Greetings from the snowboard team!
This past month has been action packed and full of progression & execution on the mountain. We really dove into the philosophy of our “coaching triangle” with the team so that each person has a clearly defined focus for their day, week, and month. It starts with progression, then moves into execution, and finishes with reflection. In the world of action sports, this applies to almost everything that one is working towards accomplishing. For example, we had two USASA halfpipe events this past month, with only a few days to work on progression in the pipe before it was time for the team to execute on the day of the contests. Aaron, Joe, Arianna, Alessia, & Lyric all executed their game plans and walked away with 6 golds and 4 silvers collectively. That success can be directly attributed to the work they put in during our progression phase leading up to the events. The reflection piece can come immediately after an event, or in the days prior to a team trip to assess what contributed to their success, or what needs to happen next time to accomplish their goals if they fall short.
It isn’t only about contests though, because our team trips are also a big part of the execution phase of the triangle. 80% of the trick progression happens during training here locally in Oregon at Meadows or Timberline, when we are able to get the laps and repetition in a familiar park. The execution is when we are traveling and the kids are working on filming their tricks in new parks and on new features. It was really incredible to see that happen on our California trip! Boreal, Mammoth, and Kingvale had exactly what we needed to execute the work that the team has been putting in.
While on our last trip, we were able to create a very special experience for everyone to work with Mammoth’s terrain park staff, as they showed us what it takes to maintain their largest park on the mountain. This is something that Mammoth has never done before, so the kids really lucked out. The head terrain park manager and three other park staff took three to four kids each, gave them all their own rakes and went through the park top to bottom, demonstrating the proper way to maintain features. It was such a cool way for our kids to get hands on and see the features up close and personal before riding and filming on them. The Mammoth park staff were so blown away by the engagement with our crew that we will most certainly be doing something like this again! I’m happy to say that our California trip was an epic success.
Now, we are moving back into the progression phase of our training since for the USASA competitors, our nationals trip is right around the corner! It is going to be a jam packed week for those competing as practice and events are happening almost daily. For those that aren’t going to Nationals, training will be going on as usual here in Oregon with Jamie Weller, taking advantage of the spring conditions that are starting to get really good. Both Timberline and Meadows are crushing the game right now, giving us amazing parks to train in.
Thank you all for the support this year!
-Brandon Sorel & Jamie Weller
