by Sue-Lynda Bate | Oct 10, 2002 | Member News
It is that time of year – the air is colder, the leaves are changing and the snow is coming; which can only mean one thing – so are the Fall Annual General Meetings. Come one, come all to the AGM October 19 to be held at the Four Points Sheraton in Richmond at 8368 Alexandra Road. Registration begins at 8 a.m. meeting starts promptly at 8:30. Click on the link above for the AGM Agenda. Also on the four day meeting schedule are the coaches meetings October 17 & 18 as well as the TD Update on October 20. We will have the 2002/03 Green Book ready for you as well as all the information your club needs for the season ahead. See you there!
If you still need to arrange last minute accommodation please call the Four Points Sheraton toll-free at 1-888-281-8888 and mention that you are booking with the BC Alpine Ski Association function. Please note that the reserved block of rooms has now been released and rooms are subject to availability as space may be limited.
by Sue-Lynda Bate | Oct 7, 2002 | Member News
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October 5th Men's Report. Another great day of training with very good snow and terrain. Forecast still looks good for the next few days so we will keep our fingers crossed. Here is a shot of our training space: ours is the SG on the skiers right and the Americans have the DH on the left. Good jumps and terrain on this hill. Everyone is still healthy and keen.
October 6th Men's Report. We are now over half way through our Portillo Camp. We have been very fortunate with the conditions so far. The temperatures have been cool at night and the snow very hard in the mornings. The training has been going well and we hope this will continue for the next 6 days. There have been no injuries and other than a few sunburns there have been no problems. We have had good opportunities to train both technical and speed events which is not common for athletes at this level. The athletes seem to be enjoying the experience Everything is going well and we will be back in Canada on the 14th of October.
Dale Stephens,
Men's BCST Coach
by Sue-Lynda Bate | Oct 3, 2002 | Member News
We arrived in Portillo to find exceptional conditions…we are fortunate, as it could have very well have just as easily gone the other way. But much to our relief the stories of copious snow and quiet slopes proved true. Other than the 8 athletes of the BC Ski Team, the US has a small contingent of its male WC Speed athletes here (5). As it is late spring here at the resort, the slopes have been virtually empty of tourists. This is partially due to the poor economy of Argentina, where Portillo draws a majority of its' clients.
Since we have been here the temperature has ranged from minus seven to minus three in the morning, resulting in a bulletproof surface on which to train. One side of the area remains in the shadow of the peaks for most the day, which allows for afternoon sessions if one wanted. Since we are at 9,300 ft at the main area, and training at around 10,100 (dropping down to 8,000 ft!) we have found that the morning session from 7:15 – noon has been more than plenty. The altitude and the heat of the sun here quickly depletes the energy of the athletes.
We have just completed our first four-day block of training. We started with one day of GS tech skiing on Slalom skis, moving to GS tech / drill courses on GS skis the following day. Yesterday and today we run a session of full length GS, followed by a jumping session on the downhill course. We utilized the bumps (2) built for the US Ski Teach are substantial, and offer a variety of moves needed to attain the desired result (that is landing on the feet rather than the head!).
In GS we have continued a focus of patience/ position and pressuring within a proper turn shape. We are using brushes (set approx 1.5 feet directly off turning gate) to ensure that the athletes allow room for the feet and body at the panel in order to keep the pressuring in the falline smooth and progressive. We are finding that the brushes work better than other line aids, as there is no interference in the ski if it is to hit the brush.
Next up is a four-day speed block. We will run SG (full length: 1:15) for two days followed by two days of Downhill training. During this block we will also work on Slalom after the speed training, the goals being to enhance balance, agility.
Best regards, NJ O'Neill.
Head Coach, BC Women's Ski Team
WWW.BCALPINE.COM/PDF/ALPINEUPDATE/2002-10-08/AGENDAFALLAGM-OCT2002.PDF