WOLFCREEK, Colo.
WOLFCREEK, Colo. (Nov. 26) – U.S. moguls skiers will be savoring Thanksgiving at home before heading to northern Finland Friday for the first event of the World Cup season – under the lights in Ruka, site of the 2005 World Championships.
"We had an outstanding camp," moguls Head Coach Donnie St. Pierre, "and everyone's taking the holiday off before we leave Friday for Ruka" where the moguls season opens Dec. 6. WolfCreek is located east of Durango and has been an early season moguls training site several times in recent years.
"WolfCreek did its usual great job for us – they're at about 11,700 feet and we had 220 feet [the legal limit] of mogul course and about 29 degrees of pitch at the start, which is quite steep, and then 24 degrees the rest of the way...and everything went really well. WolfCreek was the right call," he said.
From nearly 12,000 feet altitude, St. Pierre said the Ski Team will be competing at just about sea level in Ruka. "hopefully, all of this will be paying dividends. We [U.S. coaches] were saying we don't want to be too optimistic, but everyone's been skiing so well...and, well, we'll be looking for some strong results, as usual."
World champion and former World Cup champion Jeremy Bloom (Loveland, CO) broke away from the University of Colorado for four days of training while the Golden Buffaloes football team enjoyed a weekend off. "Jeremy always looks so good. It's been – how many? – months since he's been on skis, but he got right back at it," St. Pierre. He was working on his off-axis "D-spin," the coach said, "He came down and didn't quite get it right the first time, so he came down again and nailed it. It took him two runs to get his 'D-spin' perfect. Like I said – Jeremy's amazing!"
The U.S. will have seven men and six women competing in Ruka and then Michelle Roark, the ex-World Cup duals champ who earned moguls bronze in the 2003 world championships, will rejoin the team for the next competition in Tignes, France. She's completing more studies at Colorado School of Mines.
"We had an outstanding camp," moguls Head Coach Donnie St. Pierre, "and everyone's taking the holiday off before we leave Friday for Ruka" where the moguls season opens Dec. 6. WolfCreek is located east of Durango and has been an early season moguls training site several times in recent years.
"WolfCreek did its usual great job for us – they're at about 11,700 feet and we had 220 feet [the legal limit] of mogul course and about 29 degrees of pitch at the start, which is quite steep, and then 24 degrees the rest of the way...and everything went really well. WolfCreek was the right call," he said.
From nearly 12,000 feet altitude, St. Pierre said the Ski Team will be competing at just about sea level in Ruka. "hopefully, all of this will be paying dividends. We [U.S. coaches] were saying we don't want to be too optimistic, but everyone's been skiing so well...and, well, we'll be looking for some strong results, as usual."
World champion and former World Cup champion Jeremy Bloom (Loveland, CO) broke away from the University of Colorado for four days of training while the Golden Buffaloes football team enjoyed a weekend off. "Jeremy always looks so good. It's been – how many? – months since he's been on skis, but he got right back at it," St. Pierre. He was working on his off-axis "D-spin," the coach said, "He came down and didn't quite get it right the first time, so he came down again and nailed it. It took him two runs to get his 'D-spin' perfect. Like I said – Jeremy's amazing!"
The U.S. will have seven men and six women competing in Ruka and then Michelle Roark, the ex-World Cup duals champ who earned moguls bronze in the 2003 world championships, will rejoin the team for the next competition in Tignes, France. She's completing more studies at Colorado School of Mines.
