GROMLINS!

Competition Development program for AGES 6-10

Our newest program, Gromlins, introduces young athletes, ages 6-10, to all facets of competitive skiing. Gromlins seeks to develop solid fundamental skills while exposing participants to basic competitive tactics found in Alpine Racing, Freestyle, Park and Freeride skiing. By providing a supportive team structure athletes learn to safely explore the mountain, make new friends and find out what type of skiing they are most passionate about. In two week blocks we will focus on learning techniques of alpine racing, freestyle skiing, park and pipe, and freeride. To ensure understanding and create excitement for the more competitive aspects of the sport, we will be holding at least three internal races for our Gromlins Teams. Each race will be coordinated with the associated team and older team members will be available to help guide, mentor and inspire our Gromlins. Depending on the weather our training schedule will look like this:

• Week 1 Introduction
• Week 2-3 Alpine Race Focus with a Gromlins race on week 3
• Week 4-5 Park and Pipe Focus with a showing of those new skills on week 5
• Week 6-7 Freestyle Focus with a Gromlins competition on week 7
• Week 8-9 Freeride Focus with a Gromlins competition on week 9
• Week 10 End of the year celebration.

This program will run a total of 10 Saturdays from 9:30am to 2:30pm and 8 nights at either Chapman Hill or Hesperus Ski Area. Athletes should be comfortable skiing blue runs with good pace, at ease riding a lift with little or no help.

We keep groups at a maximum of 5:1 athlete to coach ratio for maximum engagement and ease of lift loading. This group starts with basic stance and balance skills and works towards strong parallel turns. These skills are the foundations of our racing, freeride and freestyle programs.

To clarify, this program is not designed for first time skiers and is geared specifically towards families hoping to join the rest of the ski team and gain a higher love of the sport.

10 Saturdays at Purgatory, 9:30am - 2:30pm

8 nights at Chapman or Hesperus, 4:30am-6:30pm/date is TBA

Saturdays at Purgatory: Estimated schedule based on conditions December: 16th, 30th

January: 6th, 20th, 27th

February: 3rd, 10th, 24th

March: 2nd, 9th

Potential make-up practice dates: Jan 13th, March 16th, 23rd

Evening Skiing (Chapman/Hesperus): Schedule will be based on coach availability.

The revised 2023-2024 Gromlins Team Handbook and Coach Contacts will be in late fall for review.