Football to Skiing- Life in Aspen!

Hi Everyone – There’s snow on the mountains and it is time to think about skiing. I have been enjoying football season this fall and my team (Aspen Skiers) are 6-1 overall, 4-0 in division. We have three more regular season games and hopefully, we will make it to the playoffs again. I had my first varsity interception last Friday – it was awesome.

Because of my results last year, I was selected for the Colorado All-Star Team. I went down to Boulder for the mandatory physical in September. The weightlifting part did not go very well since I have been taught a football-style technique and the trainers wanted to see a different type of technique. Luckily, I did well enough on the other three tests to still pass the test. I am now working on both types of weightlifting techniques.

I went to the RMD Luncheon last weekend and got my Colorado pass (can ski at any Colorado ski area for free). I went to Mt. Hood in June with some of my AVSC teammates and really liked the training. There was more off-snow stuff to do than there was in Chile last summer so it was really fun. I did some ski testing so I know exactly what I want for this year. It was a great trip. The day after I got back, we left for Hawaii for 10 days. We did so much – boogie boarding, paddle boarding, kayaking, hiking, snorkeling, mega sandcastle construction – there wasn’t a lot of sitting around. See you on the hill –

 .)) Andrew Hancock

Igniting the Spirit

The excitement for ski season is buzzing through the town. It all started with our first snow. The first fall with a significant amount was on October 6th and by the 8th there was almost a foot on the peaks of the mountains. The ground was too warm though and it quickly melted. I felt like summer had just ended so the snow really caught me by surprise. I am jumping out of my skin with excitement to start skiing but I also know I have a lot to do to prepare.

Park City is scheduled to open in less than a month but it is only one week till I am on snow! I am first going to Copper Mountain Colorado with my team then a week after I return home, I am going back with the National Development System.

I have been doing dryland with my team but I have also been taking a weight training class at my school. We do not do a lot of weights with my team so the class is an awesome compliment. I definitely feel stronger and in much better shape then I did in the being on dryland.

This weekend I am doing a dryland camp with the Western Region at the Center Of Excellence here in Park City. It should be a lot of fun and I am really excited to see some of the friends I made at the Western Region camp this summer.

 .)) Molly Leavens

Morse Code: Fischer Time!

I thought that this revolutionary boot procedure was something that was worthy to write a blog about. Last week I got to make the big trek with my coach Sawyer to the New Hampshire which is a 4 hr drive to the distribution center for Fischer.

The Fischer center was really cool. It was amazing, everything was Fischer, the clocks, the phones, and Fischer skis everywhere! Well to start off the procedure they heat up the shell of the boot for about 18 minutes. Now the plastic is like butter and they have you put the whole boot on, liner and all. Following that there is cooler packs rapped around the boot then followed by an entire air bag. You then stand up on this alinement machine where they plug the air bags in, to get pumped up. It feels like when you are getting your blood pressure taken except on your whole foot. The machine keeps the pressure up for 8 minutes. Then you take off the boot and let them cool.

It was really awesome to feel the change because I then took one vacuum fit modeled boot on one foot and then a non model one on the other foot and all of the pressure spots were relieved and it just fits like a glove. I am super excited to get on snow and see how they ski. If anyone is looking into trying some new boots, these are super cool and feel great.

.)) Sam Morse