Central Cross Country Ski Association is pleased to announce the 2008 Coaches Conference organized in conjunction with the CXC Regional Elite Camp on June 30 — July 2, 2008.
“This is a great opportunity for coaches at all levels to learn and observe how US National Team coaches work on technique with top athletes. Presentations will be focused on planning the training process, progress identification and training adaptation analysis as well as presentations by US National Team coaches.†Yuriy Gusev, Central Cross Country Ski Association Executive and Athletic Director.
Dates:
June 30 — July 2, 2008 Location:
Cresthill Resort, Hayward, WI www.cresthillresort.com
Schedule:
June 30 (Monday)
Morning: Technique Workout Observation Afternoon: Technique Workout Observation
Evening: US Ski Team Pipeline – Pete Vordenberg-USST
July 1 (Tuesday)
Morning: Training Planning and Monitoring – Yuriy Gusev
Afternoon: Training Periodization (one sport and multi sport) – Yuriy Gusev
Evening: Athlete Development – Matt Whitcomb-USST
July 2 (Wednesday)
Morning: Strength Evaluation Observation
Afternoon: Intensity Training Presentation – Bryan Fish-CXC
Cost:
$150 per coach $250 per coach including two nights lodging and food (lodging is limited)
Registration:
On line registration available at www.cxcskiing.org or http://www.active.com/page/Event_Details.htm?event_id=1593928&assetId=8ce6a3a0-75e4-4615-9c9f-766595fde9e4%20
Monday morning was sunny. Temps overnight got into the upper 20's in the high country and the crust cruising was excellent. Things started to get a little slow around 9:30 due to the fresh snow that had fallen over the past couple of days. The trailhead picture where we started skiing is 3.5 miles up a good road from Crested Butte! It is sure great to still be skiing this close to town. This is the venue for the Boulder Nordic/Western State College/Crested Butte Nordic Camp that starts next Thursday, June 5th. The 3-6 foot base will provide for some excellent skiing for weeks to come and we'll start Bombardier tiller grooming next Tuesday.
For camp information/registration, please see http://www.bouldernordic.com
This has been a weird year for weather, and the fall has certainly been no exception, with the longest-running Indian summer here in Northern New Mexico, and pretty much nationwide, that I have experienced in my lifetime. With only a few days being the exception, I could have been in shorts riding mountain single track on my bike (usually the first activity to go with the onset of fall/winter weather) right up to Thanksgiving.
Colorado typically has two Thanksgiving camps: Crested Butte Thanksgiving Nordic Camp and Boulder Nordic's Thanksgiving camp at Snow Mountain Ranch. Both places can lay claim to some of the best and most reliable early season skiing anywhere in North America. With the balmy and dry Indian summer lingering and the early date of Thanksgiving this year, these two camps were in serious question as of late last week. Heck, even the Yellowstone Camp didn't seem possible until the 59th minute of the 11th hour.
Unfortunately the Boulder Nordic Thanksgiving Camp had to be cancelled due to the lack of quality snow at Snow Mountain Ranch in Northern Colorado. But thankfully for us Southern Rocky Mountain skiers who made the trip to Crested Butte, they were still able to pull off an amazing camp with great clinics and events.
The Crested Butte/Gunnison, Colorado area is quite low-key, but is home to some of the nation's greatest athletes in running, biking, multi-sport and of course, xc skiing. It is this demographic that helps make the area special. The camp clinics are taught by Olympians, national caliber coaches, and staff members who are not only great skiers, but also great clinicians and teachers.
This year's camp was a question mark with regard to clinic events, but thanks to the creativity and effort of Western State's head Nordic coach, Jesse Crandall, in getting an alternate location higher up in the mountains groomed out, the camp was a go on somewhat thin, but surprisingly good snow conditions. Jesse somehow managed to groom, coach his collegiate team, and teach a clinic during the camp.
Crested Butte Nordic put together a mix of dryland skills, strength and technique clinics, along with on-snow instruction. Olympians Ingrid Butts and Rebecca Dussault instructed the comprehensive dryland clinic that included drills on balance, position, and technique as well as fitness and strength training that included a round of their special circuit training exercises. Ingrid Butts and Jesse Crandall came right back out the next day to get all of the campers loaded into the CB Nordic Center vans and up to the groomed Lilly Lake area near the top of Ohio Pass for the on-snow clinics.
The US Continental Cup Team has been in Park City for over a week now. For many of the CC Team athletes this camp serves as an acclimatization camp before the Super Tour races kick off in West Yellowstone, MT. Since most of the races this fall will be at altitude we took advantage of the elevation in Park City to start the acclimatization early.
Some key steps to adjusting to altitude:
1. Intensity – Pay close attention to intensity during easy distance and Intervals alike. Ease into intervals and make sure that the intensity progresses through the workout. Perceived effort and HR will be lower if you go the right pace for these interval workouts.
2. Diet and hydration – Make sure that diet and hydration keep up with the altitude change. More fluids are needed due to increased respiration and lower humidity at altitude. More iron is usually needed in order to keep up with red blood cell production. More calories are also needed because your body works harder just to maintain homeostasis at higher altitude.
3. Reduced Recovery Rate – Reduced recovery rate (both acutely between reps and chronically for several hours after a training session) as there is simply less oxygen available to recover as quickly! Keep your first 7-10 days at altitude under wraps until you can figure out your new pacing and recovery rates.
For more info and great photos from the November Testing Camp on TeamToday.org, click here.
The CXC Team joined in on the US Ski Team for the October camp at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York. Other Olympic Development programs and a handful of top junior athletes also participated in the camp, making this camp a unique opportunity to train with other top skiers prior to the ski season.
Training volumes and training load is presently high, so our goal is to limit travel, focus on individual goals and training with urgency and maximize recovery. However, the opportunity to work alongside other organizations, clubs and programs from throughout the US presents a unique opportunity. The interaction of coaches and athletes, alike, and sharing training and technique concepts assists in evolving Nordic skiing in the US.
Inevitably dryland training during the fall months can mentally wear on the most focused of athletes as one anxiously anticipates real skiing — skiing on well groomed, firm set, white tracks versus black asphalt with the only hint of a track being the double yellow lines.
Third, the facilities at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid have all the necessary amenities. The dryland training in the High Peak Adirondack region is excellent. Equally important is the atmosphere the Olympic Training Center possesses. There is an Olympic enthusiasm everywhere you look. It’s uplifting to sit in the dining hall and have the lugers, freestyle aerialists or ski jumpers plug their camcorders into the fifty inch televisions and watch their daily work-outs including awesome speeds, big air and potentially debilitating crashes.
These reasons made it worth our effort to compromise staying in the Midwest and instead travel half way across the country to Lake Placid, NY during a vital training time.
CXC TEAM CAMP GOALS:
There was a balance between group workouts and individual team sessions. Our goal was to train on steeper and longer ascents in some of our threshold and higher intensity sessions, so many of these efforts were done on our own. Another area we focused on was increasing the speed of our athletes. Sprinting is not necessarily a Team strength, so our goal was to integrate some of our speed sessions with athletes and teams that are stronger in this area. Third, our goal was to learn from other skiers by skiing behind technically efficient skiers to improve our own technique. The opportunity to ski with better competition is one of the best methods, if not THE BEST method to improve. Video is after the fact. Skiing behind someone provides an excellent opportunity to make infinite adjustments to technique and tempo then and there. It is important to be able to recognize good technique, but it’s most important for a skier to understand THE FEEL of what is most efficient for that individual skier.
WEEK ONE:
Our first week was rigorous. It included three intensity sessions including 5.5 — 7 minute uphill threshold skate intervals on approximately an eleven percent grade, 3-4 minute race pace classic rollerski intervals on an equally steep grade and skate sprint intervals. The grade our the first two interval sessions required me to drive the athletes down every time and drive the van back up in second gear. The van brakes definitely got a workout along with the athletes. The skate sprint intervals were chaos. All the groups participated in this event, so the roadway was overtaken with packs of high-paced skate skiers. The rain and wet leaves provided another challenge, but no spills and no broken equipment. We also had three strength sessions in the first week. Two of them were in the weight room and the other was a poling work out. The week culminated with a three to five hour jog and hike into the High Peaks of the Adirondacks.
WEEK TWO:
Our volume for week two was between thirteen to sixteen hours versus the eighteen to twenty-two hours the previous week. Monday is always a day off for us. The athletes took full advantage. We maintained three intensity sessions, but decreased the number of distance and strength sessions. We followed our camp goal by doing a threshold ski-walking workout up Whiteface Mountain. Whiteface is the only alpine hill in the East that can hold a FIS downhill event, so the goal of the men was to ski walk to the top by the end of their interval sets. I lactate tested them on their second interval to ensure they were true to pace and let them go. The second intensity workout was with all groups in a massive race pace uphill double pole interval session. The last intensity effort was a five mile uphill skate time trial that climbed more than three thousand vertical feet. This road was closed for inspection, so I decided to road bike up it the afternoon before. It was evident that there wouldn’t be rest on this time trial, for it appeared to be a steady eight percent grade for at least the first mile. It was a consistent ride to thirty-eight hundred feet above sea level and then I hit the cloud line. The foliage was ice covered and the winds were intensifying. The grade was steepest between two and three miles. I suspect nine to ten percent grade. It flattened to four to six percent grade between 3.5 to 4.25 miles with a strong tail wind of at least twenty-five miles in hour. The roadway at that point was spotted with black ice. The road turned and was right into the wind the last three-quarters of a mile. The winds were greatest on top and the roadway was covered in ice. I ended up walking my bike down the top portion due to the hill winds and ice. I didn’t see how we could race this the next day, but the skies cleared the next morning and melted off the black ice. The ice remained on the trees and other vegetation. This left incredible scenery for racers and spectators alike. The wind directions were identical to the day prior, but significantly less. None the less, it was a huge advantage to catch a draft the last three-quarters of a mile. Results and more pictures can be viewed at www.nysef.org & www.teamtoday.org . We ended camp with another jog and hike into the Adirondacks. We headed up Mt Marcy as we ran into snow. A couple of the guys made it to the top. Check out Brian Gregg’s website at http://xcskilife.com/ to view a great photograph of the summit of Mt. Marcy.
Burke Mountain Academy’s Nordic squad is settling back into the routine of school after returning from ten days of training and the season’s first race in Torsby and Mora, Sweden.
Burke’s schedule is laid out in blocks of academic time interspersed with periods of training time that are long enough to take advantage of training opportunities in other parts of the country or the world. The Fortum Tunnel in Torsby had been getting great reviews by national teams from Scandinavia and Europe. A training block was on the schedule for October this year, so we designed a 12-day camp that centered around time in the tunnel and dry-land training on the roller ski track and in the woods and bogs near Torsby, finishing with the season opening October Sprint in Mora.
We lost two days at the beginning due to delayed flights and lost luggage, but then settled into a comfortable training regimen and balanced tunnel time with time in the outdoors. We shared a private hour and a half in the tunnel with the Norwegian Junior National Team on one morning and enjoyed watching the US sprinters, Andy Newell and Torin Koos, go through their paces as they tuned up for this coming weekend’s race in Dusseldorf. The overall quality of the skiers that are training in the tunnel is inspirational in itself; mostly young, and from clubs and ski gymnasiums, these kids are focused on going fast, and on making the most out of their time on snow.
We found it good to spend time out-of-doors. We were lucky to have a couple of Swedish kids offer to guide a trail run, and for the chance to do one of the favorite roller ski time trials of the local gang…a route laid out by the Fredriksson brothers when they were students at Torsby. A favorite (dry-land? Not.) training session of our gang was a game of “Bog Ballâ€; speed ball played in a peat bog. Spongy, wet and deep in places, the bogs are the location of choice for intervals in Scandinavia. Two thirty-minute halves of “Bog Ball,†and then a relay race that sucked people into the muck just out of reach of the tag, made for a fun and tough workout.
Our quarters were in the new and very pleasant Valbergsangen Sporthotell which lies in walking distance from the tunnel and in easy reach of the trails and the roller ski loops. Two-a-day workouts were the rule, and it was nice to be right on scene. Waxing for the tunnel was easy, but the snow is abrasive so one has to wax more often than expected. We rented a wax cabin for the week just outside the tunnel and it was good to have that convenience for storing gear. The tunnel’s terrain is remarkably good, with two 10-meter vertical climbs and some twisting high-speed corners. The whole thing is two-way traffic with parallel skate lanes in the middle and well-cut single tracks down each side. It is a wonderful facility for technique and video work, and for short interval training. All in all a terrific tool.
On our last morning we piled into the vans for the two hour drive to Mora, famous in the ski world for being the finish line of the Vasaloppet. The “Oktober Sprinten†is an annual affair taking place on a 1.3 K ribbon of snow laid down on the local trails. Snow has been kept under piles of wood chips since last season, and then spread out to provide the venue for the Swedish season opener. The races were well attended, and the US sprinters Andy and Torin were among several top seniors. The junior field was impressive as well with at least four world junior medalists on the line. On snow that was surprisingly good, and a course that was surprisingly tough and challenging, the whole show went off as smoothly as though they had just hosted a race the day before. Our only qualifier was assistant coach Carina Hamel, but the rest of the team all put in a good show. There were broken poles, and maybe a little lack of focus here and there…pretty exciting to be there at all…but it was a real race and a chance to run the engine, take some knocks, learn some things…all in October!
A lot of “Thank You’s†need to go out: to our chef extraordinaire, Lolly Garrec; to our guide and the provider of fresh moose steak and chanterelle mushrooms, Jonas Adolfsson; our wax man and agent on the ground, Eric Nilsson; the Liljemarks and the crew at Valbergsangen; and the Morells at Hotel Ornen. It was a great camp. We’ll definitely go back.
The USST members were not the only ones showing their preseason muscle recently in Lake Placid. Many juniors from the New England region did not hesitate to hop in and rub shoulders with the big guns. NENSA capitalized on the opportunity to schedule a fall camp that coincided with USST training camp so their skiers could put some hours in alongside (or maybe a little behind) the top skiers in the country.
Among the junior skiers that traveled to Lake Placid for the NENSA camp were Parker Tyler, Sophie Caldwell, Megan Killigrew and Karmen Whitham, from Stratton, Jennie Bender from UVM, Alex Howe and Sam Marshall from Gunstock Nordic, Patrick O'Brien from Dartmouth and coaches Sverre Caldwell (Stratton) and Janice Sibilia (NENSA).
At the beginning of the week the NENSA skiers were able to go for a distance classic rollerski with CXC members and get technique advice from Pete Vordenberg, Matt Whitcomb and Pat Casey. Later in the week the junior skiers were given the choice of doing 30 second intervals with the sprinters or 7 minute level 3 intervals with the distance skiers. Many of the junior skiers that chose the longer intervals took the opportunity to ski up a bit into level 4 so that they could hang with top skiers in the country and learn from hanging in behind them.
As Janice Sibilia, NENSA Competitive Program Director, pointed out, during an additional interval workout the lessons learned may have far out weighed the fitness gains of the day. “To witness the focus within each workout was also impressive. On the first day of group intervals with the US Ski Team athletes, a couple of skiers from various groups were left in the dust before the workout even started. When you have an opportunity to ski behind Liz or Morgan or Kris or Andy, you'd do well to observe, and take advantage of it – getting a late start out of the van will not get you where you want to be. They do not wait, nor should they. It is all about being professional in what you do, and part of this is being on time, and on top of your game. The athletes quickly got it and jumped in the subsequent intervals, enabling them to step it up.â€
“For the NENSA team, the entire week took on a feel of going 'Pro', putting the hammer down when beneficial and taking it down a notch when necessary,†said Sibilia. The camp concluded with the athletes participating in the “Climb to the Castle†rollerski race, which was hosted by NYSEF.
To read more about the NENSA camp visit www.nensa.net.
Winter is getting closer and over the last couple of weeks the Alps saw the first snow of the year. Skiing at Dachstein (Ramsau in Austria) in fall is always a special experience. The skiing last week was excellent, with the first two days nice and sunny with temps in the high 30s and first class trail conditions. There were few national A-teams, but plenty of junior teams from Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. The focus on the glacier is to get in plenty of slow easy distance kilometers. Intensity workouts are usually done in the valley of Ramsau where they have a great rollerski course and excellent trails for running or hiking. Just watch out for the Austrian cows!
Team Today reports on the ongoing camp, detailing workouts and providing excellent photos. And Head Coach Pete Vordenberg answers a few questions –
Question 1. We only have X amount of time to train?
Thought: maximize that time by focusing on 1 to 2 things every workout and making sure you accomplish those things within the time you have. Waste no time. If it is rest, rest well, eat a lot and drink lots of fluids. If it is train, train well at the right pace, focused on a few things you can accomplish in the time you have. That is the only way, no matter how much time you have.
Question 2. How high are the elbows in double poling and V2 skiing?
The elbows are not sticking straight out to the side (like an H shape) but nor are they right next to the body.
Far West Nordic Junior skiers began the transition from summer training to Autumn intensity last weekend at the first-ever Virginia Lakes Fall Camp. Set in an incredibly beautiful canyon in the Eastern Sierra, at 9,400 ft elevation, Virginia Lakes offers a great combination of high-altitude roller-skiing and hiking amid the pine and aspen forests of the Sierra Nevada. The weekend was designed as a high-intensity mini-camp for some of the top athletes in the division looking to jump-start their training for next winter’s race schedule.
Because camping at such a high elevation in the Sierra in Autumn can be a dicey experience weather-wise, Far West Nordic took advantage of the Tiernan Family cabin as a base for it’s activities. Led by coaches Jeff Schloss, Mark Nadell, and Nancy Fiddler, athletes came from the western Sierra Foothills, Truckee, Crowley Lake and Bishop to participate. The weekend began with a strength session at the high school of the eastern Sierra hamlet of Lee Vining near Mono Lake, followed by a pizza-fest at the famous Whoa’ Nellie Deli.
Saturday’s activities were based completely within the boundaries of Yosemite National Park, a short, but scenic 45 minute drive from the cabin. After a cold night (with temperatures in the teens), and awakening to a thick layer of clouds in the morning, campers were delighted to break out above the gloom while driving over Tioga Pass, cheering for the emergence of the bright sunlight. The highlight of the day was a long, strenuous run/hike to the peak of Cloud’s Rest, straddling the high country of the park’s Tuolumne Meadows area and the well-known spectacular granite of Yosemite Valley. With the massive bulk of Half Dome looming in the foreground, the athletes climbed to the top of the 10,000 ft. peak in perfect, calm weather conditions.
After the return to the trailhead (completing the 16 mile roundtrip and 3,400 ft. overall elevation gain), the athletes were treated to an afternoon of climbing on the world-famous Tuolumne Meadows granite. The small knobs of the Tuolumne rock served as challenging climbing at Tenaya Lake’s Polly Dome, set in a beautiful alpine valley.
Sunday began with a morning intensity session of roller-skiing up the Virginia Lakes road, a 6 mile, 1,500 ft. climb from the main highway back to the cabin. After a short technique session led by coaches Schloss and Fiddler, mid-level skate intervals were the order of the day, with athletes feeling the effect of the 9,000 ft. altitude on their cardio-pulmonary systems. At this elevation, proper pacing became a key element of the training.
After a quick lunch, a short ski-walking session led by 2-time Olympian Coach Fiddler completed the activities of the camp, with the Northern California contingent piling into the van for the 3 hour ride back to the Truckee-Tahoe area. Participating athletes included Sophie Aaron, Daniel Gelso, Alex Hamilton, Russell Kennedy, Carson Lindsay, Justin Ondry, Adam Wrigh, and Angela Raso from Truckee; Dayna Stimson from Crowley Lake, and Veronica Holmes and Bryce Tiernan from Bishop. Every one of the athletes put in significant high-quality training for the weekend, and are looking ready to transition to more winter-based activities whenever the first snows are likely to hit the Sierra (hopefully in a month or so).
The CXC Team kicked-off their September training camp with a four day camping excursion in the scenic Porcupine Mountains State Park of Upper Peninsula, Michigan. Athletes embraced the wilderness as they settled into their rustic accommodations along the shoreline of Lake Superior.
The Porcupine Mountains, or Porkies as they are fondly referred to, offered picturesque rollerskiing and running terrain for the CXC Team. The first full day of training in the state park entailed a morning ski-walking interval session up the local alpine hill, followed by an afternoon specific strength workout on the hilly terrain of highway M107. The following day included a morning distance run in the pouring rain, and an afternoon low-key classic rollerski. Frequent post-workout dips in the chilly Lake Superior waters were necessary for recovery, followed by evenings spent around the campfire roasting marshmallows.
The Norweigan Sprint Team recently gathered in Trondheim to undergo the season's toughest camp. One of the key workouts was a wickedly tough uphill workout under the supervision of 800 meter gold medalist Vebjœrn Rodal, who has been collaborating with the sprint team over the past few seasons.
The sprint national team is in a very difficult training period and the camp in Trondheim included a large number of challenging workouts. Under the instruction of Vebjœrn Rodal, the skiers performed 12 x 1 minute uphill repeats, and many of the participants are feeling the effects of the sustained load of the past weeks.
“We couldn't do a much harder training camp than this. That would be detrimental. This was probably the hardest camp we've done” said Rodal.
Rodal was actively involved – supervising several workouts with the team during the training camp. His primary focus is on spenst, speed, and anaerobic intervals.
“The new things we tried last year have been made more specific to skiing and to each individual. It is functioning very well and the skiers are starting to see benefit,” explained the Olympic champion from 1996.
Another workout that Rodal lead was a speed workout on the track, spikes included. In this area he has seen significant improvement:
“Everyone seems to be getting along very well after a hard week and I'm beginning to see big
improvement. We normally do the same workouts at each camp, at least when everyone is present.”
Rodal will be following the sprinters throughout the season, in addition to assisting at some races.
Also attending the camp was the development team, and the junior development team.
The athletes and coaches of the Central Cross Country (CXC) Olympic Development Team will be holding a weekend of enjoyable training and extensive technique work from October 26-28. Join them at scenic Rainbow Resort in Northwestern Minnesota, for a pre-season ski clinic. The Resort is located on a beautiful lakeshore and surrounded by a network of forested groomed trails and roller ski roads on the challenging Western slopes of the Laurentian Divide.
CXC athletes and coaches will work one-on-one with participants to improve fundamentals of both classic and skate techniques. Body position, power application, timing, and other technique components will be emphasized through numerous dryland and rollerski drills. Participants will also master new and creative exercises during daily strength sessions conducted by the CXC Team.
Sign up early to reserve your spot at the Nordic Kick-Off Camp! Meals are available in the Lodge. Full service cottages are available on a first come basis. Ample lodging is available in the greater vacation area.
This XC winter warm up is available to families and all ages and groups.
CXC will be organizing a Midwest Junior Olympic Qualifier January 12-13 on the Rainbow Resort trails. The fall camp will be a perfect opportunity to become familiar with the trail network.
For more information and a registration form download, please go to www.cxcskiing.org.
APU skiers just finished their third week-long camp on Eagle Glacier with sunny skies and excellent skiing conditions. Similar to the two previous camps the main focus was to ski a lot (volume) and to keep improving on-snow technique.
“Where are all the girls?!?” is the main question on Chandra Crawford’s mind when she meets the numerous ski teams who come through Canmore, Alberta for training camps. Even on her team (the Canadian Senior National Team) the ratio of boys to girls is 2:1. Don’t get her wrong, it’s great having lots of strong guys around wearing spandex, but this is an awesome sport that should see equal participation from the chicks!
Fast and Female will head to Thunder Bay, Ontario on September 29, 2007. This will be the first Fast and Female event held in Eastern Canada… but certainly not the last!
In December 2005 an event was held in Silver Star, BC with 50 girls participating and in February 2007 the event was held in Canmore, Alberta. The February 2007 event was a model for future events — inspirational instructors, a day of fun and ski-related games, and good eats! Most importantly the girls and women who attended were inspired and empowered to continue living healthy active lifestyles.
The event in Thunder Bay will feature dry-land training for cross-country skiing held at Lappe Nordic Centre. In the morning athletes from across the Thunder Bay region will participate in a serious strength training session. In the afternoon the group will welcome girls of all ages for a more recreational component.
WANAKA, N.Z. (Sept. 6) – U.S. Ski Team athletes found midwinter snow for cross country training again in New Zealand while some teammates fine-tuned their own training with their grassroots club or personal coach at home. “There's more than one way to get the job done,” World Cup sprint racer Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT) said of the individualized training approach.
The annual U.S. Ski Team camp at The Snow Farm was blessed with a storm shortly after the Ski Team arrived in late July, providing “great conditions,” according to Sprint Coach Chris Grover. “It was definitely thin [cover] when we got down there, but then we had a day and a half snowstorm – the winds were so high at one point they couldn't even groom – and then it was plenty of snow, blue skies, cold temps…really good conditions for another successful camp.”
The camp included Olympians Newell, Torin Koos (Leavenworth, WA) and Chris Cook (Rhinelander, WI) plus Development Team skiers Leif Zimmermann (Bozeman, MT), Morgan Arritola (Fairfield, ID), Rosie Brennan (Park City, UT), Liz Stephen (East Montpelier, VT) and newcomer Alexa Turzian (Sun Valley, ID), the youngest U.S. cross country gold medalist after winning the 10K freestyle title last January during the U.S. championships at Michigan Tech. Grover said Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, AK), who claimed her first World Cup podium last winter – a week before Koos earned his first top-3, was training on Alaska's Eagle Glacier with U.S. teammates Tazlina Mannix (also Anchorage) and Laura Valaas (Wenatchee, WA) and the Alaska Pacific University Nordic program. Among others, Kris Freeman (Andover, NH) also trained at home.
It’s been an incredible summer of Nordic training in the Far West region, with the division wrapping up it’s final training event of the season over Labor Day weekend at the 3rd Annual Bliss/Lake Tahoe camp. We thought we’d share a few notes and photos with the FasterSkier.com readers. For lots more photos, you can click to www.farwestnordic.org and go to the Photo Gallery pages for a complete list of camps and images. All photos in this article are by Mark Nadell.
The training camp season started off with a bang with Far West and Auburn Ski Clubs hosting the Western Regional Elite Group Camp at Claire Tappaan Lodge on Donner Summit, near Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Area (Far West REG Camp Report). 50 athletes and 14 coaches, including USST Development Team Coach Patrick Casey, found the training and terrain to be spectacular in the Sierra Nevada in June. With almost a full week of camp, athletes were treated to great roller skiing, running, swimming, and some special strength workouts at the local park, including a unique orienteering experience at Donner Lake.
The Callaghan Valley Training Centre (CVTC), a National Athlete Development Centre based out of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic venue, just completed its third glacier camp of the summer with the Cross-Country BC team in Smithers, BC. The 5 day camp included 4 days of glacier skiing along with plenty of rollerskiing, core strength sessions and stretching. The glacier in Smithers is a low-altitude glacier with a lot of varied terrain. Because of this, the athletes were able to train at a faster pace than the Haig and were able to concentrate on good uphill technique. We were even able to complete a level/zone 3 workout on the glacier which was a great treat.
Athletes were flown into the glacier, but had to hike down a very technical descent following the ski. Because of this, athletes had to keep their skiing sessions rather short (2-3.5 hours) to reduce the risk of injury on the hike down (which took anywhere from 1:15 to over 2:00). For the most part, this was accomplished. In addition to the glacier skiing, we were able to get in a fair amount of rollerskiing on terrific roads with excellent terrain. The main focus at this camp for the rollerskiing was double poling and skating on varied terrain.
In all, it was a successful camp. The CVTC and the CCBC athletes were able to continue to work on improving their technical skills on snow while including another solid block of training. Camps are always great motivation and an ideal way to focus 100% for the task at hand and this camp was no exception.
This camp was a success because of the help of a lot of people including: the CCBC office, the Smither's parents, Chris Manhard (the CCBC Head Coach), Lisa Perry (Smither's Coach), Canadian Air, and of course all of the hard working athletes that attended.
This will be a great opportunity to learn from two-time Olympian Andrew Johnson, who will be working with coaches on Skate technique and drills. This will be one of a series of clinics designed to give coaches an opportunity to take a module of the Level I coaches education curriculum, or learn new information!
The clinic will take place in Jericho, VT at the Ethan Allen Firing Range Rollerski Loop. Start time is 12:00, following the completion of the final race in the NENSA Summer Rollerski Series.
The introductory meeting stated the purpose of this camp – to enable the athletes to have a group training environment which may not be readily available on a consistent basis; For the coaches to offer support during the training sessions, and provide technical feedback; and to have lively and productive roundtable sessions in which athletes, coaches and guests can share their experiences on topics such as managing a long term ski career, technical nuances and recovery, and conditioning for this age group.
Camp began on Thursday with a classic roller ski on Bear Cub Road to loosen up and give the coaches a chance to observe the group. In the early evening the skiers were put through a tough mobility and strength circuit that, on paper, belies how challenging it really is.
Friday's warnings of severe thunderstorms never materialized and we held the morning bounding/ski walking session on Whiteface Mountain. The whole mountain was used, with the most experienced (older) athletes making their way up to the top by their last interval. These trails are steep in some sections and provide a continuous work effort of up to 30 minutes.
We started the workout with some competition. 3 skiers lined up to ski walk, then bound as fast as possible to the finish line. The athletes were then split into three groups for different duration intervals – ranging from 6 to 10 minutes. A swim and rock jumping at the Flume finished off a great workout.
The sun came out in the late afternoon making it hot and humid. But the skiers pressed on with a distance skate ski session on varied terrain. One particularly long steep hill provided a good challenge among the otherwise rolling terrain. This was a good loop to ski as it had very little traffic and consistently good pavement from which a 2.5 to 3 hour loop could be strung together. Everyone was back just in time for dinner and a chance to recover from the day.
This morning it is raining out but temps are more manageable and the Double Pole speed session should be fun. Later in the day the athletes will take to the trail for a run/hike up Cascade- Porter Mountain.
Roswell snow.
TeamToday.org.
 and cadence.</p>
<p>Utilizing the stretch release mechanism of muscles and tendons to create power effectively.</p>
<p>Teaching the difference between stepping and gliding in classic striding.</p>
<p>Creating power by limbs moving quickly and freely in opposite directions.</p>
<p>Skiing a lot.</p>
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<p>Newell, whose sprint podium in China after the 2006 Olympics was the first U.S. top-3 in a World Cup race since 1983, said, “I feel better than I've ever felt.” The Ski Team's approach to individualizing training regimens makes sense as skiers gain experience, he said.</p>
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On Snow in New Zealand with the U.S. Ski Team
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