The novelty of skiing in the summer has certainly worn off on me after 14 camps at the Haig Glacier in Kananaskis, Alberta. However, cresting the tree line and seeing the iconic metal “moon huts” that become our home for a couple weeks each summer still gives me chills. Perhaps all the glacier camps were starting to blend together in my mind, but it seems like they just keep getting better every year. With such a fun, hardworking and dynamic team of athletes it’s no surprise. The coaching also played no small part. In order to make the camp run smoothly four different coaches pitched in to make sure that the athletes with different time constraints could be hiked in and out of the camp and given the proper amount of coaching attention.

Each morning we were greeted by sunshine and great skiing. Even when the cat groomer broke Winsport swooped in, literally (with a helicopter), and brought up a snowmobile to help groom. Everyone got lots accomplished with instant technique feedback from coaches and video analysis in the afternoons. Nearly every day we met at the far end of the ski loop and did some organized sprints against each other. In the afternoons we went swimming in glacial creeks, watched movies, played board games and disk golf. Unless, of course, all the training got the best of you and you needed a massive nap. By the end of the week I was feeling very lucky to be part of such a unique team. On the last couple days we had the pleasure of experiencing Les Parson’s recorder, harmonica and singing talent as a morning wake up. The Pofenroths even went to the effort of pointing out all the things they admired in their teammates while giving us candy!

As the camp came to a close we were met with a quiet satisfaction of a good training week. Almost everyone finished close to 25 hours of training. As a whole we became much better prepared for the quickly approaching race season. A special thanks to the Winsport staff, Eric, Evan and Mike Norton down in Canmore. Thanks so much to the coaches too, John, Luke, Les and Dan the Man! I also must applaud Beau Thompson. He was able to accurately diagnose the mechanical failure of the snow cat. It’s nice to know our team has so much skill outside of the ski world.

All the best,

Kurtis Wenzel