Holland takes bronze in first race of season
Sandpoint native Nate Holland took third place in the "Jeep King of the Mountain" Snowboardcross (SBX) Dec. 2 at Snowbird in Utah. A member of the 2006 U.S. Olympic team, this is Holland's 4th year on the U.S. Snowboard Team.
A new SBX format "Y-course" was created this year. Their web site describes it like this : For the first part of the course, two competitors must navigate the dual features section consisting of single and double rollers. Once through this section, the two courses converge into a single course, forming the approximate shape of a Y. The second section features terrain characteristics of skier-cross or snowboard-cross racing, including banked turns, jumps and tabletops. In a progressive race format, the athletes' skills and stamina are tested as skiers and snowboarders face multiple rounds of head-to-head competition. Racers compete once on each of the two parallel red and blue courses per heat. The time differential between the two racers on the combined runs determines who advances to the next round of competition until the final championship race.
From a field of 24 international competitors, Holland advanced to the semi-finals where he was paired against Seth Wescott, the Olympic Gold Medalist. In their first round, living up to Holland's "wreck or win" approach, Nate wrecked in the tightly fought race. Nate won the second round, however, the time differential between the two races went to Wescott, advancing him to the Finals. Holland moved to the consolation heat, where he beat Jayson Hale of the USSA team to earn a third-place podium finish.
? The US Snowboard team trained in New Zealand in August ( Feb. in southern hemisphere). The team competed in the New Zealand Snowboard Nationals with other international teams. Nate Holland won the race, awarding him the 2006-07 title of "New Zealand National Champion".
The 2006-07 World Cup Snowboard season opens in Austria on Dec. 18 for the US team. Holland was the top ranked US World Cup SBX racer for the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons.