Cracking into Corralco

By Published On: October 17th, 2014Comments Off on Cracking into Corralco
Corralco

One of the double chairlifts at Corralco and the endless possibilities above. Corralco Ski Area

With reports of thinning snow conditions in Portillo, the U.S. men’s speed team called an audible in September and moved its early fall camp to Corralco Ski Area in the southern part of Chile.

The training block, which concluded on Sept. 27, was attended by the men’s World Cup speed team, the men’s multi-team, as well as the men’s Europa Cup speed team.

“It was pretty dry up in northern Chile this winter (in the Southern Hemisphere),” said Sasha Rearick, the men’s head alpine coach. “We were getting reports that it was going to be thin, so we hopped on a plane, flew down there and checked it out.”

mapCorralco Ski Area is located on the Lonquimay Volcano, near the town of Malalcahuello, Chile. The resort is comprised of two double chairlifts and several surface lifts.  All of the terrain is above tree line, which provides near-endless possibilities for training. The trails are only limited by imagination of the groomer, according to men’s assistant speed coach Pete Anderson.

Earlier in the summer, head coach Rearick scouted the venue while the French were training. On that visit, longtime “friend of the team” Jimmy Ackerson, now the general manager for Corralco, told Rearick anything and everything is possible.

“It’s a big mountain where you can basically make your own downhill wherever you want,” said Rearick. “The French team had a tough camp because of weather. The Swiss team got snowed out, too. And fortunately, we got lucky. So it is risky down there with weather.”

The Americans were coming off a successful camp in New Zealand a few weeks earlier, which was mostly tech-based. In Chile, they were able to run a slightly more aggressive block.

“When you get down to Chile and you’ve got good weather, you’ve got to be ready to go,” said Rearick. “Fortunately, the guys were ready to go. The first day we did some easy super G and progressed pretty quickly into difficult super G the following day.”

He described the 2,200-foot race trail as a “long, glidy downhill,” roughly 1 minute, 30 seconds in length, with a top section featuring eight challenging downhill turns, followed by a nice, moderate cruise to the bottom.

“It’s pretty easy, but long,” Rearick said. “What made it challenging was it was bumpy. It would get really hard and freeze up at night. The mornings were really, really bumpy. You didn’t need to add any more challenge than that.”

The public was allowed onto the trail after the team was through with it each day, which partly contributed to the bumpiness, unlike Portillo where the public largely stays off the course.

Like the women’s team, which shook things up this fall by training in Zermatt, Rearick said there is a huge advantage to getting the guys out of their normal routines and training on a new and different hill, which was also the premise of the group’s earlier camp in New Zealand.

“This year, especially with the speed boys, we’ve really changed things up with what they’ve been doing the past few years,” he said.

Overall, Rearick said it was a fantastic trip, but he doesn’t necessarily foresee the World Cup team opting for Corralco over Portillo in the future, unless the weather dictates a switch.

“We have a great relationship with Portillo. It’s been a fantastic training site for us. We will continue to go to Portillo,” said Rearick. “I would also love to go back to Corralco, without a doubt. We will go back — which groups will go is what we’re trying to figure out.”

While it may not serve as the long-term destination for elite-level speed, it was universally agreed upon that the U.S. Ski Team should and likely will return to Corralco in one form or another in the future.

“The ski area has the potential to support a number of teams and training groups at the same time by utilizing different parts of the mountain to train different events,” said Anderson, reporting back to USSA. “This could really be beneficial as it would allow a lot of crossover and exposure between different teams and different levels of athletes while still having enough space to have quality training sessions.”

Anderson said the primary concern at Corralco is the weather, which needs to be explored a bit more — pushing the dates back may provide more stable conditions.

“I think once the mountain gets more established as a premier race training venue and acquires a more complete understanding of what is required of teams,” added Anderson, “Corralco could be a great options for summer training, not just for national teams, but also for regional and club teams, as well.”

Coach’s report

Steve Nyman, Marco Sullivan and Travis Ganong get rowdy. Corralco Ski Area

Travis Ganong, Steven Nyman and Marco Sullivan get rowdy. Corralco Ski Area

Steven Nyman has had a really good prep period, both from a physical and skiing standpoint. Nyman began his summer with a PSIA camp, where he received his full certification (Level 3), which was helpful in bringing the focus back to fundamentals. In New Zealand, Nyman also had a good camp, bringing his fundamental base into a GS training situation, as well as slalom. It’s carried over well into speed with better separation and upper body discipline than he has had during his career, says Rearick.

Travis Ganong traveled to both New Zealand and Chile. Specifically, he’s been focused on taking a line where he can carve a clean turn. He’s doing that well off the pitch, being very clean and well balanced on his skis.

Jared Goldberg also participated in the PSIA camp, as well as the GS camp in New Zealand. He’s skiing giant slalom quite well, says the coach, very physically, but needs to quiet down his upper body and smooth out his transition.

After a crash in Lake Louise last season left him with a torn ACL and sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee, Tommy Biesemeyer was on a return-to-ski program in New Zealand and return-to-training in Chile. He was able to progress to running a full-length course and is standing on his boards very nicely, says the coach. Now, it’s just about ramping up the intensity as the team prepares for Copper.

Marco Sullivan, after completing the PSIA camp in the spring, took the summer off from skiing and did not attend New Zealand. In Chile, he freeskied a few days and then jumped back into training, skiing with more spark and fire, says Rearick.

Ted Ligety mainly focused on speed the entire camp. He did partake in some GS sessions to stay on point, but prioritized aerodynamics and staying smooth and balanced in his tuck. Rearick said, with Ligety, a lot of effort is being put on the speed side of things this season.

Tim Jitloff spent a good deal of time working on glide turns to help improve his super G and to clean up his transition. He ran some downhill, taking advantage of the speed camp.

Brennan Rubie ran some speed but focused more on GS while in Chile. He’s skiing technically well, says Rearick, but needs to bring the intensity up.

Also on hand was the Europa Cup team, Bryce Bennett, as well as three invitees, Wiley Maple, Tanner Farrow and Sam DuPratt, who were working closely with their coach, TJ Lanning.

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About the Author: Geoff Mintz

Geoff Mintz is a former alpine ski racer who cut his teeth at Ragged Mountain and Waterville Valley, N.H. After graduating from Holderness and UVM, he relocated to Colorado, where he worked on the hill prior to pursuing a career in journalism. Mintz served as associate editor for Ski Racing Media from 2011 to 2015. He later reconnected with his local roots to manage all marketing and communications for Ski & Snowboard Club Vail before resuming work at SRM as editor-in-chief.