Our first South-American preseason training camp is in the books after spending nearly a month in Chile. The highlight was returning to iconic resort of Portillo, where they have been enjoying a great snow year. This made for great conditions and very high quality speed training during our two-week stint.
The downhill track in Portillo features quite a bit of terrain, beginning with a steep sustained pitch, a compression and hard right onto the flats, then a number of sharp rolls and compressions with two jumps in between. There’s nothing quite like it when it comes to off-season training. I always find myself feeling some nerves after the first inspection of that course, even though I’ve been there over five times now. The terrain can be a bit intimidating, but I inevitably find myself crossing the finish line on the first run with a big smile on my face as I’m reminded how fun it is.
Two weeks of training at high altitude certainly comes at a price, and by the end of our camp I was feeling the mental fatigue building from the high-intensity speed training. It may be strange to think about training being mentally tiring, but in my experience this has been a common theme every time I’ve been in Portillo. It’s a more demanding environment than most other off-season venues, but that’s also one of the reasons we prioritize going there. The whole team was feeling it but doing our best to continue pushing each other to get the most out of the training. We had a very long travel home with layovers in Bogota and Toronto before arriving back in Vancouver at 2 AM. I was afforded one short day off before writing the final exam for one of my two summer online finance courses, which felt great to get out of the way. With only a short two weeks at home before we head back to Chile, the name of the game has been mental and physical recovery. Aside from a quick one-day trip to Calgary for physical testing, I have been riding my mountain bike as much as possible while mixing in some gym workouts as well.
This break at home has also been the perfect opportunity to get working on the 2024 Helmet4Hope contest. I’m excited to share some updates to the contest format this year, most notably opening it up to the public for voting. It felt like a shame that most of the great designs I received over the last three years never saw the light of day, so this year I have added a live gallery where you can see all the submitted artwork.
We also received a visit from a special guest and legendary member of Canadian ski racing history while I was home: Nancy Greene. It just so happens that Nancy competed in the ’66 World Championships which took place in Portillo, and we shared notes about the slope. Some things have changed over the years; for instance, they’re no longer building ice walls along the sides of the downhill track as “protection”. Other things have not, such as the hotel building that has looked nearly identical for decades.
I first met Nancy years ago while training with the BC Ski Team in Sun Peaks, but what brought us together this time was a less serendipitous circumstance. Nancy’s husband Al was diagnosed with ALS earlier this year, and the couple is now beginning their journey of navigating the intricacies of this disease. It seems crazy to me how many ALS cases have popped up in the ski racing world over the last few years. This was yet another reminder of why I run the Helmet4Hope fundraiser each year, and it encouraged me to get the contest rolling again.
The other big news about this year’s fundraiser is that I have secured an anonymous donor who has agreed to match the first $10,000 in donations made through this project. This is an incredible opportunity to make a difference in the fight to end ALS, so get out your check books and let’s make those dollars count. Project Hope has made great progress over the last year including the establishment of the Pioro ALS Neuroimaging Lab, and the recent hiring of a post-doctoral fellow and senior clinical research manager. The new facility is now poised to begin making a real difference in the fight against ALS, although we’re not quite there yet. The next steps include the purchase of crucial lab equipment and the addition of clinical staff and researchers.
With all this in motion, I’m eager to get back on the snow and continue building on the progress from our last camp. Here’s to more blue skies, hard snow, and the most impactful Helmet4Hope year yet!
Cheers,
Brodie