MT. HUTT, NEW ZEALAND (September 4, 2010) -- Update by Women's Head Coach Jeff Lackie.
Yesterday feels so surreal, I still can't believe we started the day with an earthquake that registered higher in magnitude then the Haiti earthquake. Thankfully, the structural devastation of yesterdays earthquake was limited to older buildings in Christchurch. Here in Methven, the destruction consisted of some shampoo bottles falling over in the grocery store. Enormous sigh of relief!
Perhaps even more impressive than the earthquake was watching the team rally after the event. I honestly wouldn't have been the least bit surprised if some of the athletes became paralyzed with shock or fear and opted out of training. Under the circumstances, it would have been entirely justified. However, nobody even seemed to waiver when I told them we were going skiing, in fact, everyone seemed really excited. Talk about strength of character and perseverance! Not only did we go skiing we had a very productive day of training that wrapped up at 4pm.
We ask our athletes to adapt to changing conditions and focus on the elements within their control. Everyone exceeded my expectations yesterday. I hope they remember this experience when faced with adversity during the competitive season. If you can regroup and have a productive day of training after such an abrupt start you can overcome any obstacle.
By the numbers, the girls have skied 82,425m of vertical and turned around 3856 gates since we arrived at Mt. Hutt. With the high speed 6 pack we can do 5 runs an hour without even breaking a sweat. Training along side the Canadian, Sweedish, Norwegian, Swiss and US national ski teams has been really motivating. The terrain is extremely versatile with steep pitches and glide sections all on the same track. When the weather at Mt. Hutt cooperates its easy to see why the Europeans would travel all the way here for training when they have some excellent glaciers in their own back yard.
Typically I would have video for AOA & my website but the internet connection isn't overly fast or reliable, so I will wait until I get back home. I have some excellent clips of the girls flying off the DH jump on their SG skis one afternoon.
Hard to believe how quickly the camp has flown past, we start racing on Tuesday, which should be a great opportunity for all of the athletes. Many of the national team athletes will be competing in the event giving our girls something to chase.
Looking to the future, Austria has just received a meter of snow on Solden's glacier which should help jumpstart training. I'm already looking forward to our next camp.
Jeff Lackie
Ontario Ski Team
Women's Head Coach
jefflackie@me.com
CAN: 705 333 8847
NZ: 0210734840
Euro: 0664 9579329