ISMF Youth Solidarity Camp

This is the third ISMF Youth Development camp that Australia has participated in. Athletes Ava McCann and Noah Bradford travelled to Chile in late September together with coach (and WC SkiMo athlete) Phillip Bellingham. Ava McCann provides this camp report.

My second Olympic Solidarity ISMF Skimo Youth camp was packed with highlights. It seemed like half the world was there to take advantage of the incredible snow conditions in Nevados de Chillán, Chile, in our beautiful hotel on the piste. The resort was officially closed to the public, and it felt like we had the mountain to ourselves, only sharing with a handful of national Alpine Ski teams, including France and Canada. It was a special treat to see dual Olympic gold medalist Ester Ledecka training.

Our camp began with alpine skiing and avalanche training, where we learned to check the snow for layers to see whether it was safe to ski. We then skied to the top of an active volcano in between a sprint race and a fun mixed relay race where teams were drawn by secret ballot, then recovered at the thermal hot springs and bonded over dancing to Latin American music, plus our Australian coach Phil’s choice of Closing Time, which was meant to close the night, but I think we managed to squeeze in about 10 more songs afterwards!

It was great to see so many familiar faces from the first camp, and really exciting to see how everyone had progressed, as there were many Olympic hopefuls, if not for 2026, then for 2030, including myself, and my Aussie teammate Noah.

I am so grateful for the privilege of attending the camp. It was fantastic to learn from the other national team coaches, and from last year’s U18 Female World Champion, Laia from Spain, who smoked us all!