First Day on GS Skis

Welcome Back!

U14 and U16 Athletes with Igor

We have now completed our third day on snow here in Vail, and successfully made our transition onto our Giant Slalom skis. Similar to yesterday, we began our day with an early morning run through the surrounding Vail Village before retrning to our lodge for some dynamic stretching and yet another hot breakfast. After booting up around 8:30am, we headed out to the Lionshead area to ski another region of the mountain that offered a variety of terrain. The trail, Born Free, started out with a steep pitch that dropped skiers into a rolling flatter section before another steep pitch before crossing the bridge into the center of Lionshead for another quick lift ride to start again. This trail was optimal for discovering the form and pressure sequences necessary for solid Giant Slalom skiing. The surface was flawless for great skiing; athletes were able to confidently enter each turn with aggressive angles and lean into the arc. It is difficult to explain, but the pictures should give it some justice.

Couldn't pass this shot up!

Once we had finished up skiing for the morning, athletes and coaches alike headed back to the Manor Vail Lodge for a great lunch before reviewing video from the mornings session on a massive HD television. Around 1 pm, we headed back over to the Lionshead area because we had enjoyed Born Free so much in the morning. While the trail was still great, the crowds had increased quite a bit so it was a little more difficult to ski the entire run without stopping to satisfy the mountain patrol.

After a great afternoon session, we returned to the lodge to get out of our ski clothes and watch video. While watching video, coaches had an idea to have boys complete a core workout while girls were watching their video, and vice versa. This process took about an hour, and shortly after, athletes headed down to the "cage" to tune their skis for the next days adventures.

Some Athletes in the Gondola heading to the top of Lionshead

Tomorrow we are planning to have a similar schedule with freeskiing in the Lionshead area in the morning, and some training on the Golden Peak race trail. The goal of our afternoon session is to work on the apex drill outlined with brushes marking the optimal shape of consistent Giant Slalom turns.

From the top of Lionshead

Stay Tuned!