North American Ski Training Center – Tahoe, CA

Tag: ski training

  • Summer Ski Improvement Camp

    Summer Ski Improvement Camp

       

    NASTC – Portillo, Chile

    Ski Improvement Camp, August 16-24, 2013

    One week of skiing and coaching by PSIA National & Regional Team members
    Work on skiing fundamentals, technique and tactics to master the whole mountain
    Focus on specific skills & tactics for steeps and off-piste (powder) skiing

    Portillo is a world class private resort in the heart of the Andes
     and the number one destination for skiing in the southern hemisphere.

    Find fun, adventure and relaxation with NASTC in this South American winter paradise!

     Includes:  7 nights lodging, 4 meals/day, lift tickets, daily instruction in intimate groups of 6 or fewer, video reviews, tech talks, and roundtrip ground transportation from Santiago, a welcome cocktail reception and an abundance of amenities. Heli –skiing option. Tours in Santiago and the surrounding areas after the ski week are available. https://skinastc.com/all-courses/82

  • Want to work on your skiing in the summer but can’t get to the slopes?

    The one thing that you can work on this summer without hitting the slopes, is getting into a balanced and centered stance.  A centered stance is the corner stone to good skiing.  Many high end athletes put a large amount of energy and focus on balance and a centered stance during their on-hill and dryland training.  More tools and information are becoming available to recreational skiers as studies make progress on the mechanics and physics of dynamic balance.  The pursuit of excellence in skiing is now applicable through devices like the SkiA trainer.  Our NASTC coaches have tested the SkiA sweetspot trainer, and find it a highly effective in training not only balance but that coveted centered stance.  It consists of two plates that you put underneath your ski boots with different sized balancing plates.  As you work up in difficulty, practice using the plates on a carpeted surface and then on a hard surface.  After trying to balance fore and aft, work on lateral movements.  The makers of the SkiA sweetspot trainer, have made a scientific presentation at the International Sports Symposium in St. Christoph, Austria with relevant results from a survey taken from 250 participants.  Any device will help, whether it be a SkiA trainer, slackline, balance board, tree posts etc; the closer you can get to balancing in a centered stance and the longer you sustain this position and repetitively practice it, the more transfer it will have on your skiing.

     

  • Ski Resorts Apres Ski & Dining

    http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-traveler/2012/11/ski-resorts-restaurants-apres-ski-dining?mbid=nl_daily_traveler

  • Looking for An Adult Summer Ski Camp?

    Looking for An Adult Summer Ski Camp?

    The North American Ski Training Center (NASTC) based here in Truckee, CA runs a weeklong adult ski training camp in Portillo,Chile.  NASTC brings the top ranked instructors from the U.S to coach the weeklong ski program.  The camp focuses on freeskiing skills and breaks down your technique to help you build a stronger skillset and overcome the proverbial plateau.  The camp’s theme is to improve one’s comfort on all types of conditions and terrain.  Groups are small and intimate which means lots of 1:1 coaching time with your trainer.  Portillo offers an endless supply of terrain including the ideal ski in/out setting.  Not to mention Portillo has a lot of inspiring history to draw from and its guests include businessmen from Brazil, music producers from New York, snow enthusiasts from Europe and North America and of course the U.S and Austrian ski teams.  For many reasons Portillo is the ideal training ground, its isolation way up in the Andes offers breathtaking views and almost bottomless powder, due to its expansive off-piste terrain, it’s hard not to get some fresh tracks after a storm. 

    This is most certainly not the ski camp your kids go to.  Meals involve gourmet creations from the hotel’s heavily lauded restaurant.  When you walk through the door at the end of the day you hand your skis and boots to a valet that stores them overnight for you.  There is a bar with live music every night as well as a nightclub if you have ambitions to dance till the sun rises.  A heated outdoor pool and hot tub where you can take in the spectacular sunset over the Inca Lake. 

    At the end of the week, not only will your skiing skills be stronger than ever but you will feel relaxed, rejuvenated and inspired, it’s all part of the magic of Portillo. 

    photo courtesy of Ski South America

  • NASTC Climbing: Group Summits Mt Shasta – 15th year

    NASTC Climbing: Group Summits Mt Shasta – 15th year

    NASTC Climbing: Group Summits Mt Shasta – 15th year
    On Sunday morning May 13, under sunny, crisp skies a group of strong advanced skiers summitted California’s 5th highest peak, the 2nd highest in the Cascade Range: the dramatic and rewarding Mt Shasta.  This represents a huge accomplishment!  When you summit Shasta you have ascended and descended a combined 14,000+ vertical feet in just a weekend. That’s huge! We work with guides from NASTC and Shasta Mt Guides for this 3-day alpine climbing and ski mountaineering trip.  We start at the Fifth Season shop, sort gear, and do a bag check. Once we’re sure everyone is set, we head up to the Bunny Flat trailhead and leave our cars there. We were a group of 4 plus 2 guides: Chris Fellows and Dane Brinkely.  Our group included 3 climbers who flew all the way in from Mexico, from a new partner program called Ski Madness (stay tuned for some big mountain skiing they’re going to be doing with us around the world).  In addition to Pablo, Joan, and Luis, our man Jack drove in from San Francisco and completed the well-rounded, fun group.  They all headed up to Horse Trails and made camp the first day, did some ice axe and crampon skills work, and a short climb before dinner.  The second day they did a more significant tour in order to continue to acclimatize. One of the forces that gets people on Shasta is the altitude and certainly if you come from sea level you have your work cut out  for you.  Around 10 or 12,000′ we humans start to “feel it.” Its an indescribable feeling: lethargic, lackadaisical, low-energy.  Makes it extra challenging to get to the top of a 14,000 peak! So they pushed through and after the tour, more skills work, and an early dinner it was off to bed. Alarms rang at midnite and the guides got the hot water going.  By 1:30am they were suited up: crampons? check, headlamps? check, moleskin? check. beacons on transmit? check.  Off they went.  Nine hours later – via the Helen Lake route – they were on the top and staring across the state’s open expanse beneath.  Its an amazing feeling being up there.  They had an epic, great ski down – perfect conditions for 6,000 vertical feet – then broke camp and made their way to the cars.  Good job everyone!
    Here is what one of the climbers had to say: “It was an awesome experience…  Chris is an amazing human being, guide, skier and friend.  I could not ask for more…The mountain is impressive, the views astonishing, the runs long and fun…What a journey!  We will be back exploring other routes.  Thanks again a lot for all you did for us.”

     

  • Nutrition & Skiing

    We talk alot about physical training and how it is necessary for performance and longetivity in our sport and the important role it plays in injury prevention.  Another aspect of training that we tend to overlook is nutrition.  Nutrition has an equally important role in increasing performance, longevity and injury prevention.  With skiing our dietary habits change fwhether we are in Pre-season or Post-season and In-season.  We need to keep in mind how to fuel our body adequately to maximize the benefits.  One of the beliefs that works for me is “Clean Food,” this is my own title that I have given to minimizing processed foods out of my diet.  This has helped with monitoring my sugar and fat intake, if it is not naturally occurring sugar (like fruit or honey) then I don’t eat it.  Likewise with carbohydrates, if the grain is not in its natural state then I try to avoid it.  Thanks to spending the summer in Portillo last year, I now have a new appreciation for quinoa. Quinoa is an indigenous grain to Chile and they eat quite a lot of it.  When I am working out I try to increase my protein intake to help fuel muscle recovery, I try really hard to make sure that there is some source of protein in every meal that I eat.  Off-season nutrition is the easiest to manage – for me.  In-season nutrition I find is the hardest to manage.  As the temperatures drop we tend to crave those high in fat comfort foods.  The resort dining selections do not offer much in terms of healthy options.  I think the biggest mistake we make nutritionally during the season is the quantity and quality of how much we eat and how little we hydrate.  It’s easy to walk in to the resort’s cafeteria at lunch time, and grab a slice of pizza “because it’s quick,” or a burrito or a cheeseburger and fries – because your stomach is growling and these are the options that are put infront of you.  After wolfing down your food and soda, it’s hard to even think about going outside and skiing much less ask your body to perform optimally.  We don’t need to eat that much at lunch and we very likely need to double our intake of fluids (the hydrating kind).  The point is, we have to pay better attention to what we eat in season and off-season to solicit the best performance from our bodies, reduce our risk for injury and increase our longevity in the sport.  Consult a local nutritionist to put together a plan that is best for your body and needs.

    By Kim Mann – NASTC Trainer & Western Regional Team Member

  • U.S Ski Team @ Portillo

    Great news!!  The U.S Ski Team is going to be in Portillo at the same time that NASTC will be there.  This is big!  How awesome will it be, to watch U.S skiing icons in action.  Talk about great visuals… 

    With the intimate setting of Portillo, there is a good chance that you can meet some of these guys and gals.  You may even find yourself on the exercise bike right next one of them, or sitting next to them in the pool or sauna.  It is inspiring to watch these athletes as their training, you can get right up next to the course and watch how they move into the turn and how they tip the ski and more.  The cool thing about it, is after you have that great visual in your head, you can turn around and ski it and the NASTC coaches will be right there next to you pointing out what to watch for and giving you feedback as you try to incorporate the same moves into your skiing.  It is an exceptional bonus to be able to watch these world class athletes training right infront of you. 

    See you in Chile!

  • One of the Best Days of the Year!

    The skiing out there is unreal!! Probably one of the best spring skiing days ever! Hands down.  The mountains are buffed out and smooth and the snow is just right.  Get out there and make some turns you will feel like rockstar.  You can go just about anywhere as the coverage is great and the conditions are so forgiving.  If you are backcountry buff, there is a gold mine out there – have fun!

  • A Great Article on Portillo

    Here is a great article that sums up the Portillo experience albeit it was written a few years ago.  The essence of what it is like to visit Portillo is difficult to capture as Portillo “hits” everyone differently.  http://www.everettpotter.com/2006/07/summer_skiing_i/

  • Zeb’s Most Recent Eastern Sierra Adventure

    Zeb’s Most Recent Eastern Sierra Adventure

    NASTC guide Zeb Blais at the top of East Peak, with Mt. Gibbs in the background

    Wind ripping across Dana Plateau and deposting snow on the eastern flanks of East Peak