Saturday, August 9, 2014

Saturday End of Camp

Closing ceremonies for the second week of SDSC are tomorrow at 11:00.  We are excited to have parents join us, so please plan on attending!

* One request from us here at SDSC is that parents please wait until the awards are over at 12:00 to get bags from rooms.  We have done a great job with organization and rules all week and hope to remain in control until camp officially ends at 12:00.

Thank you!!

Friday, August 8, 2014

Cold Water & Jumps go together like peanut butter & jelly

This afternoon was our trip to Bingham Falls.  The quick 10 minute hike in found us at the base of the beautiful waterfall and pool and we were able to spend over an hour in and out of the freezing water.  The jumps were from rocks and ledges ranging from 8ft to 35ft for the older kids.  Bingham Falls is my favorite alternate activity at camp because it allows kids to stay in their comfort zones if needed, but others will push off and conquer their fears.




Inflatables and DJ tonight and then time to pack and clean. 

Explosion with Jamie Wylie, SMS

This morning SDSC had the pleasure of welcoming Jamie Wylie to camp.  This marked her third consecutive year that she has joined us as a feature coach, Jamie is entering her 8th year at Stratton Mountain School and holds the title of Head Women's U16 Coach and Head Strength and Conditioning Coach.  As an athlete she competed at the Nor-AM level for GMVS and also UVM, winning the NCAA Div I Giant Slalom twice, and earning All-American four times.










After warmup, Jamie designed a great transition into explosive plyometrics combined with speed training.  The groups worked their tails off in the heat, with frequent water breaks, and were challenged by their counselors throughout the entire two hour block.  The final quarter consisted of plyometric relays and games, and full throttle the whole way.




Lots of tired campers here in Stowe.  I couldnt be more pleased with the effort and attention of the group over the two weeks.  We will have a nice cold water reprieve this afternoon with some jumps of the ledges of Bingham Falls. 


What were you doing at 8:00pm?


Thursday, August 7, 2014

Alternate session... well, altered.

We had our big hike scheduled for this afternoon.  Most of the kids were pumped to attack Mount Mansfield again with the hopes of making the top, and the counselors were ready to push them.  Unfortunately thunder and lightening rolled in right before departure and pushed our schedule back enough that we had to bail on the hike. 

Eric and I quickly came up with a backup plan, and we split our groups into three and took turns rotating through three activities.  One was across the street at The Mountaineer Inn using their indoor pool and hot tub.  Another was in the Round Hearth competing in the SDSC Olympics (fun indoor games/contests).  And the third was in our backyard sliding on a 100ft slip 'n' slide that we constructed with 4mm plastic sheeting and plenty of water and Johnson & Johnson no tears baby soap. 



The groups got to rotate through, but we didnt get enough of the slip 'n' slide so we'll be returning to it tonight. 

Instructional Session with Danny - Speed

This morning Danny led camp through another great session on skates, which built on the fundamentals of basic athletic stance and parallel position that we focused on during Tuesday morning's session, and pushed campers to look for speed. After warming up with various explosive movements, we spent time analyzing and perfecting our tucks, particularly focusing on keeping staying high enough in the tuck to maintain hip mobility and a dynamic athletic stance.


Once the campers were on skates, Danny took us through a progression of warm-up runs to focus on parallel position before jumping into courses. He set two slaloms, a GS, and finally a Super-G for continued practice with aerodynamic position. In the slalom ad GS courses, Danny emphasized moving hands and hips forward and down the hill when exiting turns.


The campers are certainly a bit tired from the week (or two), but they did a fantastic job of getting as many runs as possible, and they did a great job of focusing on improving over the course of the two hours.  There was also fierce competition for the fastest time on each of the courses, but I think individually everyone improved their times as the morning progressed.



It's a little rainy here this afternoon, but we are going to make the best of it. Stay tuned for more...

Eric

Movie Night!

Tonight we featured two films for our restful evening...true camp classics. It was a fun night, and hopefully they will all be re-energized for tomorrow's skate session with Danny!


Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Hot Tub!!!!!


Johnson Skate Park

This afternoon we returned to the Johnson Skate Park for our alternate session.  Our little athletes were able to put their work from yesterday's instructional on skates to the test, and everyone had a blast pulling trying to do something out of their comfort zone.  Working on balance and jumping yesterday in the parking lot really helped them embrace the challenges of the park, continually refocusing for their center of balance.  Those who were here for two weeks have made huge improvements as this was their fourth time on skates in the last 8 days.  One more time on skates tomorrow will have us cruising even faster.


Some cool pics from today...




... and we'll get some rest this evening with a movie night.



Agility with Tony DiGangi

Tony DiGangi joined us this morning as the featured coach to run a session on agility.  Tony has over 20 years of coaching experience with teams such as Gunstock, Stratton Mountain School, Quebec, Middlebury, and even the USST.  He was excited with the topic of the day because he believes agility is the most important aspect of training when it comes to preparing for the ski season.


We did exercises with cones, boxes, ladders, hurdles, and gates, and at the end concluded with a full length obstacle course that utilized every activity we did throughout the entire session in one.  The kids had a blast and pushed themselves incredibly hard.  A great start to hump day as we work through our second week here at SDSC.


Tuesday, August 5, 2014

SWIMMING HOLE!

On our second swimming outing of the day, we all traveled to The Swimming Hole for an after-dinner swim. Textbook dives, cannonballs, flips, and belly flops were all on display, and the hour and a half that we spent there simply sped by. Here was the full scene...


 

Waterbury Center Reservoir

This afternoon we tried to beat the storm and spend time at the Waterbury Center Reservoir.  The State Park is not too far from the round hearth and offers a great venue for us to take over when we go.  We set up shop right on the lawn and played games in the water for almost an hour before the storm rolled in fast and started to thunder.  Lightning and a heavy rain followed shortly after and our afternoon was cut short.  We'll have to table our 100ft slip 'n' slide for another night. 



The storm was short but heavy, and blew a tree down blocking our exit from the park.  My trusty GMC Sierra was dropped into 4wd and called into duty, hauling the tree to the side so the bus and the rest of the park guests could exit. 

Its nice to have an event planned that draws a lower level of energy from the campers.  They worked hard in both day sessions yesterday, and then again with me on skates this morning.  The warmer water also was a nice change of pace from the frozen river running through Stowe. 


Heading to The Swimming Hole tonight, a camp favorite. 

Balance while at Speed - Danny Noyes


This morning Danny, our very own SDSC Camp Director and head coach of the Colby Alpine Ski Team, led us through a fantastic session on skates that focused on balance while at speed. We solidified our basic athletic stance in sneakers, hopping and shifting our weight onto only one foot so as to find our center of balance from any position. This gave the campers the a better sense of how to  recover when they lost their balance on skates.  The same applies for skiing, and Danny emphasized the importance of that "re-centering" during the transition between two turns on skis.


We then progressed to working on parallel position, where feet, ankles, knees, hips, and shoulders must all stay parallel to the ground. Parallel position is extremely important for skiing, and it was great to see the campers grappling with what for many is a new concept.


Finally, Danny concluded his session by running timed SL and GS courses in lanes (similar to those out at Mt. Hood, I think), and the campers responded well by looking for speed and pushing themselves to venture slightly outside their comfort zone.


Excellent start to this fine Tuesday, and now we are off to the Waterbury Center State Park for some swimming and beach games!

Monday, August 4, 2014

Evening Activity - Team building, Games, and Swim at Foster's

Tonight's evening activity took us to Foster's swimming hole, which is just a short drive up toward the mountain from the Round Hearth. Foster's is not on the Rec path and therefore we often cannot find time to go, but it is widely considered one of our best swim spots and always worth the trouble when we are able to make it.



While one team swam, the other three completed various team building activities on the Top Notch Fields. Each team started by supporting each other while all sitting on each other's laps and then with only their hands touching the ground. We saw many team pyramids, and some great communication and collective thinking from the older groups trying to figure out a "magic shoes" activity.



Overall, morale seems to be high in camp tonight. After hard morning and afternoon sessions, the campers deserve a fun day tomorrow, which they are sure to get with a morning session with Danny followed by two swimming adventures!


Afternoon Bike Ride

We got back up to the Stowe Trail System this afternoon for our alternate training session.  Mountain Biking is great training for endurance, balance, vision, and anticipation, very similar to skiing.  This marks the third time since the start of the camp that we've made it up to the single trek for the older kids, and each time we get to explore more and more.


The younger kids have progressed enough in the 9 days that we even got half of them up in the woods.  For the campers new to camp this week, most are very quick learners on the bike and fit right in.  A little stop by the river for some, and a trip to IC Scoop's for most, completed our afternoon.


Some fun stuff going on tonight, including a new spot to jump at the river.

Julia Ford Day at SDSC

This morning we were joined by 2014 Sochi Olympic competitor Julia Ford.  Julia grew up skiing at Okemo, went to Holderness for her junior years, and made the USST at the age of 18 and has been competing at the World Cup level ever since. 


There are a lot of qualities in people that make them special and drive them to high achievements, and in Julia so many distinct and unique qualities are present.  First she is tough.  Physically she works her tail off in the gym for preparation and on the hill for training.  Mentally she convinces herself to do things that are challenging or scary, conquering any and all inhibition.  Her mindset of approaching challenges head on allows her to separate herself from her peers. 

Second, Julia played multiple sports at a high level all the way through high school.  When she was named to the USST at the end of her senior year at Holderness, she didnt know right away that she wanted to go to the National Team.  She played soccer and lacrosse at such a high caliber that she was considering going to college to play one of those sports at the Division I level.  The athletic ability our kids can gain from playing all sports sets them up to improve their skills, anticipation, and overall ability.  Julia is an amazing athlete who works hard to transition her ability to skiing. 



Third, Julia is so nice and fun to be around, and that positive energy helps her enjoy what she is doing with support of all people around her.  Being a happy person also allows an athlete to take the bad with the good and stay motivated and striving for their goals. 

This morning, Julia ran our camp through warmups and a game before instructing 5 stations.  We ended with a question and answer period while the kids hydrated and then Julia got to sign some water bottles, hats, and even cell phone cases. 


Julia Ford is special, and she just got 50 new fans who will be cheering her on all winter.  US Nationals are at Sugarloaf in March 2015.  Maybe those in the East can make it to one of her races to cheer her on to another medal.

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Evening Activity - Bike Obstacle Course, Games, Swim

This week's evening activities started with a rotation between three 40 minute stations. Campers weaved their way through a mountain bike obstacle course complete with gates, jump, and teeter-totter, then raced around playing speedball and capture the flag, and biked down the Rec Path for a well-deserved jump in the river on such a hot summer evening.




We have already seen the group challenging itself as kids tried new elements on the course and pushed themselves to get to and from the swimming hole...the tone has been set and hopefully we will see the smiles continue through the rest of the week!


Week 2 Orientation

This afternoon marked the beginning of our second session, and the camp started off so smoothly.  Integration of the 12 new campers went so well it almost seems like they were here for the first week too.  We went over SDSC rules again, played orientation games, and then sat down for our first big meal of the week.


For those who stayed over in between sessions, we had plenty of time to get some extra rest.  Yesterday afternoon we swam and stayed low key for the entire afternoon and evening, topped off by pizza from Piecasso.  45 kids and counselors polished off 15 large pizzas with huge smiles.  Laundry was another task we tackled, FOR 38 CAMPERS!  The washer and dryer have been going non-stop, and everyone will have clean clothes by the time they wake up. 

With an 8:30 wake up call Sunday, lets see how the camp reacclimates to 7:00am Monday morning. 

Saturday, August 2, 2014

End of Week 1 SDSC

Great closing ceremonies this morning.  We were able to recognize 17 of our campers with awards and felt the week concluded on a positive note... on top of the Counselor victory in the annual COUNSELOR versus CAMP match of capture the flag.


Thank you parents for your support, and thanks to the campers for all of their effort this week!!

Camp Video

The camp video for one or two weeks will be available for purchase.  Theo Burns, ex SDSC camper, is our videographer and has been working really hard to take photos and videos of all the activities this week.  He will have a signup sheet at the closing ceremonies tomorrow for parents to preorder for the final product.  Copies can also be purchased by emailing Theo at theoburns97@gmail.com.  The purchase price is $15, and all proceeds go directly to Theo as funding for his position and material expenses at SDSC. 

Here is a preview of the video.







Friday, August 1, 2014

Reminder for Saturday Closing Ceremonies...

Closing ceremonies for the first week of SDSC are tomorrow at 11:00.  We are excited to have parents join us, so please plan on attending! 

* One request from us here at SDSC is that parents please wait until the awards are over at 12:00 to get bags from rooms.  We have done a great job with organization and rules all week and hope to remain in control until camp officially ends at 12:00.

Thank you!!