Portillo, Chile
September 17 to October 1, 2011
Bottom row from left to right :Thomas Biesemeyer, Ted Ligety, Hallie MacLachlan, Jocelyn Ramsden, Alix Wells, Kailee Darlington
Top row from left to right: Marco Sullivan, Rebecca Bermel, Steven Nyman, Sofi Leroux, Silken Rauhala
Guy in front: Ace Tarberry
Report written and submitted by Kailee Darlington, Emma King, Rebecca Bermel and Hallie MacLachlan
After our week in Valle Nevado we drove to the Santiago airport to pick up the Men’s BC team and continued north-east to Portillo, Chile. This resort is within spitting distance of the Argentinian border in the shadow of the tallest mountain in the Eastern Hemisphere.
We have been amazed by the amount of hospitality given to our team by the 550 different employees here at Ski Portillo. We are treated like royalty in the dining hall where we have experienced everything from sword fish to ostrich during our three-course meals. The waiters have gone out of their way to ensure we feel welcomed into the ‘Portillo Family’.
We opened up our first training days on the world class speed track which we shared with the US Men’s National Ski Team. It is not hard to improve when we have the opportunity to watch and train with world ranked athletes such as Ted Ligety and Andrew Weibrecht. It also helps having such ideal snow conditions and varied terrain that demands our very best every run. Throughout the week every girl has become a lot more confident with the high-speeds and the air-time involved in Speed training. Thanks to Gregor for volunteering his spare time here building us a new jump to practice better technique in the air. Also thank you to Speedy for working on our edges everyday allowing us to make the most out of every turn. The BC Womens Team is looking forward to our last week on the slopes of Portillo and making even more improvements.
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