The Science of Shredding...

Busy day here at the NYSEF Winter Term!

First we went out shredding:

Trixie Lever, Olivia Reynolds and Lily Silverstein posing before giving Skyward the old slice and dice

Nezzy and Coach Northrup

Then it got cold, so we came inside and did some science. We measured the volume of C02 escaping from a bottle of soda, and used the microscope to examine some mold spores that we've been culturing. Delicious!

Nezzy Burkard reports, "Checking out the slides under the microscope was really cool! We spent a bunch of time preparing the samples and they turned out really well. I love the science of shredding!"

Jacquie, our Science tutor, Audrey and Nezzy prepping some slides for closer analysis

We found these growing in Blake's closet at the OTC and decided to investigate further!

Science rules. 

Thanks to our friends Mrs. Walker and Ms. Fagan at Northwood School for letting us use their Biology lab!

Gavin Fritz rocks NewSchoolers.com Homepage

Check out this great shot of NYSEF Winter Term freeride athlete Gavin Fritz currently gracing the homepage of newschoolers.com!

Awesome shot of Gavin, Photo: Jake Sporn Photography

Awesome. And how ironic that he is, in fact, currently attending a brand new school!

What to do when it's -23 degrees out?

Just send it!

NYSEF Winter Term athlete Gavin Fritz logging some hang time on Thursday morning

Roommates Inez Burkard (left) and Julia Schneider (right) staying warm while training on Friday

Julia Schneider throwing a massive cossack in the Whiteface Terrain Park

Workshop-- Building Raceday Confidence Using Imagery & Positive Self-Talk with Coach Putman

Winter Term athletes had the chance to sit down with NYSEF U-16 Coach Kevin Putman at the Olympic Training Center this morning for their first of several workshops on improving their mental game.

Coach Putman has nearly 20 years of coaching experience and has worked extensively with athletes on the FIS and Nor-Am circuits. He has coached athletes who have moved on to win NCAA and National Championship titles as members of the US Ski Team, US Olympic Team, and Division I collegiate programs. In addition to his coaching experience, Kevin recently obtained his Masters Degree in Sport Psychology and has helped numerous athletes to up their mental game.

Coach Putman outlining confidence-- what it is and why it matters in sport. 

During the lecture, Winter Term athletes learned how to create confidence on raceday through anecdotes from Kevin's experiences working with US Ski Team athletes Tommy Biesemeyer and Thomas Vonn on the FIS circuit. We then learned about two great tools to boost performance-- positive self-talk and mental imagery. Kevin played a great clip for us featuring top racers from the Canadian Women's Team in which several athletes showed how they used imagery and postive self-talk in training, in the starthouse, and during a race run.

The highlight of the session was when Coach Putman had all of the athletes practice using mental imagery to recreate their best race run from the current season.

It was a great workshop, and coaches and athletes alike learned some great tools to help boost confidence on raceday.

Weekly educational sessions such as these are a major part of the Winter Term experience, and topics addressed will include further lessons on sport psychology and mental preparation, nutrition, recovery, tuning & wax clincs and more. 

For additional reading, check out the great article Kevin handed out highlighting 20 tips to build confidence. 

Thanks Kevin! 

We're off and running! No, wait... off skiing and studying!

After many months of preparation, the inaugural NYSEF Winter Term is off to a terrific start.

We've been juggling a busy schedule over the past few days but it's already paying off. The crew has been able to take advantage of midweek double training sessions packed with super-g training, park sessions, tramp workouts, Coach Putman's beloved "wedge turns" and Smitty's favorite apex slalom drills. 

Here's a visual feast from our first two week's worth of adventures: 

[Most of] the crew hanging with "Ronny the Raccoon", the mascot from the 1980 Olympic Games. We had an awesome night learning about Lake Placid's Olympic history at the "Olympic Memories and Memorabilia" event last weekend at the High Peaks Resort.

We were sad to leave our beloved "chateau in the woods" on Averyville Road, but now we're all settled into the Olympic Training Center! Thank you, Silverstein family for being such great hosts! Photo: Inez Burkard

NYSEF Winter Term freeride athlete Gavin Fritz pulling a flat 360 Japan Air in the Whiteface Terrain Park. Photo: Jake Sporn Photography

Life is certainly good at the Olympic Training Center! The crew enjoying dinner before evening study hall. 

Did we mention that the food is really good?! Pan seared salmon, some sauteed potatoes & veggies and salad. Thanks OTC kitchen crew, you guys rock!

Gavin & Sebastian getting some work done at the OTC. Good focus boys!

Inez, Lily, Julia & Olivia enjoying the snow at the FIS World Cup Aerials competition (last qualifier for Sochi) held in their new backyard at the Lake Placid Ski Jumps. An awesome show, with fireworks to boot.