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.

Christmas Camp Pictures

Click here to see more pics from the Christmas Camp.

Christmas Race Camp

We had a great early season turnout for the first day of the 12 week race program this past Saturday 12/22/12.  The athletes worked on Balanced Athletic Stance and Railroad Tracks.  We will continue this progression on Saturday 12/29/12 at 8:30.  There will also be a fun race (GS) in the afternoon.

This Thursday 12/27/12 we begin our three day Christmas Camp.  The Christmas Camp will follow the USSA Skills Quest early season progression, beginning with a Balanced Athletic Stance and proceeding through a fun race (GS) on the final day of the camp.  Slalom skis would be preferable for training on the first two days of the camp.

The camp follows the 8:30 - 2:30 Race Program schedule with the following exceptions; there will be a tuning clinic sponsored by BestTunes and Swix on Thursday at 3:30 at the Westside Lodge.  On Friday there will be a panel discussion and question/answer with three current and former collegiate ski racers.  This session will begin at 3:30, also at the Westside Lodge.  Panel members will include Victoria Bobbe - Colby Sawyer, Coach Hilary Lemelin - Plymouth State and Coach Hilary Reis - Babson.

The panel will discuss how to gain admission to a college program and what it is like to be a collegiate student athlete.  Hope everyone can join us!

Remember, we begin the day at 8:30 so arrive at 8 AM so that you can get situated and "booted up".  We will take a lunch break from 11:30 until noon so bring a snack in your pocket for a mid-morning break!

Abram Race Team 2012-2013

Mt. Abram Race Team 2012/13

The 2012/13 season is almost here!  With snow guns putting down a great base and the promise of snow in the future, the Mt. Abram Race Team will begin training on Saturday 12/22/12 at 8:30 AM.

The 2012 Christmas race camp will begin at 8:30 AM on Thursday 12/27 and will continue through Friday and Saturday with plans for a fun race at the end of the camp.  The Christmas camp is included in the 2012/13 season program so we hope to see all of our athletes attend!  The focus for the camp will be early season fundamentals as outlined in the US Ski Association Skills Quest program.  Skills Quest is being used for everyone from the youngest U8 through and including the US Ski Team.

In addition to the experienced Mt. Abram coaching staff we will have additional help from some top collegiate ski racers.  These young coaches are skiing at the highest level and will be sharing their considerable experience with our camp athletes.

Afternoon activities will include a tuning clinic sponsored by Swix and Best Tunes of Bethel.  This clinic will take place on Thursday after skiing and will be hands on providing our athletes (parents invited too) the opportunity to learn from the best.

After skiing on Friday we will host a panel discussion and question/answer on what is it like to ski in college.  Our collegiate coaches will discuss how many opportunities there are to ski in college and how to plan your training and studies to reach this goal.

Both afternoon activities will take place at the West Side Lodge, a short car or shuttle ride away from the main base area.  All family members are welcome to join in.

We look forward to seeing you next week!  If you have any questions please give Race Director Matty Leach a call at 207-875-5000.