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Aerials champion recruiting in Whistler

Steve Omischl working with aspiring skiers at water ramps
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Steve Omischl is easily one of Canada's top athletes in the history of freestyle skiing, and that's saying something for a country that has won the overall Nations Cup the past six seasons. In his 10 years on the World Cup aerials circuit, Omischl has been on the podium 40 times in 81 events, winning 20 gold medals. He has two overall World Cup globes to his credit, four podiums at the FIS Ski World Championships (including one gold medal) and three Olympic Games experiences.

And for the month of August - and possibly on a more full time basis after that - he's returning to Whistler and the water ramps where he got his start with the national development team a decade ago. For this visit he's in town as a coach, a first for Omischl, working with a group of young athletes currently enrolled in a trampoline program created by the Whistler Gymnastics Club and the B.C. Freestyle Ski Association.

Omischl is himself here as an employee of the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association, tasked with sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm, testing the waters as a coach and gauging the level of interest for a formal aerials development program in Whistler.

"I'm probably about 99 per cent retired (from the World Cup circuit)," said Omischl, although he hasn't entirely ruled out making a comeback. "I wanted to take a year off from competing regardless, but if I enjoy coaching and it's productive for the kids then I can definitely see myself doing this full time."

Aerials can be a rough sport at times, and Omischl has had his share of injuries over the years. A month before the 2010 Games he suffered a concussion that grounded him for almost two weeks when he should have been training a new jump. It was poor timing for the 31-year-old - he made the finals at Cypress and went on to place eighth overall but had come into the Games as a favourite to reach the podium.

The timing is right to start a program in Whistler. Whistler has the only water ramps in Canada west of Quebec, while the Whistler Gymnastics Club is preparing to move into a new facility with better equipment for aerials training, including in-ground trampolines with ceiling-mounted bungees for jumping and twisting.

Omischl's program will focus on local kids in beginning, ages 12 to 17. But in the future the program may accept kids from outside the community, leveraging the new athlete accommodation at Cheakamus Crossing - a legacy of hosting the 2010 Games - and the flexible sports school program at Whistler Secondary.

At least six boys are currently signed up to train through the month of August and at least one girl may be joining the program as well. Omischl says that's a good number to start with, but he's open to recruiting more and expects the program to grow.

Although he admits a bias, believing aerials to be the best and most technical ski event in the world, he doesn't expect all of his athletes to stick with the discipline. Still, it's a sport he recommends for skiers heading into a wide range of sports, whether it's competitive freeskiing, moguls or halfpipe.

"If you can do aerials, then you can do anything," said Omischl. "I always bring up the example of (mogul gold medallist) Alexandre Bilodeau. The reason he's so good in the air and has the best jumps on the circuit is that he did aerials as a kid for six years before moving to moguls, and he still has that perfect technique and total air awareness... If they let the mogul skiers do doubles (double flips) or even triples tomorrow he could do it with no problems, because he has that background."

The likely addition of ski halfpipe to the Games in 2014 will also favour skiers with an aerials background, Omischl says.

"On the World Cup circuit the guys are doing three flips and five twists, flying 50 feet in the air off these jumps, and if you can do that then you can do any of the tricks in the pipe," said Omischl. "Aerials loses a lot of athletes to new school skiing because, honestly, the jumping comes pretty easy to kids who have an aerials background. They might cork their tricks a little or throw in grabs, but everything is a variation of flipping and twisting."

Omischl has also trained alongside champion freeskier Tanner Hall at some water ramps in Utah. He says the reason Hall is so dominant in freeskiing is all the work he puts into the fundamental jumping skills that are also the foundation for aerials.

"I watched him take jump after jump, doing more jumps than anybody. He's good because he trains the skills and has all the skills - he knows the right position to land a back full or back straight, and at the end of the day he has the best body awareness," said Omischl. "He can push it more because he has that background."

Aerials loses a lot of promising talent to freeskiing because if offers the potential for sponsorships, filming and competing at a young age, Omischl says, when there's still a long journey to even compete at the Nor-Am level in aerials. He doesn't mind if all of his current group follow the same path, but he's also excited at the prospect that some of them will be willing to make the commitment to get to the national and international level in aerials.

"I'd like to see that (loss of athletes) change in aerials - it's a lot more work at times, but it's also fun and with discipline you can make it into the Olympics."

Omischl hails form North Bay, Ontario but came to Whistler for the first time with the national development team more than 10 years ago. He enjoyed his time here, he says, living in staff housing at Base II and walking to the water ramps almost every day that summer.

He has also been taking some time to focus on other sports recently, including climbing and mountain biking. He believes that Whistler is where he wants to be if a development program can be successful.

"This is really a place where you can do it all, it's got all the facilities where I can really explore the coaching side of the sport that I love so much, and from what I've seen there is some real potential in the kids and in the community," he said. "There's nowhere else that offers everything that Whistler can."

Currently, the national team is based out of a new water ramp facility in Quebec City, as well as a national development program for eastern Canada.

According to Omischl, Whistler has been identified as a likely base to build a complementary development program for western Canada.

The Canadian Freestyle Ski Association is in a good position with so many athletes at the top of their sport in both moguls and aerials. The association would also host a national team for ski halfpipe if it's approved for 2014. The decision to continue to fund the Own The Podium program by $33 million a year after 2010 was also important, and as a sport with proven Olympic prospects the freestyle program is guaranteed a good chunk of that money.

Omischl doesn't know if any of the money for his coaching is coming directly from Own The Podium, but he says there is funding for more development programming in Canada.

Like many Canadian athletes who have seen the difference in their sports since Own The Podium, Omischl is an enthusiastic supporter of the program.

"Mission accomplished, right?" he said. "Canada won a ton of medals, it was the best Games we've had as a country, and the more money we invest in the right ways the more success our athletes are going to have. Canadians obviously care, and now that they've seen what our athletes can do there's no way we can go back to where things were before."

Omischl says there also needs to be more emphasis at the grass roots and development level, like the program at Whistler.

The program will draw kids from existing freestyle programs and the gymnastics club, and follow a rigid progression of skills on the trampoline that will be moved over to the water ramps.

Kids in his program will spend a few hours in the morning working on trampoline skills like 360s and proper back flips before moving on to the ramps. Most have a skiing background, but Omischl says it's not essential - gymnastics and trampoline skills are far more important at the start, and the skiing can be added later.

The progression is vital for athletes, Omischl says.

"If you can't do a proper 360 then you can't do a proper 720 or a 1080," explained Omischl. "It's all about creating that body awareness in the air.

"We want people who are interested in making the commitment and want to fly."

To find out about the program Omischl says local kids with the right backgrounds in skiing and/or gymnastics can contact the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association (www.freestyleski.com) to find out more, and will get a tryout with the team later in the summer.