As the final dryland camp of the summer came to a close on August 25th, the BC Alpine Ski Team trainers realized how much improvement every girl on the team made since their first days of “pumping iron”. The older girls, loved seeing the youngsters grow into professional weight lifters as well as become their good friends. “This summer has been as enjoyable as summer camp, yet as painful as navy seal training” says Gregor Družina Women’s BC Ski Team, Head Coach. After a long summer together, the team has been able to bond they believe that each team member is prepared for the long and vigorous season ahead.
The team agrees the most challenging task they had last week was enduring two of Paul Attalla’s bootcamp style core classes. By the end of warm up they had already lost count of the amount of sit-ups they’d done. During the hour long class, one could almost hear the faint echo of their favorite words of wisdom, “Pain is temporary, glory is forever. “ Luckily, it was not all sweat and tears: Paul helped the team get over their jitters and pushed them to go out of their comfort zones by jumping onto Swiss Balls as every girl had successfully landed at least one attempt by the end of the sessions.
On the days when they weren’t in Evolution Gym throwing weights around, the team enjoyed the many outdoor activities Fernie has to offer. This included a mountain bike ride with Curtis Rytz around the Fernie Alpine Resort, even stopping to admire how the race run looks without snow on it, and a relaxing tube ride down the river running through town. Both of these activities were a nice distraction from the constant visuals of the walls of the gym.
Perhaps the day the team enjoyed most was the afternoon out at Tie Lake with the MacLachlans, and Arthur Sombrowski and his family. They spent it water skiing, swimming, wake surfing, and sun bathing until their stomachs intervened and begged for the delicious pulled pork burgers! Amongst the girls, there was a great range of skill levels; some having never been towed behind a boat while others were almost seasoned pros. Nevertheless, everyone learned something new that day, and, most importantly, had lots of fun.
The Team wants to thanks the City of Fernie, Evolution Gym, Paul Attala, The MacLachlan family, Sombrowski family, Curtis Rytz, and Mike Delich for making their dryland camp so memorable! The girls never seen their head coach so excited, as he was when he saw “Welcome BC Women’s Ski Team” atop the Community billboard.
More pictures of their time spend in Fernie can be viewed at http://bcalpine.com/photos/