Seth Wescott is a snowboarding athlete competing at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In 2006, Seth Wescott made certain that the first appearance of snowboard cross on the Olympic program was a memorable one. The reigning world champion entering Torino, Wescott received an unexpected boost when top contenders Xavier De Le Rue of France and Jasey-Jay Anderson and Drew Neilson of Canada failed to make the final. However, though the final was missing some top contenders, Radoslav Zidek of Slovakia provided more than enough suspense. After Zidek took an early lead (Wescott admits that "I kind of blew the start in the final"), the American kept the race close until ultimately passing Zidek near the midway point. But even then, the race remained in doubt. "The lower half, he had a faster snowboard," Wescott recalls. "So, to say that I knew that I had it won before I crossed the finish line—I did not know. Because even though I had made a bunch of space, it was alarming to me how quickly he was catching me." Despite that uneasy feeling, Wescott managed to hold on to cross the finish line ahead of Zidek by less than a snowboard length.
Wescott's victory celebration in Torino had a unique subplot. Prior to the 2006 Games, Seth and his father, Jim, had discussed bringing the military service flag from the funeral of Seth's grandfather, a World War II veteran who had died when Wescott was in sixth grade. The hope was that if he did well, he could celebrate with his grandfather's flag—"a matter of pride" to his father, Seth explains. The problem was that Jim was seated in the upper bleachers and had trouble convincing security to let him near the race area. And in a moment of determination, Jim ("about the least rebellious person I've ever known in my life," Seth admits) made a run past security, hurdled a barricade and plowed through a mob to bring his son the flag. "I know that for him, it was maybe the proudest moment that he'll have in his life," Seth says. "And he's expressed that to me. So I think that for him that I could honor his father in that way, at that moment. It was a really powerful thing for the both of us."
Over the years, Wescott says that his best training for major snowboard cross races has been what he calls "big-mountain riding." This entails going to Alaska in the spring to do "first descents" on various mountains while cameras roll to create a striking piece of video. Wescott rides in a helicopter above a mountain face that no one has ever ridden before, looks at the terrain and memorizes it from above, then is dropped from the helicopter down onto the mountain. He says that the faces can be extremely steep - on one descent, in the Chugach Range in Alaska, he rode down a 4,000-foot face with a decline of up to 60 degrees. In that instance, he couldn't see more than 100 feet in front of him while traversing a terrain that's like a maze. On one descent in 2003, says that he was swallowed up by an avalanche that carried him 750 feet. After flying over a cliff, he managed to land on his feet and ride down the rest of the mountain. "It's Mother Nature toying with you," he says. "You have to stay focused in total chaos." He adds that because no one has ever ridden on these mountains, it's "like being on the moon."
During the summer of 2005, Wescott and some friends purchased a restaurant at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain in his native Maine (though he was born in North Carolina, Wescott says "I consider myself a Mainer"). The restaurant and brew pub, known as The Rack, bills itself on the establishment's website as "Your FIRST and LAST STOP at Sugarloaf."
In 2006, Seth Wescott made certain that the first appearance of snowboard cross on the Olympic program was a memorable one. The reigning world champion entering Torino, Wescott received an unexpected boost when top contenders Xavier De Le Rue of France and Jasey-Jay Anderson and Drew Neilson of Canada failed to make the final. However, though the final was missing some top contenders, Radoslav Zidek of Slovakia provided more than enough suspense. After Zidek took an early lead (Wescott admits that "I kind of blew the start in the final"), the American kept the race close until ultimately passing Zidek near the midway point. But even then, the race remained in doubt. "The lower half, he had a faster snowboard," Wescott recalls. "So, to say that I knew that I had it won before I crossed the finish line—I did not know. Because even though I had made a bunch of space, it was alarming to me how quickly he was catching me." Despite that uneasy feeling, Wescott managed to hold on to cross the finish line ahead of Zidek by less than a snowboard length.
Wescott's victory celebration in Torino had a unique subplot. Prior to the 2006 Games, Seth and his father, Jim, had discussed bringing the military service flag from the funeral of Seth's grandfather, a World War II veteran who had died when Wescott was in sixth grade. The hope was that if he did well, he could celebrate with his grandfather's flag—"a matter of pride" to his father, Seth explains. The problem was that Jim was seated in the upper bleachers and had trouble convincing security to let him near the race area. And in a moment of determination, Jim ("about the least rebellious person I've ever known in my life," Seth admits) made a run past security, hurdled a barricade and plowed through a mob to bring his son the flag. "I know that for him, it was maybe the proudest moment that he'll have in his life," Seth says. "And he's expressed that to me. So I think that for him that I could honor his father in that way, at that moment. It was a really powerful thing for the both of us."
Over the years, Wescott says that his best training for major snowboard cross races has been what he calls "big-mountain riding." This entails going to Alaska in the spring to do "first descents" on various mountains while cameras roll to create a striking piece of video. Wescott rides in a helicopter above a mountain face that no one has ever ridden before, looks at the terrain and memorizes it from above, then is dropped from the helicopter down onto the mountain. He says that the faces can be extremely steep - on one descent, in the Chugach Range in Alaska, he rode down a 4,000-foot face with a decline of up to 60 degrees. In that instance, he couldn't see more than 100 feet in front of him while traversing a terrain that's like a maze. On one descent in 2003, says that he was swallowed up by an avalanche that carried him 750 feet. After flying over a cliff, he managed to land on his feet and ride down the rest of the mountain. "It's Mother Nature toying with you," he says. "You have to stay focused in total chaos." He adds that because no one has ever ridden on these mountains, it's "like being on the moon."
During the summer of 2005, Wescott and some friends purchased a restaurant at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain in his native Maine (though he was born in North Carolina, Wescott says "I consider myself a Mainer"). The restaurant and brew pub, known as The Rack, bills itself on the establishment's website as "Your FIRST and LAST STOP at Sugarloaf."
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