January 25, 2010 17:19 by
Seth
So its been a whirlwind since New Years. I spent two weeks in Europe with only two highlights to speak of. Austria's highlight was my first semi-big mountain line of the year on my new Team Eight pow board. Dropping into this chute with 18 inches of light dry pow and the actual feeling of joy while being on my board again was followed up by the Bad Gastein World Cup qualifiying round in pea soup fog, and my first time ever with a result in the 50's. The trials and tribulations of my 7 year history at Bad Gastein live on.
Getting to drive the ten hour trip across the Autobahn through Germany was the second highlight and, despite the snow, it was a speedy classic road trip with Holland, Palmer, Graham and Jason Smith. Things were looking up in Switzerland. A nice apartement with a beautiful view of the Alps that left me stunned daily was a hightlight every morning. The qualifiers turned around at Veysonnaz though and I popped a 2nd place, although in the process I took some landings a little to deep and found myself sore as hell on race day. That soreness slowed me down and resulted in a quick departure from the day's racing in the first round. As it turned out though, my good friend David Spieser from Germany pulled a late pass on Nick Baumgartner in the finals and I got to breathe a sigh of relief as my Olympic spot was locked and I could take the next week off to rest up and let my body get back to an equilibrium.
Getting home to the Loaf brought some great snow, and just the comfort of home was very welcome. I made the drive north of the border to watch the outcome of the Stoneham World Cup, and it was a day of drama for sure. Palmer pulled out a truly inspired performance and made it through to stand on the podium in the 3rd spot. It was one spot short of making the Olympic team, but it reinforced the true champion he has always been.
After a restful weekend at home I now find myself boarding my flight to colorado for the X Games. Here we go again...
Seth
Ed. Note: The X-Games SBX Finals will be broadcast live on ESPN 2 on Saturday, Jan 30 from 4-6pm. Click here for the full schedule and get your TiVo ready.