December 19, 2010 18:10 by
Seth
well, it was a really fun week getting back into the start gate again. ten months and two days after the olympics i re-entered the field of play and had an absolute blast.. when i first got into the start gate for round one i highly underestimated the younger world cup riders in heat one.. about halfway down the first straight away when i was sitting way back in third i got a quick wakeup call that i was indeed trying to ride the world cup after a summer spent on the golf course and plane seats on the way to speaking engagements.. the young italian who had won the pre-ceeding world cup in austria had clearing been working his butt off all summer.. time to get aggressive. turn four was the hardest one in the course and i took an inside line to muscle out the young luca matteotti.. i hung in second place to the finish line and realized it was going to be a hard days work at the office.. round two went better and i made another great inside pass in turn six to move to the semi finals. when i reached the gate for the start of the semis the heat ran like the who's who in sbx the past three years.. pierre vaultier of france and markus schairer of austria. the two previous world tour champions.. i had a good start and was trailing only pierre as we came over the first step down jump.. i pulled into his draft and sling shotted him over the next jump.. i hit the gas and never looked back until i was crossing the finish line to find myself with a major lead considering the talent in the heat.. i was off to the finals. when the gate dropped in the finals it was game on.. i pulled my first hole shot of the day and held it all the way to turn six. i opened the inside lane just enough for pierre to slip through but i had the line for turn seven and passed him back on the way into the final straight away.. sometimes the decision making process is a tough one in the split second format of time i have to work with.. all week i had watched pierre's practice runs in which he was working the final triple of the course where as all week i had opted to jump the whole thing.. knowing that its slower to be in the air i opted for a change of plans that resulted in a third option which was simply no good.. the dreaded caseing of a feature.. to case is to land on an uphill angle which effectively murders your speed. and that is just what it did.. i cruised across the finish line to a photo finish that i already knew i had lost.. no hard feelings though i was thrilled with my riding on the whole and it had been great to have a real head to head duel with the two time world cup champion.. as i sit packing up today for the travel day back east its been awesome to look back on two weeks that had a number of loafers along side the course here in telluride cheering with the blue triangle waving in the sky.. to watch alex tuttle qualify for the first time in his young career through the time trials and into a world cup made me as proud as taking the podium myself.. the year is officially underway and i'm looking forward to the holidays at home with some more great training time at the loaf.. see you all at the rack and tune in sunday afternoon on nbc after christmas to see the world cup from telluride as well as some familiar scenes from the loaf.. see you all soon.
December 9, 2010 21:23 by
Sethso week one in colorado is coming to a close. i started off with two days in beaver creek to see the men's alpine ski world cup and take some sprint clients out on the hill there. we lucked out with some early season powder on the west side of the birds of prey course and i was overjoyed with my first day on my new team8 fish board that i had grabbed hot out of the press in an early morning dash from the loaf to pwm to catch a 7am west bound plane.. the drive to the airport was a special one for me.. those early morning hours that i have logged over the years speeding south on route 27 have always been moments of solitude and while i did have a moment of panic when he was running five minutes late at 4:10am i was so fired up when the lights of alex tuttle's dad's truck swung into the driveway.. it has been since i was a cva postgrad that i had anyone from home to travel with and the drive south was much shorter with the excitement of alex riding shotgun.. my first trip with him was to new zealand this summer where he took home third at the junior world championships and to be delivering him to the airport for his first us team camp was an even better feeling.. i had to just sit back and smile a day ago when he posted the fastest time in a roller drill training session. to hear the excitement in his voice in those early morning hours was worth the wait of these 14 years of driving alone as i truly see the new career of a fellow loafer being launched!
so unfortunately the downhill was cancelled due to wind at beaver creek.. see loafers we aren't the only place that has wind holds.. and after another night of delivering my olympic story to the sprint crowd i headed out early the next day to fly to park city for a fund-raiser for the waterkeepers alliance.. a non profit founded by robert f. kennedy jr. to fight the legal battles of the polluters of public waters world wide.. after an impassioned speech from RFK jr. i got to take the stage to do a live auction item for a surf trip to fiji next summer and to talk briefly about the ways in which the travel i have been exposed to has shown me first hand some of the devastation to the natural world that bobby is fighting to protect.. a true honor to share the stage with a man like that who is fighting the hard fight on behalf of the health of all citizens of planet earth.
a six hour drive back to colorado the following day and it was right into training mode. telluride despite having been missed by all the snow i have been hearing colorado has been getting pummeled by has done a great job creating a practice course and we have been using the days effectively. this afternoon the whole team went and rode with some local school kids and it was a posse of mayhem that quickly degenerated into a battle of spray wars but the kids were smiling ear to ear and we all had a blast.. last day of camp tomorrow and then a rest weekend before we get into the world cup week..
i have to admit though while i was looking at the trail reports online today at home i am a bit jealous to have missed out on the loaf's first pow day but i am psyched for all of you that we are really turning the corner into winter at home.. enjoy the snow loafers. see you soon. signing off from the road. seth..
November 21, 2010 18:56 by
Seth
sitting three thousand miles away reading the trail report from west hollywood and realizing i am really excited for tuesday morning and my first turns on snow.. another year is upon us and frankly i am pumped! just a quick note this morning but i am bringing the blog back to life! it has been an amazing offseason with the most travel i have ever endured/enjoyed in my life and now the snow is back. so check back as we all get under way with sugarloaf's 60th winter and all that it holds for those of us who have all committed our lives to the snow.. let's hope its a good one! see you all in the lift lines soon! make a turn for me tomorrow if your out there! enjoy. seth
Seth made an appearance on the Today Show this morning to talk with Matt Lauer about his upcoming race on Monday. Check out the video below - Seth's segment is right around the 29:50 mark.
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Seth has arrived in Vancouver and is now less than one week away from the big day, which means it's going to be a whirlwind six days. Here are couple of quick updates on stuff coming up:
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Seth is scheduled to appear on the Today Show on NBC tomorrow morning at 7:30am with Matt Lauer for a quick Olympic preview piece. If you miss it, you should be able to catch the spot at http://today.msnbc.msn.com/
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That Today Show story will be followed up by a longer Olympic profile, also with Matt Lauer, which is scheduled to air next Monday morning, and will include footage and interviews shot here at Sugarloaf. More details on that to come.
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The entire SBX competition will happen in one day (Monday, Feb 15) at Cypress Mountatin, and will be broadcast live on NBC. There will be an official Race Viewing party in the Widowmaker Lounge in the Base Lodge from 2-4pm on Monday where Sugarloafers can gather to cheer Seth on.
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That's the quick and dirty. We'll have more updates throughout the week, and if Seth manages to find some down time in Vancouver look for a post from him as well. And if you'd like to pass along any words of encouragement to Seth, leave them in the comments section below.
We're down to two short days before Seth flies off to Vancouver to get down to the nitty gritty of defending his gold medal, and to wish him well on his quest The Rack (his own bar and grille here at Sugarloaf) is throwing a little get together this afternoon for apres ski. There will be appetizer and drink specials throughout the afternoon, and you can wish Seth luck in person before he heads out on Monday. It all kicks off as soon as the lifts close today, down at the Rack.
Seth is back home after his thrilling X Games performance last weekend, and he'll be resting up here at Sugarloaf for a week before flying out to Vancouver early next week. Of course, resting up is a bit tougher when you're a defending Olympic gold medalist less than two week away from the Olympics. So in between spin sessions at the AGC and some training time on the snow, Seth takes time out to respond to the growing number of interview requests. Earlier this week he sat down with Bill Green from WCSH 6 in Portland (photo below), and yesterday he spent time filming with folks from WGME 13. You'll be seeing Seth's face on TV an awful lot over the coming weeks, and we'll try to keep you updated on where and when to tune in.
Seth traveled to Aspen for hiis 12th Winter X Games last week, looking to win his ninth xgames medal. He definitely didn't disappoint, finishing second to Aspen hometown hero Nate Holland in an absolutely thrilling final. Seth had the early lead in the race but a bit of trouble in the rollers slowed him down, and Holland took full advantage to win his fifth consecutive xgames gold. Check out the full results here, and watch the full race at the bottom of this post.
An X Games gold would have been nice and all, but Seth has his sites set on something bigger - namely a second Olympic Gold Medal in Vancouver on February 15. In a post race interview Seth said that getting edged out for the gold this weekend gives him just the motivation he needs to make a run at his second Olympic Gold.
We'll be posting regular updates here as the Olympics draw closer, and look for an update this week from the man himself while he prepares for Vancouver.