Otsego Club helps athletes brush up their tricks before Winter X 15
As the Winter X Games approaches, the athletes start putting in some extra effort to make sure that they are fully prepared to put on a show of a lifetime for the fans of extreme sports.
Some of the major skiing and snowboarding names were recently spotted at the Otsego Club in Gaylod, Michigan. Members of the U.S. Snowboard Team, which included Kaitlyn Farrington, Greg Bretz, Louie Vito, Kelly Marren, Matt Ladley, JJ Thomas, Ben Watts,
Steve Fisher visited the area to train in ski area’s 22-foot super-pipe and quarter pipe. They were accompanied by the freeskier Simon Dumont as well.
The intention of the athletes was to give a few final touches to their preparation. It was to ensure that they shine at the upcoming event in Aspen. It is extremely crucial to add something extra to the arsenal before a battle is initiated with the best
in the field.
Otsego Club, with its 22-foot pipe, provided a perfect opportunity for them to carry out their training in a simulated environment and experience what the Olympian teams experienced last year.
Otsego had been honoured by the presence of Olympic teams from a dozen countries, which included New Zealand, Australia, Canada and France among other countries, last year. Aces such as Torah Bright, an Australian rider, and Kazuhrio Kokubo, snowboarder
from Japan, presented themselves at the resort. However, history was made when the U.S Snowboard Team decided to come to Otsego for practice this year.
This pipe is of the competition size, something that only a few other resorts posses, namely Copper, Park City, Breckenridge and Mammoth. This pipe was built by the infamous Planet Snow Design, the designer that had modelled many of the parks and pipes for
some big competitions all around the country.
The general manager of Otsego Club told ESPN, “We have built a 22-foot pipe and also partnered with Acrobag to provide the athletes with an air bag to practice new manoeuvres into. The entire relationship has been an ongoing project to establish the resort
as a world-class half-pipe training centre.”
According to the reports received, Simon Dumont, the American freestyle skier, was seen practicing the switch dub cork 10s, landing into the Acrobag. He is expected to be unleashing this trick at the Winter X 15.
The athletes present at the resort were really glad to have a place where they could practice all the big tricks for the upcoming showdown- tricks that they were not comfortable to execute elsewhere due to the risks involved. They appreciated the resort
and expressed their hope to see others follow in the footsteps of Otsego.
Established in 1939, Otsego Club is one of the oldest private ski club in U.S..The club is reserved for its members and their guests on the weekends. The general public is granted access during the midweek operations, which currently is just Thursday and
Friday.
We will not have to wait too long to find out just how much these practice sessions pay off. Let’s just hope that we get to see some electrifying performances from our favourite athletes this year at the ESPN event that promises non-stop extreme action.
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