Freestyle Skiing

Vancouver, BC - You won't find s'mores, macramé or campfire songs at this summer camp, but there are fun and games, and - what some believe to be the true essence of camp - male bonding, all the same.

Canadian Freestyle Strength and Conditioning Coach Adrian King has designed a strength and conditioning camp for the men's national mogul and aerial teams.

The camp started this week at the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence with a torrent of testosterone as the World Cup and Development teams underwent post-season fitness testing in the Canadian Sport Centre Pacific (CSC) lab. The men were put through their paces as they were rated on anaerobic capacity, strength, flexibility and stability in a series of tests designed to bring even the most fit among them to their physical limit.

Not that these guys are competitive or anything, but you couldn't miss the bravado of these elite athletes who cheered each other on and then boasted and compared their watts, inches and the height of their jumps - all measurements that they hope will give them that crucial edge when it counts, on snow in 2010.

The CFSA's integrated support team, which includes: physiotherapists, massage therapists, doctors, chiropractors, trainers and sports psychologists will work together with CSC specialists to analyze the data collected at testing and then develop specific off-season training plans for each athlete.

What kind of a plan each athlete gets for summer training depends in great part on his results in fitness testing. In this sense, it really pays to come to the strength and conditioning camp in great shape - in a masochistic sort of way. According to King, the higher the fitness level of the athletes, the more summer training they can do.

As development team mogul skier Eddie Hicks, from Langley B.C., put it, "We work hard to get in shape to come to this camp so that we will be able to work and train even harder all summer."

The fitness testing and analysis at the CSC lab is not unlike what you did in high school gym class - except that it uses high-tech computer and video software along with blood testing to measure the key components like lactic acid and force which, when integrated, give an in-depth snapshot of overall fitness. The funding for the testing is made possible mainly by monies provided to the team by the Own the Podium Program and, as far as King is concerned, it is an invaluable tool to help the team bring home the hardware in 2010 and beyond.

"We test twice a year, post and pre-season," he said. "It provides us with a really important benchmark that we can track year after year, which can help us fine tune programs so each athlete is at his physical peak at the most important time."

Once the testing is complete, the next thing on King's agenda is a plan to improve the team's base aerobic and strength after a long and arduous competitive season. For this he has planned a series of cross-training opportunities for the next two weeks on Vancouver Island.

"The idea is to provide activities that keep motivation high and focus on physical training where [the athletes] don't have to do any technical training and there is little risk of injury," said King.

The motivation comes from a series of activities that not only challenge the men physically but entertain them too.

To this end, Hicks said the camp is something he looks forward to. "We come on a trip, we go somewhere cool and we do a whole bunch of cool sports. It sets a good tone to start the training season with."

His team-mate, Warren Tanner, from West Vancouver, B.C. who scored among the best results in the fitness testing concurred, "Who wouldn't love it? It's like two weeks of P.E."

So how do you keep motivation high among a bunch of freestyle skiers for whom risk is second nature? Well, team sports for one, and for this King has planned ice-hockey, everyday. Add to that a daily road ride on their bikes and perhaps a bit of soccer and you have all the makings of a scrumptious sport jambalaya.

But what jambalaya would be complete without a sweet treat at the end?

For the freestyle team there's no sweeter treat than surfing, so King has built a trip to Tofino on the west coast of the Island into the mix for the last three days of the camp.

"Surfing is without a doubt the candy," he explained with a grin, and then quickly added, "a lot of people don't understand how physically demanding it is. We have two sessions a day regardless of the weather and because it's a new challenge for these guys who are used to being very good at what they do, it's actually very tiring."

Regardless, there's no doubt that a camp like this buoys team spirit and bonds these team-mates. In the end, that camaraderie may be just as important in the quest for the podium as any other factor.