December 16, at the inaugural U.S. Snowboardcross Championships at Mount Hood Meadows, Oregon, the Palisades Tahoe Freeride Team member placed third. This result, on the heels of two World Cup SBX wins, secured Holland a spot on the Olympic team roster at the 2006 Torino Winter Games. Heading into the next set of races January 4-5 at Bad Gastein, Austria, Holland remains ranked third in the world and first in the United States.

What is SBX? It fits in a seam between freestyle and alpine snowboarding. Many fans consider SBX to be a close relative to motorcross. In what can best be described as an all-out fire drill, SBX riders line up in heats of four (or six) at the top of a course that is set with a series of jumps, banks, gaps, and rollers. Once the gate drops, the first two to the finish line advance until a winner is crowned in the finals. It's beat-the-clock, beat-the-pack, and there are no points for style. Pick your board carefully and point it.

Holland burst into the international sporting consciousness as far back as the winter of 2004 when he placed first, alongside Reggie Christ, in the Ultracross event at the X-Games in Aspen, Colorado.

In the 2005 winter season, the Sand Point, Idaho native became the number-one ranked boardercross competitor in America with four top-five finishers in World Cup SBX (Super Boardercross). The results left him third overall in the world. Not bad for the one-time Palisades Tahoe lift attendant whose perseverance and enthusiasm for his discipline helped make it an Olympic event for the first time in 2006.

"Nate has come along way from a young grommet in Idaho," says Chris 'Uncle E' Ernst, arguably the originator of boardercross and an announcer for the X-Games and Olympics. "He's focused his skills for the inaugural boardercross at the Olympic Games. He has been trained by the best riders at Palisades Tahoe and on the U.S. Team, and he is a top-notch ripper. He's my number one pick for Gold in boardercross in Italy this coming winter."

"His biggest strength is his competitive nature. Technically he has a great combination of skills. He is fast in the turns, handles big jumps really well, and he has an awesome aerodynamic body position. Nate's history on the World Cup definitely makes him a strong contender." This is according to Peter Foley, U.S. Snowboarding Head Coach.