Finding a Way to Prepare for the Provincial Games

With less than one month to go now to the Provincial Games at Sun Peaks, Cory is faced with a real challenge as he tries to prepare to defend his status as Provincial Champion.  His regular training grounds - Cypress Mountain in North Vancouver - has more brown areas than white, marginal conditions would be an improvement we'd say!

But even under less than ideal conditions, it's always worth stopping to enjoy the view of the city below.

YAY, SNOW!

And a chance to practice his starts.  Special Olympics race courses tend to be rather flat so Cory is working on building speed as quickly as possible by improving his starts.  Using both his arms and his legs to power out of the start gate, and in some cases getting lower to the ground to gain leverage on his poles, and using the skate technique whenever possible.










Cory participated in a Building Our Best camp with BC Adaptive, also at Sun Peaks.  It was a great opportunity to get in some substantial GS training over 4 days earlier this month, including two races.  He will also be working to improve his tuck position, holding his hands higher in front of his face to deflect the wind, as well as getting down into a more compact position in order to be more aerodynamic.

In race action in those great-looking BOB bibs:

A second place finish in both races, behind a non-Special Olympics racer brings a smile to Cory's face.

So then we were off to Whistler for what we thought would be a good day of GS training in their Gatebusters program....it turned out to be Super G training, which was even better since Cory had not yet trained Super G this year.

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Faced with even warmer and wetter weather over the last few days, Cory hopes to return to Whistler's Gatebusters program for some Slalom training this coming week.  The training at Sun Peaks and Whistler has boosted his confidence and Slalom training will only add to his technical and mental preparation for his most important races since the National Games 3 years ago.

As Cory is now a member of Special Olympics British Columbia Vancouver, here he is in his new home team gear.  That's his bib from the 2012 National Winter Games behind him, along with some of his trophies, including the 3 diamond-shaped Bronze Medals he earned at those Games.  And yes, he was watching ski racing on his TV at the time.

Snow is on our Christmas List

Cory completed his last session of dryland training with Special Olympics Vancouver this week and the local hills are just as dry as well.  Seems when we get rain, we also get unseasonably warm temperatures and when it's cold, it's sunny.  With the first local on-snow session scheduled for January 5, it will need to snow a lot in a hurry to make that happen. So looks like we'll have to plan some trips to Whistler in January so Cory can prepare for the Provincial Games on February 19-22 at Sun Peaks near Kamloops.

Cory enjoyed his 5 weekly dryland sessions with new coaches Heather & Mark.  The sessions were very much ski-specific and targeted at quite a high performance level too, which is often not the case at Special Olympics.

He strengthened his core...




improved his balance...





and got used to being in starting gates, with a quick tuck from the last gate to the finish line as is required in any race...





We hope to obtain some video from the Special Olympics Performance Camp he attended a couple of weeks ago at Sun Peaks and we'll update then,  Or maybe when we get some snow!

Time to Get Back to Work

Cory is now back to work preparing for the upcoming ski season.  His goal this year will be to win his 3 races at Special Olympics British Columbia Winter Games at Sun Peaks on February 19-22, 2015, so that he can qualify for the National Games in Corner Brook, Newfoundland in 2016.

He is now a member of the ski team with Special Olympics Vancouver as the ski program with Special Olympics Delta was disbanded last month.

So it's time for some dryland training as the season approaches, working here with Coaches Mark and Heather.

Cory attended a Special Olympics performance camp, at Sun Peaks, on December 5 -7, his first time on snow this year.  It may be a while before he's back on snow as the weather is unseasonably warm.  We hope to update with photos & video from Sun Peaks soon.

Summertime Altitude

Cory is used to high altitudes - Mt Hood in 2007 at around 9000 feet, then Loveland in Colorado in 2010 and 2011 at over 10000 feet - but that's always been going up in chairlifts and gondolas.  So this was a first, just a few hundred feet, but in a hot air balloon!

He arranged it for himself and his mum as a birthday gift for her and it was something she has wanted to do for years.  Here they are waiting for the balloon to be unloaded...

And it's huge!

Helping out with the inflation process...





A peek inside...

A few more bursts of flame, and....

...the balloon begins to rise...

Here they go!

Up, Up, and Away!!!

The view from up there, and a close brush with a blackberry thicket on landing...

As the summer of 2014 fades away, and with an important qualifying race coming up in February, Cory will soon be re-focusing himself on his ski racing.  But before that, Cory will spend a week in Mexico in early October.  Then it will be time to get serious again about qualifying for Special Olympics National Winter Games in 2016 in Newfoundland.

End of a Successful Season

We ended the season with a day at Whistler Blackcomb.  It was a lovely day at our favourite mountain, but the warm weather did make the snow a bit grabby.

But certainly nice to spend a day on a mountain with jackets open.

And a last look at Blackcomb, before...

Heading down to Whistler Village for a pitcher of Okanagan Springs Pale Ale and a toast to the end of a successful season where Cory qualified for Special Olympics Provincial Winter Games in Kamloops, BC next year.

CADS Festival 2014

Cory attended his first ever Canadian Association for Disabled Skiers Annual Festival at Kimberley Alpine Resort in March 2014.  It was also his first ever visit to Kimberley.

Kimberley is close to the US and Alberta borders, so it's a long 12 hour drive from Vancouver.  We chose to take a couple of days to get there and drove through the US via Spokane, Washington and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  It was a picturesque drive through the Cascade mountains until we arrived at the Holiday Inn in  Coeur d'Alene where we were greeted by a special front desk clerk:

Upon arrival at Kimberley, we quickly saw that the drive had been well worthwhile:

We had clear blue skies, great smooth, fast "racer" snow, and terrific terrain that we seemed to have all to ourselves.  Cory worked with a new race coach - Jamie McCulloch from Rocky Mountain Adaptive Sports Centre in Canmore, AB - and Jamie turned out to be one of Cory's best coaches ever.  Cory wanted to work on his starts as well as learning how to take a more aggressive line through a race course.  And in just the 3 half-days of training that he had at Kimberley, he improved significantly.  So we hope to work with Jamie again soon!

Here's Cory getting a more powerful start under Jamie's guidance, and then he takes a much more aggressive line than he has before, much closer to the brushes and stubbies that he hits many of them with his shins as he goes by:












Time for a lunch break...

with this view from that chair:

Then back to work:







But the CADS Festival was more than just about work....

some snow bocce....

...a chance to try a sit-snowboard, a prototype that is believed to the only one of its kind in the world...

Then there was the mystery of the lost ski...."where did it go???"

gotta be in here somewhere....

ok, found it! now to get it out...

ok, got it now....Cory laughed through the whole thing...

We had the opportunity to meet Krystina and David, from the Czech Republic....she was training with us and is a sit skier who had to withdraw from the Sochi Paralympics due to injury, but she hopes to compete at the 2018 Paralympics in Korea.  They told us that if Cory does qualify for the World Games in Schladming in 2017, they will see us there!

A final run back down to our rented condo....

a last minute tip from Coach Jamie, trying to get Cory to move his hips more to the side when he's turning at speed in order to get more carving pressure.

and a final look at Kimberley, we certainly hope to return soon!

A brief rest stop on our way home, sporting our new CADS hats....

And, barring perhaps one day in Whistler this spring, brings an end to our 2013-2014 ski season.  Next season will include Cory's 3rd Provincial Winter Games, and that will be his chance to qualify for his 2nd National Winter Games, in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, in 2016.

Feel free to leave a comment about your visit to our blog, and we'll see you soon!