Team Training Interski Prep

We went to Vail for a mid-season team training. This is where we could put the final touches on our presentations for Interski. We also were able to practice our synchronized skiing. This was made possible by the Logan family to host us at Vail.

We did “milk runs” with the Vail Snowsports School. The snow was very good this time in Vail. My first milk run, I met the coordinator for Small Champions which is a group that helps kids that have cognitive and physical disabilities enjoy snowsports. We had a lunch with the kids. It was incredible. I was asked to talk with the group of donors to explain a little bit about the PSIA-AASI Team and what we were doing in Vail.

Synchronized skiing is fun. I actually felt like a professional athlete training towards a big goal. I was in a group of 6-7 fellow team members. It was an honor to lead them. We switched from a “boxed” formation to a vertical formation. We were doing 5 short turns, 3 medium turns, back to 5 short turns. I was in the group that would potentially hit the Interski jump with Ben Potts, Ryan Christofferson, and Dusty Dyar.

We practiced a lot in our formation groups. On the last day, we tried a new formation. We started with a box on the outside and a vertical line in the middle. We increased the numbers of group so now we were a group of 8. We did lane changes so when the outside people came into the middle, the middle vertical line was on the outside. We made this up on the last day to practice in the afternoon. I actually drew it on a desk using some of the grease on my fingers leftover from my prosciutto sandwich. I was impressed with how quickly we picked this up and executed.

Having a mid-season training was so valuable in many ways. It gave us a chance to connect and slow down. This was only my second year on the team, but my experience of the first year was we got together at Team Training and then didn’t really see one another until National Academy. I thoroughly enjoyed a time in the middle of the season to get together and connect with my fellow teammates!