September Nordic Newsletter

That's a Wrap for Summer Training!

We just wrapped up our last practice of the summer and now it is time to look forward to the Fall and Winter!  However, a retrospective on the great summer of training we have had in Jackson Hole puts everyone's hard work into perspective.  Our most dedicated athletes have put upwards of 200 hours of training already through the end of August, and people are on track to meet their hours goals for the year!  We had over 50 middle school, high school, and post-graduate athletes signed up for Summer Training this year and the energy was great.  At some practices we had upwards of 35 student-athletes all working towards their goals together and learning from each other.  We had more than double the amount of middle schoolers signed up for summer training and they logged a huge amount of practice sessions working on skate rollerskiing, running with poles, and their aerobic engines while having a lot of fun and playing games.  

The entire JHSC Nordic team has covered all corners of the valley and the mountains as a part of their training this year.  We have climbed Snow King, Glory, Jackson Peak, Cream Puff Peak, and gone on long runs up Death Canyon, around Phelps, to Lake Solitude, up Rendezvous Peak, and from Teton Pass to the Tram!  In the valley we rollerskied over every inch of bike path from Jenny Lake to Wilson to Victor to Hoback and all points in between working on strength, endurance, and technique. Our final workout of the summer was a capstone double pole rollerski all the way from Jenny Lake to Hoback Junction!  Athletes rolled over 34 miles (or 55k) from North to South in just over 3.5 hours.  These kids are super strong!  

We now enter our season of Fall training, where we will dial back the volume and hours and start to work more on intensity and speed as we approach the start of winter.  We will do a lot more plyometrics, sprinting, and strength exercises to get the athletes prepared for the race season and build upon the pyramid they have laid this summer!  Before you know flakes will be flying and we will be thinking SNOW!

Nordic Alums Coaching

This summer we have also been lucky to have a lot of JHSC Nordic alums return back and help contribute to the program.  Ben Morley and Luna Wasson have been on staff for a while already but both of these key people came through the whole JHSC Nordic system and are key pieces of keeping the program going for the next generation!  In addition to Ben and Luna, we have recently had more alums come on board to contribute to the Team over the summer.  Annabel Hagen, JHSC nordic alum who most recently skied for Harvard, has returned to town for the year and will be helping run the programs.  Mariah Bredal, a professional nordic skier and alum of JHSC Nordic,  has also returned to the Tetons and has been training and coaching with the team for the past few weeks.  It has been so cool to have these women return and give back to the program, especially as the strong role models showing paths of where the Nordic Program can take you.  Mariah will be in and out of the valley over the course of the winter balancing racing and training on the domestic and international circuits, and Annabel will be coaching for the Club throughout the winter!  We are so happy to have these great alums back and contributing to the Club!

Winter Schedule

Below is the schedule of all the races that have been scheduled so far for the winter!  The IMD and JNQ races are the ones that will be more focused towards the older athletes, who travel all around the region and country to race.  The local races (Betty Woolsey, Teton Ridge Classic, Moose Chase, etc.) are the ones in Victor and Jackson that are encouraged for the younger skiers.  One major highlight for this year is that we are going to host a Junior National Qualifier for the Intermountain region this January!  This is a huge event that will have hundreds of participants and the strongest athletes from all over the country.  We want everyone who is available to come out and race, volunteer, spectate, or be involved in whatever capacity you can!