Holiday Schedule

Please remember the entire season long competition and training schedule is posted on the right column of the Blog Spot a bit down the page.
It is also posted as a paper copy on the wall of the Team Room. If there are other ways that help disseminate information please let me know and I will work towards that goal.
I will try to get any schedule changes (and there may be some due to weather or other influences) out by email and/or on the other schedules as soon as I can.

Sunday Dec 26th. RACE TEAM MEMBERS 10-1:00
USSA: Slalom Training
YSL: Slalom Training

Monday Dec 27th: All Groups (RACE TEAM and JR RACE TEAM) Meet at 9:00
RACE TEAM meets OUTSIDE; JR RACE TEAM meets INSIDE (TV Room)
USSA: Slalom Training
YSL: Slalom Training
JR. TEAM: Freeskiing and drills
Lunch on own: 11:30-12:30

Tuesday, Dec 28th: All groups meet at 9:00 am (outside)
ALL TEAM PHOTO
USSA: Slalom Training
YSL: Slalom Training
JR. TEAM: Freeskiing and drills
Lunch on own: 11:30-12:30


Wednesday, Dec 29th: All Groups meet at 9:00 (outside)
USSA: GS Training
YSL: GS Training
JR. TEAM: Freeskiing and drills
Lunch on own: 11:30-12:30


Thursday, Dec 30th: All Groups meet at 9:00 (outside)
USSA: GS Training
YSL: GS Training
JR. TEAM: Freeskiing and drills
Lunch on own: 11:30-12:30


Friday, Dec 31th: All Groups meet at 9:00 (outside)
USSA: GS Training
YSL: GS Training
JR. TEAM: Freeskiing and drills
Lunch on own: 11:30-12:30


Saturday, Jan 1: No Training

Sunday, Jan 2: RACE TEAM training
USSA: SL
YSL: GS

This is Basketball not skiing, but....

But; it says some really cool things; ask some really hard questions and speaks about many great athletes! Very worth sharing!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/22/sports/ncaabasketball/22uconn.html

Lindsey Vonn Wins Again!

VAL d'ISERE, France (Dec. 19) – Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) regained the overall lead over German Maria Riesch, winning the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup super combined to sweep the weekend in Val d'Isere.

Read more here:
http://www.usskiteam.com/alpine/news?storyId=3169

Ligety wins 3rd World Cup GS in a Row

ALTA BADIA, Italy (Dec. 19) – Two-time Audi FIS Alpine World Cup giant slalom champion Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) mastered the icy Alta Badia slope to capture his third consecutive GS victory Sunday and take the first World Cup overall lead of his career. The last time a World Cup male won three consecutive GS races was Austrian great Hermann Maier during the 2001 season.
Read more here:
http://www.usskiteam.com/alpine/news?storyId=3164

Lindsay Vonn Wins at VAL d'ISERE

Vonn Wins, Regains Downhill Lead
VAL d'ISERE, France (Dec. 18) – Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) captured a stunning victory Saturday to regain the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup downhill standings lead as German Maria Riesch finished 24th. Teammate Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA) was 8th with five Americans finishing inside the top 30.
http://www.usskiteam.com/alpine/news?storyId=3148

Video of World Cup Stars displaying Fundamental Skills

As we start the season working on our fundamentals, I happened on this video clip that shows some World Cup stars skiing some pretty good turns. We saw a couple of these guys at the World Cup at Lake Louise this Thanksgiving. (THAT was an exciting race!) I am always amazed at how easy these guys make it look. But then when breaking it down, it really comes to mastering some pretty easy fundamental skills and doing them VERY well. It DOES TAKE discipline and practice to polish those skills to the level that we will see in the Video clips.

To begin with, you see very little body movement in any of these skiers. Using a balanced athletic stance with good hand/arm position, ankles flexed forward and knees flexed; their turns begin at/with their feet. The turns start with a subtle (and hardly noticeable, but still very dynamic) rolling of the ankles. Then the legs become more involved and you can see the rolling of the ankles and knees as the turn develops. The feet and legs are allowed to move outside the body to promote lateral balance, but the body remains quite(and still in that balanced athletic stance), with the majority of the work done with the feet and legs. In all cases a strong pole plant is used. Didier Cuche uses a somewhat unusual style of arm movement, but it works well for his body type. The other clips show a more usual pole planting mechanism.

You will also notice the balance change from one foot to the new foot at the beginning of the new turn. This is especially seen in Thomas Grandi's second clip. In each turn the inside foot will work to mimic the movements of the outside foot, but the outside foot of the turn IS the more dominent in order to best control the turn shape and maintain balance throughout the "ARC" and be prepared to easily move into the next arc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTboYL8CjaU