No snow, no worries | Pathways continue progression in summer

While the World Cup season moves into full swing in the northern hemisphere, the Snow Australia pathways continue to operate on the homefront.

Though the mercury is on the rise, five separate camps involving New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) and Snow Australia Emerging Talent Program (ETP) athletes have been taking place throughout November and December.

A three-week NSWIS Park & Pipe Airbag camp took place at the National Snowsports Training Centre from 1 November, led by coaches Leon Tarbotton and Nick Lamont.

At the same time, the Moguls ETP skiers took advantage of the world class Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre at Brisbane’s Sleeman Sports Complex for a solid block of training guided by Paris Speirs and Ben Chapman.

Following the NSWIS camp at NSTC, the ETP Park & Pipe athletes moved in for two separate blocks of training under Tarbotton and Cam Hoddle. These camps were focused on developing an understanding of what it means to ‘train like a pro’, understanding individual’s current level of performance and focusing on the international training and competition period.

Last week it was was the Snowboard Cross riders from both the ETP and NSWIS riders using the airbag at NSTC. While the facility usually bears witness to Park & Pipe athletes launching into new tricks, the airbag provided the SBX riders with a unique training environment to to hone their efficiency on jumps to maximise speed. Off the Park, athletes undertook performance psychology education and worked on developing performance-focused training habits.

Finally, this week the NSWIS Park & Pipe crew have been back at the NSTC, with many athletes putting in their final off-snow training block before competing in the northern hemisphere early in 2025.

Ben Bond, Snow Australia Performance Health & Talent Manager said the training undertaken at this time of year will have a direct impact on athlete performance in the coming months.

“It wasn’t so long ago that off-snow training at this time of year in Australia was restricted to fitness and gym work to complement an athlete’s discipline,” said Bond. “Now, with the fantastic facilities we have at both the NSTC and the Geoff Henke Training Centre in Brisbane, we can train off-snow throughout the year.

“A number of opportunities have arisen for our emerging athletes to train alongside those who are in the state institute framework, which is a deliberate part of our talent development philosophy. Just like our our institute athletes working with our World Cup-level skiers and snowboarders, it is important to expose our emerging talent to training environments which help them understand what it takes to go up another level.”

The ETP is just one level of the Snow Australia Performance Pathway which begins with FUTURES programs and ends at the top level of high performance. Click here to find out more.