Series documents Wescott’s journey from injury back to Olympic competition

CARRABASSETT VALLEY, MAINE – When two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Seth Wescott stared down an untouched, powder-filled mountain in Alaska last April, he had no idea that the journey before him would involve much more than a ride down one of the world’s steepest peaks.

By the time he made it to the bottom, Wescott had torn several ligaments in his knee, forcing him to head straight to surgery, and to seriously contemplate the question of whether or not he would ever snowboard competitively again.

“I definitely had that moment where I thought, could this be the end of my Olympic career?” Wescott said.

This winter, as Wescott recovers and embarks on his quest for a third consecutive Olympic gold medal in Sochi, Russia, Sugarloaf will document the journey in “Surgery to Sochi,” a four-episode online video series that follows Wescott on his journey from injury back to the pinnacle of his sport.

Filmed and edited by Sugarloaf videographer Taylor Walker, Surgery to Sochi features footage from every step along the way, including Wescott’s own helmet cam footage from his crash, and provides a true behind-the-scenes look at Wescott’s journey.

The series will be released online at www.sugarloaf.com/seth2014. The first episode will be released at 2pm on Wednesday, December 4.

“We’ve worked hard to really get inside of Seth’s head and find out what it’s like to go through this process,” Walker said. “He’s a superstar athlete, so it’s different to hear him talk about his fears and doubts immediately following his injury. It’s a side of him we don’t typically see.”

The series begins in Alaska, with Wescott describing his fateful run, and follows him into the operating room in Colorado, and back to Maine where his rehab and the Olympic media blitz begin. From there, Wescott travels to New Zealand where he makes his first turns on snow since the injury, before getting back into the World Cup circuit and the battle for one of just four Olympic spots.

The next three episodes of “Surgery to Sochi” will be released on December 24, January 15, and February 5, just before Wescott is schedules to leave for Russia.

Throughout the series fans will be encouraged to share their thoughts about the episodes and questions for Wescott on social media, using the hashtag #Seth2014.

For more information on Seth Wescott and the Surgery-to-Sochi series, visit www.sugarloaf.com/seth2014.