Over the past few days I have spent some time on the slopes of Burke at a National Development System fundamentals camp. My coach Chip Cochran from Carrabassett Valley Academy took a few of us young ambitious J3's on a long van ride through the swirling snowstorms to reach the destination of Burke Mountain.
On day 1 we did SKILLS ASSESSMENT: we started the Eastern Region Skills Assessment with Pole Plant: This test is out of 5 and needs to be very clearly executed. Then was the Apex Test: Two brushes set at slalom rhythm which help the athletes such as myself to belly the turn out between the brushes. After that was the One Ski Test: This worked on upper and lower body separation, pole planting, forward ankle/knee flexion, and carving the initiation. This style of skiing was really different to me in terms of being judged, but I was really excited about trying to improve my score. The coaching staff was very enthusiastic about how the skills assessment went and they were very pleased with the results.
On Day 2: `We continued fundamental work in our groups with a focus on the up and over drill, Swiss drill and one-ski. For the second session we (athletes) switched over to GS skis and continued to work on the same drills. We were really focus and were exhausted by the end of the day.
On Day 3: The snow was a little harder than the first two days. We started with a slalom apex drill, then switched to longer skis and ran GS apex and brush GS sections. I worked very hard from start to finish and left with a better sense of some of my weaknesses and strengths. Now I know what I need to work on harder back at the Loaf. The venue (Burke Mountain) was incredible for the kind focus to improve your skills by taking run after run. A really cool thing that I enjoyed was while riding the Poma I was able to watch the other athletes and get myself motivated to raise the level of intensity and focus. The Training Hill (next to the Poma) is ideal for mileage of early season skiing! Anyone who was lacking some of the skiing skills definitely left the camp with a better understanding of what they needed to work on and which drills will help them achieve that goal. This is a direct reflection of the hard working focused director of this camp, Alex Kreb's (Eastern USSA children's organizer) who made a direct point of trying to give the kids drills which would help them improve that they could take back to their home club. The coaching staff worked really well together and did a great job with the skills assessment. The coaching staff and athletes created an extremely positive environment and everyone worked at 100%.
My skiing skills improved through the skills assessment, taking my skiing to a new level. I would like to add a special thanks to Kirk Dwyer of Burke Mountain Academy for supplying us with a fabulous training venue and great coaching. It was a really fun camp and I am sad that since next year I will no long be a J3 that I will not get to participate in this wonderful experience again. Thanks to all that played a role in making this camp possible.
.)) Sam Morse
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