Ski Racing - November 21, 2011

Elyse Burandt of the Spokane Ski Racing Association and Eva Shaw of Burke Mountain Academy enjoy training at Copper.

Young racers get some arly season training at an NDS camp in Copper.

Fast Friends

THE NATION’S TOP JUNIORS CONVERGE ON COPPER FOR AN EARLY SEASON NDS CAMP By Eric Williams

The USSA’s National Development System (NDS) gathered 24 of the country’s top J3 racers at Copper Mountain, Colo., from Nov. 5-12 at the Junior Champions Camp.

“Our goals were to bring the best kids of this age group together and try to get pace within all the regions together and get kids to meet each other,” said Rich Smith, the USSA eastern development director. “Someday they could all be on the same team, so if they can start that bond now, it helps.” The racers, many of them hitting the snow for the first time this season, experienced an especially charged atmosphere as Copper’s new speed center was opened to the U.S. Ski Team for the first time. During nightly sessions, national team coaches spoke to the NDS athletes who could be under their leadership within just a few years.

Copper’s ample snowmaking, complemented by several timely storms, provided an excellent surface for training. “The on-snow goals were fundamentals,” said Smith. “We did a lot of one-ski work, trying to get up over the ski — “owning the ski” is what I like to say, where the kids have the ability to use the skis as a weapon for finding speed.” The skiers spent much of their on-snow time slowing down the pace to work on their technique and simplifying their movement to dissect the basics of solid skiing. “Sometimes we get too excited and skip the fundamental phase because we, as coaches, are just as competitive as the kids and we want those results, too, but we have to think about the future and if we can make this our future, those results will come,” said Smith.