The panorama ski resort is the place where all alpine ski teams would come and train in the month of November preferably to do speed events.

This has been November base for many ski teams from BC, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec. Also, ski nations like Switzerland, France come here for their speed events training and fine-tuning before Lake Louise and US Beaver Creek World Cup races.

For my team, U19 FIS, this is the place where we set the tone for the season including training and race schedule. This is the place where we try new equipment, new exercises, new techniques. This is the place where coaches interact with each other, where we learn new ways of training, where national teams share the same hill space with lower-level ski clubs. This is the place where coaches meeting gathers coaches from World cup level to local level.

It’s great to start the day where the world cup athlete is in the same lineup as the local athlete. The interaction at all levels comes together.

Me as a senior coach and coach who is not at World cup level, want to know if anything new is in their training book if the equipment is changed or improved if ski technique is changed if physical preparation is changed if body type for speed, and technical events is relevant. So many questions are unanswered and can be solved at this place. It would be great if we can organize around table with all coaches and discuss how can we move athletes throughout the system and not lose any of them on their journey to the world cup.

I have been very vocal about the UBC HPSTL program and more and more coaches will follow my pathway. I do tell them about the importance to have us at one place where we can make plans for how to nurture our athletes and develop them at a pace where balanced life is essential, and burnout is out of the question.

This is the environment where new ways of coaching, new approaches for training resurface. Opening a conversation with athletes, coaches, hill operations, resort management can create new ways of training on this hill. I opened a discussion with coaches about sharing and taking over the training environment that must be created every morning, every training session. We could save valuable time by sharing the same equipment, course, course set, die line application. Yes, by interacting with each other we could add many valuable training hours to our own program, increase training efficiency and improve athletes’ and coaches ’ interaction.

Working together we will learn more about each other and it will link us to a tight ski family and community.

Famous painter from Invermere, Mark S is also Head Coach of Team Panorama