Closing Ceremonies 11:00am

Please join us for our closing ceremonies at 11:00am.  Campers will have seats up front and parents can fill in behind.  We had a full week and we are excited to finish it off with one more fun morning.

Celebrate Good Times at SDSC!

As we close up this week, there has been plenty to celebrate. We have had campers reach new heights up on Mount Mansfield, they have tried new things in the skate park and mountain bike trails, they have learned a lot about all the BASE elements and skiing while on skates. And most importantly, they have had A LOT of fun!

That is what tonight is all about...celebrating that fun and achievement with friends. SDSC 2016 is coming to a close, but the energy here at the Round Hearth is just as vibrant as it was when kids were dropped off two weeks ago. Yes, they are tired from the weeks' activity, but the fun they have had the last few weeks is carrying them through tonight with spirit. One more morning session tomorrow of games, followed by awards and closing ceremony at 11!

Cady Hill Mountain Bike Adventure

For our final afternoon adventure, SDSC traveled down the Rec Path to Cady Hill trails for some mountain bike single track. Since our last mountain bike was rained out on Monday, all the kids were itching to hit the trails, especially the always famous Florence.

The trails were really fast after the rain on Monday and then the last few days of sunshine. The heat didn't let up for us, and there were some sweaty brows underneath helmets. Everyone zipped around in the woods for about 2 hours before heading back to jump in the river on the way home. Quite the finish to an extremely fun and tiring week!

We celebrate tonight with music, inflatables, cookout, and ice cream. The campers fully deserve it :)

Morning Instructional Session: Explosion with Alissa Consenstein

 

This morning we had our final instructional session of SDSC, led by guest coach Alissa Consenstein. Alissa is the U16 coach at Green Mountain Valley School, but has previously coached at Stratton and served as the Eastern Competition Manager for the United States Ski Association.

Alissa took us through a great warm-up that included stretching our ankles, something that we often forget to do but something that is crucial for today's explosion session. After that we split up into multiple stations, all focusing power and explosive movements. Alissa encouraged all of us to think about really sticking our landings then exploding upwards when we jumped, and incorporated elements into each station that connected their minds and coordination to their body movements. Campers had to catch balls while exploding through ladders, or adjust to different sized hurdles with single or double legged hops.

It was a hot morning and it was pretty clear that many of the kids have been working really hard for the last week or two. We had quite a few tired legs at the beginning, but the campers all rallied and truly have been absolute stars all week. Mountain biking this afternoon!

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Evening Activity: Scavenger Hunt and S'mores

After a long, hard hike up Mt. Mansfield we had some dinner and hit the rec path for a scavenger hunt. Campers split up into their prospective teams and all competed twelve challenges together while riding their bikes along the rec path. Scavenger hunt challenges included finding a heart shaped rock, building a float and sending it down the river, mooing at the cows, creating a rec path bike safety video and many more. Igniting the competitive spirit always brings out a side of campers that forces them to work together and be creative. After all challenges were completed, campers and counselors returned back to The Round Hearth, ate some S'mores and headed to bed, sad for only one more day of camp!
 

Afternoon Hike!

Danny - "When was the last time you did something that hard?"

Camper 1 - "I don't remember."
Camper 2 - "Never."
Camper 3 - "Last week at this camp.  Actually, this was harder."

This afternoon we attacked Mount Mansfield!  All groups pushed themselves to their extreme.  Many made the summit (highest point in Vermont), and the rest stretched themselves to find how far they could make it.  We had a cutoff of 2hrs before we had to turn around, and we hoofed it up as far as we could, with over 60% of camp reaching the summit in those 2hrs.  The walk down could have been brutal... but the kids shot through cliff trail and made it fun with high spirits, and even ran a bit to finish the challenge.

Great day with high volume, we welcome Eric's evening Scavenger Hunt, with built in cold water recovery in the river.

Speed Session with Danny Noyes

This morning Danny led the camp through the final session in our skate progression. After going through our usual routine with athletic stance, hopping, and different radius turns, we jumped into courses. We had two GS courses and two slaloms, and after a few runs through for practice, we got out the clocks for timing.

While most of the last few sessions have focused on the technical elements of skiing and body position, this morning focused a lot more on tactics and turn shape. While every session has connected to skiing, it was pretty cool to see the link between skating and skiing. I heard many campers say things like, "oh yeah, I have been working on that in my skiing" and "yes, I have been talking about that with my coach and that makes a lot of sense."

The campers put a ton of effort into this morning's session, and it was so great to see how much everyone had improved over the course of the last week or two. The afternoon session has us returning to Mansfield for a hike to the top, and the group sure is excited!

Movie Night and Physical Testing

We have started incorporating physical testing in our curriculum here at SDSC for all U-14 and U-16 athletes. Through both the Functional Movement Screening (FMS) and various other physical tests athletes are able to identify their strengths and weakness. At the completion of camp we will send campers that were a part of testing home with their scores and corrective exercises to help them improve. After dinner campers completed both the overhead squat and balance beam to test their mobility, flexibility and balance. 

After a hard day's work, we thought we all deserved a movie night! With two rooms for viewing, we showed UP and Good Dinosaur. Resting up and excited for tomorrow's big hike up Mt. Mansfield. 

Flying High at Johnson Skate Park

For the second week in a row, SDSC traveled around Stowe and Smuggler's Notch to Johnson Skate Park for an afternoon on the ramps, jumps, and half pipes. We saw a huge success rate for kids trying new things, from a beginning skater getting the hang of braking to some of the more experienced skaters trying their first descent down the 6+ foot drop into a bowl feature.

It was an afternoon full of activity, with all 51 campers buzzing around the park on what turned out to be a scorcher. I will let the pictures tell the story...check out these photos and videos to see some of the action!

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SKATE PARK Videos!!!

The Johnson Skate park is such a great place to try new and challenging things, and its prime for snapping photos and shooting videos.

Here are some of our favorites... (Sorry, videos are not supported on a mobile platform)

Morning Agility session with Micaela Holland

This morning our SDSC Director of Curriculum, Micaela Holland, led the instructional session targeting Agility.  Micaela is the Head Alpine Ski Coach at Clarkson University, and a former NCAA Division I racer and NCAA Championship qualifier out of Bates College.

Micaela had the group bouncing, running, hopping, and shifting all over the place as she stressed quick feet and change of direction.  The final stage was a very fun and creative camp-wide relay where the teams raced to the center to pick up a random card and race back to their team to complete the task (exercise and quantity varied depending on what card you picked) before the next person raced in for the next card.

A lot of hard work, but great direction from Micaela and great motivation by counselors and campers turned a nice hot morning into a blast of a session.

3rd (or 10th) morning's a CHARM!!

How long does it take to get ready for a team photo?

Team USA thought I was getting them ready to take a team photo...

Evening Games and Swim

Over the bridges, and on the Rec Path to Speedball we go!

Tonight the camp biked down the Rec Path to the fields at Stowe Motel for two stations of games and then a swim. We played Speedball, a combination of soccer and handball, and a variation of Speedball called Quebec Ball. Speedball in particular has quickly become a camp favorite and is a great game for full body athleticism and coordination and it was great to get the kids out and playing games after great work in this morning's skate session.

Another good day! Tomorrow promises to be another as we have a great agility session with Micaela Holland and then head to the Johnson Skate Park!

Afternoon Alternate Session - Waterbury Center Reservoir

This afternoon we went to the Waterbury Center Reservoir for our alternate session.  Lots of playing in the water and sun, and we pulled out our GIANT slip n slide for the tail end.  Those who needed to take it a little easy certainly could... but those looking to play and expend some energy let it loose.

SDSC Pride at the Skate Session!

Instructional Session: Balance with Danny Noyes

This morning, Danny led all of SDSC in a balance progression on skates in the Mount Mansfield parking lot. In addition to directing SDSC, Danny is heading into his 10th year as the head alpine ski coach at Colby, has coached 11 NCAA Div I All-Americans (7 men, 4 women), and was honored as EISA Coach of the Year in 2010.

As with last week, we continued to start from athletic stance in sneakers to establish a routine and incorporate the second week campers who had not been on skates yet. I'm always impressed with how Danny's sessions build from the basic elements to the entire picture of a skiing turn, and today was a perfect example.

Once comfortable on skates, we moved into lanes and practicing flexing up and down in athletic stance before moving to hops over bamboo poles. After poles, they progressed to jumping over hurdles, and finally into GS courses. Danny emphasized how in parallel position, your inside ski (or skate, in this case) is slightly ahead of the outside ski. That helps you drive your inside knee, maintain pressure on the outside foot, and puts your hips and shoulders in position to exit turns with momentum moving down the hill.

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When Danny added bamboo poled into the course to signal their transition between turns, he pointed out how good skiers who are balanced in their transition limit mistakes.  Our campers focused on jumping and landing in basic athletic stance (a move where balance is a NECESSITY) before rolling into their next turn. The kids did a great job, taking lap after lap down the lanes and focusing well on the feedback they received from coaches. Finally, they finished strong with the SL challenge!

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As the sun heats up, we are getting ready to jump in the water at the Waterbury State Park. It's going to feel good!

Evening Activity: the Swimming Hole

After a cold and rainy day we headed to The
Swimming Hole to warm up in the pool and play some games! Located just a short drive from The Round Hearth, The Swimming Hole features a waterslide, diving board, pool volleyball and basketball. Our smallest campers learned how to spike volleyballs and  older campers played basketball VS. some of the counselors. Even though we weren't able to spend the whole day outside, we certainly burned off any extra energy we had off. Counselors helped teach campers how to safely front flip off the diving board into the pool and many SDSC campers successfully did it! We're all looking forward to a Balance Skate Session with Danny in the morning and some more swimming in the afternoon.

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Although this picture wasn't from today- here's a neat shot of some campers at the playground practicing their balance and resting over the weekend.

It Doesn't Rain on the Rec Path

Some days you get lucky, some days you don't and you just ignore the weather and do things anyway. After the rain moved our morning session inside, it continued with earnest throughout lunch and into the afternoon. We were supposed to go for an adventure in the Cady Hill mountain bike trails, but after delaying our initial departure from the Round Hearth for an hour, all four teams headed onto the Rec Path regardless of a light drizzle.

The rain couldn't douse our spirits despite its best effort, and all campers made it to the famed ice cream shop in Stowe, I.C. Scoops. I happened to be with USA, who stopped along the way for a hill climb time trial, as well as some great renditions of Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA." We were all shocked to see the river so high after a full day of rain, as well as many felled trees into the river...nature at work!

Team USA combining tuck practice...with a classic veggie off! Distressed tomato...go!

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It's too bad camp is no fun. Good thing we are going to The Swimming Hole tonight!

Morning Session with Eric Barthold

This morning we were welcomed by a nice steady rain that is still sitting over us here in Stowe.

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Eric adjusted his lesson plan to accommodate the indoor space we had available, and the camp was still able to get plenty of instruction, minus the volume.  With 5 different segments (Basic Athletic Stance, Balance, Agility, Speed, and Explosion), Eric had the kids hopping, running, jumping, and exploding their way through the morning.

Only one day into our second week and we are helping our kids find a way to work hard, and they were ready to refuel at lunch time.  I've never seen them hit the lunch line so quickly!!!

We are monitoring the weather very closely, and while we already delivered a slight delay for the afternoon session, we are confident we will be able to get out there shortly to hop on bikes.

Welcome New Campers!

It's a new week here at SDSC with thirty campers psyched up for week two and twenty newcomers fired up and ready to go. Returning campers spent the day sleeping, mini-golfing, swimming and biking before our newcomers arrived. Once everyone was registered and settled in, Sue made us a delicious dinner and we took off for the fields. With less campers this week, we will run the camp all together instead of splitting up for activities. Tonight we went to the Stowe Motel fields and rotated through speed-ball, capture the flag, team building games and a camp favorite - a trip to the river to swim! The water was especially cold but there were lots of cool spots to jump off and everyone had a great time. We're looking forward to some mountain biking and a great introductory athletic session with Eric.

Below is a picture of a team building activity where all team members have to lift a bucket of water and see how long they can keep it off the ground with their feet!

Weekend Stay Over

We had 30 campers stay over in between SDSC week 1 and week 2 sessions.  A LOT of sleep and rest... and also a little bit of activity.

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Closing Ceremonies at 11:00

We would like to invite all parents to join us for our Awards and Closing Ceremony this morning at 11:00. The campers will be at a session all morning and then will be returning for the ceremony, so we ask that all parents wait until after that presentation to begin moving out. The SDSC staff and campers have kept a tight and safe environment for camp throughout the week, and we want to ensure that continues until we release the campers after the ceremony. Thank you for your understanding, and we will see you soon.

Friday Night Cookout and Inflatables

Well, we have reached our final morning here at SDSC Week 1. Yesterday evening we kicked off our celebrations with a fantastic cookout out on the lawn of The Round Hearth on a perfect Sunday evening.

After dinner, the festivities commenced in earnest as all the campers were treated to an inflatable bungee run and music arranged by a DJ. It was hard to tell who was having more fun, the campers or the counselors! Classic group dance numbers and all the current hits were there, and the dance moves were enthusiastic and on point.

Today we go to the field for one more fun session of games, and then return for closing ceremonies!

Waterbury State Park on a HOT afternoon

For our last alternative session, SDSC traveled to Waterbury State Park for an afternoon at the lake. The time in the water could not have come at a better time, as temperatures rose into the high eighties. Micaela's session this morning pushed us to raise our level one more time, and the water felt great on our legs and cleared our minds. 

We saw some intense hand stand competitions, egg competitions, keep-away games, and a whole lot of splashing. And then, the moment all the campers had been waiting for finally came: the annual slip and slide! 

It has been some week. As the kids return to the Round Hearth for cookout and inflatables, it's hard to imagine that we are already heading toward the end of Week 1. It really has been a great one. We will post more details later tonight, but we are looking forward to our closing ceremonies tomorrow morning at 11:00! See you all then. 

The Slip and Slide!

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EXPLOSION with Micaela Holland

This morning, SDSC's own Micaela Holland led a terrific session on explosion and power. Micaela is the head alpine ski coach at Clarkson University, where her team completes in the highly competitive MacConnell division with schools like Brown, UMass, Babson, and Castleton State. Before coaching, Micaela raced for Bates College, where she led the Bobcats to the NCAA Division I championships for three out of her four years. 

She brought her vast knowledge of skiing into her session, alternating between breaking the group into smaller stations and then bringing everyone together to practice technique. She emphasized how all of the other elements of B-A-S-E combine when thinking about explosion. There were medicine balls, boxes, hurdles, and even parachutes. The parachutes were particularly popular, and those who have been testing all week completed their 40 second box jump test.

It is turning into a scorcher of a day, and we are definitely looking forward to jumping into the water this afternoon at the Waterbury State Park!

Evening Activity: Nutritionist Chad Couto and Movie Night!

Tonight we had the pleasure of welcoming Chad Couto to the Round Hearth to deliver nutrition presentations to the campers in two separate sessions. Chad is the fitness director at the Stoweflake Resort and Spa, runs his own Fitness for Life program, and has been an avid triathlete for many years. Chad comes every year and this year was particularly invested in science of recovery.

Half of the camp listened to Chad, while the other half spent time outside on the Round Hearth Lawn. 

Here was the scene at 7:45 tonight...

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Chad's presentations gave way to two movie features: The Sandlot, and Zootopia. Again, it was quite the picture as everyone laid out their pillows and blankets together for the last two hours of a great Thursday. On to our last full day of camp featuring Micaela Holland for an explosion session!

Instructional Session: Speed with Danny Noyes...and a little rain

Today Danny led our speed session at the base of Stowe's Mount Mansfield. Danny, the head alpine ski coach at Colby College, has been SDSC Director for 12 years and led a terrific session in the morning for the younger four teams. Danny has been an amazing mentor to me as both his athlete and colleague, and there is no better camp director in the business.

Today's session added to Monday's by introducing parallel position to basic athletic stance. Campers focused on matching their feet, knees, hips, and shoulders throughout their turns in GS and SL courses. Danny also emphasized the importance of progression in our skates sessions, as well as establishing a routine in training and race day. We repeated many of the initial exercises from Monday's session but at a faster pace, mirroring how a well prepared athlete would take a few warm-up runs before races doing their favorite drills.

Thunderstorms and rain unfortunately halted all activity early in the afternoon. We have been lucky with the weather until then so we can't complain too much, and tonight's restful evening of nutrition speaker and movie night will surely be appreciated by our tired campers.

Morning Activity: Mountain Biking

For the second time this camp teams headed to Cady Hill Forest to test their skills. Since we've already been there once this camp, athletes were more familiar and comfortable on the trails. After climbing the initial Cady Hill trail there is an option to stick around the front side of the mountain on Bear's Trail, Town Loop or Bridgey or venture into some more advanced downhills including a camp favorite, Florence. It is a long downhill section full of bank turns and rollers. Check out a map of the forest on the right!

Updates from our younger campers bike session coming soon!

Evening Activity: Speaker Jerry Murphy, Skit Night, and S'mores

Tonight's evening was packed with activity all around the Round Hearth. SWIX's Northeast rep Jerry Murphy returned for yet another year to introduce campers to the basics of ski tuning and preparation. It's always great to connect camp activities to all the various elements of ski racing, and Jerry gave us the perfect platform to do so.

Campers then were challenged to come up with skits in their teams using a collection of props chosen at random from around the Round Hearth. We saw scenes from coffee shops, recess playgrounds, restaurants, and even an appearance by Bill Nye! The performances were capped by an original guitar and singing number by all the counselors whose chorus included "SDSC, best camp in Stowe, our best option when we are missing the snow!"

Finally, we ended the night roasting marshmallows around the camp fire, as all good camps should. As we cross over the halfway point of this week, it has been pretty amazing to see how the entire group has come together, from the generation of older campers who will be "graduating" this year to the new campers who are still learning the flow of our daily schedule. They all have been working extremely hard in the daytime sessions, and the group's cohesion is really starting to show as a result.