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D16: Doubling Up
THE MORNING REPORT: Depending on which rider you ask, men’s snowboardcross was either a dream come true (Alex Deibold, Trevor Jacob) or a heartbreaking disappointment (Nate Holland, Nick Baumgartner). Deibold, a wax technician for the 2010 U.S. team in Vancouver, won the only medal for the Americans in SBX at this Olympics, a bronze. Jacob…
Read MoreD15: Adventures in Adler
What a difference a few hours makes. So much for complaining about the blue skies, warm temps and Spring-like weather. Late last night, a thick fog rolled in and made visibility at the mountain venues next to nil. After postponing this morning’s men’s snowboardcross races and canceling qualifiers, organizers made the decision to move the…
Read MoreD12-14: Weekend Update
Happy Valentine’s Day !! And happy second-to-last weekend of the Olympics. (When you’re here as long as we are, you celebrate little milestones like that.) I’ve been having a few issues with the blog this weekend, so I’ll just post a few fun pix and links from the past three days. (It is now Sunday…
Read MoreD11: A Sweet Sweep
After two really late nights covering men’s and women’s snowboard halfpipe, it was tough to get out of bed and drag myself back to the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park this morning for men’s freeski slopestyle finals. Once I was there, the guys sure made it easy for me to stay awake. What a contest. And what…
Read MoreD10: Ladies!
This morning on BBC World News, the only channel I get in my hotel room in English, I heard a reporter say this is “Day five of the Olympic Games.” HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?! Have I not been here for 10? Does it not feel like 25? But yes. Alas, it is only day five…
Read MoreD9: SUPER Shocker
If someone had told me no U.S. man would medal in snowboard halfpipe at the Olympics, I’d accuse them of being on bath salts. If they’d told me not one of our guys would land a clean run, and only one–Shaun White–would land one of his runs at all, and it wouldn’t be good enough…
Read MoreD8: X CROSS Over
Today, I slept in (went to what might be the one and only Olympic party in the mountains last night) and then headed to the mountain media center for a press conference with the snowboardross athletes. I swear I don’t attend this many press conferences in a typical year, and I’m generally not a fan.…
Read MoreD7: Believe The Hype
Today’s post is going to be a quick one. It’s Sunday, by the way. And today was the women’s snowboard slopetyle final. What a great debut. I have to admit I got a bit emotional watching Torah drop in for her first run, and watching Jamie handle the pressure and win. It was a good…
Read MoreD6: SlopeSTYLE debuts
At today’s inaugural Olympic snowboard slopestyle contest, the judges made a stand for the second-half of that word. Style won out over triple corks and triple flips. It was surprising, it was controversial, but in the end, it might be the best thing that could have happened to the sport. It was a bittersweet moment.…
Read MoreD5: Opening (Lack Of) Ceremony
This morning, I read a piece by Bill Plaschke of the LA Times called From Russia, With Dread, about how Sochi is the joyless Olympics. The saddest part of his piece, I realized, was he was right. In the mountains, we’re a bit sheltered from much of what you’re reading about back at home. I…
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