As our final dryland camp of the summer came to a close Saturday, we realized how much improvement every girl on the team has made since our first days “pumping iron”. We, being the older girls, have loved seeing the youngsters grow into professional weight lifters as well as become our good friends. This summer has been as enjoyable as summer camp, yet as painful as navy seal training. Also, after a long summer together, we have been able to bond as a team and we believe that each and every one of us is prepared for the long and vigorous season ahead thanks to the help and support of our coaches Gregor Druzina, Aaron Speden, and Andrew Lambert.
Perhaps the most challenging task we had this week was enduring two of Paul Attalla’s bootcamp style core classes. By the end of warm up we had already lost count of the amount of sit-ups we’d done. During the hour long class, you could almost hear the faint echo of our favorite words of wisdom, “Pain is temporary, glory is forever. “ Luckily, it was not all sweat and tears: Paul helped us get over our jitters and pushed us to go out of our comfort zones by jumping onto Swiss Balls as every girl had successfully landed at least one attempt by the end of the sessions.
On the days when we weren’t in Evolution Gym throwing weights around, we were enjoying the many outdoor activities Fernie has to offer. This included a mountain bike ride with Curtis Rytz around the Fernie resort, even stopping to admire how the race run looks without snow on it, and a relaxing tube ride down the river running through town. Both of these activities were a nice distraction from the constant visuals of the walls of the gym.
Perhaps the day the team enjoyed most was the afternoon out at Tie Lake with the MacLachlans, and Arthur Sombrowski and his family. We spent it water skiing, swimming, wake surfing and sun bathing until our stomachs intervened and begged for the delicious pulled pork burgers! Amongst the girls, there was a great range of skill levels; some having never been towed behind a boat while others were almost seasoned pros. Nevertheless, everyone learned something new that day, and, most importantly, had lots of fun.
Thanks again to the town of Fernie, Evolution Gym, Paul Attala, the MacLachlan family, Sombrowski family, Curtis Rytz, and Mike Delich for making our dryland camp so memorable! We’ve never seen Gregor so excited as he was when he saw “Welcome BC Women’s Ski Team” atop the Community billboard.
This report has been respectfully submitted by Women's BC Ski Team “older girls”: Jocelyn Ramsden, Kailee Darlington, Sofi Leroux and Rebecca Bermel
Other teammates: Silken Rauhala, Alix Wells, Emma King, Charley Field, Hallie MacLachlan
Enjoy the video below! View all our photos here http://bcalpine.com/photos/album/view/?Album=72157626784798813