The Callaghan Valley Training Centre (CVTC), a National Athlete Development Centre based out of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic venue, just completed its third glacier camp of the summer with the Cross-Country BC team in Smithers, BC. The 5 day camp included 4 days of glacier skiing along with plenty of rollerskiing, core strength sessions and stretching. The glacier in Smithers is a low-altitude glacier with a lot of varied terrain. Because of this, the athletes were able to train at a faster pace than the Haig and were able to concentrate on good uphill technique. We were even able to complete a level/zone 3 workout on the glacier which was a great treat.
Athletes were flown into the glacier, but had to hike down a very technical descent following the ski. Because of this, athletes had to keep their skiing sessions rather short (2-3.5 hours) to reduce the risk of injury on the hike down (which took anywhere from 1:15 to over 2:00). For the most part, this was accomplished. In addition to the glacier skiing, we were able to get in a fair amount of rollerskiing on terrific roads with excellent terrain. The main focus at this camp for the rollerskiing was double poling and skating on varied terrain.
In all, it was a successful camp. The CVTC and the CCBC athletes were able to continue to work on improving their technical skills on snow while including another solid block of training. Camps are always great motivation and an ideal way to focus 100% for the task at hand and this camp was no exception.
This camp was a success because of the help of a lot of people including: the CCBC office, the Smither's parents, Chris Manhard (the CCBC Head Coach), Lisa Perry (Smither's Coach), Canadian Air, and of course all of the hard working athletes that attended.
