MAMMOTH MOUNTIAN, CA (May 22) - Casey Puckett (Aspen, CO) began his assault on the ski cross training season this week as he headed to Mammoth Mountain to train alongside the U.S. Alpine Ski Team and pick up the speed he needs to take him through 2010.

"In ski cross it's still really important to ski fast, so I'm basically getting in touch with my inner alpine skier," Puckett said.

The former alpine racer is accompanied by U.S. Ski Cross Head coach Tyler Shepherd, who believes tuning in on the crossover tactics of ski cross will enable Puckett to compete at his best this season.

"The nature of ski cross, it is an alpine discipline and there's still a lot of alpine fundamentals that cross over," Shepherd said. "One of the most basic skills are the turns from GS. The sport has gotten so competitive that if you're not making aggressive turns and generating speed, you can't make it into the event. This will help him be more confident going into those qualifications that he can nail the turns really well."

According to Shepherd, being able to train with the men's speed crew is a perfect fit because all of the athletes have the same goals.

"Being here with the men's alpine crew has been really good," Shepherd said. "We're here to work on the fundamentals and they're here doing the exact same thing. We're here to do what we need to do, to figure out what Casey needs in his skiing and work on that."

For Puckett, outside of perfecting his turns, his main focus is to work on the speed he feels he was lacking in 2009.

"Working on the basics will help because going fast is of paramount importance," Puckett said. "I slowed down a little last year for whatever reason and it's important to have that speed, so here I am in Mammoth."

For Shepherd, while being with the alpine team is a great fit, being at Mammoth has provided he and Puckett with invaluable resources as well.

"Mammoth has been wonderful. A lot of their race crew has been up here helping the Team and there's nothing that they don't do for us," Shepherd said. "They built a ramp so we could put a ski cross start gate in and work on that. They've been nothing but helpful and always asking what they can do."

Puckett and Shepherd will remain at Mammoth through the weekend before returning to dryland training through the summer.

"There's been really good GS progression and a lot of interesting things in Casey's skiing that he's learning he needs to work on. This will be good for him headed into the training season," Shepherd said.

Ski cross will reunite in Mt. Hood, OR, in early June for more on snow training.MAMMOTH MOUNTIAN, CA (May 22) - Casey Puckett (Aspen, CO) began his assault on the ski cross training season this week as he headed to Mammoth Mountain to train alongside the U.S. Alpine Ski Team and pick up the speed he needs to take him through 2010.

"In ski cross it's still really important to ski fast, so I'm basically getting in touch with my inner alpine skier," Puckett said.

The former alpine racer is accompanied by U.S. Ski Cross Head coach Tyler Shepherd, who believes tuning in on the crossover tactics of ski cross will enable Puckett to compete at his best this season.

"The nature of ski cross, it is an alpine discipline and there's still a lot of alpine fundamentals that cross over," Shepherd said. "One of the most basic skills are the turns from GS. The sport has gotten so competitive that if you're not making aggressive turns and generating speed, you can't make it into the event. This will help him be more confident going into those qualifications that he can nail the turns really well."

According to Shepherd, being able to train with the men's speed crew is a perfect fit because all of the athletes have the same goals.

"Being here with the men's alpine crew has been really good," Shepherd said. "We're here to work on the fundamentals and they're here doing the exact same thing. We're here to do what we need to do, to figure out what Casey needs in his skiing and work on that."

For Puckett, outside of perfecting his turns, his main focus is to work on the speed he feels he was lacking in 2009.

"Working on the basics will help because going fast is of paramount importance," Puckett said. "I slowed down a little last year for whatever reason and it's important to have that speed, so here I am in Mammoth."

For Shepherd, while being with the alpine team is a great fit, being at Mammoth has provided he and Puckett with invaluable resources as well.

"Mammoth has been wonderful. A lot of their race crew has been up here helping the Team and there's nothing that they don't do for us," Shepherd said. "They built a ramp so we could put a ski cross start gate in and work on that. They've been nothing but helpful and always asking what they can do."

Puckett and Shepherd will remain at Mammoth through the weekend before returning to dryland training through the summer.

"There's been really good GS progression and a lot of interesting things in Casey's skiing that he's learning he needs to work on. This will be good for him headed into the training season," Shepherd said.

Ski cross will reunite in Mt. Hood, OR, in early June for more on snow training.