• Announcements

    Devil’s Head Race Info & Volunteering

    Info has been posted in the calendar under the Devils Head race – final start orders, fact sheet, hotel info. We will send more info on race day procedures shortly. We only have a handful of our 80 racer families who have selected a volunteer job other than gatekeeping. This must be done now! https://signup.com/go/JFVMqVK North Wall is U14 and olderPtarmigan is U12 and younger Also note: these are not the actual names of the runs at Devils Head. These are Cascade runs from last year, so it is a little confusing. We will all help cleaning up and taking down the courses and arena at the end of the…

  • Uncategorized

    DH Details, Pizza Party

    Almost all of our rooms are located in B-wing (letter B on the map).  The race area for racers and families to watch the race is letter P on the map (Smokies).  I’m not 100% sure where the race awards will be located but typically the race directors will use Smokies for awards. The Pizza Party will be held starting around 6:30+, depending on how many help with breakdown, in K (Cliffhaus D). Map is Attached below. Cheers!

  • Announcements

    Slipping/Inspection

    Team, this will be the FINAL communication regarding slipping and inspection runs during practice. Just as you would not race without an inspection run, racers must also not train without a slip/inspection run. If an athlete is late, it is THEIR RESPONSIBILITY to take a slip run or inspect from the side of training has already started. Inspecting from the lift is not acceptable. We understand that this may have been unclear to newer athletes, but athletes that have been on the team should know that this is the standard. Moving forward, coaches notice that an athlete takes a training run without slipping/inspecting prior will be asked to do inspection…

  • Announcements,  Training

    MUST RSVP for weekend

    This weekend 2/4, 2/5: We have 3 races at different WI and MI travel destinations plus scheduled training at home. We need EVERYONE on Team Snap to select one of these events so we can balance our coaching staff. I also think some of you have a valid point in that we still have a few team members who are NOT on TeamSnap or are on here but have not downloaded the app and do not stay up to date. Thanks Chris Carrier and several others for pointing this out. Again, for 2/4 and 2/5: EVERYONE needs to RSVP for one of our 4 events. If you are not planning…

  • Training

    Diamond Hitch Drill

    Here is the “diamond hitch” drill we did today. This is a gate clearing progression. I think a few athletes really began to feel and understand how to “clear” a slalom gate. https://videos.usskiandsnowboard.org/coetv/detail/videos/gate-drills_/video/6128886495001/diamond-hitch -Coach Steve

  • Announcements,  Training

    Helmets and Training

    We had a number of “illegal” race helmets today during SL training. While surprising that it is nearly February and we still have racers with improper race gear, we did allow smaller athletes to train the smaller SL training courses with soft sided helmets. For GS, racers will not be allowed on course with soft sided or SL helmets. No exceptions. This is a safety issue. Also a reminder to remove chin bars (and pole guards) for GS. Racers meet coaches at the big tree promptly at 9:30am. Coaches absolutely notice when racers hide or disappear during morning skills and drills and show up only for gates. Skills and drills…

  • Announcements,  Training

    Slipping and Course Inspection

    A couple of notes in slipping/course inspection during practice: When coaches instruct athletes to “slip” the course at the beginning of practice or after a reset, the athletes should also be inspecting the race course on their own. This is not a time to just ski the course slowly, but to look at the course and push away any soft or loose snow to improve the surface for racing. This should be done slowly, and nobody should be skipping gates or neglecting the last few gates of the course. As coaches, we have been noticing that many athletes are not paying attention the course at this time, but simply going…

  • Announcements

    WIJARA Devil’s Head Race

    Please review this race on the schedule section We have updated the details to include the volunteer sign up link. We are co-hosting this race. All of our parents must sign up for a volunteer job. If you do not sign up for a job, I will assign you one. Please note: this is the same sign up we used last year at Cascade so the names of the ski runs are those from Cascade just to save time. I will also be sending messages to families who have not yet attended a race weekend. As there are only two WIJARA races left, racers who have not yet attended a…

  • Training

    Wall drills

    Drill tonight 1/26, is The Wall drill. Focus is to start the turn higher – not pressuring the ski after the gate but before the gate. Here are some photos for guidance. We will obviously discuss on the hill. -Coach Steve

  • Uncategorized

    Blocking pole plants

    Great practice on good snow Tuesday night.  Bonus practice Weds night 5:30-7:30pm, 1/25. Many struggled to stay on line in the steeps at the race during slalom. Tonight we will be focusing on pole usage.  A blocking pole plant is a specific type of pole plant used to control (or “block”) the upper body, forcing the orientation of the upper body down the fall-line. A blocking pole plant can cue CoM repositioning. Please review this video.  https://videos.usskiandsnowboard.org/alpineed/detail/videos/alpine-guide-to-ski-fundamentals/video/6068353440001/blocking-pole-plant -Coach Jon