SETH HILL SNOWBOARDING: August 2013

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Splitting the Seas to Sochi

With the announcement of Slope-Style In the 2014 Olympics; the contest scene, and outlook of athletes took a turn towards something new and exciting.

Whether or not you are the most core snowboarder or most competitive, the idea of going to the Olympics is a pretty cool idea (at least somewhere in ones head, even if never stated or expressed). Slope-Style in the Olympics not only means more eyes and appreciation for what we love to do, but obviously the possibilities of more monetary support. Now with anything in life there are haters; claiming it's selling out, and that it's not what true snowboarding is. At the end of the day, even with this outlook it's a necessary evil to allow us to continue what we're doing as long as possible.

Now back to before with this announcement, all of us contest riders started looking at any possibility of making it to the Olympics. Changing country of residence if necessary, basically trying to figure out any way possible to make it. Even I started looking at getting dual citizenship to Israel as a second chance in case I didn't get a chance to try out for the US team. With that said through my efforts last year, I qualified in the top 8 of the US from the World Tour. Which guaranteed me a spot to compete for a chance to ride in the Olympics for America. Now this is no where near an easy opportunity or am I a shoe in to be one of the 4 US team riders invited to compete in the Olympics. What it does mean though, is that I am guaranteed an equal shot with 7-13 other riders to compete at 5 contests between December and January to see whom might be the most fit to represent America. At this point I call it a success and am fully proud of my self for how far I've come. To be recognized as a boarder that could potentially represent the US of A is a huge accomplishment in itself, whatever may happen at this point.

As this 2013/14 season gets underway, trust that I will be giving it everything I have. Starting with a proper diet, off hill training as well as traveling to other countries with snow to get an early start at on hill training. Currently I am in Australia getting an early contest out of the way. And next on the schedule is a trip to Chile to train at legendary resort El Colorado before heading back to the US to get situated for the first contest of the US qualifications; Dew Tour in Breckenridge December 14th.

Thanks everyone who has ever taken time out of their day to follow my progress, cheer me on, or support me in anyway. I have no doubt in my mind that I would never be where I am now with out you all. So with that said please enjoy my travels and let me know what I can do to make my story more interesting and enjoyable.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Summer Snowboarding at High Cascade Snowboard Camp

With any sport practice makes perfect, and repetition promotes consistency so with summer rolling around the choice of what to do comes up. As far as snowboarding goes, there are multiple options of staying tuned and sliding sideways.

Easier options being Mt.Hood or Whistler both with fairly accessible snowboard camps where a rider can get a job at the camp, or attempt to get sponsor passes where the camps supports get the rider in. Each of these choices have there benefits and weaknesses obviously. With working at a camp such as a coach you have to spend some of your time coaching kids and actually working versus being on a sponsor pass where you have the opportunity to ride and train all day. With this said being a sponsor pass sounds like the more ideal situation, but its much more of a short term situation. With a past in going to High Cascade (HCSC) I've decided to take the coach route, for my third year in a row at this point. I find being a coach not only allows you to spend all summer on your board doing what we all love, but creates a unique opportunity to learn how to coach your self, and starting seeing ones riding from an outsiders perspective.

Now with my route being coaching at HCSC there are also a little less accesable but pretty sweet opportunites to travel to South America, buy a season pass and ride a whole second winter. This is definitely a viable option, but with training and contest driven snowboarding being my priotity Ive decided to save that for future summers.

With my choice being set here at HCSC Ive attempted to make the most of it and try to not only learn new tricks and refine my style, but also get some exposure through various snowboard websites and social media outlooks. Ive included a list of links at the bottom if there is interested in seeing some of my riding and what goes down on a regular basis up here.

Whether you an avid rider, or simply looking for a Snowboarding fix during the summer I highly recommend checking out HighCascadeSnowboardCamp (www.Highcascade.com)or any of the other shedding options listed.