Around 100 athletes & coaches took control of Cardrona’s finest features last week and the progression was mind blowing. With the Whitestar lift spinning & sleds shuttling skiers and boarders there was every chance for great things to happen. Coach to Shawn White, Bud Keene stated Cardrona Spring camp jump progression setup. If you can’t get it done here, then maybe you can’t get it done at all…
“…If you can’t get it done here, then maybe you can’t get it done at all” – Bud Keene
The SBX course shaped up beautifully throughout the week challenging athletes from Australia and New Zealand to discover new limits of speed, agility and edge control. I was fortunate to be up there for a few days helping the NZ riders Carl Murphy & Duncan Campbell on their form. After working with Carl during the 2014 season on Treble Cone, it was great to see his progression using the skills from riding TC’s challenging terrain & strength training from the gym.
Variations of the AirBag were set up along the Super Pipe wall along with the bottom. The biggest bag in the southern hemi was catching athletes on boards, skis and even a sit-skis! Jody Blatchley has been ruling it on his sit-ski this season and nailed his first back-flips onto the giant pillow. Impressive!
Triples, triples, triples… Cheers of Stoke rippled across the home basin as new personal bests were made. Coaches tactfully challenged their athletes to bring new found air awareness on the jump line. Fewer speed-checks were made every day as racers pushed themselves over the rollers and berms. Old fears were controlled more and more each day as new heights were reached.
Exciting and progressive times all week as many of them raised the bar getting ready for the northern hemi winter… Breckenridge will be a destination of choice for the park riders along with La Molina Spain, where Carl will compete in his first F.I.S race for the winter.
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear… not absence of fear.” – Mark Twain
Much to look forward to during the next year and it has never been a greater time to be involved in snowboarding.
Richie Johnston 