Nate Holland finishes third at Austrian World Cup race
SANDPOINT — Schweitzer is hosting a party and fundraiser on Saturday, Jan. 24 for Sandpoint natives Nate and Pat Holland as they compete in the 2009 Winter X Games. The party will coincide with a viewing of the X Games live on ABC Sports. Nate will be defending his Boardercross ‘06 ‘07 ‘08 “three-peat” Gold Medals.
Money raised at the party will be contributed to Nate and Pat’s competition expenses to help them reach their goal of racing in 2010 Winter Olympics.
“It’s great that we can support the Holland brothers in this way,” said Mary Weber Quinn, Schweitzer’s Director of Events and Activities. “It was fun watching the brothers grow up on Schweitzer Mountain, perfecting their skills and techniques. Now seeing them doing so well in international competitions is really inspiring to the next generation of riders up here.”
The party will be held in Schweitzer’s Lakeview Lodge, in Taps and the Caribou Room, starting at 11 a.m, and will be emceed by Mike DePrez. Offerings include big screen viewing, food and drink specials, a drawing for prizes and a silent auction. Auction items include a Schweitzer 2009-10 season pass, Peak Adventures ski trip, ROW adventures raft trip, a case of wine, and plenty of U.S. Snowboard team gear.
Free shuttles are scheduled up from the Park and Ride lot at the base of Schweitzer Mountain at 10:30 a.m. and 11a.m., and down from the village at 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
For more information call 208-255-3081.
n Holland grabs podium at Austrian World Cup
BAD GASTEIN, Austria — Nate Holland and Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, VT) swept the third place podium spot Saturday during a World Cup snowboardcross competition in Austria.
“I’m super stoked to get on the podium a week before World Championships and two weeks before X Games,” Holland told U.S. Snowboarding.com. “It’s definitely the confidence builder that I needed and I’m really excited to be on the podium once again.”
Holland led the way for two other U.S riders to finish in the top 10 with Seth Wescott (Sugarloaf, ME) finishing eighth and Nick Baumgartner (Iron River, MI) in ninth. Xavier De Le Rue of France won and Michal Novotny of the Czech Republic was second.
Patrick Holland finished 12th, fourth place among Americans, out of the 64 competitors.
On Sunday, the same racers took part in a second World Cup race on the same course, with Nate finishing 7th and Patrick 23rd. To show how unpredictable the course was, as well as the sport in general, Austria’s Damian Hayler, who finished 32nd the previous day, won the World Cup.
Nate is currently 8th in the World Cup point standings, and Patrick sits at 18th. Nate is one of four Americans picked to compete in the World Championships this Saturday in Korea, then will compete in the X Games the following weekend.
Patrick is riding in a NORAM race in Colorado on Saturday.