Kelly VanderBeek's Blog: New Zealand Camp

Well, New Zealand was a camp full of volume, rain, wind, a few minor injuries, and a whole lot of hard work. This camp certainly showcased some impressive work from the whole group of athletes and coaching staff....and no fist fights either…all quite civilized considering it was 5 weeks, close quarters, fatigue, etc. etc. Seriously though, this was a great camp and I really enjoyed the way our team came together under the stress.

Right off the bat the focus was on fast and intense skiing with a lot of volume. We needed to shake things up after last season and we certainly did just that. I have to admit, I was taken off guard with how the camp began. After missing two summers of training I expected to start off slowly with some drills and basics. Instead, we went right into full length courses with timing. After the first block of 5 days, then weight lifting on our ‘day off’ I was pretty wrecked heading into the second 7 day block. Most of us were working hard just to keep out head above water…while also trying to improve our skiing; it was challenging.

But like everything, we just kept trucking along. I raced in three GS’s this camp (more GS racing than I’ve had in years!). I had some solid runs and was in the mix among many of the world’s best GS skiers. This was promising especially on a hill that was steep and with late bib numbers (my world ranking points had sky rocketed since I haven’t raced GS in over 2 years). Plus, the conditions were often less than ideal with our final race being in fog, snow, sleet, and a whole lot of rain. I’m sure the race wouldn’t have gotten off if it wasn’t for the Canadian volunteers who’d flown down to help with these races. It really felt like a hometown race with many familiar faces and a whole lot of Canadian downhill suits!

Since this was such a long camp, just shy of 5 weeks in length, we moved around more than usual. This kept things interested and our minds fresh…not an easy task with this kind of volume and duration. We started in Roundhill, then made our way to two resorts around Queenstown, Coronet Peak and Cardrona, and finally we finished off the camp in Mt. Hutt. Upon our arrival in Mt. Hutt it lived up to its reputation as Mt. Shutt. Four days of scheduled speed training turned into two days of killing time (since the hill didn’t open), one day of freeskiing powder, and one day of GS training late in the afternoon when the hill finally opened. But after that, the weather turned around and we began with Downhill. On our first day we got 10 runs of DH in with our German training partners, which included Maria Riesch. Unfortunately, that afternoon I tweaked my knee playing soccer. It was minor, but the meniscus and coronary ligament were sufficiently irritated that the doctor and physiotherapist decided it was best I sit out the rest of the camp. Although I held hope I would ski again this camp it wasn’t meant to be. Luckily I only missed 5 days of training and still left with 20 days of on snow time.

Although I wasn’t the fastest this summer, I was strong and fairly consistent. This camp I was working towards a new way of skiing that has some ego in it. Our coaches were big on getting us to ski with confidence and wanting us to ‘ski with an ego’. I agree with their approach; this isn’t a time to be timid, humble, or uncertain. This is a time to grab hold of what we’ve got and to run with it. Win or lose, this is the only path to greatness and we’re certainly off to a shot gun start!

Till next time,

Kelly