U16 Team Update | Sep 17th
Hello U16,
Topics:
Chile Camp
Dryland opportunities & Schedule
Travel Tracker
Race Center - Wittenburg
Equipment reminder
Now that the team is back and settled in, I wanted to send along a proper recap of the Chile camp, and a look at what's ahead the coming weeks.
The camp was a real success. We had sun every single day, and the snow surface stayed firm and easy to maintain the whole trip, conditions we rarely get to count on. El Colorado gave us a genuine buffet of terrain: flat pitches, medium pitches, and steep, all in one small mountain, which is a training option you just don't find in BC. Early days focused on athletic stance and controlled movement through slow skiing, then moved into gates with a real emphasis on understanding the apex of each turn and the timing of movements needed to maximize speed while minimizing line.
With long days on hill and plenty of free skiing mixed in alongside gate training, the athletes got a full, well-rounded block. For those of you only hearing about the trip secondhand, know that this was a productive camp from a coaching perspective, exactly the kind of volume and specificity of terrain we look for at this point in the season.
We recorded 3 days of technical freeskiing, 4 days of slalom and 6 days of GS. Courses were short by racing standards, but effective in trying to keep the focus throughout. Fitness levels were a limiting factor in maximizing training and coaches had to monitor session start and end times carefully to keep athlete's performance at an appropriate level.
El Colorado was the place to be this year and teams from all over the world travelled to train here. Many of them changed their initial plans as European glaciers closed out and they learned of the quality where we were. Our racers were alongside Swiss, Austrian, Norwegian, Canadian Dev, Croatian, Japanese, Slovenia and USA teams to name a few. Notable racing heros that were present during our camp included Shiffrin, Kilde, Kristoffersen. WMSC will continue to travel to El Colorado for summer camps for the foreseeable future - the winter conditions, ability to freeski and ample course setting options are exactly what a summer camp should consist of. Hiccups like power outages and tuning issues will be addressed but they insignificant compared the optimum training conditions provided.
Dryland started this week, and I want to speak to why it matters. At altitude, fitness is often what determines how much an athlete can get out of a camp like Chile, more than technique or conditions do, especially for a group coming from sea level. Every run on snow costs more when the legs and lungs are working harder just to keep up, and it catches up with athletes by the middle of a training day.
Sun Peaks is our next major training camp, scheduled for November 11 to 20 (dates to be confirmed). That gives our U16 athletes 8 more weeks to prepare, and this window is one of the few parts of the season that is fully within your control. We can’t control weather or course conditions, but we can help athletes show up with bodies that are ready to take full advantage of every training opportunity once we’re on snow.
Dryland is where that readiness is built. This year, we’re fortunate to have excellent trainers leading every session, and the quality of coaching and programming is a real advantage for our athletes. These weeks are about developing upper and lower body strength, agility core stability, hip/glute strength, balance and endurance conditioning. Everything in the plan directly supports skiing through strong positions, better endurance, more power and less fatigue. Racers are able to keep learning, keep progressing, and get more out of every training block.
The next 8 weeks are a chance to build the body systems that directly support safer, more efficient skiing. When athletes commit to this phase, they arrive at Sun Peaks not just ready to train, but able to get more out of every run and every coaching moment. It’s one of the most impactful investments they can make in their season.
The flip side is this is entirely within an athlete's control. Dryland is the direct path to showing up at the next camp able to capitalize on every run the mountain gives us. I encourage every athlete to treat these sessions as an investment they're making in themselves, not an obligation. This week's and ongoing schedule:
Day Time Location
Tuesday 4:00-6:00pm Club House
Thursday 4:00-6:00pm Club House
Friday 5:00-7:00pm Club House
Sunday 9:00-11:00am Club House
Sunday 1:00-3:00pm Club House (updated)
Introducing the U16 Season Travel Tracker. This season we're introducing a shared itineraries tracker for all U16 team events outside of Whistler. You'll find it linked at the bottom of every email we send this season, so it's always one click away, or save it for quick reference.
Every camp and race weekend we run depends on knowing, well in advance, who's actually attending and how they're getting there. Are they travelling with the team, or with a parent? Those answers drive real decisions on our end: coaching coverage, group sizes, accommodation, and travel logistics all get built around this information. The earlier and more accurately it's filled in, the better we can plan for your athlete.
This is a live document. Update it anytime your plans. We'd rather you update it five times than leave it stale. Please take a moment now to fill in your athlete's row for the events ahead, and keep it current as the season unfolds.
For each trip, I'll also link the specific trip details, itinerary, logistics, what to pack, whatever's relevant, directly into the spreadsheet, so you have one place to go for both the planning and the details.
Thanks for helping us keep this accurate. It genuinely makes the season run smoother for everyone.
We're running a U16/FIS on-snow camp at the indoor facility in Wittenburg, Germany this October. I want to tell you exactly what this camp involves so you can decide if it's right for you. I appreciate everyone who’s patiently waited for these details.
Itinerary
Oct 7: Depart YVR [flight details TBC]
Oct 8: Arrive HAM. 1.5-hour bus to Wittenburg, set up the ski room, unpack.
Oct 9–12: Two sessions a day, 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. Eating between sessions and tuning skis.
Oct 13: One session in the morning then packing up skis and cleaning up ski room.
Oct 14: Morning bus to HAM, fly HAM–YVR. [flight details TBC]
Why come
If things go to plan, athletes will get about 40 minutes of skiing in gates. For context, World Cup athletes average about 168 minutes in SL gates over a whole prep period. Having that much gate time in five days is a great way to lock in a new, better movement pattern. If you're committed to working harder than you’ve ever worked at a ski camp and changing how you ski, this camp will speed that up.
What makes it hard
The workload. Each session is 8 runs. That takes a lot of effort, and it adds up over nine sessions in five days. Come fit and ready to work.
The surface. The venue has two sides. One side is groomed and watered, then left to set for three days while we train on the other side. Then the sides swap. The result is a 57m vertical, 330m long, 10°-17° degree skating rink. The upside is that the surface is very consistent. The downside is that it's hard to get your edges to grip unless you have the strength, the technique and well-prepared skis.
There is no softer "public" run to fall back on. It's all ice.
If that doesn't sound like a challenge you want to take on, please don't come. If it does, this is one of the most productive camps we'll run all year.
Next steps
Projected cost is from $4000 - $5000
Register your interest in Active HERE
This isn’t a first come first serve, spots are limited, we will confirm attendees by the end of Monday, September 21st.
All athletes looking to attend must have skied this summer
Ski prep expectations: You’ll want to use a snow glide or equivalent to efficiently tune skis. WMSC owns a unit but you should feel confident operating it and bring your own N95 mask. If you can’t operate it confidently, plan to come learn prior to our departure.
Equipment list: All the SL Skis you have an everything you need to ski SL, including some extra high density foam pads for gate slap prone areas.
Questions: Reach out to Jeff Lackie or Drew Hetherington
With the season starting up, this is a good time for every family to check gear, especially boots. Athletes are growing fast at this age, and it's worth knowing now what still fits and what sizing you'll need to plan for heading into next season, rather than discovering it late fall. Super G skis will be required to participate in the Teck Open at Kimberley and Parsons. If you have any questions, regardless of manufacturer, about what to look for or what your athlete specifically needs, reach out to me directly and I'm happy to help.
See you soon,
Drew