France Camp - Day 4 and 5

Sorry for the delay and lack of post after yesterday, but here is what has been happening over the past two day of camp...

Day 4

This was the first day we actually saw clouds.  Yes, it was quite shocking to us as well!  The temperature stayed a bit warm over night and the snow was not as firm as we had been used to for our first runs of the morning.  It was still solid enough to be productive in working through the GS progression.  The girls took the opportunity to do some drills for their warm-up runs and are really buying into how important this camp is to work on their fundamental base, especially with the new GS ski radius.  We incorporated a couple variations of the drills we have been working on, and the girls are finding success on the new skis.  They all are making some great strides in their skiing in a relaxed atmosphere.  I think they all would agree, and probably have told you, they are making some of the best GS turns they have ever made!

In the afternoon, we played a solid 2.5 hours of beach volleyball!  The teams were constantly getting mixed up and everyone had the opportunity to shine.  The girls represent some of the best and most consistent servers in the games, although as they eluded to in the previous blog, testosterone tends to take over on the courts.  Nonetheless, it is very entertaining to get out there and dive around in the sand!


Day 5

With the weather report showing questionable conditions for today, we decided to move our day off to today and then finish with 6 straight days on snow.  The following is the girls entry...

           Today we had our day off.  After Sandra got us lost and sweaty trying to find a way to the gondola, we took a (sketchy) ride down a very steep hill to the little village of Venosc.  We could be easily identified as American tourists as we went picture crazy and attempted to communicate with a waitress who only spoke french (as Neza's quote exemplifies).  We enjoyed delicious crepes and gelato for desert. 

            After we arrived back to the hotel we enjoyed long naps and a relaxing period before we ate dinner at the hotel.  After dinner we analyzed our skiing through video and got pumped up for skiing tomorrow morning.  Hopefully it will be another blue sky day in the Alpes!   

Quotes of the day:

Ingrid:  "This coconut mousse taste like the smell of sunscreen."

Sandra: "Guys...the gondola goes down the hill."  Topher: "Yeah, we all know it goes down the hill."

Neza:  (talking to a French waitress) "What kind of cheese is this?  Cow?  Like... MOOOOOO?"

Elly: Woman working in the store (speaking in French) "Are you just looking, or would you like to try something on?" Elly, pretending to understand the question (speaking in French), "Yes." Woman working the store then repeats the question in English...

Tomorrow, we will be skiing GS again tomorrow and continuing to build their fundamental base.  We had a great video session tonight with a few serious "lightbulbs" going on, so they are anxious to get on snow tomorrow!

France Camp - Day 3

Another entertaining entry from the girls after a great day  They all skied very well today. We spent much of the morning working on drills and continuing to work on GS skiing.  They have been fantastic so far and are making some great turns!

            Another day has come to an end in Les Deux, France.  We started out the morning with an early breakfast and a pushy line for the chair lift.  Once we got up to the mountain we claimed our spot upon the hill and started out with the shlopey drill.  The snow was firm and fast which was a bennefit on the flats.  We zoomed down the hill time and time again until we finally had a photo/snack break with a very nice view of the surrounding mountains.  We continued to make progress throughout the morning and joined the mad rush to the gondola, tram, and chair lift.

Top t-bar 

Amazing condition

 

Snack time!

We enjoyed a peaceful and normal lunch and had a relaxing rest hour.  As an afternoon activity everyone participated in a group volleyball game with us 4 girls as semi unwilling elected captains.  The games were pretty intense (the testosterone was out of control) but overall we walked back to the hotel with smiles and sand covered bodies. 

The day has concluded and everyone is eager to climb into bed.  We are exhausted and preparing for another early morning in the Alpes!

Quotes of The Day:

Neza:  "My calfs hurt.  (one minute later)  my calfs really hurt!"

Elly:  "I wonder if the french have a word for joeys?"  Topher replies, "Americans"

Ingrid:  "Why does everyone think I'm from Canada?...oh wait, my GS suit..."

Sandra:  "This desert is gross....i'll try another one!"

Tomorrow we will be continuing with our GS progression.  The girls are being quite vague with their description of the morning lift line...I think I might video it tomorrow...

France Camp - Day 2

Tonights blog comes courtesy of the girls!  We had another fantastic day, enjoy their blog entry...

We’ve discovered that the French are very patient people. Early mornings are so peaceful. It’s a perfect way to wake up. There’s no pushing and shoving, but definitely no cutting in line. You don’t get ski boots to the cheeks, and definitely not elbows to the stomachs. And don’t even worry about the sharp edges of skis surrounding you. Do you think you could fit 75 people with all their ski equipment in a 5’ by 5’ area? Well the French think you can. Despite morning difficulties, we always end up late to the mountain and always get ditched on the T-Bar. However the weather has been beautiful, proved by our many instagram photos (over 50 likes not a big deal-which we are proud to tell you). The snow is impeccable. However we would not recommend falling, because there is great chance you are falling on cement as Topher and Ingrid have shown us. Some more good news, we can actually turn our GS skis, which came as a HUGE shocker, considering Topher prepared us for the worst. To conclude the morning, Sandra and Ingrid sprinted using their intense speed and strength in the high altitude to arrive at the chairlift 3^rd to avoid the mad rush of foreign people. Elly and Neza trickled in slowly, getting swamped by Italians.

Did you know you could play soccer on a tennis court? Cause that’s what we did for an afternoon activity. Some suffered painful losses, others great victories. 

Just a little thanks to all of our parents, I know we are all a little tired but we really thank you for sending us out here because this trip is totally worth it!

Remember to check in every day to read our quotes of the day!

           

Quotes of The Day:

Neza: “damn you slow internet!!!”

Sandra: “Oh my god I have so much homework!”

Elly:  “Hey anyone want to go for a run?”  (Everyone else, “NOOOOO”)

Ingrid:  “I set 3 alarms so we would wake up on time today!”

Topher:  “ Is Lorant wearing Shants?...Hey look, that guy is wearing shundies!”

*Shants= man capris *Shundies= man undies mixed with shorts(so super short shorts)

Everyone:  “My shins hurt…and I am soooooo tired!”

Top of the glacier!

Snack time

Mid-station of the gondola

Looking down the tram line

Waiting for the tram

We are looking forward to another day on the GS skis tomorrow.  Today the girls moved into some drills and we will continue with our GS progression for the next couple of days.

France Camp - Day 1

The blog is back live, this time from Les Deux Alpes, France!  This place is absolutely beautiful.  Hopefully the pictures will do it some justice!  We are traveling with a group of 20 MMSC athletes and coaches.  Lorant and Pat are here with 13 athletes from the men's program and attending the camp for the women's program this year are Elly, Ingrid, Neza, and Sandra.  I am sure they will all tell you...put this camp on your schedule for next summer!  We departed Montreal, CAN for Lyon, France at about 8:45pm on Monday night, flew through the night to arrive in France on the morning of the 30th, which, coincidentally is Ingrid's and my birthday, so happy birthday to us!  We finally arrived at the hotel around 2:00pm and ate lunch, unpacked, went for a walked around town to get some fresh air, had dinner at 7:00pm and then to bed!

Here are a few photos from traveling, our arrival, and the birthday cake!

Montreal

France

The view from our hotel

Clearly, she is pumped!

We just completed our first full day of camp and it was a great success.  It was the first day for the girls on the new 30 meter radius GS skis.  The skis are also significantly longer than their GS skis last season so they will take some getting used to before they are comfortable.  The camp will give them a great opportunity to get on the new skis and simply work on technique, without the pressure of upcoming races.  We free skied all morning with limited direction except to make turns of different sizes, rather than trying to make "cookie cutter" GS turns.  The amount of terrain open here is shocking so we were able to get many runs on different terrain.  I was very impressed with their ability to adapt to their new skis and they all looked like they were feel comfortable by the end of the morning.  The skiing was incredible.  The snow was very firm to start of the day and as the sun warmed the surface, it softened a bit but it was still very firm throughout the morning.  It was only on our last run that it seemed to get a bit soft.  That is simply not the case at Mt. Hood.  Not to mention they have a subway that runs to the midpoint of the mountain...yes, a subway (see below).  I took a ride t-bar ride with an Italian coach who told me this is the best he has seen the snow here in 20 years!  Lucky us...

Step 1 - walk to the lift

Step 2 - after riding said lift, get on the tram

Step 3 & 4 - after riding the tram, fight your way into the gondola, then put on your boots

A few of some of the training lanes from the first t-bar

This random group of athletes got in the way of my picture...still nice though!

A view of the upper part of the mountain

A helpful warning sign to not fall head first into a crevasse

Another helpful sign...

The subway...inside the mountain

Conditions are amazing

After skiing, we made the entertaining and challenging trip back to town.  I will let the girls describe that experience when they write the blog...

This afternoon, we went for a hike to a lookout point that I can't quite put into words...good thing I had my camera!

The view of town early in the hike

The hike required a small bit of rock climbing

The view of town from the lookout point

View of L'Alpe de Venosc

Tomorrow, we will continue working with the new GS ski and figuring out how to ski on them.  We are getting on the lift at 7:00am, giving us an early start to the day!  For now...it is nearing bedtime after a long first day.  The weather is looking good for the rest of the week, we will try our best to enjoy ourselves...ha!