I just finished up my first Boardercross (SBX) World Cup competitions today. I've been in Europe since December 7 training first in Austria. Unfortunately the World Cups Dec.13-15 in Montafon, Austria were canceled due to lack of snow. So Team ISTC (International Snowboarding Training Center out of Silverthorne, CO) moved on the Cervinia, Italy and trained with other teams there. Cervinia is beautiful with the backside of the Matterhorn seemingly at your finger tips!
The World Cup Qualifier for the first race was held Dec.20. Unfortunately on my timed run I was blasted with strong gusts of wind and ended up 29th. Only the top 24 qualified so I was out of the first race on Dec. 21. But today was a different story!
All 34 women were able to compete in the start order of their FIS points. I ended up 27th, which meant that I got the worst start gate in EVERY heat, no matter how I finished in the pervious heat. In my first heat I raced against the #6, #11, and #22 in the World. I placed 2nd in that round beating the 2018 Olympic Medalist Julia Pereira de Sousa Mabileau! Both of us continued onto the next round since they took the top 3 finishers. In the second heat of 6, I competed against the #3, #6, #11, #14, and #30. In a photo finish I edged out Julia, beating her for the second time and moving on to the next round! Very exciting race!
In the Semi Finals heat I was in 3rd at the 2nd Interval, but unfortunately finished 5th. So I moved on the the Small Final (7th -12th place) where I held 4th (10th place) the first 2 intervals, but ended up in 6th at the end. So I finished 12th in my first SBX World Cup race!
It was a blast competing with so many fast women from all over the World! I'm really excited about what the rest of the season holds for me!
Now it's back to the US for Christmas with my family and more snowboard/SBX training. Hopefully some powder too! Happy Holidays to one and all! Bring on the snow!