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**truebluefan** · 07-02-2008, 07:37 PM

The best-of-the-best of the nation's junior alpine racers were invited by the U.S. Ski Team to attend the National Development System's (NDS) annual camp, which took place at Mammoth Mountain, CA June 5-15. Skiers 14-17 gathered from across the country to train under the direction of the national team and learn valuable skills that will help them in their skiing careers.

"This group of young ladies and young men is the most disciplined I have ever worked with in this project. They are up before me, they're at breakfast before me and they're always on time," said U.S. Ski Team Competition Director Walt Evans. "I think that all of the athletes in this project have tremendous potential to be great if they continue with this work ethic and this kind of focus. It's really special to work with them."

The group of about 25 athletes would start their day at about 5:30 a.m. with either a run or warm-up stretching. After breakfast, they would ski till 11:00 a.m. and head off to lunch. Afterwards the junior racers would spend the rest of the day with dryland training activities as well as educational sessions before finishing their prep for the next day - tuning their skis, resting, doing recovery and re-hydrating before getting to bed at 9:00 p.m.

"My favorite part of the day is going up to ski, especially when we start so early in the morning and the snow is hard. It's just fun to go and rip some turns out there," said Lizzie Kistler (Truckee, CA). "It's exciting when you stop and think about what this could lead to. It's one step closer to the U.S. Ski Team, which is one step closer to the Olympics. Once you get here, you're not really far away, so it's exciting to think about."

Kistler, a member of Team Savage who ended the 2008 season ranked first in slalom for her age group, said that attending the camp is a privilege that helped improve her skiing.

"It was a big honor for me to be accepted to this camp because it's great to meet all these high level athletes and coaches. It's cool to get all these different opinions from all these people," Kistler said.

Max Marno (Steamboat Springs, CO), a member of the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, said the camp was a chance for him to train with the best of the best.

"We've got the best kids from around the country and we've also got a group of really good coaches and they've provided us with a really good venue," Marno said. "For me, one of my main goals for this camp was to get back to basics and I think a lot of that was accomplished here. By doing that, I hope we can build on it for future camps and fix any of the problems I may have had last season."

With the NDS June camp complete, athletes now will take the things they learned from a group of expert coaches and translate their new skills to the hill next season with their home programs.

"You get a lot of different feedback from the different coaches and it helps your technique and tactic, which makes you a better skier," Kistler said.

NDS June Camp Attendees included:

Delainey Ackerman (Ski and Snowboard Club Vail; Englewood, CO)
Hayley Best (Green Mountain Valley School; Salem, NY)
Noah Duff (Mammoth Mountain Ski Club; Mammoth Lakes, CA)
Bryce Eller (Mammoth Mountain Ski Club; Mammoth Lakes, CA)
Mark Engel (Sugarbowl Ski Team; Truckee, CA)
Emily Hammel (Green Mountain Valley School; Waitsfield, VT)
Cate Kistler (Team Savage Ski Racing; Truckee, CA)
Lizzie Kistler (Team Savage Ski Racing; Truckee, CA)
Amie Lonza (Mammoth Mountain Ski Club; Mammoth Lakes, CA)
Jackie Maier (Green Mountain Valley School; Cazenovia, NY)
Anna Marno (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Steamboat Springs, CO)
Max Marno (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Steamboat Springs, CO)
Ryan McConnell (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Steamboat Springs, CO)
Sean McCormick (Ski and Snowboard Club Vail; Avon, CO)
Shane McLean (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Steamboat Springs, CO)
Emma Naatz (Snowbird Sports Education Foundation; Salt Lake City, UT)
Carl Noges (Crystal Mountain Alpine Club; Seattle, WA)
Bergen Palmer (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; Ketchum, ID)
Zach Rickenbach (Squaw Valley Ski Team; Olympic Valley, CA)
Hig Roberts (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Steamboat Springs, CO)
Kaytlyn Samuelson (Ski and Snowboard Club Vail; Eagle, CO)
Keith Schuman (Stratton Mountain School; Saddle River, NJ)
Sydney Staples (Park City Ski Education Foundation; Park City, UT)
Derek Strand (Park City Ski Education Foundation; Kamas, UT)
Kegan Zorens (Team Summit; Silverthorne, CO)

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