NDS campers put in full days on and off snow at Mammoth

A group of the best 24 teenage ski racers in the country recently concluded an intense National Development System camp on outstanding June snow at Mammoth Mountain where the focus was on perfecting basic racing skills, learning the value of teamwork on the hill and raising the bar to make everyone better.
    The camp’s leader, USSA National Competition Director Walt Evans, came away impressed with the dedication shown by this group.
    “I’ve been doing this for six years … and each year we have a different crop and the athletes bring kind of a different atmosphere. … This group of young men and ladies are the most disciplined that I’ve ever worked with at this project,” Evans said.
    “They’re up before me, they’re at breakfast before me, they’re always on time at meetings, and I don’t see the kids laying around on the snow. These athletes are so focused on learning the skills that the staff’s putting before them that it’s quite impressive."
A GROUP OF the best 24 teenage ski racers in the country recently concluded an intense National Development System camp on outstanding June snow at Mammoth Mountain where the focus was on perfecting basic racing skills, learning the value of teamwork on the hill and raising the bar to make everyone better.
    The camp’s leader, USSA National Competition Director Walt Evans, came away impressed with the dedication shown by this group.
    “I’ve been doing this for six years … and each year we have a different crop and the athletes bring kind of a different atmosphere. … This group of young men and ladies are the most disciplined that I’ve ever worked with at this project,” Evans said.
    “They’re up before me, they’re at breakfast before me, they’re always on time at meetings, and I don’t see the kids laying around on the snow. These athletes are so focused on learning the skills that the staff’s putting before them that it’s quite impressive. I think that all of the athletes in the project have a tremendous future if they can continue this work ethic, this kind of focus. It’s really special to work with them.”
    Six of the athletes at the camp, each between the ages of 15 and 17, answered questions on a conference call with the media: Derek Strand, a first-year J1 from the Park City Ski Team; Max Marno, 17, and Anna Marno, 15, from the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Delainey Ackerman, 17, from Ski and Snowboard Club Vail; Lizzie Kistler, a J2 from Reno’s Team Savage; and Noah Duff of Mammoth, a 15-year-old first-year J2.
    “It’s really exciting when you really stop and think about what [this camp] could lead to,” Kistler said. “You get from your club teams and then you make it to the NDS, which is one step closer to the U.S. Ski Team, which is one step closer to the Olympics. It’s like once you get here it’s not as far away so that’s exciting.”

Young racer's role models are World Cup stars
This year’s June NDS camp, which was making its third stop at Mammoth in six years, wasn’t anything like your grandfather’s summer camp, where casting fishing lines and roasting marshmallows was the norm. This camp featured 5:30 wakeup calls, four hours of race training on snow in the morning, ski tuning, afternoon dryland sessions and lights out at 9:30 p.m. Tired yet? These young racers weren’t because each one of them harbors Olympic dreams and follow role models who have raced on the sport’s biggest stages.
    “Ted Ligety is a big inspiration for me,” said Strand, who hails from Ligety’s home club, the Park City Ski Team. “I’m coming up through the same program he went through, [the] same director, Dave Galusha, who I think is great and does very well. The coaches have switched around a lot but I think the main element of the program has stayed the same and [Ligety] is definitely where I want to be some day. So just knowing he went through the same thing, it gives me a lot of confidence that I can make it also.”
    Kistler and Ackerman both acknowledged Lindsey Vonn as their racing role model — Kistler praising the reigning World Cup overall champ’s versatility as a four-event skier and Ackermann taking note of Vonn’s passion for speed.
    “Like Derek said about Ted, I’ll say the same thing about Lindsey coming up through [Ski and Snowboard Club Vail],” Ackerman said. “It’s really exciting to know she went through the same program, she does a lot of speed and does very well at it and that’s what I aspire to be someday.”
    Duff said Mammoth product Stacey Cook is her role model because of her exploits in the speed events, while Max Marno praised Bode Miller “because he doesn’t let anything get in his mind and he gets the job done no matter what.”
    Going fast on the course often means slowing things down in training, and Ackerman and Duff each noted that the NDS coaches had helped them realize they need to analyze what worked and what didn’t in each training run.
    “My major breakthrough has been learning to slow things down because I have a tendency to speed things up and get impatient,” Ackerman said. “But when I slow down I can make some big advances in my skiing that will help me through my career.”
    Kistler said she made large strides in learning how to handle jumps on the course during the camp and added that she came away with a better understanding of how to get her core muscles in shape for better stability on the course.

Mendes: NDS is an “incredible resource”
Former U.S. Ski Team member and World Championships bronze medalist Jonna Mendes served as a coach at the camp. Growing up in the Lake Tahoe area, Mendes said she rarely had the opportunity to race and train alongside peers equal to her own high level at such a young age. She stressed that these campers must take advantage of such a unique opportunity.
    “The highlight [for me] is seeing them watch each other, maybe see someone do something a little bit better than they’re doing it, and then feel that push, feel that competitive drive and realize that maybe they need to change something up a little bit,” Mendes said. “There’s nothing better than a little competition to raise the bar and we’re doing that every day here.”
    Competition, Mendes said, is crucial for young racer development but so is convincing them that there will be a need for teamwork in an individual sport like ski racing.
    “They’re racing alone, they work their buns off and when it comes down to it, it’s only them out there,” Mendes said. “But to get there, they need to work together as a team. … These are 15-year-olds, and they’ll be together, we’re hoping, for the next 15 years of their lives so they’re not always going to get along, they’re not always going to be best friends, but they’re always going to have to work together. And that will be a mental strength for them.
    “When they make it to the national team, they’re going to need each other,” Mendes added, “and they’re going to need to rely on each other for course feedback, to be getting better as athletes and really s
tepping up as people. I see that as being the best mental aspect of getting these athletes together.”

NDS June Camp Attendees:
Delainey Ackerman (Ski and Snowboard Club Vail; Englewood, CO)
Hayley Best (Green Mountain Valley School; Salem, NY)
Noah Duff (Mammoth Mountain Ski Club; Mammoth Lakes, CA)
Bryce Eller (Mammoth Mountain Ski Club; Mammoth Lakes, CA)
Mark Engel (Sugarbowl Ski Team; Truckee, CA)
Emily Hammel (Green Mountain Valley School; Waitsfield, VT)
Cate Kistler (Team Savage Ski Racing; Truckee, CA)
Lizzie Kistler (Team Savage Ski Racing; Truckee, CA)
Amie Lonza (Mammoth Mountain Ski Club; Mammoth Lakes, CA)
Jackie Maier (Green Mountain Valley School; Cazenovia, NY)
Anna Marno (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Steamboat Springs, CO)
Max Marno (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Steamboat Springs, CO)
Ryan McConnell (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Steamboat Springs, CO)
Sean McCormick (Ski and Snowboard Club Vail; Avon, CO)
Shane McLean (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Steamboat Springs, CO)
Emma Naatz (Snowbird Sports Education Foundation; Salt Lake City, UT)
Carl Noges (Crystal Mountain Alpine Club; Seattle, WA)
Bergen Palmer (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; Ketchum, ID)
Zach Rickenbach (Squaw Valley Ski Team; Olympic Valley, CA)
Hig Roberts (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Steamboat Springs, CO)
Kaytlyn Samuelson (Ski and Snowboard Club Vail; Eagle, CO)
Keith Schuman (Stratton Mountain School; Saddle River, NJ)
Sydney Staples (Park City Ski Education Foundation; Park City, UT)
Derek Strand (Park City Ski Education Foundation; Kamas, UT)
Kegan Zorens (Team Summit; Silverthorne, CO)