Stoked to Host Freestyle skiers

The Canadian Sport Institute Calgary (CSI Calgary) recently witnessed a boost of youthful energy as members of the Slopestyle team made use of the facilities for a training camp.

The team took advantage of a wide range of CSI Calgary services, including physiology testing, mental performance training, nutrition workshops, medical assessments and a Game Plan presentation.

National team athlete Mark Hendrickson found great value in the experience. He said that his highlights were “learning healthy recipes that even someone who is not skilled at cooking can whip up. We also worked with strength and conditioning coach Jamie McCartney. He taught us skills and techniques to improve our dryland training. I enjoyed his approach because of his experience in various sports.”

Olympic Champion Dara Howell also utilized the CSI Calgary services in conjunction with the WinSport facilities. She credits the training facilities for being a component to her Olympic success, saying, “Calgary has always been a great spot for me! Coming into the Olympic year, the training facilities that were open to me were amazing. It’s really neat to see the CSI Calgary and WinSport taking slopestyle under their wing.”

Leading into the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, the younger generation will likely be able to gain even more from the facilities. There are promising discussions about offering a fully integrated training base for Canadian slopestyle athletes in Calgary. The advantages to this type of relationship are evident, with WinSport providing an ideal facility, the WinSport Academy contributing technical and tactical coaching, and the CSI Calgary contributing to the athletes’ training, sport science and medical requirements.

Adrian King, Director of Sport Science and Medicine for the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association, emphasizes that this partnership would be a big win for his team. “We want to link as closely as possible with the CSI Calgary because of the professional expertise. They are major players with respect to sport science services. This is complimented by the terrain at WinSport, which is ideal for slopestyle.”

Hendrickson agrees, saying, “I love the idea of having WinSport as our home training facility. The features on the hill keep getting bigger and more precise year after year. Having all the resources in one place such as physiotherapy, strength training and trampolines make it an amazing place for our athletic development. I am stoked to be able to utilize these resources."