![]() This is the second season of Totem's sponsoring this award which includes a full race tune at the store. The award is presented to athletes from the U12 Fast Track group who have shown dedication, high performance and excellent team spirit & attitude. Abby Palamarek is always at training with a smile on her face and ready to learn. She has made huge improvements this year especially in her tactics in the race course. To understand a good line is a huge asset and Abby is quickly becoming proficient at that. She should be proud of her achievements! Here's to a great season Abby! Tor Begg
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This past weekend saw Jasper Ski Team racers in the U14 (ages 12-13) group racing against their peers in the Alberta Winter Games time trials at Rabbit Hill outside of Edmonton. This qualifying race was for Zones 5 and 6 in Alberta.
The Alberta Winter Games are held every two years for athletes in a variety of winter sports. Alpine skiing is just one of the categories. The Alberta Winter Games will be held in early February with the alpine skiing events hosted by Mount Norquay in Banff. A total of 47 athletes competed for spots to represent their zone in the winter games. Jasper falls into Zone 5 and therefore saw competition from three clubs: Sunridge Racers, Parkland Racers and Rabbit Hill Alpine Ski Team. Zone 6 is made up of Edmonton Ski Club and Snow Valley Ski Club. The race itself was a sprint format slalom race. This format has two race courses (blue and red), with each athlete racing two runs in each course and then their fastest run in each course is combined. From this, the top five males and top five females from each zone are selected for the Alberta Winter Games. For Jasper racers Walter Ostrander, Saje Rayner, Eli Erb-Beauchamp and Thomas McKenney the weekend ended in mixed feelings. Ostrander had a tough morning and was unable to complete a run in the blue course, which took him out of a qualifying spot. He was still able to race in the afternoon on the red and posted the two fastest times for the day. Although a tough break, his times bode well for the rest of the season in slalom skiing. Rayner missed a gate on his first run on the blue course and was disqualified. Fortunately, he still had another chance on the blue. His second run was clean, but a cautious start put him fifth in Zone 5 after the morning’s race. Rayner’s first run on the red course was looking very good until he straddled the third to last gate and was disqualified. His final run was clean, but not quite fast enough, and placed him in sixth place by 0.3 of a second, just out of reach for a spot on the Zone 5 team. McKenney and Erb-Beauchamp both skied well for their first ever U14 race. The step from U12 is a big one and both of these athletes completed clean runs and should be happy with their performances. Coach Marek Revai saw some good things happening with the boys’ skiing, but has seen some better skiing in training, so putting those skills into effect on race day is the next challenge for our local athletes. The Jasper Ski Team continues to train both at home and away every weekend. The first local race for the U14s is a giant slalom Jan. 18-19 at Marmot Basin. The U12s will race at Marmot Basin Jan. 25-26. The U16 group will race Jan. 9-12 at Norquay in Banff for their first races of the season. The U10 group will race at home March 1-2 at the Jasper Junior Olympics. Jasper racers Jacqueline Proc and Patrick Mahler have been vying for a spot to represent Alberta at the 2015 Canada Winter Games and attended another training camp at Nakiska last weekend with Jasper Ski Team Technical Director Gilbert Wall. Their recent training camp saw wind gusts up to 140 km/hr, but still they had quality training, sports psychology sessions and information on nutrition. The process for selection is ongoing and athletes are vying for seven female and seven male spots to race in alpine events and skier cross. There will be another training camp in the spring and a final selection in December 2014. The Canada Winter Games will see over 100,000 athletes from across the country competing in various winter sports in February 2015. The athletes who compete in the games are Canada’s future Olympians in the making. ![]() U12(FT), U14 and U16 athletes have all been busy the past few weekends with on snow training with a combination of training camps & skiing at home at Marmot! U14 and U16 athletes travelled to Nakiska and Panorama to train and U12(FT) have trained at Marmot to get back into the groove of the race season! For more photos of the early season training, click the button below visit our photo gallery.... Patrice Fortin, Nancy Greene Head Coach reports on the first weekend of Nancy Greene training: U10, U12 first training day, a Fantastic Start!
With kids smiling right at 9am, they were all eager to start a fresh season with their new coaches. Their day started on top of school house with lots of fun games to warm up: tag games, mini slalom on foot, Mr Wolf, run around the poles. We could hear the giggles and laughs. The coaches worked well on getting all athletes to move, to get balanced back under their little feet. All coaches found ways to integrate fun games in their runs. Parents were great with helping all the kids getting on the lifts, thank you all for that! We welcome a new coach on the team: Isabelle Godbout who will work with Mattie and the 5 year old program. Check out her Bio soon. ![]() U12 Fast Track, U14 and U16 recently returned from an exciting weekend away at the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup in Lake Louise. U14 and U16 athletes spent Friday and Sunday at Norquay for some valuable gate training, and joined the U12 Fast Tracks at Lake Louise on Saturday for the Men's Downhill event. Saturday was an exciting day with the Jasper athletes getting the opportunity to watch the best racers in the world in their first race of the 2013 World Cup tour. It was great to see these athletes on the world stage and to watch their incredible level of agility, fitness, technique and passion for racing. On Saturday evening, with voices hoarse from cheering on Team Canada, everyone attended the athlete's 'bib draw' at the Chateau Lake Louise. This event was a fantastic opportunity for the Jasper team to meet the top skiiers in the world, with caps and posters being signed and photos being taken with the racers! The delicious food at the event was also enjoyed by the kids and parents alike! On Sunday the U12 Fast Tracks were full of inspiration from the previous day and had a great morning training, with the afternoon free to enjoy watching the Men's Super G event. It was a great weekend away for the team, and I'm sure everybody left feeling inspired for the coming race season! More photos from this weekend are in the photo gallery... With the 2013-2014 Ski Season fast approaching, the U14-U16 ski team dryland training is well underway.
Skiers from the Jasper Ski Team participate in dryland training two days a week. Beginning at 7:10am, our skiers show their amazing dedication getting up in the dark and attending these early morning sessions. The main goal of our program is to build sport-specific strength, while emphasizing overall athleticism. Skiers work on a balanced, full body strength program, which includes a strong core component. The skiers in the U14 and U16 group are at varying stages of growth and development, and many of them have not yet reached their full height. It is often recommended that strength training for this age group be performed without the use of added, external weights. With the use of equipment such as BOSUs and TRXs, skiers build strength using body-weight exercises while also challenging general core muscles. Using this type of unstable training platform has the advantage of requiring more work to achieve than the same training on a stable surface. As the season progresses, skiers work on coordination and agility by learning movement patterns. Building on basic strength, plyometric exercises are used to develop power. Due to our limited time and space, cardiovascular training is not the focus of our early morning sessions. Skiers are encouraged to continue to participate daily in a variety of other activities to maintain their cardio endurance throughout the season. Mountain biking, skating, hiking, swimming and running are all great ways to build and maintain endurance. Each session begins with a warm-up and dynamic stretching followed by strength training, some high intensity intervals, general and specific core exercises, and lastly, s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g. Flexibility plays a key role in injury prevention and is an important aspect of overall fitness. Our skiers understand proper stretching techniques and look forward to this part of the session. (Sometimes after a super-challenging session, when it is time for “child’s pose” or shell stretch, it’s what they look forward to most!) Wishing you all another great season!! Sonja L. Dickey Registraion Forms now available to download... click on the following links:
Jasper Ski Team Registration Forms: /uploads/2/3/1/5/23152336/2013-2014_jasper_ski_team_registration_form.pdf Alpine Canada Forms: /uploads/2/3/1/5/23152336/alpinecanadaform.pdf Below is a full report of the Fryatt Hut trip which Jasper Ski Team members recently took part in...
The Legend of JESC By Sadie Howe The first part of this story begins once upon a time, not so long ago, in a land not so far from here. There was a magical cabin high upon the ridges of Brussels. One in which whom ever visited was filled with joy and laughter. There was only one problem. To get to the cabin someone had to face a number of challenging obstacles. They had to cross a raging river, and scramble a towering cliff. Not many dared to take on the challenge for the endurance and bravery was one not everyone could muster. This is where the second part of the story begins. Kathryn Howe, an elder in the Howe tribe called upon her eldest and wisest daughter and 7 other of her strongest, bravest and most powerful friends asking them to complete the nearly impossible mission, 3 daring adults who longed for high altitudes, and also just wanted to spend time with their kids, sacrificed themselves to accompany the group. That was all they needed. They were off with only the packs on their backs and the shoes on their feet, they where ready to conquer the wilderness. The chief energizer bunny (Brent) blasted his gnarly tunes as they easily marched through the overgrowth of shrubs and branches. The tribe of girls laughed as they reconnected after long snowless months. This was the beginning of their legend. The girls refused to give up; they were doing it for the body. The heat was scorching but they knew that it was nothing compared to the searing cold they would feel in later months. Waterfalls cascaded around them and they took refreshing showers in the glacial water. Most people would have thought them crazy, but the JESC tribe was one without compare. They new the worst was yet to come, the headwall was growing larger and larger with every step they took. At the bass they gathered all of their magic, combining it all together to form an unbreakable bond. Each girl had brought a power with her, persistence, encouragement, positivity, endurance, support, knowledge, kindness, and willingness. As they worked together the entire tribe was able to concur the summit and reach the top. When they reached the cabin the tribe was giddy. The views were spectacular and the waterfalls were enchanted. Dinner that night was one of the best any of them had ever eaten. Laughter rang through the cabin and echoed through the surrounding mountains and valleys. As the girls sat around the camp fire that evening they realized that it wasn’t the cabin that was magical, it was the people in it, and it wasn’t about the cabin, it was about the journey. They realized the true power that they had and the possibilities that could result from it. The next morning they decided to test their newly found magic and do the impossible, hunt for something for which they has all be yearning, they where on the hunt for snow. The trail to snow was not an easy one, they saw beautiful things but soon the path was blocked up by boulders, the tribe persevered. The chief lead the way generously attempting to secure the path for the rest of the tribe. Suddenly when lifting an unusually large rock the chief slipped and injured his leg. He insisted they continue on. The support, of not the just their chief but their elders as well inspired the girls. They reached the snow. Later that day, when the girls returned to their homes they were excited. They felt inspired. They knew that all the people around them wanted them to reach the top just as badly as they wanted it themselves. All the girls had different tribes and different powers, but they were all sure of one thing, when the snow came, they would be ready. Jasper Ski Team now has its very own website with up to date news from the team. We also have a facebook page page which we encourage you all to follow!
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