Paralympic Games Short Post Cortina 2026
Now that the Paralympic Games are over, I've met up with Carrie and we are traveling around sight-seeing for a week before heading back to Utah. I'll probably do a more indepth post about the games later, but while it's still fresh in my mind I figured I'd do a quick write up.
Overall the Games was an amazing experience, with many memories I will cherish for the rest of my life. Team USA did an amazing job with the logistics, I cant imagine how frustrating and difficult it is to organize travel, gear, lodging, uniforms, and all the needs for all the different teams, athletes, and staff. And they did an excellent job with providing a grand welcoming experience that was truly memorable for all the athletes.
Our first event was the SBX. This proved to be very difficult to exicute. It took several different attempt at course modification to get a course that was suitable for the athletes. In the end it was a bit bland and easy, but it did provide some exciting and close racing. Overall it was a good day and we had decent sucess, but I felt we left some on the table and with a few small changes here and there our results could be improved upon.
This is what I love about working with the US Para Snowboard Team, everyone never gives up. The entire team is always looking for ways to get better, be better, do better. Jon and I along with Lane and Graham brainstormed on what could be improved on leading into the banked slalom event. As a group we decided on a few things we wanted to try in the soft slushy conditions, that may or may not lead to any improvement in our board speed. Coming up with an idea is one thing, implementing and testing it on short notice at The Games is another thing. We found what we wanted to try at an Austrian Wax manufacture HWK, the problem was getting it to Cortina overnight, shipping was not an option for this, so I jumped in the van drove 4 hours to HWK and arrived 5 minutes before they closed for the day. Those guys were super cool with helping us last minute and being willing to wait for me if I was late. The next day we tested a few things we picked up from them to see if we made any improvements that we were looking for.
Then came course testing day, but that was cancelled due to the warm weather and the course not setting up enough to get riders on it, which was concerning as the forecast looked like rain on race day. So rumors started to surface about cancelling one of the two training days and moving the race day up one day. This sent everyones anxeity up a few notches, after all the course changes for SBX the athletes were nervous that only having one training day without even a course test day would lead to another course that didn't showcase the best of the sport.
Everyone one a bit fidgity come training day, but after the first run everyone settled into their rythem as the course ran fantastic and some riders felt that it was the best course they have ever ridden. Training went well, and the vibe was high going into race day.
On race day, everything just clicked and the riders performed! They put on an amazing show for the crowds. We had two riders sitting in the top position in thier classes after the first run, and they both had different approaches in the info they wanted before their final run. Since they were at the top of the leader board after Run 1, they were last to go on run 2. If their time was still in first their second run would just be a victory lap. If another rider beat their first run time, the pressure was on to lay one down to retake first place or not. Some riders wanted to know if they had to better their first run to keep their podium spots, and some riders didn't want to know and just wanted to focus on having their best run regardless and leaving it all out on the course. Our crew did amazing, with Brenna bumping the SBX gold medalist off the podium to claim 3rd, Kate throwing down a sick run to reclaim her gold medal position, Mike riding like he's in the prime of his career and not riding off into retirement to take bronze in his final race, to Noah bettering his first run time even though he still had first place on lock.
After things settle down some I'll probably write a more detailed post on the Paralympic games and experience and share more of the behind the scenes stories. But for now I have to get back to St. George, work on finalizing our dirt bike and canyoneering permits, and get ready for USASA Nationals.
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