A Good Day of Training with Whistler Mountain Ski Club

Cory eased back into some gate training with Whistler Mountain Ski Club on a gorgeous day at Whistler.

At the top of Whistler Creekside gondola,

A leisurely ski down to Garbonzo chair to meet up with WMSC on the Ptarmigan run on Whistler....

And this scene at the top of Garbo, which was actually the start area for the 2010 Olympic Men's Downhill race

After a couple of runs through a long and challenging race course, Cory's focus was to learn how to produce turns of a shorter duration to avoid being on his ski edges as his skis crossed the face of the mountain.  It's a matter of starting his turns earlier than he is used to, using a lot more exertion to get the turn completed just as he passes each gate.  Here, his turns are finished several feet past each gate.

If he can master this skill, it will significantly improve his race speed.




Whistler was a busy place with such great conditions so Cory managed only 6 runs through the race course on this day, with long waits at the Garbonzo chair.  But a really good day nonetheless to start his final 8 weeks of preparation for the National Winter Games.

Next week, Cory will rejoin his teammates with Special Olympics Vancouver at Cypress Mountain in North Vancouver every Monday for the rest of the season as well as a return to Whistler for a day-long Gatebusters session.

Back on Snow!

With a base of over 10 feet of snow on Cory's home mountain - Cypress Mountain in North Vancouver - it's time to get back onto snow as he prepares for Special Olympics' National Winter Games in Newfoundland in March 2016.

But with fresh powder, this day isn't about gates, but instead Cory just enjoyed some free-sking on his rarely-used powder skis.

He has started his gate training though, albeit just one day so far - with his Team BC teammates at Sun Peaks in late November.

And of course there's been 3 months of dryland training, which becomes rather tedious so this day on fresh powder snow is a therapeutic one too!

In addition to working out with his National Games Training Coach every week, Cory has been training with his Special Olympics Vancouver alpine ski coaches, following a series of exercises to help improve his agility, endurance, balance, and strength.

And he's also in the basketball program with Special Olympics British Columbia Delta, which is a summer sport so that he also has the opportunity to compete at the next Provincial Summer Games if his team were to qualify.



But there's also time for a bit of fast-moving fun!




As the new year rolls in, it will be time for Cory to ramp up his on-snow gate training on Cypress with Special Olympics Vancouver as well as the Gatebusters program and Whistler Adaptive Snow Programs at Whistler.

Less than 70 days to go till the National Games!