Off-Day Festivities!

Well, it's finally that time of the winter where it's so important to take a little time away from the mountain to recharge, both physically and mentally. Even though the skiing has been absolutely perfect (thanks Whiteface crew!), our Alpine and Freeride squads enjoyed some downtime after a big weekend of races and competitions. It was pretty clear that folks were good and ready for some outdoor festivities-- there was much to enjoy.

Here's a little play-by-play from our Tuesday! 

First, Jimbo and Smitty confirmed that every Alpine athlete needed to do a little targeted training on their skate start technique. What better way to get after it than with a top-secret XC skate training session at Mt Van Hoevenberg?! 

We started with a little "sharks & minnows" and speedball to hone the balance and coordination skills.

Then we hit the trails!

Oh yeah.

Some one-ski balance drills...

... which turns out aren't that easy!!

Then we lined up for a final sprint: 

After a little lunch, it was off to the infamous Lake Placid Toboggan Chute (formerly the Lake Placid High School Ski Jump...) for some high speed fun: 

U14 Ladies!

Lily in charge of the U16 sled

Freeride ladies!

The North Warren sliding brigade

Team Freeride... grippin and rippin it!

And, of course, a Piper-eye view of the action: 

Last, we hit up the Ski Jumps to watch the final round of the FIS Cup Ski Jumping competition (featuring jumpers from 8 countries!) The K120 meter jump was also open, so we got to watch some high flying action: 

NYSEF athlete Miles Lussi in action on Tuesday, Photo credit: Roy Bombard

Might as well... JUMP

QT and the big hill!

All in all, it was a pretty awesome off-day. Now we're finally raring to get out on the hill! And from the looks of it, the freeride crew is already back at it...

Another day at the Gavin Frtiz office. Photo credit: Jake Sporn

Avery Higgins-Lopez. What an awesome shot! Photo credit: Jake Sporn