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.
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
;)
