After a long and
snowless December, patience was running dry just in time for Mother Nature to
give in. Winter camp was the light at
the end of a long tunnel of final exams, a month of long days spent by
seemingly endless hours of studying, and a mark of the beginning of the holiday
season. There was just one problem up
until this point: there was no snow to be seen.
Hold it. There was one other slight-well, maybe kinda
big- problem. The world was scheduled to
end, that's all. Anyway...
There had been snow previously in
December-both in Waterloo and at Highlands-
however, many days of rain and forecasts of 10° weather destroyed any hopes that skiing might become
anything less than a privilege. The plan
for winter camp was still rolling but Coach Colin warned us of the possibility
of having to rollerski, so we prepared ourselves for the worst. Thursday morning dawned and upon arrival to
Highlands there was still no sign of any of the white gold under the
rainbow. But luckily by Thursday night
the leprechaun made it to the pot and on Friday endless amounts of white gold
were falling from the sky and everyone was more than happy with their share.
In short, we got lots of snow. No
really, LOTS of snow.
The majority of team members arrived
throughout the day on Thursday-Fri. Morning, those being Coach Colin, Coach
Derek, Tim, Alison, Katie, and Nolan and Ryan F. Arriving from Ottawa. The rest
of the stragglers were expected to arrive throughout the weekend.
To continue with the strength building
that has been a part of our fall training, the official first activity of the
training camp was a strength circuit.
The circuit was by no means your standard circuit. Though it was plain and simple: large numbers
of push ups, squats, dips, and sit ups were expected- you pick the format. It was reported that everyone was able to
complete this task, except for Coach Colin who may have put his coaching
dictatorship to use.
Friday was skate day. Not figure
skating, not hockey skating- not even skateboarding- but you guessed it,
skate...skiing! Remember, we ARE the Nordic Ski team , we do actually ski
sometimes. The day started out with some
technique work: no poles, weight shift, hips forward. After each of us fully mastered each and
every major technique point we moved to the hill to do some offset work and
video analysis. This was a very useful
tool for improving technique, but it was hard to focus for there were much more
serious matters on our minds: tuna toasties.
We used our new found technique to ski as fast as we could back to the
farm house to indulge ourselves in the winter camp delicacy. On a less serious note, the post-nap scheduled
ski was 'downhill technique' which, at first, there was some focus but as soon
as variations on the drill were introduced- 2 people, 2 skis, going backwards,
skiing blindfolded, and the infamous
Zoro- all serious concentration was lost.
That wrapped up the first full day of winter camp. The day on snow, that is. There was much more to come in the evening-
the main part being the gift exchange.
The rules for the exchange are simple: Bring a gift, trade the gift,
guess who's gift you get. The kicker is
that that gift has to be under $5, and it can be anything from a pack of gum,
to some old ski boots you found in your basement. The point being, it can really be any
(ridiculous, or not) household item that you wish to discard.
To fit the schedule accordingly,
Saturday was classic day. As a team we
usually only skate rollerski, so getting some solid miles and technique
sessions on classic skis is imperative.
We did a whole heck of a lot of no poles and video technique which as
confusing as it may be (at least I always find it confusing) makes a whole heck
of a lot of difference. That afternoon
we had a classic time trial amongst ourselves which, although racing probably
felt a little rusty for most, was a good opportunity to have a less serious
first race on snow. On a side, but more
exciting note, Kikkan Randall decided to show up at our technique session. We tried to give her a few pointers, but she
wouldn't have any of it. The only
alternative was to invite her in for some tuna toasties which c'mon, you have
to admit, you shouldn't say no to regardless of how famous and/or fast you
are. Sadly, she didn't show (which meant
we didn't have to give up any tuna toasties) but I guess it was pretty cool to
be skiing at the same venue as one of the fastest world cup female skiers.
To finish off the training camp we
participated in Highland's annual Christmas time race, the Yuletide blast. The race was well attended by many top
university skiers and the amount of snow that the area received over the
previous days meant a very snowy course.
Race results to follow.
Exams done? Check. Training camp done?
Check. This could only mean one thing:
that it was officially Christmas holidays for the UW Nordic ski team! It was
time for everyone to go home to Christmas dinner's, cozy houses, friends and
family. Happy Holidays!
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