Happy 2011/12 Donation Day-November 23rd!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club is thankful!
There has been many a November past when Club members and local ski enthusiasts could be found staring dolefully at the heavens, praying for snow, a flake, a sign, something, anything to indicate we may be able to open a run on the mountain for our season to begin!
Not this season. Indeed, there are those of us who continue to look skyward in anticipation of more of the white stuff that puts smiles on our faces and skis beneath our feet…but, thankfully, this year, we’ve got it-a base, a 22inch base, and cold weather for adequate snow making conditions-plenty for the Mountain to open Chair 4, for our annual Donation Day on November 23rd.
Thank you Telluride Ski and Golf Company!
Our Club is so fortunate to have the generous support of our ski company in many ways throughout the season. “The support shown to our Club by the Ski Company in providing Donation Day, says everything about the organization and the importance they put on the needs of our youth,” says Justin Chandler, TSSC Executive Director.
Donation Day is a long-standing tradition-“it is a huge fundraiser for us,” says Chandler. The Ski and Golf Company will open the lifts a day early. The cost for a ski pass for the day is a mere $25 for everyone, including pass holders. Every penny of the proceeds from this day is donated directly to Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club and those dollars comprise our financial aid and scholarship fund. This benefit is of particular importance this year in our challenged economy, as TSSC has seen the need for financial assistance more than double from that of recent years. Our Club is proud to claim that for last 10 years, not one child has been turned away from TSSC because they couldn’t afford to join!
Please help us show our gratitude and spread the word-this is an amazing opportunity for our kids! And, the skiing is going to ROCK!
November is notorious for the beginning of ”Dryland training”. For some these words conjure images of a blood-pumping, ab-aching, series of conditioning exercises to whip summer-tanned,shadows of former athletes, into shape before the first snow hits the ground and the lifts crank into service for the winter competition season. My most memorable dry land sessions involve relentless pounding up and down aluminum stadium stairs-until legs would no longer make the step up, and lungs burst. Or, bounding up the the sides of the sand pit with a fellow skier on my back, while grains of sand below our feet worked with gravity to keep us from reaching the firm turf at the edge of the pit! Mostly, I remember the merciless coaches who encouraged and supported my efforts and who maintain heroic status in the history of people who have influenced my life.
We have been fortunate this season, to have an early season snow pack regionally and we have mountains for a training ground rather than stadiums or sand pits. This factor, along with the energy and creativity of our coaches, has allowed some of our athletes to begin their winter training regime with actual turns on snow and a thrilling, albeit grueling at moments, scenic bike tour. This week Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club, Alpine Team athletes, participated in an Alpine Fundamentals training camp, on snow, with Alpine Director, Mike Bowman. Maddie Gummerman, Jayleen Troutwin, Alby Rolfs, Theo Rolfs, Ebba Green, Spencer Keating and Marco Canclini were treated to fresh powder turns while training in Winter Park, CO.
At the same time, Wade Parkinson, Troy Tully, Zane Jackson, Quillen Kimleigh, Benni Solomon and Zak Nunn, members of the Freestyle Team joined coaches, Kris Pepe, Nori, Lupfer and Freestyle Director, Caleb Martin in biking the famous, 105 mile White Rim loop in Moab, UT this weekend. While snow flew and wind howled here in Telluride-Caleb reported that the team “fought some tough headwinds on the first leg of riding on Friday but enjoyed warm temperatures at camp that night. Unfortunately heavy rain and wind descended in the middle of the night which made for sloppy, muddy conditions on the second leg of riding. The rain let up early in the day and the team was able to dry out at camp Saturday night and enjoy a tremendous shooting star spectacle. Sunday proved to be the day, as the team shed layers down to riding shorts and T-shirts.”
These athletes return to a more typical dry land regime today- sprints, fartleks, weight training, core workouts, plyometrics, spinning and trampoline work; more the norm for this time of year. We are lucky to have real mountains and live in close proximity to other environs which allow us to diversify our routines and make getting in shape a lot more fun for our athletes.
Looking forward to turns on our home mountain in two short weeks when TSSC celebrates opening day with Donation Day-one of our most important fundraising events of the year, as 100% of the proceeds go toward scholarship and financial aid for our regional youth! Stay tuned for more info on Donation Day, November 23rd!
Welcome! This is the official Blog of the Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club. It’s hard to believe winter is truly upon us and in a few short weeks our ski area and ice rinks will be heavily populated by our membership! TSSC is a local, non-profit youth, sports organization. We offer opportunities for children of all ages, in our region to pursue their winter sports passion in numerous ski and snowboard disciplines including: Alpine, Freestyle, Snowboard, Freeride, All-Mountain, Nordic (Cross-Country and Telemark) and we’ve recently added Figure Skating to our program offerings! We work with young kids starting at the age of 5 years old to inspire and mentor them in the winter sport of their choice-It is the mutual goal of all our directors and coaches to instill a love of winter sports and to share the joy that participating in these healthy and rewarding activities can bring. Kids in all disciplines are encouraged and taught to learn how to ski the entire mountain with ease. As they mature and progress they are offered opportunities to specialize in a discipline and to take that discipline to a competitive level; from local, regional, national and ultimately international and World Cup level competition, if this is their desire. We are proud of our accomplishments as a Club-we have inspired thousands of youth, over the years, to love winter sports and we have led numerous athletes to success at high levels including National Championship and World Cup levels! This Blog will be dedicated to our Club, our athletes, our coaches-our community. We’d like to keep you informed of what we are doing this season! Here’s to 2011/12 Let it Snow!
Keaton McCargo training "Back lay" on Paradise Glacier
The Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club Freestyle Ski Team just returned from a
2.5 week training camp in Zermatt, which has become a pre-season tradition.
This was our fourth season in a row traveling to Zermatt. Every October a
freestyle mogul course is built high up in the Alps on the “Zermatt Glacier
Paradise.” Since this is the only mogul course available to ski teams
worldwide, in October, the course draws most of the top freestyle skiers
from around the world.
“It was pretty cool to be at the top the mogul course hearing like, seven
different languages” says Kealey Zaumseil
The course itself meets World Cup specs at 250 meters long. After a short,
somewhat flat top section, the course rolls over to a 30 degree pitch after
the top jump. This season the fall snow pack was quite thin, and glacial
ice existed throughout the course, between the faces of moguls. These
factors made for an extremely difficult course but also excellent training.
“I think it was quite intimidating for our team the first few days on the
course. They hadn’t skied since July in Mt. Hood, where the pitch is 21
degrees and conditions slushy. This course had some serious teeth, yet at
same time, the World Cup skiers were absolutely shredding it.” Caleb Martin
A two day storm halfway through the trip brought heavy snow and wind which
completely buried the course. The dense snow covered up the glacial ice
nicely and made for an exceptional final block of training.
Five TSSC members have qualifed for the U.S. Selection events coming up
December 19th – 22nd in Steamboat Springs, CO. Keaton McCargo, Kealey Zaumseil, Wade Parkinson, Troy Tully and Nick Keatong attended the Zermatt camp. Since time is limited before this major event, and mogul course training is hard to find during the early season in Colorado,the Zermatt trip has become an important staple towards Telluride success at the Selection Events in the past.
More to come on preparation and outcomes of U.S. Selection events!
