FREESTYLE SKIING: After a break through 2016/17 season where he contested his first World Cup tour and qualified for the World Championships, mogul skiier James Matheson is looking to qualify for his debut Olympic Games at PyeongChang 2018.
The 22-year-old has just wrapped up a training camp in Whilster, Canada, and shows us what a typical day for an elite Aussie mogul skier looks like.
Whistler ‘Day in the life’
Whistler Spring Camp is considered our off-season, which basically means we smash out as much training as possible in the day without worry of fatigued performance in a competition.
With the sun up from 5am – 10pm, combined with the enthusiasm of Coach Peter McNeil, Whistler truly is the perfect place.
Usually I wake up at 6.30am to ensure plenty of time for breakfast, the most important meal of the day!
This being an Olympic year I have deferred from my Commerce degree at Sydney University, but enrolled in an online computer science course through Harvard to keep my mind active. This coding subject usually accompanies my breakfast each morning.
After breakfast we do an activation workout for an hour which includes leg speed drills, body weights and core exercises.
Straight from this warm up the team and I walk out of our house on the side of Blackcomb’s’ home trail, click the skis on and board the chairlift for its opening at 9:45am.
The chairlift ride up the mountain feels like you’re travelling through the seasons – with vibrant green grass at the bottom to the snow covered alpine at the top.
The on snow-component of Whistler is purely skiing skills based, in the form of three 380m mogul lines with no jumps. For the next four hours, we will do some basic runs on the groomers followed by 6-8 runs on the mogul course.
Some days we ski in just t-shirts as it gets above 10 degrees on the mountain, which as you can imagine means the snow is extremely slushy!
By the end of the camp we catch the chairlift down the hill as there isn’t enough snow to ski all the way home.
After we have re-fuelled with lunch we head to the gym from 3.30-5.30pm, and depending on the day would do either cardio, a high-intensity circuit or strength session.
Post gym everyone is usually ready to rest, but if we are feeling good a mountain bike ride is always on the cards on one of Whistlers' world class trails from 6-7pm.
Following the ride, we will come home to dinner made by team mates, where we will be on clean up to ensure everyone is doing their part to help.
Now it’s time for bed to ensure we are rested for another day full of activity!
James Matheson
olympics.com.au
