WHISTLER, BC – The U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team wrapped up the 2009 season on snow as athletes took to the terrain of Whistler to train on what will become their Olympic stage in less than a year.
“We had an awesome camp with our group with 10 athletes up there. We got really good skiing in, really good jumping in, and it was just good to train up there,” said World Champion Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY).
For the World Championship gold and bronze medalist, the camp was an opportunity to get in some last minute time at the venue where he won a World Cup earlier this season.
“It was our last opportunity to get some training jumps on the Olympic hills and ski the trails. Especially with the jumps, I think that’s an advantage,”
The Team spent time training on the Olympic jumps, cross country skiing the trails and even found the time to alpine ski with athletes from other national teams which, according to Demong, was an opportunity to get to know their international counterparts.
“There were four other national teams there. So, we got to not only train there together and wrap up the season, we also got to know the teams more on a personal level. Even though we all compete together all year, there’s always that underlying stress,” Demong said.
![](http://images.fasterskier.com/2009/02/ussa.jpg"){kind=link}