MMSC Does Vail!

Hello!

As most of you may already know, MMSC has moved the bulk of it's operations out to Vail, Colorado for a  10 day camp in order to take advantage of some early season training opportunities. Although the coverage is slightly limited, we have been able to ski on some very firm snow covering just about every different type of terrain that we expect to encounter this season.

After two days of skiing here in Vail, we have been able to ski about three or four different trails, but these are Colorado trails which have a tendency to be as wide as a football field and seem to go on for miles. On Saturday, our crew woke up for an early morning jog to help adjust to the altitude before heading in to enjoy a hot buffet style breakfast in our lodge. Once everyone had gotten their fill of eggs, home fries, and bacon, we made our way over to the Lionshead region of Vail via shuttle trsanportation to enjoy some early morning freeskiing on a surprisingly firm surface. The first few runs offered incredible conditions that felt an awful lot like the kind of snow we come across in the middle of the winter before we got down to some of the bulletproof snow that we are used to. We spent the morning getting comfortable on our new equipment and "getting the rust off" before we began to fine tune the focus for each athlete. After a quick lunch break and video review session, we went back out on the mountain to ski the race trail for about eight focused runs.

MMSC U16 and U14 Programs

Once we had finished skiing for the day, athletes changed out of their ski clothes and went down to the equipment area to tune up their skis after a day of skiing on some very solid snow. Athletes were instructed to make sure that their edges would be rather sharp for Sunday as we would be using the same gear. Camp reconvened as a whole group for dinner at 6PM in our lodge before athletes switched back into student-mode for the nightly study hall session hosted by the academy headmaster and two teachers. By the time study hall had ended, everyone was exhausted and headed back to their rooms for some well deserved sleep.

This morning began in a similar fashion with an early run around the surrounding village, followed up by some breakfast before heading out to ski for the day. We spent our morning session revisiting the skills that had been worked on the day before to ensure that they would have a lasting impact. From the very first run, it was apparent that the athletes had remembered what they had worked on the day prior. But just to make sure that these skills would be further ingrained in muscle memory, coaches provided specific drills for each athlete focusing on the particular goal in mind.

After about 10 runs, we all headed in for some lunch and another quick video review session before heading back out on the mountain for another afternoon session. Again we helped each athlete to develop skills like proper hip movement, upper body position, and the ever-important pole plant. Only two days into our camp and I am very impressed with the skiing that has been done. Tomorrow we are moving onto GS skis to introduce a little more speed and help athletes to sharpen their skills. We should have another blue-sky day tomorrow, so sunscreen will be strongly encouraged!


Stay Tuned!