Speedball, Capture the Fox and Foster's Swimming Hole

    After dinner this evening, the teams enjoyed playing speedball and capture the fox in the fields, then cooling off at Foster's swimming hole. This swimming haven was a great way to cool off, especially for teams USA and Austria, who had been mountain biking all afternoon.

        

Tomorrow, we'll be joined by Stever Bartlett, the head coach at Middlebury College and former U.S. Ski Team coach. He'll be running an agility session until the afternoon, then joining us on our bike adventure to Lackey's. Stay tuned for tomorrow's agility session! Have a great night.

Alex Norden

Afternoon Adventure - Mountain Bike/Bingham Falls

In yet another beautiful afternoon, camp split into two groups for our afternoon adventure. Switzerland and Canada headed up toward the mountain for a brief hike to Bingham Falls, a beautiful waterfall with multiple places for campers to jump in. While the water was cold, people basked in the warm sun to prepare for the next flying leap into the water.

United States and Austria went in the opposite direction, to an exciting and challenging mountain bike trail system never before seen at Stowe Dryland Ski Camp. Climbing up and over roots and jumping off rocks and ramps, the teams wound their way through the Vermont woods on narrow single-track trails described by one camper as "pretty epic." We only saw a few falls (the majority of whom were counselors and coaches), and many more smiles before before heading back up the rec path for a quick dip in the river.



Looking forward to games tonight with Alex and swimming at Foster's swimming hole!

Eric Barthold

2nd Instructional Session - BALANCE

Jaime Kingsbury joined us this morning to lead a session on balance. Jaime, current U16 Women's Coach at Stratton Mountain School, is a former UVM standout skier, winning the NCAA Div I GS Championships twice and once being named Collegiate Skier of the Year.

Leading the camp through several challenging balance drills and exercises, Jaime pushed our kids to get out of their comfort zone.  By the end of the drills, the campers were learning, trying, failing, and trying again.  Great effort by our counselors, and also by Brittany Lathrop (USST) who has joined us for yesterday and today.

Brittany and Matt will lead a discussion with the camp about skiing and the path they took to get to where they are in the sport.

Mountain Biking and Swimming this afternoon!
Danny

Swim/Bike Obstacle Course

   This evening, the group cooled off in a swimming hole and competed in a dual bike obstacle course! The teams split up into 2 groups, so everyone had a chance to refresh themselves in the swimming hole, off of the bike path, as well as partake in the bike course. This dual course included slalom cones, ramps, "land mines" and even slalom gates! It was a great chance for the athletes to get comfortable on their bikes by riding on the field and rec path. The swimming hole felt super refreshing for everyone, especially after hiking and biking in the afternoon and evening.

                                                           
 Tomorrow morning, we will be joined by Jamie Kingsbury, a featured coach from Stratton Mountain School. Kingsbury will be running a balance session in the morning with our athletes, as well as biking with us later in the day. Stay tuned for an update on tomorrow's instructional session! Have a great night.

 

Alex Norden

                                      

Afternoon Adventure

Good Afternoon from sunny and warm Stowe VT!

After a great lunch from the Round Hearth staff we set out for a challenging hike up Mt. Mansfield. We loaded the bus and headed up to the resort where we started our ascent underneath the gondola. The older groups started first in hopes of completing the hike to the top! While the rest of the groups worked hard to make it to their own "tops" of the climb. The weather remained nice and everyone had an amazing time with some unbeatable views from the top.

We just all ate dinner and are now headed down to the fields to ride bikes on the obstacle course the Eric and Alex build, then cool off before bed with a great little swim! Check in later for some pictures from Alex and a blog post about the activities!


Matt Maloney

1st Instructional Session

7:15 Morning Stretch came early for our campers.

Matt Maloney led this morning's session with a focus on Basic Athletic Stance as the clouds parted and the sun poked through.  While the position is simple in its nature, its importance in ski racing and throughout all sport is paramount.  A strong position (from feet to ankle flexion, from knees to hip angulation, all the way up to spine angle and strong core) provides a great foundation and allows athletes to get the most out of every athletic movement we come across in preparing for our sport.  Furthermore, the position is so important on skis that teams from Academy level to College level to USST spend as much time as they can afford to on it.

The kids did a great job listening and applying, perhaps the best in years.  Great job Matt. 

Sun's out, so our afternoon hike should be a good one. 

Danny
SDSC Camp Director

First Day of Camp! 

We welcomed just under 40 campers to Stowe this afternoon to kick off the Stowe Dryland Ski Camp. We are lucky to have a great group of young college ski racers as our counselors, and our directing staff has returned to bring more excitement and energy to the whole camp experience. 

Our plan to squash the heat with a ride to the river was interrupted by short, but heavy, thunderstorms.  Once cleared by the Athletic Trainer, we fought the rain and mud on our bikes and made our way to the Top Notch Field for games of soccer and speed ball. 

A great introductory day at SDSC has us excited for the activities that lie ahead this week.  Matt Maloney (USST) is our featured coach tomorrow with a focus on basic athletic stance. 

Here's to a great week!

Danny Noyes
SDSC Camp Director