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The second BC Alpine summer training camp went ahead August 15th-20th at Mt. Hood, Oregon. Rumours of poor conditions and hot temperatures caused our crew to shrink dramatically prior to the event, but we ended up with about 40 athletes and 5 coaches from the VST, Whistler, Okanagan and Saskatchewan. Despite the summer melt-down, conditions were conducive to excellent training.
BC Alpine was assigned first-class lanes for training, so we were able to train GS skills and drills for the entire camp. It is very rare to get so much space on a glacier to play, so we took full advantage! The athletes focused on bringing the new skills they had learned on earlier camps into GS drills, with a lot of free skiing in between to correct errors in the course. Hard snow, challenging courses, not to mention the heat and the altitude, led to a steep progression for the athletes, but the majority responded very well and made significant improvements. The overall experience for athletes from all clubs and programs was very positive, with great interaction between the athletes and a focused training environment.
Focus off the hill was mainly on recovery activities, ski tuning, video analysis and finding things to do in a government camp, which proved to be difficult. Bring a book next time!
Thanks to the athletes for their hard work throughout the week, and to the coaches for cooperating extremely well to make the camp a success!
Andrew Lambert (sub for Gordie Bowles.)