SUMMER "RACE" CAMP

By Chris Thompson

Alpine DCL, Examiner, Former Technical Team Head Coach

So, what are you going to do on your summer vacation?  Do you remember what it is like to ski in the sunshine?  Are you already feeling skiing withdrawal and the concern of not skiing again for another 6 months?  You need to make some time to work on all those new moves that you learned this winter!  Maybe you should plan a short summer skiing vacation.

Your Technical Team and Divisional Staff members are available at Timberline, Mt Hood for two weekends focused on ski improvement through running gates.  Historically, we have advertised this mid-summer education series as “race camp”.  In reality, it is the use of course setting for improving your personal skiing skills.  Much of what we learn about skiing is developed by the racing community at an international level.  The racing community is always on the leading edge of new equipment and technique.  As instructors, we utilize this information, modifying it to meet our personal needs and those of our guests.  This becomes a primary focus at these summer events.  What better way to spend a weekend during the summer and come up to speed on current skiing trends.

The two weekends are devoted primarily to giant slalom (GS) oriented courses.  The use of GS style courses at this event is due to the terrain, conditions and the fact that slalom training requires additional support equipment unavailable to most ski instructors.  Each skiing day goes something like this:  load the Mile chairlift @ 7:00 am to head up to the Palmer snowfield.  Free ski until 8:00 - meet your coach at the top of the assigned lane; train from 8 - 9:45; short break; train from 10-12:00.  Friday after skiing we have a rafting option and Saturday we will have video review around 1:30pm.  Sunday, train until 12:00 or so and then head for home.  Lifts operate from 7:00 am thru 1:30 pm.

Over the years, we have reduced the size of the camps to approximately 40 participants with a staff of 7 coaches and 3 support crew.  This camp size enables us to maintain a high quality event, lessening the impact on our assigned lane and other logistical concerns.  The smaller camp dictates the importance of your registering as soon as possible to ensure a spot at this premier event - certain to be the highlight of your summer.