Holland Brothers preparing for huge SBX season

SANDPOINT — The 2014 Winter Olympic games are on tap two months from now in Sochi, Russia, making the next eight weeks of action crucial to many athletes around the world.

Sandpoint natives Nate and Pat Holland are both hoping to represent their country in the winter games, but first comes a few important races, starting on Friday with the first snowboardcross (SBX) World Cup event in Montafon, Austria.

Nate is currently one of four members of the U.S. Snowboard “A” team, while younger brother Pat is one of four members on the current “B” team. There are four World Cup races on tap, with the results deciding who will make it onto the final SBX team that will represent the U.S. in Sochi.

Both brothers have spent part of the summer dry land training at the USSA Center in Park City, Utah, tuning up for some of the most important races of their lives. Nate has competed in two Olympic games, and will be gunning for a third attempt at gold, while Pat will be looking to become an Olympian for the first time.

In other big SBX news, the thrill-a-minute sport returns to the X-Games in Colorado on Jan. 23-26, after a one year hiatus. Nate has won a whopping seven X-Games gold medals, dominating the event in a unpredictable sport where anyone can win on a given day.

Adding intrigue to X Games Aspen, the competitions will serve as the final major snowsports event before the Olympics. Ten of the 17 events to be contested in Aspen also will be featured in Russia when the Olympics start two weeks later.

“We’re excited to showcase the talents of over 200 world-class athletes at X Games Aspen,” said Scott Guglielmino, ESPN senior vice president of programming and X Games. “Since 1997 the Winter X Games has become the pinnacle event for the world’s best, and this year many of these athletes will also be representing their countries at the Olympic Games in Sochi right after X Games Aspen.”

Seth Wescott, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, will vie for his first X Games gold medal in a career that has seen him win four silvers and three bronzes, many of them behind longtime rival Nate Holland.

ESPN and ABC will televise a combined 16 hours of live X Games coverage from Aspen in high definition, with an additional 10 hours of competition being carried live on ESPN3. As always, up-to-the-minute updates, recaps, photo galleries and videos will be available on XGames.com.