--- title: How They Train: Snowboard Cross | TIME description: Also called boardercross, snowboard cross will be in the Olympics for the second time. TIME's Sean Gregory learns how to explode out of a start gate (sort of) with Olympic hopeful Nate Holland canonical: https://time.com/video/zpM21Wcu/ og:title: How They Train: Snowboard Cross og:description: Also called boardercross, snowboard cross will be in the Olympics for the second time. TIME's Sean Gregory learns how to explode out of a start gate (sort of) with Olympic hopeful Nate Holland og:url: https://time.com/video/zpM21Wcu/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/zpM21Wcu/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How They Train: Snowboard Cross twitter:description: Also called boardercross, snowboard cross will be in the Olympics for the second time. TIME's Sean Gregory learns how to explode out of a start gate (sort of) with Olympic hopeful Nate Holland twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/zpM21Wcu/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # How They Train: Snowboard Cross > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: How They Train: Snowboard Cross [Watch (HLS stream): How They Train: Snowboard Cross](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zpM21Wcu.m3u8) (6:12)  _Published 2010-01-09. Also called boardercross, snowboard cross will be in the Olympics for the second time. TIME's Sean Gregory learns how to explode out of a start gate (sort of) with Olympic hopeful Nate Holland_ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:18 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Climber Kyra Condie Trains TIME's Sean Gregory on New Olympic Sport](/video/6MqlQjDZ/) ### Climber Kyra Condie Trains TIME's Sean Gregory on New Olympic Sport [Snowboarder Chloe Kim Is A Winter Olympics Star, And Relatable Teenager ](/video/mGJTai9d/) ### Snowboarder Chloe Kim Is A Winter Olympics Star, And Relatable Teenager [How They Train: Snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler](/video/wzJ6OGty/) ### How They Train: Snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler --- ## Transcript >> Nate Holland, viewing the red pants, says if you want a metal at the bottom, you have to listen to metal at the top. So here we go. >> Boardercross is a snowboard race where you let four or six men get into a gate. We go down basically in motocross style tracks so you have big airs, whoops, rollers, bank turns, and basically it's a race to the bottom, and either the top two advance to the next round. And its-- it's a pretty fun event to watch, I mean we're rubbing elbows and we are going over huge kickers. There can be some pretty gnarly crashes. >> The best feeling in the world though is definitely singing reports that go across that finish line first in the finals. It's just like so much built- up tension inside of you and then it's just like automatic release of endorphins, just like whoosh! It's all over like I don't have to worry about anything anymore. All that stress is gone. I did it, and it touched on cloud nine. >> Snowboard cross is in the Olympics for the second time, and Nate is currently a favorite. We caught up with him at the US snowboarding training facility in Park City, Utah. >> This is a sled loaded up with weight, and we got these reins, and basically we are gonna try and build the strength of my start. So my feet are in my basic snowboard stance, which is try like 22 inches. My arms are stretched out, slightly loaded, and when I go, I'm pulling my hips, pulling the arm, and ending with the triceps. Now that we're on the course, it starts over. You're standing up and flow the leg power. And so we have this machine. We do five sets of this. All the weight is coming down. It's really an eccentric lift. Explode up, two, three, four, five. And that's a set. >> What am I looking at here? >> Right here, this is a vibrating plate. So when I turn it on, you can see it start to vibrate, and then it shakes your whole body, you're gonna see it in the face. And this is probably one of the hardest exercises, because someone is kicking you, and I mean you'll be able to see on my face ill be like " ah, get off my board ." It directly relates like going into finish line. >> Get the heck off my board! >> Get off the board. >> Two, three-- >> Sean's on my board. >> So this is our start gate and it actually has the gate that flops down. We'll see that mechanically. And we've got it hooked up with some wires and a computer. I basically try and get as close to a real start as possible, so I mean that includes wearing the pants, wearing the boots. >> Did you guys wanna do the skintight aerodynamic suits now. >> No. No. >> Did you need protection if you fall as a reminder? >> Yeah it's more of the style thing. We definitely try to make a rider's pact not to wear too tight a clothing because no one really wants to see four dudes in swim- tight suits racing down a course together. Knock the snow off your sponsor's stickers. My eyes are on the gate. My hips are loaded. See how that start goes. I pull through, and I'm exploding with my hips forward. >> I'm gonna try to replicate what Nate does at the start gate and get my hips out and to return my balance, and hopefully not fall into that pit where they're skateboarding. >> I think he's got it. >> Attention. Yeah! You're reaction time was a little slow. >> A little slow? Snowboarding has grown into such a mainstream sport that Nate is one of the few Olympians we visited that isn't stressed about his checking account. >> We spoke to the world champion four- man bobsled driver. And he's 40 thousand dollars in debt. If you have to kind of pile up expenses, and are you in debt right now? >> No, I'm not in debt. With winning creates sponsorships and I'm definitely riding that wave right now. >> After his morning workout is done, Nate and his teammates also have some rather unorthodox ways of keeping in shape for the season. >> Skating is pretty much as close to snowboarding as you can get on dry land. And I mean they have this drop into the roller section, and those are pretty similar to rollers that we can see in the course. When you're jumping in the air, it's just-- it helps with your air awareness. I mean if you get in some pretty precarious positions, and to be able to come out of that and land on your feet, so it's really just air awareness exercises, and its fun, but I mean we definitely sit in the meat and potatoes in between those fun times. >> In the past, snowboarders have been criticized for not taking the Olympics too seriously. Nate swears he is not one of these athletes. >> The Olympic medal is far like the only medal I don't have in my trophy case. I mean I've gotten those x- games medals to pave my driveway, so it's definitely something that I wanna do. It doesn't define my career if I medal or not in the Olympics, I don't think so. I had a pretty successful career. I'm going into it no stone left unturned. When I fire out that gate, it'll be pretty hot under the collar when I'm doing it, and we'll just see what happens if I'm medal great. If not, I get a heck of a run for it and my career will continue. >> This is Sean Gregory, reporting for TIME. com >> That was better. Flipping next time. I'm just like standing here. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How They Train: Snowboard Cross","description":"Also called boardercross, snowboard cross will be in the Olympics for the second time. 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