Ruapehu skiers back from California

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 48, 19 May 1987, Page 7

Ruapehu skiers back from California

The following is a report on the Squaw Valley race camp attended by 11 Ruapehu skiers. The 1987 New Zealand Ski Association sanctioned North Island Development Team camp was again held at Squaw Valley, California earlier this year. This was our fourth camp at Squaw Valley. As there had been a change . in management within the Race Department, combined with reports of poor snow conditions,. we anticipated a rather uncertain situation upon arrival. However, the new Head Coach, Ernst Hagar, made us very welcome and ovcr a metre of new snow greeted the team upon their arrival at Squaw Valley. With such good fortune at the beginning of the camp everyone got off to a good start. The 11 team members ranged in ages from 13 to 15 years and were selected from applicants from the North Island. The team comprised six Turoa skiers, four from Whakapapa and

one from Tukino.Our team was again allowed to compete in races sanctioned by the Far West Ski Association. This year the J2-J1 schedule was graded by points into three ability levels. Our team did very well taking away most of the trophies and although competition was stiff, it did have the effect of boosting the confidence of our racers and increased their desire for improvement. We achieved overall better skill improvement than our previous camps. The grading and scheduling of the races was one factor, the positive attitude of the group as a whole was another and the approach we took for technical development seemed to bring better results as well. John Ball (Coach) We left late on 1 January and travelled a direct flight to Los Angeles, which takes about 12 hours. We were met by John Ball and flew on to Reno, Nevada. We were met by our billets and spent the next one and a half days getting to know each other. My family was the

Walkleys who lived in Truckee, 24 kilometres from Squaw Valley and 64 kilometres from Nevada. For the first few days there was little snow and on the third day we had our first proper skiing day. We trained as a group in gates, on Motts Run. We were there for two weeks and had our first race in the 'Granite Chief Series', where I was placed first and Kerry Jeffries, an exWhakapapa skier, was placed second in the J2 class. We trained for 1-2 weeks after the series , and by then were running out of snow. A typical day would be spent training in the morning and the afternoon running gates. Training was spent free skiing and instruction from our coach. We trained occasionally with the Squaw Valley team on the skifield that consisted of two detachable quad lifts, 25 lifts in all. The longest run on the field was just over 3 kilometres long. This was the first year I have been away. I got a lot out of the trip and enjoyed the experience and the great skiing.

Ben

Tidswell

(Whakapapa).