July 12th through 16th saw approximately 25 junior skiers from around Colorado gather on the Western State College Campus to take part in the Western State College/Crested Butte-Gunnison Nordic Summer Training Camp. The camp provided young skiers with the chance to work with an impressive group of coaches who have 7 trips to the Olympic Games between them. 3 time Olympian Ingrid Butts shared her insights on training, racing and preparing for a career as a skier. 2 time Olympian and Western State College Graduate, Wendy Wagner coached roller ski workouts, ran and hiked with the campers and shared her Olympic experiences throughout the week. Fresh off their first trip to the Olympics, Abby Larson and Rebecca Dussault shared their experiences and coached the young athletes on technique and training practices. Joining the Olympians were RMN Select Team Coach Travis Jones, Steamboat Coach Brian Tate, CBGNT Coach Duncan Callahan and WSC Coach Jesse Crandall.
In addition to 4 1/2 days of quality training, the athletes had the opportunity to work with WSC Exercise Science Professor Scott Drum and be tested for Lactate Threshold and VO2 Max. Scott and Abby presented these results and the meaning and value of the testing to the group.
The camp opened with running at the scenic Hartman Rocks Rec Area, just a few minutes from the WSC Campus. Then everyone headed up to Crested Butte for skate roller skiing with coaching and video analysis. It was a real treat for all of these young athletes to hear about technique from Wendy and Abby who are just off of racing World Cups and at the Olympics this winter.
In addition to serious training and technique work, the campers got the chance to test their skills with a raft trip down the Gunnison River in addition to double poling technique and video on Friday. While the rafting went smoothly, swimming through the waves at the Gunnison Kayak Park proved to be more of a challenge and put the hurt on Marty Smith, but all had a good time. On Saturday the group headed up to the Mill Creek trail system, just North of Gunnison to pole hike. The scenery at Mill Creek is second to none, but a few of the girls got more than they bargained for when the Summit County crew had to back-track about 3 miles uphill to retrieve a pair of Rudy Projects that got left at the turnaround point. Luckily everyone made it back in time for lunch. After bounding, strength and core that afternoon and a bit of Ultimate Frisbee, everyone went to sleep dreaming about the last workout, a Sunday morning time-trial.
