Latest posts for the topic "European Ski Academy"

European Ski Academy

Thu, 9 Apr 2009 17:52:29 GMT

Hi All,
I have a 5,5 year old boy that has been skiing for the last two seasons.
Last February, he started skiing Red runs with extreme ease.
Most important is his attitude towards the runs, that amazes me.
My question. Does anyone know of a good ski academy (with school curriculum)for this potential and future ski champion anywere in Europe.

Thanks,
Jose Carlos

Re:European Ski Academy

Thu, 9 Apr 2009 19:06:56 GMT

There are schools for skiers with proper educational curriculum. The most well known is probably the Stams Academy in Austria. Many ski racers from national teams study here.

Re:European Ski Academy

Thu, 9 Apr 2009 21:01:14 GMT

Thanks, will investigate.

European Ski Academy

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 08:35:19 GMT

jcbabo wrote:Hi All,
I have a 5,5 year old boy that has been skiing for the last two seasons.
Last February, he started skiing Red runs with extreme ease.
Most important is his attitude towards the runs, that amazes me.
My question. Does anyone know of a good ski academy (with school curriculum)for this potential and future ski champion anywere in Europe.

Thanks,
Jose Carlos

Sounds like your living your missed youth through your son

Re:European Ski Academy

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:08:36 GMT

there are several, Stams has been mentioned already, also there is British ski academy in Les houches near chamonix http://www.britskiacad.org.uk/ or there is Ambition racing based in Bormio,http://www.ambitionracing.co.uk/?splashseen=true although getting in to Ambition is purely on an ability basis and due to their successes the level is pretty high

you may be better starting with a few week long camps in the school holidays to see how he copes being away on his own and carting kit round the mountain, for this you could look at impulse racing http://www.impulse-racing.co.uk/ or gravity snowsports http://www.gravitysnowsports.co.uk/

one thing to make sure is that HE wants to do this...these places are not cheap and are pretty hard work

Re:European Ski Academy

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:18:09 GMT

Hi Cem,
Thanks for the information. Obviously, he is still only 5, but he already shows an out of the ordinary competitive instinct, where we will have to keep an eye on that.

Re:European Ski Academy

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:11:57 GMT

jcbabo

both gravity and impulse run sessions at MK and or Hemel so if you are anywhere near them he could go along and get into a group in the minis age category...they have weekly training sessions a good way to get him into the mind set...they offer frequent competitions and offer the opertunity to ski with some top coaches

Re:European Ski Academy

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 21:12:20 GMT

My children (son now 13 and daughter now 11) were aged around 5 when I asked the same questions. They were both exceptional recreationa skiers for their ages - happily skiing blacks in Europe and double blacks in USA.

I was lucky. I searched around and found the DHO (Down Hill Only) cloub. It is the olders ski club in Britain and has a really good Children;s Racing Club - excellent pastoral care, great ethos, excellent training (Austrian, Canadian and British trainers), and really helpful and welcoming. Have a look at http://www.downhillonly.com/pages/raceintr.html
My kids have developed really well with the DHO and are now in the top 10 in the country for all te downhill racing disciplines.

Best wishes
Tom

Re:European Ski Academy

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 22:58:24 GMT

To add some local level background, many villages/valleys have a Ski Racing Club, generally geared to junior race development. Hence, although you may think that a young one would benefit from a national approach, when you consider that there are tens of thousands of junior ski racers in Europe, a valley/regional club might be another way.

I was a member of the Wildschoenau Race Club, and still follow their fortunes. So last March, in a typical league race:

Re:European Ski Academy

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 23:43:07 GMT

That's similar to the model in the US, but less intense. Locally, most of the High schools have alpine teams, the ski areas also have junior racing clubs, development teams, and USSA junior racing.
At my hill by mid afternoon, the coaches are setting courses. and often there are several Sl practice courses in use from 3 to 9 pm, maybe 200 kids in shifts on any day, some going straight from a two hour high school team practice, to a two hour USSA practice. Vonn, and Kosnick came out of this particular junior racer mill.

Re:European Ski Academy

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 00:08:05 GMT

In Tirol, children go to school 6 days a week, finishing early afternoon. So by 2.00pm, they are either free skiing or race training, (or on the computer!) In the week before the Hahnemkam, we are visited by international teams, who use our race area, and this is great for the local kids, they get to ski with national heroes.
As in the USA, most internationals rise up through the ranks of the club and regional development system.

Re:European Ski Academy

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:32:01 GMT

Bit of a thread swerve going on. This is an old thread innit, revived by a newbie who is keen on the DHO. Seems possible that they failed to read the post at the top of page 1, where a parent asked for a ski academy with a good curriculum. I'm not sure the DHO are licensed to offer education? All of the local race clubs and schools are local to hills and skiing is on the curriculum, quite an advantage.

Re:European Ski Academy

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 13:25:44 GMT

bandit wrote: All of the local race clubs and schools are local to hills and skiing is on the curriculum, quite an advantage.

I think that's what Dave was getting at?