November 22nd– November 30th
Our first camp after the official announcement of the 2011/2012 BC Women’s Ski Team we find ourselves in Panorama Mountain Village. We prepared for the worst on our drives down here, packing for -30 degree weather, but were surprised to find warm temperatures and even a little rain.
We are looking good on the hill, all sporting out new team uniforms whilst trying to get in the most training we can before the start of race season. Double training blocks usually with some SG in the mornings and tech work in the afternoon should hopefully do the trick! We were even excited to be able to put on the DH skis during one extra-large SG course. It felt good to have a day on our DH skis before we headed to the World Cup track in Lake Louise.
The 95’s (born in 1995) were the first to leave for Lake Louise, blasting our music and getting pumped up for downhill. A warm day in Lake Louise is hard to come by, but the sun was out and the snow was perfect for our first day of track testing. After meeting with Don Lyon and inspecting the course we were nothing but smiles. Confident we knew every bump and roll on the course we were anxious to jump into our first run. Knowing that 100 volunteers were working on the track that day just for the four of us also made us feel a little special and ready for a good run.
The second day we were all star struck seeing such amazing racers as Lindsey Vonn, Anja Pearson and Maria Hofl-Riesch inspecting the same course as us. Of course having familiar faces like Tess Davies and the former BC Team member Sarah Freeman there inspired us to know that at one point these racers were in our position.
In the start we could watch the first World Cup racers in their pre-race routines while we ourselves prepared for our run. With a solid finish from everyone the day finished off on an adrenalin high and with much enthusiasm. We were all sad to leave as the older girls came to take our place for the remainder of the week. Back in Panorama we will be training until we leave to watch the World Cup SG this Saturday, then we are off to our own races!
From all the girls we would like to give a big shout out to Don Lyon for helping coach us at the downhill, to the Greig family whose beautiful house we are renting while in Panorama, and to all the parents who spent time preparing meals for us for this camp. We would also like to thank our coaches for pushing to let us forerun the World Cup, an experience we will never forget.
Submitted by the '95 Girls, Hallie MacLachlan, Silken Rauhala, Emma King and Charley Field
Photo above: Emma King, Charley Field, Silken Rauhala and Hallie MacLachlan after successful testing and forerunning Lake Louise WC downhill 2011 – Photo credit: Gregor Druzina