NZ: Pre-Email

Hi everyone,

The blog is back. We're gearing up to get our final turns in before school starts. The FIS Men and some U16 Men are off to La Parva, Chile, the U16 Women and some U16 Men are headed to Mt. Hood, OR, and the FIS Women are on their way to Mt. Hutt, New Zealand. Here are some of the details of the trip to Mt. Hutt:

Town: Methven is a small town with plenty of little shops and two village grocers. It’s very safe and the people are friendly. The athletes will always need to check with me before walking to town and I don’t let them go after dark, but there is no trouble to be found on the streets of Methven. Check it out on Google Maps. Methven Resort won’t show up, but it’s across the street from Mt. Hutt College (the local High School.)


Accommodation: I’ve always stayed at the Methven Resort and it’s an amazing spot. The owners are always quick to help, the hotel is very nice, the grounds have small fields for dryland and two years ago they had an Austrian Chef who was a magician. Breakfast and lunch is provided by the hotel, but the athletes will be responsible for their food at lunch and on the travel days. Here’s the link: www.methvenresort.com


Skiing: Mt. Hutt provides a World Class venue. In the past, the girls had the chance to meet Anja Paerson and the Swedish Women’s team and Andrew Weibrecht and the US Men’s WC Speed Team. This year, we will overlap with the Swedish Men’s World Cup Team and the Austrian Women’s WC Team. It is a top Southern Hemisphere destination and we are lucky to have the opportunity to rip on their slopes. A link to Mt. Hutt: http://www.nzski.com/mountain.jsp?site=mthutt


Equipment/What to bring?: It is winter in the Southern Hemisphere and for the first few hours of each day, we will be training in the shadow of Mount Hutt. It can be windy, cold and snow is likely at some point up on the hill, so bring warm clothing. Down in town, the temps are mild, but it’s still recommended to head to conditioning in a sweatshirt and sweatpants. As for skis, everyone should plan on bringing 2 SL and 1 GS with at least two sets of bindings. We will have access to the SG track while we are there, but check with your primary coach to see whether or not you need to lug your SG boards all the way down there.


Keeping up with the Camp: We will update the blog (Burkiebearblog.blogspot.com) as often as we can and Sprongo (sprongo.com) as often as the bandwidth allows!