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Whistler skiers step up training, commitment

Club offers high performance programs to athletes As one of the strongest ski clubs in the province, the Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC) has produced its fair share of champions, regionally, provincially, and nationally, many of whom have gone on t

Club offers high performance programs to athletes

As one of the strongest ski clubs in the province, the Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC) has produced its fair share of champions, regionally, provincially, and nationally, many of whom have gone on to compete at the international level.

Three club alumni are currently on the Canadian Alpine Ski Team (Mike Giannelli, Jeff Hume and Britt Janyk) and three are on the national development team (Michael Janyk, Christina Risler and Benjamin Thornhill). Nanaimo’s Allison Forsyth, one of the top female skiers in the world, also trained with the club for a period.

There is always room for improvement, however. Whistler Mountain ski coach Jordan Williams is confident that the club is on the verge of a breakthrough season, largely due to the level of commitment made by the athletes themselves.

"We had a large demand after last year from racers who wanted to train full time this summer," says Williams. "Basically you had a choice. You could race on weekends or three or four days a week, or you could go even further."

The club created two programs: a part-time program that caters to athletes committed to other sports and school, or who aren’t as serious, and a full-time program that included two training sessions per day, five days a week, another half-day of training, and just one day off.

"What this has done is given us more of an opportunity to demand more from the athlete, and not just live with the day-to-day progression," explains Williams.

"For some kids it was a little too much, and some kids could have done more, and I think that’s based on their level of maturity. They tend to let go more, they work harder, and it’s a natural thing.

"Through our goal-setting focus, the kids tend to push themselves to be a little more mature than they need to be – because I guess society doesn’t expect you to be very mature anymore. You can see these guys thinking ahead, and learning more than their peers, and really taking advantage of the opportunity. It’s not the coach whipping them anymore, they’re coming to the coach for information or assistance."

It’s also forced the coaches to push themselves to be better at what they do, says Williams, and to make sure they have that information and assistance ready.

The training itself this off-season was a mix of dryland and on-snow, with camps in Europe and New Zealand for the top FIS level racers. In addition to physical conditioning, Williams says he likes to mix it up with a series of challenges.

"I always like to have fun, so when we were in Europe we went go-karting, which actually has a lot to do with ski racing. It may sound like a waste of time, but it’s about picking the best line and learning how to load the suspension of a vehicle before you enter a turn, things like that."

In New Zealand, Williams and the eight athletes who travelled there to train on-snow with other teams took a day off to do a140-metre bungee jump off a bridge.

"I just about dirtied myself, but it was amazing to see our guys push themselves through a barrier like that, to control your fear. Sure you have something attached to your ankles, but you’re falling for maybe five seconds before it even gets a hold of you, so it still shows what your made of. They held perfect dive formation the whole way down," says Williams.

"I am really impressed with this group because every challenge I bring up, we all come out of it stronger and better."

While they were training in New Zealand, the Whistler racers had a chance to train beside the Australian national team, including athletes who were on their way to the Olympics. According to Williams, the difference between the young skiers and the Australians was not that great.

"These guys could see that they were a little closer to their dream than they were beforehand."

Another training advantage is the involvement of Mind Body Fitness, who supplied their expertise to the club.

"Mind Body Fitness helped us out with a whole new focus in training," says Williams. "It’s the whole holistic approach, and excellent training where you learn to get mentally and physically into the zone, which is an ideal performance state. The athletes benefited a lot from this."

Williams also gives credit to Rod Thompson, a counsellor at Whistler secondary, for "making it easier to have athletes in the school system and in competition at the same time."

As long as WMSC athletes keep up their marks, the school has agreed to let them out of school twice a week to train and compete.

With all these changes taken altogether, Williams says the club is in good shape for the coming season.

"It’s been four years of moving the cabin, changing the programs, and dealing with certain issues, and now I think we’re in a good position what with the relationship we’ve developed with the mountain to train our younger racers.

"I think we’re way better off in the K1 area, and the number of K1 racer is way up. And same with the K2, and in the FIS program it’s a lot more serious, and I believe that these changes will help the club give racers the opportunity to make World Cup goals. And if your goals aren’t that honed, we can help you work towards any goals inside of that.

"What we’ve been building for the last three or four years is finally built, and it’s a wonderful feeling. We’re all looking forward to the season, and to getting stronger."

The changes will also allow the club to hold onto racers for longer. "If they don’t make the provincial team by a certain age – and the province wants them younger and younger – they may quit," says Williams. "If we had the top three, maybe we’d let the top two go, and hold onto the third guy because we can do the job here and manage what they need."

Evidence of the club’s already sterling reputation, both travelling and hosting the international Whistler Cup juvenile race series, can be seen in this year’s group of athletes, which includes skiers from Japan, Korea, Australia and the Czech Republic, in addition to the regular numbers of skiers from the Lower Mainland and Whistler.

The FIS racing season gets underway later this month as the skiers travel on Nov. 14 to eastern B.C. and Lake Louise. The first NORAM races take place at Lake Louise from Dec. 3 to 11, with a men’s super-G and downhill. Following that, the team will move to Panorama for men’s and women’s slalom and giant slalom competitions.

There will be 10 other events in the new year, plus two opportunities for the team to compete at a higher level, the B.C. Winter Games in Williams Lake in February, and the Canadian National Championships in Whistler in March.

"I don’t know if we have anyone who can beat the top skiers in the country," says Williams, "but we do have a few members of the national team who were with our club at one point, and maybe they can show well and our members can show well in their age groups."