Thus far, the world cup skicross season has been a tough one for Brian Bennett, but following a sixth place finish at the recent X-Games, in Aspen, Colorado, he is hopeful it is a sign of good things to come.
“I skied really well and am happy with the result,” Bennett said.
“My head is now in the right space to go fast, which usually translates into results.”
At the X-Games, Bennett made it through the initial qualifying round and went into the final elimination round with 23 other skiers.
The course intimidated some skiers, but suited Bennett just fine.
The key elements to the course were a set of four rollers followed by a triple-jump feature.
“You had to ski through that triple feature by doing a double in and single out,” Bennett explained.
“This feature made all your speed for the next long flat section.”
Most of the competitors, Bennett said, had trouble wrapping their minds around the finish jump.
“It was ridiculously big and intimidating, but I thought it was the best part of the track.
“It’s terrain and features like the finish jump that brings us back every year to X-Games, it is the biggest, fastest and scariest track that gets built!”
In his first heat on the course, that took about one minute 22 seconds to cover, Bennett got off to a slow start, but managed to finish third in his group of six to move on to the next round.
In the next heat Bennett was in a position to take the lead, but his skis were not running, so he drafted the lead skier and finished second.
“No point in doing something stupid if you are in a position to advance,” Bennett said.
In the final heat Bennett was fast out of the gate but his skis could not keep up and that led to a mistake in the tough four-pack of rollers that cost him the momentum he had gained.
“I changed how I tackled the four pack on the top drag,” Bennett explained.
“I skied a single, double, single sequence and consequently I missed the backside of the third roller and went straight into the uphill of the fourth roller.
“It was like dropping an anchor.”
In the first two heats Bennett had skied the four-pack single, single, double, which he said was more effective.
“Going into the final I felt I could go faster by changing it up,” he said.
“Oops!”
From there on out Bennett was playing catch up, but couldn’t quite get there and finished the course sixth, in a time of 1:24.47, three seconds behind the first-place time.
The sixth-place finish is Bennett’s best finish this season and it also qualified him for next year’s X-Games, something he is very much looking forward to.
“The count down begins,” he said.
But for now, Bennett will focus on the remainder of the World Cup races with renewed optimism, buoyed by his performance at the X-Games.
“I will do my best to ride that wave into the second half of the season,” he said.
“There is lots of luck involved in this game.
“I believe if you are in the final you have a shot to win.”
Next on the schedule for Bennett is a World Cup race at Blue Mountain this weekend.