Home 9 Alpine Ontario Alpin Racing 9 Coaching 9 OST 8-Day Camp #1

What does a typical off-season, prep. camp look like for the Ontario Ski Team in the month of May? Below is the 8-day outline from the 2018 Mammoth Mountain camp.

DAY 1: OBJECTIVE: STANCE AND BALANCE

General: 1 hour unsupervised free skiing, 2.5 hours supervised technical free skiing, .5 hours unsupervised free skiing. SL skis

Drills:

  • Braquage
    • Athletic stance on skis
    • Skier travels straight down the fall line with upper body and pelvis pointed down hill
    • Skis remain flat and pivot using lower joints
    • Variations (hands behind back, folded across chest, etc.)
  • Skidded Arcs
    • Athletic stance on skis
    • Skier performs round arcs at slow speed without carving the skis
    • Focus on balance on the outside ski with upper body and pelvis facing down the hill
  • “Ski Instructor Turns”
    • Athletic stance and balance on the skis
    • Shorter, higher tempo turns, without ski performance
    • Focus on good hip placement, quiet upper body, and lower joint activation with feet, ankles, knees, skis working together

SKIDDED TURN

DAY 2: OBJECTIVE: STANCE AND BALANCE

General: Due to fog, wet snow and rain we adapted daily content. .5 Hours unsupervised free skiing. 3 hours supervised technical free skiing. SL skis

Drills:

  • Super Rounds
    • Athletic stance and balance on skis
    • At low speeds the skier performs short round arcs with a long travers across the hill
    • Focus on hip placement and quiet upper body, using only the lower joints to roll skis on edge and carve. The skier should travel almost back up the hill to control speed. Skier moves to “neutral position” with skis flat and ankle open before starting new turn
  • Increase Tempo
    • Slowly increase tempo and reduce transition while looking for the same body position and balance on the skis

SUPER ROUNDS

DAY 3: OBJECTIVE: STANCE AND BALANCE, BASIC LINE

General: Adapted plan due to sticky snow. Set a course and salted the snow. Conditions were much better in the course.

Environment: “GS” stubbies , 15 meters, round, SL skis

Drills:

  • Javelin Turns
    • Athletic stance and balance on outside ski
    • At slow speeds the skier performs turns balanced on the outside ski, with the inside ski lifted off the snow and pointed downhill
    • Focus on balance on the outside ski, with position and ankle flexion to maintain balance. Skis should point across the hill before the turn is complete and weight transfers to the new outside ski to start the next turn.

JAVELINE TURNS

DAY 4: OBJECTIVE: STANCE AND BALANCE, BASIC LINE

General: Adapted to athlete fatigue. Multiple environments were set, spent time going through the progression from Day 1 to reestablish technical focus.

Environment: Picket fence w/ stubbies (2m, set directly vertical in falline), 15m round set w/ stubbies, 9m set w/ stubbies to introduce SL tempo, SL skis

Drills:

  • Rollerblade turns:
    • Athletic stance and balance centered over the platform
    • On easy terrain, athlete will link medium radius turns primarily using lower joints to initiate and finish the arc.
    • Focus on maintaining position of the COM over the platform throughout the arc. Progressive engagement and release of lower joints to initiate and finish the arc.
    • Variation of hand position

ROLLERBLADE TURNS

DAY 5: OBJECTIVES: STANCE AND BALANCE

General: Introduction to GS skis, one hour unsupervised free ski,  3 hours supervised free ski, adapted speed and drills to fog and snow conditions

Drills:

  • Braquage
    • Athletic stance on skis
    • Skier travels straight down the fall line with upper body and pelvis pointed down hill
    • Skis remain flat and pivot using lower joints
    • Variation of hand position
  • Power plow
    • Athletic position and engagement over outside ski
    • Maintaining a snow plow throughout the arc, athlete will complete linked turns focusing on lower joint engagement and position/direction of hips. Weight transfer to the new outside ski to start the turn.
    • Movement to establish platform over the outside ski and position of upper body should be athletic, even while maintaining snow plow
    • Variation of hand position and turn radius
  • “Stem” Drill
    • Stance and balance, outside ski to outside ski
    • Athlete will initiate the turn entirely with the outside ski, working into an athletic snow plow position through the top of the arc. As the outside ski enters the fall line, the inside ski will be brought back parallel with the outside and the turn will be finished with a clean arc.
    • Skis should be brought across the hill to complete the turn. Initiating weight transfer to new outside ski to begin turn.
  • Pole Across the Hips
    • Equipment needed: long pole (approximately 2m), bamboo or SL pole work
    • Athletes perform skidded or linked turns with a long pole tucked in against the hip bones. The pole will provide a physical and visual cue about rotational and lateral hip position throughout the arc
    • Combine work with the pole with other drills (Stem drill, javelin turns, etc.)

STEM DRILL

DAY 6: OBJECTIVES STANCE AND BALANCE, BASIC LINE

General: GS skis, half hour of unsupervised free ski, 3.5 hours of supervised free ski and gated work, drills to the start of the environment, and from the environment to the bottom of the hill. Lots of work without poles

Environment: Easy to moderate terrain, 25-26m set w/ stubbies, good offset

Drills:

  • Similar progression of Power Plow and Stem Drill from previous day
  • Edge Sets
    • Athletic stance and balance, lower joint engagement through the bottom of the arc
    • As the athlete is traversing the hill to complete a turn, they will progressively roll on and off the edge multiple times focusing on lower joint engagement and release. Balance over the outside ski is to be maintained. Skis should begin to run slightly down the fall line as pressure is released and the ski rolls flat; skis should be brought back across the fall line as pressure is increased and ski is rolled up to complete the edge set
    • Athlete will complete a skidded turn balanced over the outside ski as they near the edge of the trail.
    • 2-4 edge sets per turn, depending on ski radius and trail width
  • Brushes for line markers
    • A brush was placed at the rise line about 3m above the gate and another set horizontally across from the gate about 4m out.
    • Gave a visual cue for timing/initiation of the turn, as well as direction of travel transitioned from one turn to the next
    • We allowed the athletes to establish a line they felt was appropriate over 2 runs, then set the brushes. Athletes line and timing without the brush was generally too straight and too rushed

EDGE SETS

DAY 7: OBJECTIVES STANCE AND BALANCE, BASIC LINE

General: GS skis, half hour of unsupervised free ski, 3.5 hours of supervised free ski and gated work, drills to the start of the environment and from the environment to the bottom of the hill. Lots of work without poles

Environment: Easy to moderate terrain, 24m set w/ stubbies, good offset. Speed remained quite slow and forced athletes to focus on balanced, athletic position to start the turn.

Drills:

  • Braquage
  • Stem Drill
  • High-Tuck Turns
    • Athletic position and engagement of lower joints
    • Athletes complete linked turns while maintaining a high tuck position.
    • Athletes must maintain mobility and suspension through the leg and lower joints. Focusing on ankle engagement at the initiation of the turn.
    • Hands and arms in the tuck position can serve as a visual and physical cue for hip position/direction through the arc
  • Brushes for line markers
    • In place for first run

DAY 8: OBJECTIVES STANCE AND BALANCE, BASIC LINE, INCREASE OF SPEED AND PERFORMANCE

General: GS skis, half hour of unsupervised freeski, 3.5 hours of supervised freeski and gated work. Drills to the start of the environment. Lots of work without poles

Environment: Moderate to steep terrain, 26-27m set w/ GS panels, good offset.

Drills:

  • High-Tuck Turns
  • Braquage
  • Brushes for Line Markers
    • In place for runs 1-4, then removed