The week long camp the BC Woman just concluded in Valle Nevado went by in a flash. We filled our days with high intensity training focused on GS with some slalom and super-G on the side. The highlight of the week was getting the opportunity to train with the US Women’s Tech Team on the last day. The course was steep and demanding and they were great examples for teaching us to have clean turns and attack a GS course even in difficult conditions. Everyone learned valuable lessons watching such elite athletes train in the same environment.
The weather was fantastic with sun dominating most of the days we were on hill so we often skied two sessions a day to take advantage of the situation. This left us pretty tired at the end of the day because at an elevation of 3,000 meters the sun is strong and the oxygen is low but the training and snow conditions were too good to pass up. When we weren’t on hill you could often find us napping or outside hypnotized by the beautiful sunsets which made the sky purple and the clouds glow orange.
For many of the girls this is their first time in Chile so for the first couple of days the most common phrase you heard was “I can’t believe I’m in South America!” They have done a great job adapting to the high altitude and unique poma lifts although our Spanish is still pretty questionable. Next stop is Portillo for some DH and SG training alongside the US Men’s Team.
~ Jocelyn Ramsden, Whistler Mountain Ski Club and BC Ski Team