Mammoth Race Prep Day 3: More GS Apex

Today we did more GS apex on ADG. The course today was a little bit tighter and more challenging. It was a good session and the guys are continuing to progress. Tomorrow is full length GS, timed.

By the way, you cannot beat a Californian burrito.

Race Prepping; first slalom is tomorrow. Today the boys slept in and took a few free ski runs to keep everything fresh. Relaxing in the apartment for the afternoon. It is very quiet and comfortable here so the boys can relax and prepare.

Here are some of our views.

JB

Mammoth Race Prep Day 2: GS Apex

This morning I spent an hour with the guys doing fundamental work on GS skis. The infamous Schlopy drill, named after it's inventor, Erik, is primarily meant to promote hip movement through the second half of the turn. We also did variations of the Heisman drill for the purpose of initiating the turn with the tip of the ski.

Our gate session this afternoon was on ADG, a nice hill with a moderately difficult pitch, moving down onto a much flatter section. We did apex with full gates on pristine snow. Hard packed dry powder, or hero snow as some would call it. The guys are skiing well. There are some kinks to be worked out still, but they are in good shape to be racing in the next couple weeks. Special kudos to Kimbell and Spangler. They have made great improvements.

Here are some clips from today. The boys wanted to pick their own blog picture, so here's what they came up with.

They found out its not so easy to choose clips.

jb

We were back on #6 today with a tougher, tighter and more across the hill set today. Light was a little low at first but then brightened up nicely towards mid- session. It is a great turn around over there as the boys were able to get 8 runs and we took our time and maintained high quality. Mike, Cam and Kyle skied very well, talked very little and just worked on race prep for Monday and Tuesday. So well that we did not have a single DNF in 24 runs! Great work, guys!

Pictures to follow.

JB

Mammoth Race Prep Day 1: SL Apex

Today the guys(Dylan, Wyatt, James, Jack, Andrew, and Peter) spent their first day on snow of this Mammoth/Alaska trip. Jack has been here since the 20th, so he has been getting some great training already.

As the picture above shows, the weather is fantastic. The temperatures are cold yet comfortable, and the snow has been great. It was not as good today, but the guys didn't show it in their skiing. We ran six runs of apex SL and an hour of GS free skiing in the afternoon. Tomorrow is GS fundamental work in the morning and GS apex in the afternoon.

Well, I am a bit further east now, Stubai Glacier, Austria, snow is rock hard and what we like. The boys and I traveled Thursday had a good night sleep last night and got some slalom training in this on piste #6 today. Good news today, the races will be right here in Stubai on Lane 9. The guys are psyched since they trained on that hill in October.

JB