All Grown Up and No Place to Go

When used as a flexible guide, performance bands are helpful tools. When applied rigidly, however, they can become tourniquets, cutting off the vital flow of talent and experience.

The $80,000 Hot Dog: A Complicated Love Story

For a moment at least, ski racing season is over. With the end of this season our family officially moves beyond children’s racing, and into the FIS zone. It’s a little bit of many things: scary, exciting, sad. It’s sad in part because this time of year—when the mad skiing scramble that consumes every bit of our spare time abruptly ends— always leaves me feeling a bit empty and, in every respect, spent. But, this … » read more

The Gary Black Effect

He believed in us when few people did, and treated us like champions despite all suggestions to the contrary. He made every one of us feel worthy when we didn’t feel it ourselves, and took personal responsibility for reminding us how to laugh.

The Long Road Parable: Go Slow to Go Fast

Reinforcing bad technique is like doubling down on a bad bet. In reality, it’s often better—though counterintuitive—to slow down, take a breath, assess the territory and proceed with deliberate steps.

Stay Classy, Ski Racing Women

What if US Skiing gave women the college try? The Dartmouth Carnival is around the corner, and it marks the heart of the carnival season. It’s always an inspiration to see such a high-level ski competition up close. It wasn’t long ago that guys like David Chodounsky, Jonathan Nordbotton and Robby Kelley—all of whom will be racing in the upcoming World Championships in St Moritz—were dicing turns at the Dartmouth Skiway vying for their respective … » read more

That’s the Spirit!

In case you missed it, Robby Kelley showed the world what’s he’s made of this week. The Cochran Clan, Vermonter, Redneck Racer, Catamount, US Ski Teamer when it suits him, ski racer to the core was on his way to a breakthrough World Cup finish in Schladming. Making it to the second run in a World Cup slalom is a minor miracle. Making it down both runs full tilt is divine. Kelley was almost there. … » read more

Girl Power, Part Deux

Last week I talked about Girls Power Camp. This week, as promised, we’re getting into the goods, with advice straight from some of the World’s best skiers. Before delving into that though, I wanted to bring it back to the grass roots. I had a chance to catch up with a couple of girls who went to the camp—one on each end of the age spectrum— and heard what the camp did for them. Lucy … » read more

Girl Power, Part One

This is Part 1 of a two-part series on the ELITEAM Girls Power Camp. Why? Because the more I learned about this camp, the more I realized that this is the stuff I wish I knew as a teenager of the sporty persuasion. Part 1 is about what the camp involves and how it came into being. Part 2 goes into the goods, with direct advice to girls from World Cup athletes as well as … » read more

It’s Snow Time!

When it comes to snow time, it all counts! Whether negotiating mogul fields and facing down steeps, or even skating along a cat-track and sidestepping up and down a hill to build a kicker, time on snow is valuable.