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 FOLLOWING AN ENORMOUSLY SUCCESSFUL technical camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in September, the U.S. disabled alpine team made the smooth transition to October on-snow training in Hintertux, Austria.
At the training center, athletes worked with new strength and conditioning coach Marc Digesti, who conducted Wingate tests, a cycle fitness test of muscular stength, power and muscular endurance, along with other various strength tests. Taking that data to the slopes proved to be an easy transition for the team.
"We did a lot of explosive testing in Colorado and compiled immense amounts of data, which showed us that we're in good shape, but the endurance is lacking," said head coach Ray Watkins, who made endurance the theme of the 15-day camp on Austria's only year-round ski area.
"The glacier was a bit low, but it snowed before we arrived and everything set up nicely," added Watkins. "Hintertux always gives us such great support and I'm really happy with how well everyone on the team has adapted to the new staff and direction of this program. We were just nipped last year for the Nations Cup, and this entire program is looking to step up — we need to climb the ladder a little faster."
Conditions ranged from boilerplate glacial ice to grippy winter snow on steep and moderate training lanes, reported seven-year veteran sit-ski athlete Carl Burnett. "This definitely helps prepare us for the season," he said.
With a total of 11 days on snow, Watkins and coaches Ben Roberts and Kurt Smitz started out the team with six full days of giant slalom training following by five consecutive days of slalom with only one rest day to separate the sets.
"Everyone was really working hard and pushing through the heavy pace. Even though they were tired, we were all there to work. Ben's been doing a great job and Kurt is just awesome, plus it's great to have two solid technicians with Ian [Garner] and Jared [Hawn] on board to kept our equipment performing," Watkins said.
Nine-year veteran and two-time Paralympian George Sansonetis echoed Watkins.
"It has been a great camp, the new staff has been extremely helpful and they share thoughts together very well. I've seen a lot of improvements in my own skiing as well as the team's. Hintertux is especially good and challenging for us because the variety of terrain gets us ready for everything that is put in our way."
Also included in the camp was daily video analysis with in-depth, post-training sessions where athletes were awarded Vancouver 2010 pins for the top times of the day. According to Watkins, the awards were a big hit, boosting both performance and team spirit.
"There is a great synergy with the staff and the athletes. Everyone is motivated and we have a great team vibe going right now," said Sandy Dukat, the 2006 Paralympic bronze medalist in standup slalom.
Thanks to the newly signed agreement with Keystone Resort, granting U.S. skiers exclusive early season training on the Starfire run on North Peak, the team will have one more on-snow camp at the end of November before closing out the training season back at the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center in early December.
The opening races of the season are set for Dec. 7-13 with the Ski Spectacular at Breckenridge, Colorado.
For a complete photo gallery from Hintertux, click here.
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