The skiing kicked off on the 28th July with a day of assessing technical skills and speed in gates whilst finding the ski legs again. We were all surprised by the amount of snow up top and the frozen snow conditions. Coming off the mountain at lunchtime gives us plenty of time to eat, rest and then refocus for fitness training. We have health and fitness trainer Steve Cooper here with us to educate the athletes on nutrition, recovery and help the coaches deliver relevant fitness sessions. On the first and second afternoons we we practised and assessed some fitness tests which we will use to gather information on the strengths and weaknesses of each athlete.
Splitting into smaller groups working with coaches Dave Morris, Natalia Pruska, Charley Stocker,
Lyndsay Strange, Dougie Mill and myself (Lynn Sharp Mill) the athletes proceeded to work through 2 more days on the GS skis before switching to Slalom on Friday. Our focus has been to develop technique, take time to make some fundamental adjustments but making sure we are not just getting really good at one turn shape on one kind of gradient. We have been coming back to racing at the end of the day - reminding the athletes what its all about and having some fun through the courses. Some of the FIS athletes have been helping the coaches this week demonstrating and developing their own understanding by working with some of the younger athletes. It's great to see them being role models for some of our newer athletes and setting a good atmosphere around the camp.
Today we all have a day off, just in time for some bad weather passing through - rumour is that its snowing up top a little! We've had an array of activities to sign up for including morning yoga with Lyndsay, ski tuning lessons with Lynn, educational ski videos with Charley and Dougie, rock climbing with Natalia and of course resting, recovering and tidying up. Some of the athletes have been bowling and swimming this afternoon before we test their skiing knowledge in a camp quiz later on. Here are some snapshots from the week so far. Back soon.....
