28 Nov

Panorama Fall Camp #1 Trip Report

Great job to all SARS athletes who attended Fall Camp #1!

Arrival went well on the 17th.  We  brought three vans and three trailers with a total of 40 athletes and 7 coaches.

At Panorama this time of year we generally get (two) two hour sessions per day.  On most days we trained for 4 hours straight with a short snack break in he middle of the day to maximize snow time and limit set up and tear down.  Usually we start our season off in Pano with GS, but do to the slightly larger than normal crowds we began with slalom skills and drills to maximize our opportunity in the provided space.
To get the season under way we put great emphasis on balance, stance and turn initiation.
Common ideas used are / were: moving to the up hill edge of the uphill ski early in the transition with a flexed ankle, once balanced on new ski (happens really quick), continuing forward movement while rolling the new outside ski on edge from ground up (often refereed to the kids as rolling it up”), then  continuing outward focus and movement enabling the ski to bend into the fall line.
Day 1 – 11/18/18
Day one was dedicated to getting back on our feet.  The athletes were divided into age appropriate groups, each making laps with their coach.  The bulk of the session was spent free skiing doing skills and drills on slalom skis.  We also used the space provided for some drill courses during the latter portion of our session.
  • Venue: All groups on showoff
  • Training:
  • FIS:  Hero gates, panel slalom (lots of one ski work focusing on stance & balance)
  • U14:  2 short courses.  A hero gate rhythn course and a panel slalom course.  At the end of the session a short tall gate rhythm course was also added for  few laps.
  • Conditions: Clear with hard grippy snow with mid-twenty air temps.
  • Volume: 6-8 drill laps and 6-8 in the courses.
Day 2 – 11/19/18
Second day of our slalom progression.  The groups were divided into two for training purposes.  A U14 and under group and a FIS/U16 combo group.  Each group continued with a series of free skiing drills as well as introduced some drill courses.  Each group had a video session, conditioning, and tuning/waxing session opposite their training times.
  • Venue: U14: 8 – 12 on Showoff upper rt.  FIS: 12-4 on Showoff lower rt.
  • Training:
  • FIS:  Hero gates, panel slalom (lots of one ski work focusing on stance & balance)
  • U14:  2 short courses.  A hero gate rhythn course and a panel slalom course.  At the end of the session a short tall gate rhythm course was also added for  few laps.
  • Conditions: Clear with hard grippy snow with mid-twenty air temps.
  • Volume: 6-8 drill laps and 6-8 in the courses.
With it being super crowded on the mountain, the training space was less than ideal for day two but we made the most of what we had.
Day 3 – 11/20/18 
Transition from SL to GS on day three.  With our on hill session scheduled from 12-4.  We used the am for some conditioning  and age appropriate GS tech talks with video.  The older kids also had a homework session.
Once on snow, we spent the first hour and 1/2 lapping with groups doing GS free skiing drills prior to transitioning into our drill courses.
Three main technical focus points for the FIS. 1)Strong hip position  2)forward ankle flexion to new outside ski in turn transition  3) sternum to outside tip through the apex of turn
Main technical focus points for U14- balance and stance, hip position in transition, and rolling skis onto age from ground up.
Tactical focus points – 1) Elevation on the rise line 2) one clean arc per turn 3)arcing out (skis pointed out when crossing the rise line)
  • Venue: All of Showoff.  FIS and 16’s used the upper section and the U14 and 12’s the lower portion.
  • Training:
  • FIS – two short courses with rise line brush, then the courses were blended together.
  • U14 – two short courses.  Apex drill with hero gates, Apex drill with one hero and one tall gate blended to single tall gate.
  • Conditions: Clear with hard grippy snow with mid-twenty air temps.
  • Volume: 6-8 drill laps and 6-8 in the courses.
Day 4 – 11/21/18
We were given a single GS training lane for the entire 8 hours on Wednesday so we split our time up into to two four blocks for age appropriate training sessions.  The kids made some nice strides in there GS skiing.  Turn shape brushes were added the course sets to help put the kids in the right spot enabling them to primarily focus on technical improvements.
  • Venue: U14: 8 – 12 on Showoff upper rt.  FIS: 12-4 on Showoff lower rt.
  • Training:
  • FIS:  22 -24 Meter GS with two turn shape brushes.
  • U14:  25 – 27 M GS with single turn shape brush set in the apex.
  • Conditions: Snow gun fog with hard grippy snow with mid-twenty air temps.
  • Volume: 3-5 warm up and drill laps.  8-10 runs of GS for the U14’s and 10-12 runs for the FIS group.
Day 5 – 11/22/18
10th annul SARS Turkey Cup team event Day!  Nine teams of four were made.  Best two of three runs used for team time.  Following the Turkey cup athletes were able to make a few more training run laps.  We had great racing conditions on lower showoff.
The “Epic Chili Peppers” were crowned champions!  Congratulations Kya, Finley, Miles, and Lucas.
Thank you everyone for helping out with the SARS Family Thanksgiving dinner.
Day 6 – 11/23/18
  • Venue: 
  • U14: 10 – 2 of lower Oldtimer for Slalom progression.
  • FIS: 10 – 12 lower showoff and 2 – 4 on upper show off.  Both sessions with Bridger Bowl
  • Training:
  • FIS:  25-26 M GS with Wall Drill in the am (aprox. 8 runs).  25 M GS with turn shape brush drill in the afternoon (aprox. 8 runs, 5 with poles and 3 with a drill focus specific to athlete needs).
  • U14:  SL progression: Picket fence, stubby course with helper brush, and mixed gate course.  25 – 27 M GS with single turn shape brush set in the apex.
  • Conditions: Clear, warm with good snow.

Day 7 – 11/24/18

Age appropriate GS for the U14’s and a continuation of the slalom progression from earlier in the week for the FIS group.  We ended on a good note with all of the athletes skiing really well on the last day of the camp.

  • Venue: 
  • U14: 8 – 12 lower showoff rt.
  • FIS: 8 – 12 lower showoff middle.
  • Training:
  • FIS:  (2) 25 gate courses with 8 runs on each.
  • U14:  Full length age appropriate GS with 10-12 runs
  • Conditions: Clear, warm with good snow.

Good Job to all!  Lets hope for some snow at home!