Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Whistler super camp #1


Returning to basics and fundamentals will be the focus of the May camp, utilizing much of the mountain, groomed and off piste runs. On-snow functional body movement, skills assessment and drills will create a strong foundation for building skills on. Campers will be divided into 3 groups by age/skill levels (I was placed in the highest group, performance level). Including fitness testing on Saturday.www.wmsc.info

So Saturday was the day for GS testing, it was raining, that added an extra challenge, the snow was so sticky, but hey it’s BC spring skiing. For testing we also used a wave track, with 6 waves, 1 meter high each and the tops where 12 meters apart. The goal was to absorb the waves at GS speed while making the turns. After a few tries I got the hang of the wave track and actually quite liked it. At the end of the day we also had to tuck the wave track, well that wasn’t quite as successful, I almost crashed after the third wave barely managed to keep standing but lost my pole and skied out of the track.
That afternoon we did fitness testing, which started with a beep test, that was the only test I couldn’t participate in. After the beep test they build all the stations with the different tests, penta jumps, both on one leg and on two, box jumps (ugh), 5-10-5 agility (‘running’ and touching the floor), high jump and planking.


Overall I scored pretty good better than expected and I was pretty happy with my results. Especially since I wasn’t allowed to jump for 12 weeks after my ankle injury (torn syndesmose) in February (when I broke my orthotic), this was my first time jumping again.

Sunday it was time for skills testing on slalom ski’s, we did the wave track again and hourglass skiing (I got a 7 out of 10). The group also skied on 1 ski without poles, quite a challenge from what I have seen. Since I’m not able to ski on one ski I did a different exercise to help me separate more, and it worked pretty well! Seems I have found the change I needed at the Whistler mountain ski club, I have made quite some progress and definitely stepped out of my comfort zone. Thanks to all the great trainers! It was awesome to get training from a girl who was on the Canadian national team last year.
After testing we went ‘free’ skiing, but as trainer Ryan said there is no free in free skiing, always work on something while having fun. We skied off piste, through the trees, this was definitely a challenge for me, but the camp motto was accept the challenge, and I did it!
After that run, it was the end of the day already and my good leg was so fatigued  that I just ‘fell’ it was more like sitting down in the snow, time to download.
Sunday afternoon consisted of lots and lots of stretching, I was so sore, I couldn’t sneeze anymore ;). Sunday afternoon also means soccer, the team thought they had an actual Euro soccer player on their hands, unfortunately I had to disappoint them with that… J


I'm so adopting this Canadian lifestyle wearing running leggings and bright running shoes in public, being outside and active every day 

Monday was the last day of camp and we had the candy cup duals, this was so much fun!
Dual slaloms always helps you to push that little extra.



 After skiing it was time to say goodbye, until July because that’s when the next camps take place at the glacier by then. The whole team and coaches had drinks and nacho’s at Merlin’s bar. I had a great time thanks to all the girls and the coaches. A big thanks goes out to the Kepl family who took me in like I was family, and of course to topsport met zonder handicap who make these camps possible for me with their financial support.
The drive down from Whistler to Vancouver was beautiful again this time I could ‘enjoy’ it extra-long because of traffic jams, it clearly has been a long weekend.


Yesterday I started working again in the lab and my supervisor said ‘I see you have had some sun’ yep goggle face and helmet lines which is impressive with mostly clouded weather.


Now back to work and dryland until July, when it’s time for the next camp, more skiing, more fun times, more icebad’s and sore muscles ;) 

Friday, May 17, 2013

Whistler day 1

I’m in Vancouver for exactly 2 weeks now, to read more on those stories see my Vancouver blog www.annikainvancouver.blogspot.ca
Yesterday I made the beautiful drive from Vancouver to Whistler, taking me over highway 99, the ‘sea to the sky highway’ to view is so amazing that it actually doesn’t bother me that much that the speed is very limited. I have rented a car, and thanks to a little hand controlled car mix up, I got a free upgrade to a very nice car, I love it, I will miss it for sure when I have to give it back Monday night.




So today was the first day of skiing with the Whistler mountain ski club. I skied with the FIS group and had a good time. The conditions were very soft due to some high temperatures over the last few weeks, but there still is plenty of snow left J
We did GS drills today, and all the drills were new to me, the coaches mentioned that they saw a progress over the day, always good to hear, I felt it as well. I felt very confident on my GS ski’s in the soft snow. The motto of the day was accept the challenge, so I did moguls and off piste and tons of more drills. By the end of the day my GS turns felt really good and I was death tired in my good leg J. They have some high level coaches and a lot of their athletes have made the national team over the years. I’m so happy to get the chance to train with them, this might just be the change I need to step it up next season. So a big thanks to topsport met zonder handicap a great foundation who has made this possible for me!



After skiing we had dryland training, some athletes were mountain biking, some were running or spinning for 20 minutes. I was spinning after which we did some yoga and stretching. We also did some balancing, and I walked a bit on the slag line as well. With poles it was easy even turned and walked back,then I tried loosely holding another girl’s hand while walking, and I even took some steps on my own, nice project for this summer J
Tomorrow GS skills testing we will see, I’m looking forward to another day on the hill!