Back from the UK!

Molly and Lindsey Vonn

It has been a busy month. I am writing this from England, where I am visiting my British grand parents over Thanksgiving break. I returned from the Junior Champs Camp at Copper Mountain Colorado at the beginning of the week and have spent the last few days trying to catch up at school after two weeks of being away.

Park City Mountain opened this weekend but I will not hit snow again till I get back. At the end of October, I went to the Western Region Fall Conditioning Camp. The camp was at the Center of Excellence (COE) in Park City and was three days long. The COE is such an incredible place! It really has everything a skier or snowboarder needs to succeed off the snow. Some of the coolest things were the hot and cold contrast baths. We were able to use them and it was surprising how much they helped relieve soreness! An aspect of my skiing that needs improvement is my mental approach, so I enjoyed the sports psychology talk. I also enjoyed the Olympic lifting technique practice. Before the camp, I was afraid to lift because I was unsure of my technique. We also went to the National Ability Center to do the rope courses and team building activities. Those were a blast as well!

This fall, I went to two camps at Copper and both were incredible. The first was a five-day slalom camp with my team. The weather was great and the snow was superb for early November. I had new boots so they reignited my injury from last season on my left shin. It was not as bad as last spring, but it certainly limited my on-snow time. I placed pads wherever it did not hurt so those areas would take more pressure and relieve the painful areas. My coach was a genius to come up with this idea because I would probably not have been able to ski without the pads. Besides my shin, I had a fantastic time. It took me a few days to get back into it but once I found my rhythm, nothing felt better than shredding sick turns; a feeling I have certainly missed.

When I returned to Park City I only had a few days till I flew back to Copper. This time, it was a six-day (three days GS and three days SL) camp with the National Development System (NDS) called ‘Camp for Champs’. The mountain had just opened to the public so more of the mountain was open than the week before. We skied long days and I got lots of miles. I brought last years boots to this camp to help relieve my shin and with plenty of icing and pads, my shin held up really well.

I was also fortunate that this camp had a main focus of one skiing which allowed me to greatly favor my right leg. I loved the one skiing because of the challenge. It gave me instant feedback on whether I was in balance and flaws found in normal skiing are brought out. Once I was back on two skis, I felt I had more control of my skis and I was able to generate more angles. I am definitely going to incorporate one skiing into my warm-up routine! With a few weeks of rest, my shin should be recovered and I can start preparing for my first race. Eric Hays is just four weeks away and I could not be more excited

.)) Molly Leavens