The Norwegian cross country national teams left for altitude training camps in central Europe on Monday this week. The plan is obliviously to become better, but the women, the men’s regular team and the sprint team are all using different theories for how to utilize altitude and become better.
The women’s team left for Seiser Alm, Italy and 1800-meters altitude. They will do no on-snow skiing. The plan calls for only dryland training.
The men’s development and regular national team are choosing Stelvio, also in Italy. They will live at 2700 meter and snow-ski at altitudes reaching 3500 meters.
The sprint team has chosen Les Diableretes, Switzerland. They will live at 1200 meter and ski on the glacier at 2800 meters.
All team will be gone until September 10. They will train at their separate locations until the last week when they will meet in Livingo for dryland training at 1800-meters elevation. Â
There are different reasons why the teams are prioritizing differently. Women’s coach Svein Tore Samdal says that he sees little value in skiing at the high altitude in Stelvio.
– You have to ski so slow that the technique benefit is very small.
The first part of the altitude camp is however an important part in all three team’s plan for peaking for this winters Worlds in Oberstdorf, Germany and in their preparations towards the Olympics in Torino in 2006, where the races will hold at altitude.
The sprint team is also choosing to do things differently than the men’s team, they won’t live as high, but will still be able to ski.
The alternative with Stelvio is to live very high or to drive far to ski. We will loose a few quality sessions this way. As sprinters we need a certain amount of speed sessions, but we have to hold back at this altitude, says coach Ulf Morten Aune.
– We have completed the first part of the planned hard training this summer before departure. We will ski only easy distance on the glacier, but will do hard sessions every other day down in the village.
Aune is planning on holding back on the effort also in the week in Livingo.
– This is the first altitude camp this season and it’s important to not train to hard. We are for that reason doing high volume also in Livigno.
Some of the waxers are also at this camp. They will be picking skis at the factories located in Central Europe and doing some ski testing.
For more information  on the training location for teams, look at these links:
Livigno: www.livigno.com
Seiser Alm: www.seiser-alm.com
Les Diableretes: www.diablerets.ch/web
Stelvio: www.dolomiti.it/eng/inverno/sport/skiarea.htm?ski=45
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 as Stelvio. At other places like Val Senales you can live at 2000 meter and in Ramsau at about 1200 meters.</p>
<p>– It’s extreme, it was hard to walk up the stairs says Djupvik</p>
<p>He was for that reason concerned that the skiers would be sucked into the pace of the experienced older national team skiers.</p>
<p>– We followed the same basic plan, but held back. We also trained shorter workouts than the elite team.</p>
<p>Djupvik believes that taking it easy is an absolute must.</p>
<p>– Many on the elite team have 10-years experience with high altitude training and they adjust faster. We have to start somewhere as well, but we realize that training only a little bit too fast can ruin the first part of the season. I believe that we avoided that trap.</p>
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, who is in the midst of his traditional summer pro mountain bike season. He's expected to rejoin the squad next season when his season winds down after the Olympics and World Championships, and the skiers return to their residency program in Park City.</p>
<p>“We're running the same type of program as we do in Park City,” Nystad said. “We'll ski twice a day, roughly three to five hours a day. The weather's been fantastic and so far it's all been successful.</p>
<p>“Everything is planned, everyone knows what he or she is doing – two or three sets of intensity workouts, strength training twice or week, rest for an hour and a half, ski for about three hours daily. Have a rest day, do some easy distance. Things are looking good; everyone's farther along technically than when we've come down in the past, so we're starting ahead of last year and I'm seeing some good, positive things.”</p>
<p>Sue Robson from the Sports Science Department is with the group this year, continually testing and advising the athletes and coaches. “It's been a tremendous help to have Sports Science supporting us like this; we're learning a lot,” he said. “We're more aware of when we can train, when not to train. Her measurements do affect out training…</p>
<p>“Everyone's healthy and psyched to be skiing,” Nystad said, noting Olympic Wendy Wagner (Park City, UT) is healthy after a winter of illness and SuperTour champion Rebecca Dussault (Gunnison, CO), in her first year on the Ski Team, “keeps improving. Really, I see continual improvement day to day from everyone.”</p>
<p>Newly named sprint coach Vidar Loefshus, a former Norwegian club coach, will arrive on the weekend with the development group, according to Nystad, “and that'll be even better for the sprinters. He'll get them lined up and help give 'em an even better focus. It'll be good to have Vidar with us.”</p>
<p>The first races – 10K classic for women, 15K classic for men – will be held Saturday to give everyone a yardstick on where he or she is. As the men's alpine team settles in not far away at Mount Hutt, Nystad said there may be a rematch of last year's soccer game, which alpine won, 2-1. Advised that World Cup giant slalom champ Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) won't be with the group, Nystad – a gold-medal trash talker – said, “Oh, in that case, if they're not afraid to play, we'll still win but it may be tougher for us. Bode was hogging everything and if he'd passed they might've scored more…but since he won't be playing, that may make 'em harder to beat.”</p>
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www.nsavage.com ) who is putting on a ski academy at Snow Farm. Part of the academy’s proceeds will help fund the US athletes trip to New Zealand. This academy gives the public an opportunity to experience the beauty of New Zealand, the excellent training and skiing at Snow Farm and help support the US Ski Team.
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<p>After lunch & video review – oh, forget it, you look a LOT cooler in your<br />
mind's eye than you actually do on the video tape ! – we did a footwork<br />
session. This was fun too, because John grew up in Norway doing just these<br />
things. None of these drills is too difficult, and it costs zero for<br />
equipment, and again, this is what the young Norwegians do in the off-season<br />
(refer to any Olympic results to see how those kids turn out), so why aren't<br />
we doing more of this stuff ? I gotta take that medicine. As simple as ski<br />
walking, jack it up to medium for Moose hoofs (translated from Norwegian<br />
something like Smooth As the Moose's Head As He Runs, so you get the picture<br />
to keep your head on an even plane), or turn it up to 11 for the Bounding !<br />
Then John likes you to drop & do various kinds of push ups, and all sorts of<br />
fun other foot work things like skate jumping.</p>
<p>On Day 2, we got back on the r-skis, and we found a rare paved Michigan hill<br />
with little traffic for some V1 & uphill V2 while being videotaped. That was<br />
a big help for everyone, as we again all got something specific to work on.<br />
It's amazing that something as simple as the V1 can be misinterpreted<br />
(botched) to such a degree (by me). When John does it, it looks SO easy.</p>
<p>Then we went back for some core work which is a huge area of improvement for<br />
master's skiers. Even the 12 year old junior skiers in Canada must withstand<br />
a 15 minute core routine, just to meet the standard. He also reviewed in<br />
depth the new block training format he & Torbjorn are espousing, which makes<br />
sense to me. The thing about John is that he went to two Olympics while<br />
working a full time job, so he will give you no sympathy for slacking. He<br />
will also allow zero tolerance for you not doing your running ! He seems to<br />
know what works for master's skiers, and where to put your time to work most<br />
effectively.</p>
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send us an email.
</p>
<p><B>Friday</B><br />
AM: Ski – skating: Easy intervals – lactate testing<br />
Lecture: Wax clinic/Race ski preparation<br />
PM: Ski – classic: Technique — diagonal</p>
<p><B>Saturday</B><br />
AM: Local relay-race (1 classic, two skating legs) – camp teams, lactate testing<br />
Lecture: Review of core strength exercises, review of lactate results<br />
PM: Ski — skating techniques: V1, V2 alternate<br />
PM: Dinner w/invited Chef – review of camp, more video technique review</p>
<p><B>Sunday</B><br />
AM: Ski – distance (technique choice), specific strength drills<br />
PM: Ski – technique review, summary</p>
<p>Final camp registration closes November 30th. If you are interested in attending, please e-mail info@fasterskier.com. Only a few spots are still available.</p>
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<div style=)
 room is $69.95 and includes deluxe continental<br />
breakfast. This is high season in the area and a great deal. To view the hotel<br />
go to <a href=http://www.bwlandmarkinn.com/)
www.bwlandmarkinn.com.
