Irene

I hope everyone has come through the hurricane unscathed.  Here at Killington we are currently without power or water, but it is a beautiful day.  Currently we are stuck on the mt, route 4 into rutland is missing all three lanes just above sugar and spice.  Route 100 to pittsford is closed, and heading south on 100 is completely gone by the white church before the base of starship.   We are hoping 4 will be passable sometime today or tomorrow.  So with no other options a hike to to the top of K1 seemed like a good idea.   Hope everyone is safe and dry, its actually really nice up here.
Stags

Our last day at la parva

Camp is officially winding down and coming to a close.  We had planned a fun slalom race for this morning, but the surface was simply too soft.  We took a few slip runs but cut everyone loose to go ski powder and enjoy their final day on snow in chile. 
Now everyone is busy travel waxing skis, packing, and cleaning the condo.  The bus is set to arrive in a couple hours to take is down to the airport, one last trip down through the switchbacks and into the city.   We have had a very productive camp and I think everyone has made significant improvements. 
See you all at jfk tomorrow morning.
Stags

Snow in la parva

With the prospect of heavy snow looming over us for the last few days it seems to have arrived.  This morning we woke up to a few centimeters of fresh snow and a day off.  Through the day the snow fall has increased, by he coaches meeting at four the top of he mountain already had 30 cm. 
Looking forward to tomorrow we are planning to go for slalom in the morning.  But with the current snow fall that may evolve into a couple hours of powder skiing before the bus arrives. 
Training or freeskiing tomorrow should be a great last day in chile, I know everyone is getting excited to get home to some warm temperatures and a few days off before school starts.
I will try to get an update and some pictures up before we take off tomorrow night.
Stags

La Parva SL

We had another great day of Slalom today.  We set one course on the top over the pitch will full gates and another brush apex course on the bottom.  The girls work really hard today and took 10 runs in the full gate course.  They worked hard and made more improvements today.  We were lucky to wake up to very little new snow so set up and course prep were quick and painless.

After this four day block we are looking forward to our last day off this trip.  They are ready to start packing and getting ready for the trip home on Friday.  Friday is going to be a pretty busy day, we are planning to have a fun race on the final day.  Then we need to get packed, skis travel waxed, and moved out of the condos for the trip down to Santiago.

The girls have worked hard this trip and I am really psyched with their progress over the last two weeks.

See you all in a few days.

Nick

 

 

Slalom in the Snow

This morning we woke up to a couple inches of fresh snow. After a few slip runs we were able to get down to a good surface for training. On the upper part of the La Paloma trail we set a brush apex course to work on turn shape and pressure placement. Down below we ran a section of full gates from the pitch out on to the flats.
Through morning snow came in at times and visibility got very low. Even with the somewhat challenging conditions the girls did a good job and are showing some improvement.
After lunch we went out and took a few more runs to work on specific skills. The girls were pretty tired but we pushed hard and they made some good progress toward the end of the session.
I didn't get many great pictures so I will try to get some good ones tomorrow.
We are planning to try again for SL tomorrow because the forecast is for some heavy snow tomorrow afternoon and into Thursday.
Check back tomorrow for more Pics.
Nick

SL Apex and SL Training

We were got out on the hill this morning and had a great view of low clouds in the valley below us with the moon above.

We trained slalom on Los Flores this morning. We started out with a section of brush apex slalom on the upper part of the trail to work on turn shape and tactics. It was a pretty tough session due to a significant side hill and fairly steep pitch, but the girls did a good job working on the drill and staying positive.

After four runs of apex we added a 19 gate section of rhythm slalom to build off the skills from above. The girls did a good job fighting and working hard through the session.

The girls are getting pretty tired as we work through the second half of the camp, so I gave them the rest of the day off. We have more slalom scheduled for tomorrow before the final day off.

Nick

Day of #2 and day#6 on snow

Yesterday we took a day off from skiing and headed to the coast to take a break and get out of that altitude.  Everyone had a chance to walk around Vina Del Mar and most took the opportunity to get in the water.  On the way home we stopped at a couple open air markets to look for souvenirs and dinner. 

This morning we got right back on schedule and headed out at 6:45am to meet the shuttle and train GS.  We trained on the Nevada trail, a challenging slope on the upper part of the mountain.  We ended up with 26 turns and about a 40 second course.  We took the chance to set some brushes on the first half of the course to help everyone figure out the tactics.  The girls did a good job finding the line we were looking for and worked hard to improve from run to run.  After 5 runs we headed down for a short break.

Our second session started at 11 with 2 hours of SL drills and freeskiing.  With the prospect of some snow coming later in the week we are pushing up the schedule on SL training to tomorrow and Tuesday.  Tomorrow should be a great first SL session of this prep period.

Check back tomorrow for more pictures.

Nick

La Parva Day 7

We finished our third and final day of this block. Jessie and Jerica ran SG during the first half of the session on the upper part of the Baros Negros trail. They took four runs and did a great job skiing fast and making the adjustments that I was asking for. Kara took the opportunity to ski GS with a group of the guys on the La Paloma trail in the first part of the session. She did a great job and has been doing well this camp working hard and getting faster.
After SG we went down to La Paloma and took over the GS training, setting some apex brushes and working on tactics.
We have an off day tomorrow and have a fun trip to the coast planned.
Nick

La Parva Day 5 on Snow, SG and GS

We started the day with an early trip to the top of the mountain for some SG. We had an amazing view out over the Andes with neighbor El Colorado on the left. Jessie and Jerica did a good job today in their first SG session of the year. They are still learning how to make a 200cm SG ski work and how to develop pressure over a much longer turn radius.
After SG Jessie and Kara joined the guys for a quick GS session. We trained on the front of the mountain right above the village. The top was pretty steep so we took a few runs starting in the middle for our first real GS session of the camp. The girls did a good job and are working hard to improve.
Tomorrow we are looking forward to some more SG and maybe some jump training if the hill is ready.
Nick

GS Apex

We had a great morning session of GS apex on the La Paloma trail. The girls took 12 runs working with various drills. They are all making great progress.
This afternoon we are heading out for a few freeski runs on SG skis to get ready for an early morning SG session tomorrow.
Nick

GS apex la parva

We are starting the second block.of camp here in chile.  I have the girls running a gs apex drill course with brushes.  The girls are taking some warm-up runs and getting ready to train. 
They had a good day off yesterday and are well rested.  Time to get going and get it done.
I will have more pictures up after training this afternoon.

Nick Stagers
Head Women's Coach
Killington Mountain School
nstagers@killingtonmountainschool.org
(207)460-7824 cell

La Parva day 4

Yesterday the girls finished their fourth day on snow of the camp. In the morning we continued to work through the drills we have been working with this camp. They are showing significant improvement so far and are skiing better than I could have hoped this early into the camp.
In the afternoon we took some time and went back out for another two hours to freeski on GS skis. We also worked on a few drills to bring the skills we have been working on into their GS skiing.

Tomorrow they will get to enjoy a much deserved day off to relax and recharge for the next three day block. When we come back on Wednesday we will be running some GS apex and moving toward some SG. We should have some SG training Thursday and Friday with some GS in the afternoons.

Nick

La Parrva day 3

r

o
We had another great day on the hill today. We continued to build on the drills we worked on yesterday and the girls had very productive day. After three days on snow the girls are all seeing improvements and are excited by their progress.
Tomorrow we will have decided to keep pushing the girls to work hard and go for another day of drills and free skiing before having a day off on Tuesday.
Off the hill we have been enjoying some great cooking from Rhonda the new head chef at KMS. We had a great pork dinner with apple sauce, cauliflower, potato's, etc.
I will have some more pictures tomorrow before the off day.
Nick

La Parva day 2

Day two here in chile is coming to a close.  We had a great day on the hill today working on drills and freeski.  The girls are already showing progress on the hill, this is looking like it will be a very productive camp.   This afternoon the girls went back out for some freeski after lunch and then did a little recovery. 
The wind is picking up a bit late in the day and there may be some snow coming in but freeskiing tomorrow should be great.
Time for some dinner and a team meeting at 7:15

Nick Stagers
Head Women's Coach
Killington Mountain School
nstagers@killingtonmountainschool.org
(207)460-7824 cell

Welcome to chile

Greetings from chile. After an overnight flight from JFK we landed in Santiago and got our gear together and headed up to La Parva. The kids were a bit tired after sleeping on the plane but over all everything went well.
On the way up to the mountain we stopped at the jumbo supermarket for food and snacks for the next few days. With the size the group it took a while but was well worth it in the end.
After the jumbo we finished the drive up to la parva, making our way through over 40 switchbacks on a very narrow twisting mt road.
We were able to get in about an hour and a half of skiing this afternoon. The girls are settling into camp well and are motivated to work hard and make some important changes. I'm looking forward to the next two weeks on snow.
Here are a couple pictures from the day. I will try to post a few more every day.
See ya tomorrow
Nick

Nick Stagers
Head Women's Coach
Killington Mountain School
nstagers@killingtonmountainschool.org
(207)460-7824 cell