GS-ing

As promised we have moved into our GS block of training. That athletes transitioned very nicely into this with the 2 powder days - I mean balance training days we had before this transition.

A typical day:
We were on snow today from 815am until 2pm.
The athletes had an hour of yoga at 3pm;
did homework from 4-6pm.
Dinner was at 6 - 7pm;
then we did individual video sessions with all the athletes that took us until 9pm.
The athletes turn in ALL their electronics and have 30 minutes to get organized for curfew at 9:30pm;
... and now here I am ...
It can be a packed schedule and they are very patient and have become more punctual as the camp progresses.

Highlights (apart from their improvements on snow everyday) are most certainly dishwashing ski trivia where the boys took the win tonight on this final question: Name one male and one female world cup racer that has won the overall WC crystal globe between the years of 2000-2009.

We had tons of mileage today with 12 runs in gates, 3 slip runs and 4 warm up. All in -15 degrees Celsius dropping every hour. The course was set moderately with brushy indicators and the athletes were asked to 'over ski' the course creating a lot of shape to their turns. Thus challenging their setup angles and forcing their commitment to the outside ski as they resist all the forces acting on their movements. They are exceeding expectations.

Our 2nd year U16 girls pictured at the panel in today's GS.

Tomorrow we will ski SG to warm up and then head back into GS gates. More action shots to follow. A big shout out to NCOST U16 alumni Raf Quenneville with a 26th place in the an NJR GS held in Loveland, CO. He was the 10th best Canadian and 6th best U18 athlete today. His results can be found by following the link: Click here for Raf's live-timing results he is pictured below training in Colorado.

Raf in ACTION - Photo Creds: Ryan Malmberg (@themalmborg on instagram)

Balance Training

We could slackline, use a balance beam, hold some yoga poses... or we could scrap the plans of setting up two GS environments and hit the POW!

Mother nature has added another 24hours of accumulation to last nights post. She clearly wasn't finished with us yet. There was 20-40cm of the fresh fluffy stuff on the ground; untouched at 8:30am when we headed first up the mountain. Not much more to be said here...

Photo Credits: on instagram first year U16 athlete Jillian Lynott(@jillianlynott_)
Beautiful snow angels!

Marty's beard is frozen & Lake is trying to poach our fresh lines.

There is absolutely nothing like the childish grin you have on your face after a run top to bottom in fresh powder

We made use of some mid-afternoon time with an extended homework period and a meeting that addressed the importance of goal setting, the athletes limiting factors for success & prerace routines. We also explained to them information about how U16 races are run (more for the newbies) and provincial qualifying criteria.

Tomorrow we head out again in an attempt to put some GS poles in the ground. The weather should be great because we are getting very cold overnight here. Fingers crossed that there is enough moisture in the snow that a firm surface will present itself tomorrow. The athletes definitely enjoyed our welcomed day of 'balance training'.

"Skiing is a dance, 

and the mountain always leads."

Happy Thanksgiving

Tonight the U16s started a new tradition. Canadians get a Thanksgiving, Americans get a Thanksgiving - so we made our own Thanksgiving (good food, skiing, football, WC ski racing on TV & Live - seemed like good timing). We asked the athletes to share with us things they are thankful for. Believe it or not, thankful wishes ranged from personal health, to parents and relatives health, parents generosity for putting forth the commitment to the NCO program, safe travelling and for being a part of such a cohesive team... oh and they are most certainly thankful for the food.

Enjoyable NCO feast - I'm curious to know if turkey dinner is better then Mexican bean casserole in Ben's world.
green beans, sweet potato, stuffing, turkey & gravy #nom #nom #nom

We were on GS skis today - freeskiing in the late afternoon after watching the Lake Louise SuperG Live as well as the GS in Beaver Creek (through eurosport). It's such an exciting time of year as the North American races are underway. We move into GS for the next few days. There are 3 runs open now and we have an entire lane top to bottom to ourselves for the next few days. There are more runs and less teams through the weekdays. Weather is also slated to become colder in the following days hardening up the surface from the precipitation we received over the past 48 hours. The athletes look forward to the feel good snow that's on the way.

Trip to the Lake

Below is a photomontage of our day at the Lake.... Starting with our drive (Marty & Kat love the splitting driving routine)

NCOST at the Lake 2013

The 93Kootenay National Park... one hairy highway to the Lake 

The finish corral at the Lake

HERE WE ARE

Found this beaut spectating getting psyched for his SuperG tomorrow. He hooked us up with VIP passes :)

Marty got VIP too :) He took advantage connecting with old friends...

Marty & his old teammate
Vice President of Sports - PK

Left to Right Boys with Ottawa Roots : Jim Hemlin, Martin Rog, Bob Suderman and Andre Quenville 

Panoramic photo fun in the VIP section.. Thanks Dust!

Kjetil Jansrud with Jillian, Nicole and Nick

Henrik Von Appen (CHILE) Was in his 1st World Cup today. We make him look great :)

Alexis and his buddy Erik Guay - today's top Canadian

The beaver is on our nickle, he is also at Lake Louise pictured with
Nora and Nick

Becca & Kat: Back to the VIP tent to snag some treats for the ride home

An hour after hitting the road back to Pano -  Nick was one of many.

Great day had by all! We will enjoy most of the day off tomorrow and hop on GS boards for 2 hours at the end of the day. We are phasing into a GS block. Looking forward to following our Canadian cowboys in the SG. We will Live stream the event in morning before hitting the slopes rooting for our hometown NCOST alumni favourite:

DUSTIN COOK

Thanks for the VIP treatment today Dustin and for the
Dustin Cook Swag.  Go get em' tomorrow!

First week goes out with a BASH!

A very well deserving break is on the horizon for the U16 gang. The athletes have been working hard and we are very happy with their improvements and their intensity. Time to close this short chapter on slalom and head into some faster skiing after being inspired by some of Canada's finest at the Lake tomorrow. 

Athletes packing it in on an excellent week of slalom training here in Panorama

Boys  FINALLY  beat the girls at dishwashing ski trivia tonight. (The girls would say it was more that they lost; then they were beaten).

Amazing week & a strong finish in Slalom with cooperative weather, hard snow and exhausted, hardworking U16s.

Slalom is packed in for the next little while moving into GS on Sunday.

Heading to Lake Lousie for the Mens World Cup DH tomorrow.

Signing off on this week of slalom are your equally exhausted and very satisfied coaches who can't wait to watch the racing with the athletes live.

Hand in all electronic devices to the coaches and get some physical and mental rest!

PolePlantarama

Reporting to you live from the dinner room in Panorama, BC. You are reading from Becca, Jillian, Abby, Nora, and Nicole.  This morning as the sun rose we clicked on our slalom skis in anticipation of an intense and eventful day on the slopes. As we moved into full slalom gates we focused on perfecting our combinations and our pole plant.  Our fabulous coaches set up two safe environments where we could practice those skills. We skied a flush/hairpin course and one feel good course on the pitch and flats to get comfortable smashing the full gates - a few were obliterated by the always aggressive Jillymiester.

“If you have everything under control, you’re not moving fast enough.”

–     Mario Andretti

Erin Mielzynski - our slalom inspiration!

This video from Erin Mielzynski's blog of Canadian Women’s Tech Team is what inspired our combination course:

STEPS FOR SKIING FLUSHES:

1. Move towards the combination in the attack position

2. Shield up (one hand clears all gates)

3. Body stays inside corridor

4. Exit with a strong poleplant

After a short and well-earned break we returned into the frozen red and blue abyss tackling our first full-length slalom course of the 2013 – 2014 season. Some people had frustrations, while others excelled in this situation. Great feedback from our coaches helped us excel and overcome these obstacles and improve every run.

Tuning out, its fajita time here in Panorama. We need to go kick the boy’s butts at dishwashing ski trivia. They even formed a super squad tonight to try and take us down. Tonight losing (as Kat says) is not an option. 

Dinner time!

Coaches room for meeting & dinner