November Nordic Newsletter

November 7, 2019 - 2:41pm

Prep/Comp Team Update

October is always a big month for Prep/Comp team athletes as athletes are aiming to take advantage of the last dry-land training preparation phase before they get on snow. With that comes one last push for a volume focused training period and an intensity focused training period, just in time to get in a bit of recovery before the on snow West Yellowstone camp over Thanksgiving. The Park City Comp team joined the team for a volume week of training on the week of the 14th; that same week the Sun Valley post grad team joined Prep/Comp athletes for a double pole intervals session. The team not only took advantage of working with athletes from other teams, but as nervous energy arose from training with competitors, an opportunity in managing pre-race like jitters presented itself during timely training phase of the year. The team is now in the midst of completing their final test week of the year and many athlete are realizing PRs as a result of committing to their training plan and deliberately defining their process and performance goals.

Something new for the 2019/20 season, Prep/Comp coaches are introducing "weekly themes" with the goal of connecting all of the mental, physical and emotional dots that go into ski training and racing. Every week the coaches will choose a weekly theme and present it to the athletes on Monday; the athletes will have the week to think about how the theme fits into their training and on Friday there will be a follow up discussion. Topics will range from mental training to nutrition to technique to physiology. Really anything related to Nordic training and racing could be up for discussion. Weekly themes that the team already understands and is applying to their training routine include, compartmentalization, locus of control, segment intending (difference between acting, reacting, responding), and warm up routines for different race formats or time trials. Some topics early in the season may be more general and will be introduced in order to help better understand more complex or specific topics later in the season. As the team moves forward we will continue to bring up previous weekly themes and how they can be applied to the current weekly themes. For instance thinking about your locus of control as your foundational perspective before you plan your warm up for a time trial.

Junior Team Update

The Junior Nordic Team has had a fun and productive first month of training completing testing week comprised of a mile test, HS Butte time trial, and a strength test, along with relays, and many game based training sessions. The team has put in some major improvements in balance and fundamental body position while on roller skis and during plyometric drills and games such as capture the flag, and speed ball. With a great group of hard working athletes we have worked on our endurance with hikes up the butte, adventures up Josie's Ridge, and scavenger hunts. The enthusiasm and energy levels are high amongst the Junior team and we are eager to get on snow at West Yellowstone over Thanksgiving.

-Coach Calvin Wight

Development Team Update

The Development team got off to a great start in October with lots of high energy fun athletic action in dry-land training. We took multiple trips up the butte, hiked to and up Josie's ridge, and had a few time trial runs. It wasn't all work as we played games every day, including Sharks and Minnows, Capture the flag, Speedball, and Soccer. Everyone has shown great spirit and teamwork that we will build on in November. With the return of coach Will Wicherski we are now up to full strength for dry-land, and we should have one more coach rotating in for our on-snow sessions. The Development team is getting ready to ski, all we need now is snow!

-Coach Rob Murphy

Trail Creek Clean Up

On November 2nd, an outstanding turnout of parents, athletes, friends, and coaches descended upon Trail Creek to prep our team training homebase for the upcoming season. Thank you so much to everyone who came to help with another great Trail Creek Clean Up day!

As is done every fall, the famed Bully Barn was assembled to house much of our team equipment as well as our grooming machine for the winter. Setting this structure up is no small feat and while the rest of us jumped from task to task, this team dedicated their entire day to building the Bully Barn.

It is with great excitement that we write that the Cabin is looking spick and spam! We gutted a good amount of stuff lying around, tore out old carpet, vacuumed and swept, and finally installed new carpet. Out with the old and in with the new never looked so good! As many of you know, the Cabin is small but mighty, and revamping this space before the season begins will hugely benefit our athletes come those bone-chilling evenings in December and January.

Other big tasks of the day included chipping through frozen mulch and spreading it around the trails and cabin area, building 3 pull up bars, chopping wood, organizing our lease equipment fleet, and cleaning out our other inside spaces. Trail Creek is looking beautiful both in and outside and we couldn't have done it without the help of all of the families that dedicated their Saturday to help us prepare for another great season. Thank you!

Wish List Donation Items

Something new that we're 'throwing out there' is a wish list of items that will help keep improving our operations out at Trail Creek and keep the resources up to date for our teams. As needs arise, we'll be sure to share that with the JHSC and Nordic community. If you're an individual, business that is able to contribute, you donation will be tax deductible. Please contact Nordic Program Director Ben Morley - bmorley@jhskiclub.org, if you would like to contribute.

72x40 double sided white board - example
Two new outdoor thermometers

Featured "New" Coach " "Old Athlete"

Jesse Knori grew up in Jackson Hole and is a product of the JHSC. Nordic skiing quickly became her passion as the contagious people and beautiful scenery enveloped every corner of the course. She raced for University of Colorado while pursuing her Landscape Architecture degree and competed under the US Ski Team at World U23s. After college, she moved to Bend, Oregon to help coach with the Bend Endurance Academy and work in architecture. Back now to be close to family, great snow and amazing people—she couldn’t be more stoked to be back to where it all began! Jesse will primarily be working with the Junior team, but also have some interaction with the Development team. Welcome back Jesse!