Smart training in unique winter climate

This is my 7th year coaching here at UNM. I graduated from UNM in 1991. After that I coached West Valley high school in Fairbanks to 2 boys state championship titles. I then coached University of Colorado for 3 years and we won in 1995. During these years, I always felt that I wanted to come back to UNM and help George Brooks to win a championship. It took a few years but we finally did it.

We practice in the wintertime up on Sandia Peak (Editor: over 9,000 feet altitude) right outside Albuquerque. We normally have snow up there from early November until early April. Right now (march 16) we have 65 Inches up there and great skiing. Most of the winter we are out traveling on races or training camps. We started out in West Yellowstone in November, went to the super series in Utah right after our finals, and then to Durango for a ski camp before New Years. We skied in the U.S Nationals with some very good results, Martina Stursova won the 15 km classical race. After that our college race series started but we did not start school again until January 25th.

We kept doing strength and short runs during the entire ski season. We also put in some speed on rollerskis in February in order to stay rested and not ski too much but instead be able to race fast. Many skiers might think it strange to rollerski in the winter but it is actually fun, when it is sunny and 50F, to mix some dry land with all the skiing. Also, when you are racing on 9000 feet here in the West, it is better to train speed at lower altitude than to try to ski too much.

It seems like our training plan has been rather successful through the years.

Our team consists of a mixture of Europeans and Americans. We had 2 Americans on our team that qualified for the NCAA Championships this year and I am looking for more in the future. As a coach, I am looking for the best student athletes out there to join our program.My goal is to have all the athletes graduate and to be better skiers when they leave UNM than when they came. Our team GPA is the highest among all teams at UNM and consistently around 3.5 each semester.

Now we are reloading for next year and we should have another strong team. For all the skiers out there that do not have time to train 700 hours in a year, I have one advice. Concentrate on improving your weaknesses and do lots of hard interval work-outs mixed with strength sessions.

For more detailed information on University of New Mexico Ski team you can contact Fredrik Landsted by e-mail at landsted@unm.edu