GRP Ski: Germany Camp
Written by Margie Freed
Akeo in the ski tunnel.
GRP ski has made their way to the first training camp in two years. Where might this long awaited trip be? Germany of course! I’m Margie, returning cross-country skier, looping you in on what our team has been up to the first few days across the pond.
Since travel has finally become an option the last couple of months, Coach Pepa dreamed up the idea of getting us on snow in early September for a speed camp. So after lots of research and discussion, it was decided Oberhof, Germany would be the destination because they have an indoor cross-country ski tunnel. We packed up our skis, brought along many masks, downloaded Duolingo and headed to the airport. While it was exciting to travel as a team for the first time in a long time, there were a lot of details to be taken care of as we are still in the midst of a pandemic. We all needed a negative COVID test, full vaccination, and various forms and documentation to be complete before getting on the flight.
Upon arrival we were all very tired but happy to have made it safely to Germany. Then just a short 3 hour drive to Oberhof, and wow! What a place. I was in awe of everything I saw. Foreign street signs, different cars, and unique houses lining the roads. We took it all in, and then it was time to rest up for our speed training.
Annika Landis does strength.
I couldn’t stop smiling the first day in the tunnel. What’s a ski tunnel? It’s a large refrigerated concrete hallway, with machine-made snow. It’s about 1.5k in length depending on the loop pattern done, and around 20-25०F. Of course it took a while to adjust to snow skiing from all the rollerskiing done this summer, but it was so cool to ski in September. I have been wondering- do kids have birthday parties in the ski tunnel, like they do at ice rinks in the US? There have only been a few other teams in the tunnel at the same time as us so we have plenty of space to do our workouts. This is a speed specific training block of two weeks, during which we will focus on quick tempo, sprint workouts, all while working to transfer summer rollerski technique to skis. So far we have skied every morning for about two hours and supplement in the afternoon with outdoor workouts consisting of jogging, rollerskiing, and bodyweight strength.
With this schedule, we have been able to have productive and focused sessions each day, while getting to explore the town - and still making sure to get plenty of time to rest and recover of course. My favorite things so far have been seeing goats at the local park, and exploring the vast network of gravel and dirt trails in the surrounding forest. We have only been in Germany a few days now and I’m looking forward to two weeks of more fun and hard work.
Big slugs all over the sidewalks
German trails aren’t too different from Craftsbury, only there are more pines and they are a bit taller.
Skis on the wall of the coffee shop!
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