WVA Year Round Training and Conditioning

Overview-During the winter, WVA offers six days of on-snow training and five days of dryland conditioning.  For WVA student athletes enrolled at WVA for the month of November, they will attend a fall on-snow training camp in the western United States with classmates, coaches and teachers.  During the fall and spring, WVA offers a daily self-monitored conditioning program with the option to return to Waterville for periodic conditioning check-ups.  During the summer, WVA offers on-snow training camps as well as dryland conditioning camps in a variety of locations.

On Snow- WVA’s daily on-snow regimen includes four midweek training sessions as well as morning and afternoon weekend training sessions.  Due to the high speed chair lifts, World Cup T-bar and poma lift at Waterville Valley Ski Area the athletes are exposed to a great deal of on-snow time.  A typical training session includes an on-snow warm up and a skill refinement session on an alpine race course,  a freestyle jump or mogul run or in the half-pipe or terrain park.  The athletes are also involved in video review at the bottom of the hill during the course of the session.  The session concludes with an on-snow warm down and a review of the session’s goals with the athletes.

Off Snow-After the on-snow session the athletes go to the White Mountain Athletic Club for a conditioning workout.  These sessions are designed and led by WVBBTS’s Executive Director of Athletics-Tom Barbeau.  A typical session includes flexibility, strength and water workouts.  Upon arrival at WVA each athlete goes through a physical assessment test, providing a baseline for the athlete’s fitness level.  Careful tracking of these tests will ensure that the athletes are following their year-round conditioning schedules.