretty good understanding of how to move over them quickly... at least I hope we have.

I have been happy with my strength and power out of the start and I was really happy with how I've improved over the Wu Tang jumps. Wu Tangs go vertically up on one side, with a 3-4 foot table top, and then descends vertically on the other side. It is a bit of a mind bender to figure out how to get over the top quickly without outshooting the landing. If you go too far then you land on the flat and kill all your speed. So you have to make sure you match the slope of the hill so you can work the transition. The one that can do it the best has a superior advantage for the rest of the course. I don't know what we'll see in Italy in two weeks but I think I'm ready for everything.