The Training Grind

Since his return from Hurricane Race Camp in Loveland, Colorado, Cory has been training and racing at Whistler Blackcomb in the Gatebusters program and the Kokanee Race Series, as well as training with Whistler Mountain Ski Club and Whistler Adaptive Sports Programs.



A few of Cory's runs through the Gatebusters course on Gandy Dancer on Blackcomb... He's working on two things - getting his body over his downhill ski rather than leaning back uphill and being more dynamic - rising and dropping harder onto to his skis as he initiates his turns:



Then in a Kokanee race the next day on the same run on Blackcomb, Cory appears to be a bit cautious on his first run, and posts a time of 1:03.97:




But on the second run, he cranks it up and takes 7 seconds of the time of his first run with a time of 56.47....he was so surprised that he thought they had made a mistake with his time.



Since Cory started racing in the Kokanee series two years ago, we've always joked about his goal being to not finish last. Most of the Kokanee racers are much more experienced than Cory and he usually does finish last in his age group. But not this time, he finishes 7th of the 8 racers that completed the course.

And one of those experienced racers is Rob Boyd, who has worked with Cory when he trains with Whistler Mountain Ski Club. Here's Rob's run through the race course:



A few days later we were back at Whistler, training on a beautiful day with Whistler Mountain Ski Club on Ptarmigan:







Cory keeps increasing his speed and one of his challenges now is to mentally adjust to that speed, to be better prepared as gets through one gate to move into another. On his second run of this video, just as he reaches the camera he does not anticipate the next gate and is too slow to transition as he approaches the blue gate. As a result, he completes his turn well below the gate and must ski across the hill in order to make the following red gate. So he'll need to do as much gate training as possible to get used to his new-found speed through a race course.

The next day Cory gets to practice a little bit of tucking, which he will certainly need for his Super G race at the Nationals next March. But it's obvious he hasn't been using it much as he needs to lower his head and shoulders, move forward on his skis, in order to straighten his back and become more aerodynamic.




Later, he is faced with certainly the most challenging race course he's ever been on...not as icy as the Nor-Am course at Loveland of course but that had no gates. This course had two very steep pitches - which usually means gates that are very much offset in order to slow the racers down, but on this course the gates were more direct and Cory could tell during his course inspection that it would be very fast.

So he starts rather cautiously again but as the day goes on, he really picks up his speed and has an excellent final run:




So now a short Christmas break and back to Whistler Mountain Ski Club for 3 days of Slalom training, then more Gatebuster sessions and a Kokanee race in early January. And 67 days now till the National Games races at Marmot Basin in Jasper.

A Great Start to the New Season

Cory returned late Sunday night from his week at Hurricane Race Camp in Loveland, Colorado.

First, a huge thanks to Bob Vial for continuing to work with Cory for the third time, after Mount Hood in 2007, and Loveland last year.

The week started with an early drive from Vancouver on Friday, November 18, to board a 6am flight from Seattle to Denver.



Then a short train ride from the aircraft to the Denver International terminal...







Later, after a two hour drive from Denver to Dillon, Colorado, it's time to settle into our condo and get over to the team meeting.



From brilliant sunshine on our day of arrival, to snow & wind the next day, Cory's first day on skis since his camp at Whistler last July, is a full day of free skiing drills with Coach Bob Vial giving instructions:



Coach Bob in one of his classic routines - "Schwinging the Heinie" - a very funny way to get his racers to stop swinging their bodies back and forth as they turn:




The next day brings some sun but it's still windy and quite cold:



Coach Bob starts with a safety reminder - "it's your responsibility!" - and then hits the basics talking about stance, even when the racers are standing still:




Then into a basic drill with poles held horizontally behind the neck. The idea is for the racer to keep the poles horizontal and avoid the natural tendency to let the upper body lean back uphill. For dynamic pressure into the skis, it is critical to keep as much weight and power as possible over the "downhill" ski - the ski furthest downhill on any given turn, which is the right ski on a left turn and the left ski on a right turn. Cory has difficulty with this manoeuvre as he does allow his upper body to lean. Coach Bob even started calling him "I-Lean". It's something he will have to work on during the week and in this video, he gets some shouted reminders from me.





Coach Bob exhorting the racers to "bend the skis". Race skis are stiffer than recreational skis, so they require more effort to pressure the skis to grip the snow. But the stiffness helps not only to grip, but as the pressure is released the skis bounce back, just like a trampoline, and can propel the racer forward. So it's important for racers to use their weight and their strength in a dynamic body movement to apply enough pressure to bend the skis.




Later that day, it's into slalom gate training, starting with stubbies - a less intimidating way to train slalom turns:




As he goes into this turn, Cory looks good with his skis close to the stubby and pointed right at the next stubby on the course. But on a closer look we can see that Cory is definitely leaning uphill, and as a result he doesn't have enough pressure on his downhill ski and lets the tails of his skis skid out, turning his skis far to the left and finishing his turn too far down the race course. Certainly something to work on.





A few runs through a full gate race course ends the day:







Another nice start to the next day...




One of the things we enjoy about Loveland Ski Area is their commitment to racing - they even shut down a lift and a few runs to the general public. No lift lines for racers!



Here's Cory warming up on a brush course. He shows good form as he gets his skis just outside the course and keeps his upper body inside the course.



But he has difficulty transferring that approach to a full-gate course. He does not have full slalom protective armour on his arms and shins, so it looks like it's time to invest in some.




The next morning is an earlier start than usual - we need to be on the hill by 7am, so it's a 6:15 load into the van:







It's the last day of slalom training and Cory continues to show improvement as he seems to get faster each time he goes through the course.




And in the evening video review, Coach Bob points out a flaw with Cory's pole planting:





More blue skies on the next day, Day 4 and we switch to Giant Slalom training now:




A basic GS drill...the J Turn, where the skier holds pressure on the downhill ski until the ski turns back uphill and comes to a stop:




And then it's back to gate training where Cory runs into the Canadian Women's National Slalom Team, who are also training there. He walks over and says hello and wishes them good luck for the upcoming season...that's Anna Goodman looking up from her gear and chatting with Cory:



And later Anna, Erin Mielzynski, and Eve Routhier pose with Cory....



In his first day of Giant Slalom training, Cory shows some good speed. He's working on "driving" the downhill ski - extending his downhill leg further down the hill while bending his uphill knee and trying to prevent his upper body from leaning uphill. This would put more of his weight and more pressure onto his downhill ski and result in cleaner, tighter carving turns. The result would be skiing a tighter run, getting closer and closer to the gates as he races by them:




The next day, more Giant Slalom training, but time for a father & son photo:




Time for "whirlybirds" - 360 degree turns which help in balance and for getting the feel of edges versus the snow, and Coach Bob adds the poles up to the helmet to encourage his racers to get out of their comfort zones:




And in the race course, Cory continues to work on a more dynamic body position and continues to show good speed & some good turns:




After training, a very special opportunity and Cory makes the most of it. A Nor-Am Cup race is to be held a couple of days later on an adjacent run. Nor-Am is one level below the World Cup/Olympians but since it's early in the season, many World Cup racers will participate. Cory's race team is asked if they'd like to ski the run where the Nor-Am will be held. But it's no ordinary run....World Cup and Nor-Am races are held on water-injected runs which creates an extremely hard, icy, and fast surface. A surface much icier than Cory has ever skied on.

One-by-one each of Cory's teammates took their turns, and though most of them are better racers than Cory, they all skied very cautiously, sliding sideways down the hill and often stopping. I stood watching and wondered how Cory would do. There was a real World Cup-like start hut at the top and Cory told me later he really pushed hard out of the start just like they do on TV.

What he didn't know was the next 50 yards or so were just sheer ice - I had skied on it and there was no way I could turn on it, it was frightening! Those 50 yards included a sharp right hand turn down the slope towards where I was standing with my camera...waiting to see how he would approach it.

He skied it like a racer, attacking the run and making turns, though I could hear him yelling something at times, very unusual for him. The video doesn't show how icy it was but the sounds his skis make sure tell a story. His coach and another parent were impressed...and the whoop it up as he skis by them.




I carefully skied down the run to catch up to him at the bottom and he was still out of breath when I got there. He told me he was out of breath not because of exertion, but out of FEAR! He was so scared he said he yelled "OH F...!" all the way down!! A few seconds later though, he turned to me and said it would be tempting to try it again. He really does have the heart of a champion.


At the end of this special day, there's time for a team visit to the top of Loveland Pass - 11,990 feet - and the Continental Divide...




On top, yes, but not quite the National Games podium yet....still a lot of work to do before then....



And a look down to Interstate 70 back to Denver and to the base of the run where Cory trained all week:



Then it's the last day, the last early morning cup of coffee...




Coach Bob allows Cory and I to work on his body position during some free-skiing and Cory really shows some dynamic body movement, bending his uphill knee and getting down low to put plenty of pressure on his downhill ski:




But he has difficulty using the same amount of body movement in the race course. We talk it over and he admits to a bit of fear - it takes a lot of confidence and trust to put so much pressure on a thin edge of steel on a steep and fast race course. I remind him of the courage he showed the day before on that icy Nor-Am run but it's definitely different when there's gates to get through. So it's something we'll have to work on when we get back home.





But overall, just a great start to Cory's season. He's skiing better than ever and he has 3 months to keep working and improving.

We'll look for a free-ski day at Cypress soon, then head to Whistler for gate training and a Kokanee race in mid-December, then several days of gate training with Whistler Mountain Ski Club over the Christmas holidays.

Leave a comment, we'd love to hear from you.

THANK YOU! WOW!!

Thanks to all of Cory's supporters for the huge success of our Pie & Cookie fundraising sale! Ali, Tracey, Ashley, Barb, Gary, Elaine, Angela, Donna, Barrie, Donna & Shaw, Marc & Emily, Sarah & Alain, Megan, Kim, Kathleen, Louise, Nicky, Michelle & Iain, Tracy, Gale & Helmut, Pat, and Tanya, we really appreciate your support.

And a very special thank you to Cory's cousin Becki for rallying so many of her friends to participate.

In total, we've sold just over $1600 worth of pies & cookies, which will give Cory $511 towards his training this winter.

And it all starts right now....very early tomorrow morning, around 1:30am, we'll be driving to Seattle for a 6am flight to Denver. Then starting on Saturday, Cory will put in 6 days of slalom and giant slalom training with Bob Vial's Hurricane Race Camp at Loveland, Colorado. Race camp is a lot of hard work....early mornings, carrying gear to and from the hill, lots of "barking" criticism from the coach, plenty of runs both in free-ski drills and through gates, then ski waxing and tuning back at the condo, with video review wrapping up each day.

First though, we have to finish packing up the gear...



and getting it into the car....



We'll update with news from Loveland next week, but once again a big thank you to all of you for giving Cory a helping hand to what we all hope will be the top of the podium at the National Games on March 1 & 2, 2012.

2 Weeks to Snow

With still 2 weeks to the start of Cory's ski season, he continues to work hard at dryland training - though on this day we joked that it was more like wetland training.

And from this video of him doing wall jumps, it certainly appears that he has increased his leg strength...he easily and quickly gets 20 of them done....



And he's definitely improved his upper body position on Cone Hops, which is a good drill for slalom skiing. Slalom is very different from Giant Slalom and Super Giant Slalom in terms of body position. This is helping Cory understand that in slalom it's all about swinging the legs out in a pendulum style, while keeping the upper body still, as he does very well here. GS and Super G is more about a dynamic body dropping power and strength into the skis for clean carving and aerodynamics.



Those 2 exercises combined with the tortuous leg blasters really appear to be making a difference. In 2 weeks time, we'll see for sure.

Sports Celebrities Festival 2011

Cory was invited to participate in the Sports Celebrities Festival last week, which is a major fundraiser for Canuck Place and for Special Olympics British Columbia. This was the second time he's participated in this event. Each member of the Vancouver Canucks was paired with a Special Olympics athlete and this year, Cory was paired with David Booth, the newest Canuck who had just arrived via a trade a few days earlier.

Before dinner, Cory played video games with a couple other members of the Canucks, and here he is in serious competition against Cody Hodgson...




A couple of days later, during a Hockey Night in Canada telecast, David Booth was interviewed and he talked about the event and meeting Cory....




But now, with less that 3 weeks to race camp at Loveland, Colorado, it's back to serious dryland training to prepare not just for the 11,000 feet of altitude there, but also to get a great head start to Cory's race season.

Dryland Training Continues...

With 4 weeks now till Cory is back on snow, he continues to do some dryland training 4 or 5 times per week. He has increased the intensity of his routines now, focusing on building his leg strength and developing quicker feet.

At the end of last ski season, one of Cory's coaches - Sammy Kent - suggested that he work on building his strength during the off-season so that he can maximize the use of a skill that he developed well last year - a more dynamic body action.

A dynamic downward-moving body places more pressure onto the skis, providing not just more edge pressure for cleaner carving, but builds pressure under the ski, which when released at the end of a turn, propels a racer forward. Race skis are very stiff so when pressure is applied downward, the skis bounce back. Just like a trampoline.

So for dryland, he's been doing some Wall Jumps to build leg strength...first on both feet,




then adding weights, and then switching to one foot jumps:



Onto some Cone Hops:



And finally the gruelling Leg Blasters:




Cory now plays basketball once a week and does some weight training with a Special Olympics coach once a week as well. And with an important bowling tournament coming up in mid-March - the first step towards making it back to the Summer National Games - he continues to work on his 5 Pin Bowling too. But the main focus is certainly on 2 days in early March, where all this dryland work, and his on-snow training starting in four weeks, will hopefully culminate in a National Championship and a ticket to Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2013.

Next stop - Loveland Colorado, at Bob Vial's Hurricane Race Camp.

A New Season Approaches

It's the first day of fall, 2011, so it's back into ski racing season for Cory. Though at the moment, he's limited to dryland training.

Cory has registered for Bob Vial's Thanksgiving 2011 Race Camp at Loveland, Colorado - a week of race training starting November 19 - to get his race season started. This is how he started his season last year, and as he has said, it was a very good season with great results so why not approach it the same way.



Cory's dryland training will focus on two areas that we believe he needs to improve - his leg strength and developing quicker feet. We know he also has to keep his feet further apart when he skis, and move his hips further forward too. So we'll try to incorporate that into his dryland training too. We're still trying different types of drills to see which ones work best for him.

For a change of pace, we throw in some biking or swimming, and some basketball too, as Cory will begin his basketball program in early October so it's a chance to get some early practice.



For building leg strength, Cory is doing some Squat Press work, though we need to get him to squat a bit lower than he's doing here:




And then some side-stepping to work on developing quicker feet:




Some frontward/backward running around a square:




Back to side-stepping but adding a slalom element:



And then a very good dryland training drill for ski racing, what we call hop and drop...the hopping builds leg strenght while the dropping simulates the body motion required for good racing:



And finally another drill for developing quick feet, the double quick step:



So it's all pretty boring stuff compared to racing through a course on the Olympic Downhill at Whistler, but this lays the foundation for a successful year, a year that will determine whether Cory fulfills his dream of being selected to Team Canada in 2013. And now only 8 weeks to snow!

A Rippin' Great Summer Camp with Whistler Mountain Ski Club!

Cory attended his second ever summer race camp (Hurricane Race Camp at Mount Hood in July 2007 was his first) at Whistler Blackcomb from July 8 to July 12, which was made possible thanks to Rob Boyd, with Whistler Mountain Ski Club.

With snow only at the highest elevations of course, it means early starts to get onto hard snow before it softens by mid-day, and plenty of baggage handling - carrying skis, poles, boots,helmets, jackets, sweaters, gloves, food, water, even sunscreen, to the top, and then back down again at the end of the day. Summer race training really is a special experience, being part of a dedicated group of young athletes and coaches who are excited about giving up a part of their summer to return to winter-like conditions for a few hours each morning.

And as it happened on Mount Hood, where Cory memorably first demonstrated the characteristics of a champion, this time it was his chance to race head-to-head against a Canadian World Cup racer, that will provide life-long memories for us both.

As we often do, we arrived first at the Wizard Chair on Blackcomb Mountain each morning:



But not too much longer, there was a large group of racers ready to get their day going:



But it would take a while....first a ride on the Wizard Chair....



transfer to the Solar Coaster chair.....



From Solar Coaster to a bumpy bus ride with driver "Jean-A" as Johnny calls himself...and finally some snow around...






To 7th Heaven chair....



And finally on with the skis...and our first day at the top is a foggy one:




A few warm-up drills, first time on skis in two months...and yes, that is snow...it's snowing on us in July:



Summer camps are of course conducted on glaciers and they are well utilized with ski teams and clubs from all over North America - Vermont, Colorado, New York, we even met a racer from Florida! And some come from even further...here Cory is warming up next to a coach and athlete from Team China:




With the visibility as poor as it was, the day was limited to short slalom-type drills. The coaches quickly observed that Cory's body was too static, not enough up and down movement to place pressure on his edges and then release at the end of a turn. Done properly, the skis, stiff race skis, will bend under pressure and then act like a trampoline when released, pushing the racer upward and forward if the racer has the correct forward body position.

The difference can be seen in these two videos, taken about 90 minutes apart. In the first video, while Cory's skis do get up on edge, he is not using his upper body to apply pressure, just his legs.



Here, by using his upper body to drop at the hips without bending forward to place more weight down into his boots, through his bindings, and onto his skis, he not only applies more edge pressure to allow him to make sharper cleaner turns, but as he rises to complete the turn and initiate the next, the sudden release pushes him upward and forward into the next turn, allowing him to actually gain speed as he turns. It's still not quite right here but certainly an improvement over his earlier runs.



With no improvement in visibility, the coaches end the day a bit early and we start our trek back down to Blackcomb Village.

Downloading on Solar Coaster...



where we saw over 30 bears during the 5 days, including a mother and two cubs...







After lunch, a "short" 3-hour bike ride around Whistler where we just happen to run into Whistler Mountain Ski Club's Program Director, Rob Boyd, on the Whistler street named in his honour:



Cory wearing his hoodie from Bob Vial's Hurricane Race Camp in Loveland, Colorado last November:




The next morning, heading to Wizard Express for day two...and the fog is gone and it appears it will be a sunny day:




At the top of 7th Heaven, looking down at Horstman Glacier, with the WMSC Giant Slalom race course set up on the right, a bright sunny day indeed:




And the view from the top:



Onto the race course, Cory goes back to a very static upper body:




Then, a visit from Britt Janyk, a Whistler resident who just retired from the Canadian Alpine Ski Team last month:



Perhaps inspired, Cory gets back into the race course with a much-improved dynamic upper body, with me verbally willing him to get up and down, and showing some really good speed at the gate closest to the camera. It was after this run that Coach Jeff McClennan said "Cory is really ripping it up out there!":



Then here in a couple of videos taken by Rob Boyd who makes some observations on Cory's technique....his body now much more dynamic but a bit far back in his boots:






That's the end of Day 2 training and time to head back down...



And more bear sightings:



And there's no 3-hour bike rides on this afternoon, it's a beer in the hot tub instead! Ahhhh....the life of a ski racer....



The next morning is another bright sunny day and Cory is ready to rip it up again:



A couple more videos by Rob Boyd, and Cory continues to do well with a more dynamic body, just still needing to stay more forward:





A bike ride in the afternoon through some old growth forests:



and then along the Whistler Golf Course:



Then back to our rented condo at the Aspens and all that equipment to get dry and ready for tomorrow:






Day Four looks good and clear once again:



Looks great at the top:



And it was another good day of training for Cory and a very good day for bear sightings!



And the next day, the last day of camp, would turn out to be a very special one for Cory. Looking good here, upper body down, body forward, long extended leg, up on his edges and putting plenty of pressure on those skis:



Some really good dynamic body action here, and he's gonna need it even more on his next run!



Because for this one, he's racing head-to-head against Canadian Alpine Ski Team member Britt Janyk, who won a World Cup Downhill at Aspen Colorado a couple of years ago:



And here they go, Britt on the right on the blue course and Cory on the left on the red course, with Coach Jeff cheering him on!



Certainly the highlight of the camp for Cory who will remember the moment forever, as will I. Thanks so much to Britt...what a role model she is for Canada's young ski racers....after years on the World Cup circuit, Britt is just there to help out anyway she can...talking with the racers....racing against them...even carrying salt bags or equipment down the course:



Time for two last runs:






And that was about it for Cory's 2011 summer camp.




He will now take a break from skiing for 3 or 4 months, get as many shifts as he can at Safeway to rebuild his bank account, do some dryland strength conditioning, and enjoy some summertime R&R like fishing, biking, skimboarding, going to the local waterpark, maybe a day at Playland - Vancouver's amusement park.

We'll look at a November camp to get next season going - perhaps in Colorado or maybe Sun Peaks near Kamloops BC. An early season start will be critical to Cory's chances at the National Games in Jasper next March.

See you then! And please, leave a comment about our blog. We'd love to hear from you.