Haig Glacier Camp

The RMR crew enjoyed an incredible Haig Glacier camp August 8-14. Luke and a mix of 12 skiers and biathletes hiked in to the camp on a mostly clear day, with no bear sightings but lots of wildflowers spotted and the first of many training stories being shared. 

The first 3 days of the camp were wet and cloudy, with the long sessions on snow starting on skate skis, and ending with most athletes turning to classic skis pretty quickly in the soft, damp conditions. Wet boots, clothes, and feeling constantly chilled was the general consensus. The second half of the camp turned sunny, with just the odd passing shower in the afternoons...and glorious conditions on the glacier. Faster snow in the early mornings meant longer skate sessions before the warm sun softened the track and made classic skiing on hairy skis the better choice. 

The whole team work hard on their technique throughout the camp, with lots of video sessions on snow followed by review in the afternoons. Most athletes found themselves working hard on transferring roller ski adaptions to snow; things like body position, weight transfer, and transitions. A couple of fun head-to-head sprint sessions on snow allowed us to test our technique changes under fast paces, and a couple of afternoon strength sessions kept our musculature up while doing so much volume at altitude! 

Of course, our muscles were well fuelled the whole camp by the usual awesome Haig Staff and great shared meals in the main cabin. Highlights include but are not limited to: fat sandwiches every day at lunch, many loaves of fresh banana bread, and steak and epic mashed potato night (2lbs of bacon and 2 tubs of sour cream will make most anything delicious). 

The team hiked out on the last day tired but happy to have some solid on-snow volume completed, and finished the training block off with some tough intensity and strength down at the lower altitude in Canmore.