Hello Everyone!
I am really enjoying working with and getting to know these kids. They are great skiers, keen and learn fast. When you combine this with runs that are long, great terrain and minimal lift lines it is super fun.
Day one and two we free skied and worked on technique, along with checking out the mountain. Today we had a 40 gate Slalom/stubbie course with hard snow, from 7-11 am with free ski in the afternoon. Tomorrow we will have a panel slalom course in the morning and then switch to GS skis for free ski and technical work in the afternoon. The next day we plan to train GS.
In terms of our goals on snow here – when I first came back to Ontario I was struck that we have great skiers, but there are some core aspects of ski racing technique and tactics that need to improve, and there is education that comes along with that. By “we” I mean everyone. All of the racers. Apart from some simple fundamentals to get started, we are very focused on those core aspects at this camp and the kids are doing great. Everyone is improving and seem to understand what we are trying to achieve.
For the most part, the logistics, lodging and food have been smooth. The restaurant serves a lot of French fries (along with very good food choices), some kids need more guidance with ski tuning, etc. – but nothing major and the kids are taking it in stride.
The coaches are doing a terrific job and working hard as a team. A big thanks to Cam Powell from Sporting Life who is here taking care of any boot work that comes up. I think he has worked on 8-10 pairs of boots so far and there are likely more to come! Steph Currie (former Ontario Team and Current Dartmouth NCAA/Nor-Am racer) is leading the way and showing the racers how it’s done on and off the hill.
Hasta Luego de Chile!
More to come soon.
Kip Harrington