Snow Skills

It’s a great moment in sports when an athlete lives up to expectations; the “Fates of Sport” rarely allow things to go the way you wish they would. Seth is truly a genuine and pleasant person, who has trained as hard as any other athlete to put himself in position to compete at Torino 2006. So, yes, it’s a great moment for the USA, the State of Maine, Sugarloaf/USA, and Olympic Gold Medalist Seth Wescott that he successfully tempted the Fates and beat the odds to win the first ever Men’s Snowboard Cross gold medal!

To be sure, there are probably many athletes competing at Torino who could be described as deserving for both themselves and their homelands. What makes Seth Wescott’s win truly great is how he won the gold medal. Slovakia’s Radoslav Zidek was leading in the final heat and Seth came from behind to win the gold.

Several hundred of Seth’s friends were crammed into the brewpub where he’s a part-owner in Carrabassett Valley, Maine to watch the NBC coverage in the evening. Even though we all knew the results already, there was a sudden chill in the air when he fell behind Zidek; could we have heard wrong? Did Seth Wescott actually lose the race? And then Seth cut to the inside of Zidek in something that will be forever remembered as The Move to take the lead and then ride sharply to hang on for the victory. Later, Seth explained that because Zidek was in hard boots, Seth could anticipate the line he had to take and was able to judge when to pass him. The scream of the crowd in the brewpub that night is surely evidence that Seth’s performance will always be a great Olympic moment.

Shortly after we saw the race last evening, the bartender managed to calm the crowd down enough to announce that Seth Wescott was on the phone. He held a cellphone aloft for over a minute as the locals roared congratulations to Seth in person, so to speak. Figuring it was 4 am Italian time, it’s unlikely Seth got any sleep before appearing on the Today Show the next day. Matt Lauer had some kind words about how reaffirming it is when a great person has great success; we agree wholeheartedly!

what is seth wescotts physical training duriing the summer

Tyler,

Seth is a cross-trainer in every sense of the word. His formal training in the off-season includes strength training and endurance conditioning in the community gym in Carrabassett Valley. It’s called the Anti-Gravity Center (the locals call it the AGC) because it has several special pieces of equipment specifically for ski and snowboarding training including trampelines, a skate park, and core muscle workout stations. His informal training in the summer includes lots of whitewater kayaking, rock climbing, skateboarding, mt. biking, and hiking.