Breezy and the Rowmark girls hit the USST Center of Excellence

They say that you must endure the pain to see the success. My theory is that success can be pain. Last week on Sunday at 9:30am 9 Rowmark girls loaded the slowest, grossest bus known to man (or at least the Rowmark Ski Academy) and headed up Parley’s pass to get to The Center of Excellence.

Originally we weren’t going to go up that day because we were scheduled to go to Loveland Colorado for a four-day camp. But snow at Loveland was not on our side and so we did physical testing instead.

If any of you have ever done physical testing (which most of you should have) you will know that with each test you are pushed to your limits and then further. Beep Test (or shuttle run), run until you die. Box jump, Jump back and fourth over a box until you are incapable of jumping the height of the box and so you trip over it over, and over again. You get the idea.

The unfortunate thing is that I already did physical testing earlier this fall. Though I increased my scores in almost everything even though we were at altitude it was not the most fun experience of my life. Next time I will take camp!

Dryland this fall has been pretty great. We have been doing some new stuff because we have a new dryland assistant coach, Pat Purcel, who is just getting all of his ideas out. Slack lining, lateral squats, circle dodge ball and lots of other things have been added on to our normal weight lifting, running and jumping trend. I am exited for our upcoming Camp in Loveland in November and am hoping to see some of you there!

.)) Breezy Johnson

First Blog from Breezy!

Fall. Leaves are gently sinking to the ground, the air is getting colder, and the occasional frost (or if you are lucky, a dusting of snow) coat the ground. Fall is a time of anticipation and butterflies about the coming season. We are all full of hope and apprehension about how the season is going to shake out.

As the days get shorter, ski racers put on their athletic shorts and sports bras and hit the gym, track or trail, because in ski racing fall=dryland. Each school year starts off with physical testing (which Stephan explained pretty well). From there we jump straight into weight lifting, running, games, balance and core exercises, and yet more running.

At Rowmark competition dominates dryland with teams, yelling and competitive spirit. This peaks at the Bear Lake Challenge! (see Bear Lake above) It’s the ultimate physical test. Over three days, Rowmark bonds together as four teams battle it out through physical, mental, balance -- but mostly physical -- competitions to decide the Bear Lake champions (we even have a trophy).

But really we just can’t wait for Loveland ski camp and ski season after that. The sweat, tears and blood are all in preparation for what we look forward to all fall -- the prospect of snow and therefore skiing! From Loveland, Colorado to Hintertux, Austria, ski racers everywhere are getting ready to ski.

.)) Breezy Johnson