2008 SUMMER SKI PROGRAM

Summer 2008 - Saas-Fee , Switzerland

19th - 26th July 26th July - 2nd August 16th - 23rd August 23rd - 30th August 30th August - 6th September 6th - 13th September
Price: £679 (Course Fee, 1/2 Board Accomodation, Lift Pass)

About the Summer Ski Courses

The summer 5 day group courses run from Sunday to Friday with the Wednesday off. They are designed to build and develop skill and confidence, to enable people to ski all terrains including Moguls, Steeps, Variables, Powder and how to Carve effectively on piste. Skills are developed during the coaching by practicing specific exercises that benefit the main topics. Progressively, the new levels of skill are tested in suitable terrains to build confidence. During the group courses each skier is also looked at from an individual point of view due to the fact that we are all individuals and have different strengths and weaknesses that need identifying and developing. The courses are ideal for skiers who are looking to develop their skiing on a regular basis and not have to wait for the Winter season.

We meet together as a group each morning at 8am outside the Park Hotel. We will have your lift pass ready for you on the Sunday morning which you will receive from us at breakfast before we leave.

We ski each day from 8.30am until 1pm and take a lunch break at approximately 11am.  Please bring a small or medium size backpack to store your bottle of water and energy bars in.  It can also carry your belongings i.e. Ski Jacket, Fleece, Gloves etc if the weather is extra cold or warm.  Please note that Wednesday is a rest day from the course and a day for you to freeski. 

We will be filming and doing video analysis on the Monday and Thursday and watching the footage and analysing it those evenings before dinner from 6.30pm until 8pm. It usually makes a big difference the next day with what you're working on so it's a good idea to bring a notepad and pen to make notes.

The groups are a maximum of 8 persons. This is the standard number of persons on an Academy course. Over the past 12 years we have experimented with groups of 6 person and the coaching has been too intense. We have also worked with groups of 10 the coaching and feedback has not been intense enough. 8 persons is the perfect number to work through the exercises set, receive good individual feedback and get to move around the mountain to find the ideal terrain.

To read reviews and press articles on the courses, click here.

In the Afternoons

After skiing, most people on previous years courses have either played Tennis, Basketball, gone Mountain Biking, Walking, Climbing, Swimming or just Chilled out.  It's a car free village and a really beautiful part of Switzerland .  There is also an Ice Museum which is listed in the Guinness Book for Records (a must).  Please note, Wednesday is a rest day from the course.  There is loads you can do on this day as with all afternoons.  It doesn't mean you can't ski but just gives you an opportunity to have a lay in and explore more of  Saas-Fee.  Saas-Fee also has one of Switzerland 's most prestigious Spa's at the Ferienart Resort + Spa (www.ferienart.ch).

Who is it for

Skiers ability levels range from basic intermediate skiers wishing to get off of the typical intermediate plateau and gain confidence to skiers taking their instructors exams and performance training for competition (alpine racing or freeride). For the full detailed listing of group and skier levels click here.

Accommodation

	The accommodation in Saas-Fee is Half Board with breakfast and evening meal.  The 4* Hotel du Glacier in Saas-Fee has a great reputation and is ideally situated in the centre of town within easy walking distance of the lift station, shops and restaurants.  All rooms are en-suite with a balcony, cable TV, radio and telephone.

To check out the resort goto www.saas-fee.ch. Saas Fee is a traffic free resort so it is a very relaxing place to spend a week away.

To view more information on the hotel Glacier and view a video clip of the hotel, click here

Travel

Book a return Saturday to Saturday flight to Geneva Airport . Due to the fact that we organise a transfer coach to pick you up from and drop you off at Geveva Airport, you'll need to book a flight that can work in accordance with the coach pick up time of 2pm and 5.30pm on the Saturday of arrival in Geneva Airport and drop of time of 9am and 12pm the following Saturday when you return to Geneva.

Therefore your flight on the day of arrival in Geneva should land no later the 1.30pm and your return flight should be booked to leave Geneva no earlier than 1.30pm.

The return coach journey is £59. This is an additional cost and would need to be paid at the same time as full payment of the course package.The UK office will add this to your invoice.

Booking the Course

You can book the summer courses by going to the following online booking page of the Academy website 'Booking a Course'.

Ski Course Coaching Content

On the course you will cover several of the following topics:

Skier Symmetry

All skiers that come on the Academy courses, whether in Group 1 or Group 6, have a problem maintaining symmetry whilst turning. Perfect symmetry is skiing from turn to turn with your hips, knees and feet the same distance apart allowing both skis to be identical in angles. It's common for most skiers to ski with either their knees dropping closer together or their feet splitting wider apart. Both of these create the classic A-Frame stance.

The A-Frame stance makes it difficult to carve, ski powder, moguls, steeps and generally built on your ski technique as your ski edge angles will always be different. On the courses we address this issue and leave you with a strong, symmetrical stance that allows you to build good ski technique on.

Whilst developing your ski symmetry we will work on biomechanical aspects such as switching on certain muscle groups that help maintain the ideal stance, checking your ski boots to make sure they are set up correctly and integrating the 0-Frame stance into your skiing. Having skier symmetry is crucial in preventing knee injury, fatigue, accidents whilst skiing and allowing you to reach your true skiing potential.

Ankle Flex

One of the biggest areas of development on the courses in Ankle Flex development. Most skiers join us with a lack of ankle flex. Most skier flex at the knee more than the ankle and this puts the skiers weight back. Once it's back it makes it hard to steer and almost impossible to ski steeps, moguls and freeride terrain. You thighs end up being used to help you stand up rather than being used to help you steer the skis.

The reason that most skiers have a lack ankle flex is that a lot of skiers learn to ski in boots that are to stiff for them to flex so the joint that does all the flexing is the knee. A lot of skiers also suffer from having calf muscles that are to tight to be able to move and flex the ski boot.

With specific ankle flex development exercises you will learn to dominate your ski boots and flex them so as to allow you to be in balance and maintain leverage in the legs to have powder to steer. Once you have this flex you automatically have power and in turn confidence. The learning process increases dramatically with this flex and your skiing take a major step change in its level.

Thigh Steering

Most skiers who attend the courses, even Ski Instructor level, steer their skis by foot steering. Steering the skis by foot steering is usually what you get taught in your first week of ski school tuition. Unfortunately it usually stays with you through your skiing life. Foot steering is weak and although it might get you through your first week of skiing it won't be so efficient for more advanced skiing. Foot steering can also put stress on the knee joint.

Thigh steering is a much more powerful way of steering your skis and allows you to steer with more confidence on steeper slopes, in moguls and in freeride terrain. It also allows you to carve more effectively and move onto skiing higher speeds without loosing control.

For thigh steering to switch on we develop specific exercises that provoke you to use the muscles in the legs that control this movement. Once you find the muscles (usually takes about 15 minutes to switch them on) you will immediately feel stronger on your skiing and more secure. Once we have you doing this, other aspects of skiing we show you during the week are easily absorbed and changes takes place in your technique with ease.

Left + Right Turn Differences

All skiers suffer from having a weaker turn direction. At the Academy we are fully aware of the importance for the skier first feel the difference between left and right turns and them understand why there is a weakness with one side. With the sport of skiing you are only as good as your weakest turn. This is obvious especially in powder, slush, steeps and in moguls.

Skiers generally have a weaker turn due to left and right side differences with the brain, injuries to certain sides of the body, imbalances on the left and right side of the body and equipment that might not be set up correctly.

With the use of video analysis, exercises and biomechanical awareness we make you aware of your weaker direction, show you it on video and then built up with specific exercises that benefit the weaker side of the body. Once you are balanced the sport of skiing will feel different to you and the foundation of you skiing will be strong and secure.

Middle Body Strength

Nearly all skiers that join the Academy courses are never using there middle body strength to its full potential. Many skiers break at the waist when skiing moguls, powder or just carving at higher speeds. The more dynamic skiing becomes the more you need to active your core whilst skiing to keep the middle body strong and avoid it collapsing. On the course you'll learn how to activate your core whilst skiing with simple exercises that are easy to integrate into your normal skiing technique.

4 Wheel Drive for All Terrain

To assist your Moguls, Steeps, Variables and Freeride terrain skiing you'll learn how to develop your pole plant timing and arm positioning. This gives your pole plant more overall strength and it will support your body effectively when initiating your turns in these terrains.

Individual Feedback

Every skier that joins a course has their own individual skiing style. An important part of the Academy course is to offer each skier feedback on their own technique specific to them. This takes places at various times during the week.

Other Course Content

As well as the above content various other aspects are also covered such as Short Radius Turns, Developing Leg Lean, Progressive Steering, Loading the Skis, Skidding and lots more. Many skiers attend several course during the year whether Winter in Verbier, Spring in UK or summer in Saas-Fee.

Group + Skier Levels

Skiers ability levels range from basic intermediate skiers wishing to get off the typical intermediate plateau to skiers taking their instructors exams and performance training for competition (alpine racing or freeride). To easily identify the levels of skiers and groups running on an Academy week you can use the following system:

Group 1 Basic Intermediate

This group consists of skiers who are trying to make basic parallel turns but use a small snowplough wedge in between the turns to help turn initiation. Skiers in this group can generally get down blue runs but struggle on Reds. This is this group have usually never skied moguls, steeps or freeride terrain.

Group 2 Intermediate

This group consists of skiers who can make basic parallel turns but lack the strength and confidence in the turn to make it consistent. These skiers can usually get down blue and red runs. On red runs however there technique suffers and the body weight moves over the back of the skis making the steering more difficult. These skiers have usually attempted moguls, steeps and a bit of off-piste skiing but with no success.

Group 3 Advanced Intermediate

This group consists of skiers who can make parallel turns with confidence on blues and reds. When they attempt black runs or steeper gradients they lose their technique and the body weight drops back. Skiers in this group can generally get down moguls, steeps and freeride terrain but with a weak or/and confidence lacking technique.

Group 4 Advanced

This group consists of skiers who can ski with confidence on Blues, Reds and Black runs. They can carve effectively from turn to turn on nicely groomed snow but are not so consistent when the snow is icy or un-groomed. Skiers in this group can get down steeps, moguls and freeride terrain with confidence and a semi consistent technique but loose control approximately 30% of the time. Skiers at this level want to develop performance towards skiing 40 degrees slopes with good technique and direct (zip) line moguls.

Group 5 Expert / Instructor

This group consists of skiers who can ski all terrains comfortably but want to be able to ski higher speeds through greater dynamics, ski steeper fall line moguls with a greater range of absorption and extension, make higher speed GS freeride turns in powder and variable snow conditions and generally master a solid technique. Skiers in this group would cover the basics of race training, steep couloirs, instructor exam technical requirements, freeride performance and higher speeds.

Group 6 Athlete / Performer

This group consists of skiers wishing to compete or who already compete in freeskiing competitions, Alpine Racing competition or freestyle skiing disciplines such as moguls, half pipe, big air, slope style or rails. In this group you will also find skiers who are training for there BASI 1 technical exam and Euro Speed Test.

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