Christmas Camp Wrap-Up

 Notice: There will be a mandatory parent meeting on Saturday 1/5 at 3:15 at the Westside Lodge.  Snacks and adults beverages will be supplied by the mountain.  The meeting should last about 1/2 hour.

Another successful Christmas camp has wrapped up as the Mt. Abram Race Team heads into week 3 of our regular program.

The Mt. Abram team was joined by several teams from Massachusetts for the three day camp and everyone had a great time.  There was certainly a lot of improvement in the skiing skills area!  On day one we were treated to what so far has been the biggest storm of the season with over 10 inches of fresh cold powder.  The athletes enjoyed tearing up the mountain and free skiing as the entire mountain was open.  A highlight for many of the athletes was jumping the cliff under the Wayback Machine chairlift and then proceeding down the lift line through the bumps.

On Friday and Saturday we were treated to some great weather and the famously groomed Mt. Abram trails as the athletes continued working through basic skills for balance, turning and edging.  On both days we brought out the brushes for turn shape drills and on Saturday there was a picket fence drill set as well.

The camp was rounded out with a “fun race”, an untimed GS set down lower Boris.  A race always brings out the best in the athletes and this was no exception.  It was great to see so many of our athletes with good direction above the gate, setting up the edge early in the turn and carving a smooth ski through the chatter that results from several different ability levels skiing in the course.

A wrap up was done at the end of the camp and the athletes were encouraged to practice what they learned in the camp; balance in an athletic stance, railroad tracks, pole plants, 1000 step turns and leapers to mention a few.  Hopefully the athletes in the camp began to recognize the importance of a good pole plant, whether skiing GS with a “pole touch” or SL with a “pole plant”.

We will look forward to moving into brush and stubby SL on Saturday Jan. 5 (stay tuned to the Thursday posting on the blog to confirm this).  We wish our friends from Bogastow and Wachusett a great season and hope to see them again real soon!

Click here to see more pics from the Christmas Camp.