Colorado Camp Still Going Strong!

The Colorado alpine campers have had a beautiful several days. The crowds at Arapahoe have settled down and the skiing has been ideal. The snow is perfect for drills and free skiing, giving them the best of both worlds. They have been really fortunate to have the weather they have, between blue bird days and snowstorms.

The student-athletes have been training Copper in the afternoons which has been excellent. The athletes are really working hard to make positive changes to their skiing, which is all we can ask for. They have been working on engaging the boot, the movement pattern inside the boot with the ankle, the motion of the knee during the entry and apex of the turn and the finish.

Day 7 was the one and only scheduled day off during the camp. The kids (and coaches) took advantage to relax a bit. The kids have been skiing a ton and working hard, so it was certainly well deserved. The boys spent some time at the Copper Woodward Barn tramping into foam pits, while the girls went shopping at the Outlets at Silverthorne.

The relaxation only lasted so long and on Saturday, day 8, they were back at Arapahoe Basin. The weather was outstanding and they opened the upper mountain; the skiing was phenomenal. They found out that the access chair Super Bee for Copper training went down in the morning and unfortunately we had an athlete that got stuck on the chair for 3 hours, but as soon as she was evacuated, was ready to begin training again! Even though the chair breakdown took away from some training, it gave the athletes more time to ski A-Basin. They have continued working on balance, stance, and engaging the boot and ankle/ knee. The coaches have been pushing the kids hard with a lot of drills and a lot of skating, but the hard work is paying off and the kids are improving their skills!

Yesterday the clouds moved in and delivered light snow all day, which made for more incredible skiing. They spent the morning drilling and getting miles at Arapahoe. Copper was using an alternate chair to access the training venue and they got to watch some of the German National team training Super-G. On hill they worked on panel SL with a focus on “going deep to the wall”, balance and outside ski pressure ,and a brushie quickness course with a focus on pole plant timing. The athletes made good progress and they will continue building on this.

The student-athletes have been having a blast and while they are enjoying Colorado, are looking forward to getting home to start skiing at Okemo!