Fall Camp Guidelines
Camp Overview:
Team Duluth Fall Camp will take place in Winter Park Colorado from Sunday, November 22 – Tuesday, December 1. For the
third year Camp is now a Team Duluth Function, rather than an independent camp run by Race. However, the camp is still
being run by Race the same way as in past years.
Camp comprises 2 sessions: The first is a 6-day GS-focused session that is on snow over the week of Thanksgiving from
Sunday-Friday. It starts with 2-3 days of free skiing build up, before adding gate training in the latter days. Following this,
there is an optional add-on Slalom-focused session on snow from Sunday-Tuesday (Saturday is a rest day). This SL camp is
geared towards our older athletes.
Camp is very demanding. Athletes generally start the day with a quick group run, have breakfast, pack a lunch and leave for
the hill in time to be ready when lifts open at either 8 or 9am (depends on the day). Athletes are divided into small groups
by age and ability for training. They return from the mountain between 2:30 and 3:00. They have an hour of dryland
around 4pm (pool workout, field games, run etc.), and then are expected to cook and eat dinner before the team meeting
at 6pm. 6:30 to 8pm is “homework time”, and the time from 8 until 9:30 (lights out) is used for tuning skis, grocery
shopping if necessary, and getting ready for the next day. Most nights, a half hour of video review is squeezed in
somewhere. Many years, limited hill space requires us to have “early lifts” for gate training a couple of days during camp,
which means that the athletes have to get up in time to leave for the hill at 6am and be on snow by 7am. The exact format
of the camp is highly dependent on snow conditions. Early season is unpredictable – some years, abundant natural snow
means 80% of the mountain is open, and the coaches will make extensive use of the free-skiing opportunities; other years,
training is limited to a handful of runs with snowmaking capabilities.
Camp Philosophy / Age Appropriateness
In addition to getting in some fantastic early season skiing, a big part of the philosophy of this camp is having the athletes
operate independently – shopping for and making their own meals (with their condo-mates), taking care of their gear,
getting where they need to be on time, etc. This is not to say that Athletes are not well supervised – there are team
meetings every day, mandatory study-time and lights-out are enforced by the coaches, also, coaches and other Team
Parents will be around to help out if something goes awry – just that learning to be independent is an important part of the
development of any young person and is a hallmark of this camp.
Past experience has shown that, in general, 12-year olds and younger are not capable of this level of independence and
need to stay with a parent or other designated adult. Some, but certainly not all, 13-year olds are capable of operating
largely independently and staying in an athlete condo. Most 14-year olds and older are generally up to the challenge.
Whether or not any athlete is capable of doing what is necessary to take care of themselves has to do with their overall
level of maturity and experience (e.g., have they been to Fall Camp before). If parents need to be involved to make sure
that meals are prepared, gear is packed properly, etc., then that athlete is not ready to stay in an athlete condo and needs
to be in with his or her parent or other adult. Having parents routinely stepping in is not fair to the other athletes who are
there for the independent experience. Whether or not an athlete is ready to stay on his or her own in an athlete condo is
not necessarily about how they will do on the first day, but how will they do on day 5. Whatever the age, athletes will be
exhausted by the end of camp. If there is any doubt in your mind, your on-the-bubble athlete is probably better off staying
with a parent. We are all together in the same complex, so it is pretty seamless in that younger athletes staying with a
parent still very much feel like part of the camp as they participate in all the other activities. If you have any questions,
please call Race at 310.0051.
Lodging
We stay at the Hi Country Haus in Winter Park, a 5-10 minute drive from the base area. Athletes are grouped by age and
gender, 4-7 to a condo, and stay independently. Younger athletes will be expected to stay with a parent or other
designated adult.
Often parents/families will come to Winter Park for all or part of the week, even when their older kids are staying in an
athlete condo. Parents/couples can be grouped with others to share a condo, or families can get their own condo. Please
indicate on the registration form if any parents will be coming to Winter Park and what your lodging plans/preferences are.
We will put those wanting to share accommodations in touch with each other so you can work out the details. Hi Country
Haus offers great group rates for Team Duluth families. (For example, 2BR condos for the week are ~ $100 per night, all in).
Those wanting to make their own reservations should call Tiffany Provost at 970-726-6264 or email her at
Tiffany@vacationsinc.com. Be sure to indicate you are part of Team Duluth.
Meals
Athletes cook their own meals together as a condo. They shop as a group and split the costs. They are expected to pack a
lunch and bring it to the hill. Coaches/Parents in WP will provide transportation to the grocery store in Frasier so they can
shop. We typically stock up on arrival day and then maybe make one additional trip during the week. Traditionally, the
parents that come to Winter Park prepare a Thanksgiving feast, and Thursday evening we all come together in a big
banquet room to share this meal. We split the costs and it typically comes to ~$10 per person.
If you come to Winter Park, please do not cook meals or do the shopping for your kids staying in athletes’ condos. As
stated previously, an important part of the philosophy of this camp for those staying in athlete condos is the experience of
spreading their wings and having to take care of themselves. If the athletes are not yet capable of this, then they need to
be staying with a parent until they are.
Transportation
Getting everyone to and from Winter Park is always the biggest challenge and causes the most heartburn of anything
having to do with this camp. Once we are all there, it seems like it operates on autopilot (it doesn’t always, Race just makes
it seem like it). There are two basic transportation options:
1) Private Vehicles. Many of us drive. (In good weather, it is 15 hours). If you have an extra seat, please consider
offering a ride to another athlete. We can also often help find another driver for those that want one.
2) Flying to Denver with a shuttle van to WP. Please note that those flying should not expect to be able to send
skis/gear with the team van. (Southwest flies MSP to DEN and doesn’t charge baggage fees like the other airlines,
and Home James is a shuttle service many have used in the past to get to Winter Park – they will drop right at Hi
Country Haus. If enough are traveling at the same time on the same flight, Home James or another outfit called
Powderhound Transportation will run a custom trip that ends up being both less expensive per person than their
standard fare and runs at the time you want rather than their standard schedule. homejamestransportation.com
and ridethepowder.com. ) ALSO, this year Tim Heren has offered to coordinate the shuttle between Winter Park
and the airport. Watch for details in an email.
The Team van will NOT be able to transport athletes this year.
The Team Van and private cars driving typically leave from the team room about 6pm Friday evening (any earlier and you
get to Denver too early in the morning). We drive through the night, meet in Denver for breakfast, make a stop for an hour
or two at Red Rocks to stretch our legs, and get to Winter Park about noon. The afternoon is for getting settled and
grocery shopping (and a nap). The first Team Meeting is at 7pm on the 21st in the coaches’ condo.