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European training positive for WMSC

In October, members of both the FIS and K2 programs at the Whistler Mountain Ski Club went to Europe for two weeks of on-snow training. The K2s, along with coaches Rob Boyd and Pierre-Luc Dumoulin, went to Tignes, France, from Oct. 9 to Oct.

In October, members of both the FIS and K2 programs at the Whistler Mountain Ski Club went to Europe for two weeks of on-snow training.

The K2s, along with coaches Rob Boyd and Pierre-Luc Dumoulin, went to Tignes, France, from Oct. 9 to Oct. 22 to train on the glacier. The FIS skiers, accompanied by coaches Jordan Williams and Igor Dostal, went to Hintertux, Austria to train from Oct. 15 to Oct. 29.

According to Dumoulin, the trip was very productive for the team.

"It was awesome. We had 10 days on the snow, and different conditions to train in. There were no friends or family around, no distractions, so the skiers were really focused on their skiing," he said.

The skiers were kept busy, skiing from early morning until noon. After lunch, they did about two hours of dryland training, followed by an hour and a half of homework. They also got an hour or two to see the sites, and the group went on a day trip to scenic areas nearby.

"It was good training, we had excellent snow conditions," added Dumoulin. "We had hard snow for the first five days, which is something we don’t get here. And then it snowed two feet so we had really soft conditions, too."

While the K2 group did its own thing most of the time, the skiers did get a chance to watch top European skiers at the resort train for the upcoming season.

"It was nice to watch the way they train, the dryland training they did, and how hard they worked. It’s good for (the K2s) to see that," said Dumoulin.

Having Boyd along for the trip also helped the team, as the former World Cup downhiller is still well known to the European coaches and skiers.

"On the last day, the French downhillers were there, some people that are like top 10 in the world, and they all knew Rob. That had an impact on us. It was also good to have Rob around, because everybody knew him and that made it easier for us to be integrated into the training schedule. The respect is still there," Dumoulin said.

The team won’t get to see the results of the European training until the regional and provincial racing seasons officially get underway in December.