Cochran's Ski Club Blog

High School Districts

2012-02-24T10:53:00.001-08:00

Go Cougars! Since we didn't have a Cochrans mascot to rock at the High School race, Colin was able to borrow the MMU cougar suit from Jen.

Lucy went on to win her first race ever at high-school districts, making her a favorite for the State Championships! Proof that getting awesome at ski racing can take awhile and hard work and patience always pays off!

They reluctantly let me forerun, despite the danger of me imparting special secrets to my ripping apprentices. I was reminded by several coaches in the start to not speak with any racers after forerunning about the course.

Tom skied fast in his Kamikaze headband!

Go team Cochrans! We had a lot of people asking about the J1/J2 team, especially after we dominated so hard!

The boys still managed a smile after waiting 2 hours for awards.

Why it's Fun to Ski Race

2012-02-20T09:18:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics from the past week. Although only a few kids stayed for the super-g state championships Monday, Don came down with his awesomeness and we went out for a feast at the Blackrock Grill outside of Springfield. They heat a rock to 750 degrees and throw a huge hunk of steak on it, for $12.99. All J3 girls and their families headed to Okemo this weekend take note, you don't want to miss it!

Check out Lucy's glance, she was clearly bummed about getting chicken parm.....lame!

The speed track! Most people were clocked around 60 mph shortly after this section.

Serious looks of concentration inspecting for second run at the Middlebury GS last week, after placing 2nd and 3rd first run...the Breadloaf Wilderness looming in the background.

The first turn on this GS measured in at 14 meters....My 27 meter GS boards had trouble with it but Emma did not. The team is learning quickly that measuring every gate in high-school racing is not only smart but intimidates the competition. The Cochrans team is tearing up the High School districts GS as we speak. More photos, video, and commentary coming soon.

J3 States: The Beginning

2012-02-20T07:48:00.000-08:00

Last week we kicked off the J3 State Championships at Sugarbush for a one race run Super G. On Thursday, the men lucked out with a gorgeous warm day and fast, hard track. And the girls battled some soft snow on Friday. Our athletes went out there and worked hard. We have had a grand total of three Super G training days, which many of our athletes have not been able to attend, as they were during school hours. Thanks to some supportive MMWA coaches, I got to sneak away from the start and watch my first race runs of the season! So fun to see them in action. I was excited to see our athletes get out there and charge.

Next up:
February 25- 26, Men at Stratton, SL, GS
February 25-26, Women at Okemo, SL, GS

Back in the "former" USSR

2012-02-18T11:36:00.000-08:00

As always Cochrans Ski Club strives to be at the competitive forefront of ski racing. Our latest tactic is to send a spy disguised as a US Ski Team coach, deep into Eastern Europe to learn the most intimate secrets and strategies of the World Cup technicians, athlete's, and coaches. This includes everything from learning athlete diets, workouts, equipment, reading material, superstitions, tuning secrets, etc. Leandro with the help of Jimmy is collecting valuable information, strategies, documents, and photos, that are being telegraphed to our New York office as we speak! Please only share this information with the utmost secrecy. Remember to watch Jimmy compete in the Bansko, Bulgaria World Cup Slalom, starting 32nd tomorrow morning.

(secrets! Without credentials you can go into this room but you can never come out!)

(A 55 gate 450 vertical meter GS that took the best skiers in the World over 70 seconds to complete. )

J3s brave another cold day at Sugarbush

2012-02-15T08:15:00.001-08:00

Surprise, surprise, another chilly Vermont winter day! Our J3s stepped it up this past Sunday in a big way. The men's and women's courses were set 1-2 meters smaller than what we normally train, which is 10 meters, that being the maximum distance for J3s. Just to give you and idea of how challenging this was, 18 men did not finish 1st run! It was a big adjustment to make on race day, or any day for that matter! I was so impressed and proud to see our athletes push through. Our game plan for the day was to fight, and each and every one of them fought the whole way down. We have some great athletes with exceptional attitudes on our hands.

It has been really fun to watch our 13 athletes come together as a team. Lots of high fives and cheering were seen and heard on Sunday. Oh, and the WWF wrestling match prior to 2nd run; I guess the boys weren't cold or tired enough from 1st run?! It was probably the uber-sugary-infamous-race-day brownies my mom brought. Thanks Mama! But for real, thank you!

Looking forward to our first J3 State Championship event. This Thursday and Friday, men and women are back at Sugarbush for Super G.

FACEBOOK!!!

2012-02-13T15:55:00.001-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/cochransskiarea

Cochrans is on facebook!!

Images From J1/J2 States

2012-02-11T19:41:00.000-08:00

When Bear heard that we were going to "bunk-up" he discovered a creative way to avoid the awkwardness of two dudes in a double bed. Just put everything he brought in his bed with him. I made him take his skis out.

Tom Licata rocking the famed Cochrans 2-piece suit during breakfast. The locals were surprisingly nice to us in our strange garb.

PATTERNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The most focused group slipping at every race.

Katie refuses to ski a combo in slalom without measuring the distance.

Ali preforming a photo shoot with her medals...

The bros! As soon as Cody gets off the slopes he seems to take his shirt off. This is a brief moment of Cody's mullet that he took so long to perfect and so quickly cut off.

Straight hipster ballers! We told the women at The Clothing Line in Burlington that we are introducing these glasses to ski racing with style.

Chile 2012

2012-02-08T08:06:00.000-08:00

Save the date! This summer's Portillo Trip will be from August 1st - August 18th. 2 weeks of skiing, 2 days in the city. More details coming soon.

J1 J2 Wrap Up

2012-02-06T15:12:00.000-08:00

The J1/J2 team has been racing a lot recently. Here are some of the results, notice the Cochrans dominance at the High School races:

http://vara.org/news/resultsviewer.asp?eventnumber=6212

http://vara.org/news/resultsviewer.asp?eventnumber=6211

http://vara.org/news/resultsviewer.asp?eventnumber=6031

The better the team gets to know each other the more fun coaching is. This Sunday we had a classic race day at Pico sitting out on the deck in the sun, ripping slalom turns all over the mountain, stopping at interesting spots along the drive, discussing important life decisions, and trying to ski as fast as possible. Unfortunately despite serious efforts we were unable to achieve the coveted skier goggle tan by days end but had some fruitful conversations about the role of vitamin D in human happiness nonetheless. Here are the runs caught on tape!

Most of the J1/J2 team will compete in the State Championships next weekend.

Elliot

Sick Stowe Training

2012-02-02T13:04:00.000-08:00

On Tues..... A bunch of the clubbers headed out to Stowe to train on Main Street.
There was both GS and SL training.
The Kiddos got to ski and get "TIPS" from the big boys...
Timmy Kelley and Jimmy Cochran and even "Ratchet" UVM's Ski Coach

Harkdaddy

Natser

Boomshkalka

Jimmy

Cam

Karin

Luuuuuu

Timmy

Burke "Y" Boy

Come on DAD... Get me new boards with bigger bindings

See...........

J4s Battle Ice at Jay

2012-01-30T09:11:00.000-08:00

Jay is always a testament to East Coast Ice, but this winter's seemingly perpetual April weather made Jay's indoor ice skating rink feel especially redundant. There was plenty of sliding, crashing, and lost skis on the part of all clubs, but I thought Cochran's racers handled the challenging terrain especially well. There were very few race day jitters and a lot of aggressive skiing. As always when you push yourself to the edge, sometimes you crash. I won't go through all 20 results, but there were several stand outs. On the "pushing it" side were Trevor Mcglaflin's double DNF's (he really went for it); Nate Coffin catching a tip, doing a 360 in mid air, and landing it; and Charlotte aggressively attacking the fencing backwards. On the "Wow, I made it down alive" side was Mason Kasper's 4th place finish after starting 59th, Calvin Hultgen's 5th on the first run, Lucian Bryan's 9th overall, Cassie Franklin's 3rd place overall starting 20th, Ava Hultgren's 4th overall, Kamli Faours 5th on the second run and Mike LeStrange consistently getting 56th on both runs. Not bad for the first GS race, and I think we can improve upon these results next week at Burke with a little more training.
Link to the office results: Here
Want to boost your Cochran's pride? Here are the j4 rankings: BOYS GIRLS

Wrap Up

2012-01-30T07:14:00.000-08:00

The J1/J2's had a great weekend to finish off our first month of racing with our new program. On Saturday I took Tom, Katie, and Cody down to Suicide Six for a Vermont Cup slalom. Unfortunately as the TD of the race pulled up to the mountain at 6am his rogue groomer was cresting the infamous pitch that we were to race down in a few hours. This effectively created the worse snow I've seen this season and avalanches of chunks, ice balls, and slush cascading down the race trail, and coaches screaming at kids to stay out of the line despite slipping being the only logical solution to the problem. By the end of the day there were holes in the course down to stream beds and grass poking up at the gates. Regardless of the conditions the kids skied fast...really fast. In a course that had already been chewed apart by 120 racers Tom Licata skied into 20th place making "the flip" and securing him a prime starting point for his second run. This was a satisfying run to watch as a coach because it was his first time ever using race boots, and the ruts were so high it would be like racing slalom down upper National with ice moguls up to your waist....quite dangerous actually. Ironically Tom and Katie both skied into 18th place for the day in a full race packed full of the regions top academy racers and college athlete's. Tom managed to score a whopping 81 point result now making him one of high school skiing's top ranked skiers in slalom. Katie also scored a good results, and Cody valiantly skied second to last on his second run through some nasty ruts and managed to spray most of the crowd in the finish area. On Sunday another Cochrans milestone occurred as Cody competed in an Eastern Cup slalom at Cranmore. Eastern Cups are the regions highest level competitions with all of the top college skiers and typically members of the USST. Cody skied from starting nearly last into the 40's only a few seconds out, then had trouble on the second run, hiked, and still had a solid result. This new team competing in everything from the local high-school races to Eastern Cups represents a level of flexibility that has rarely been seen in ski racing, and truly allows athlete's to challenge themselves at the level they are skiing at. So exciting, great skiing everyone.

Action Packed Season

2012-01-26T14:46:00.000-08:00

Well, here is another training video we put together with the help of Leandro's nice camera. There are too many results in the past week to get into details, but kids have been racing and training a lot and skiing very fast. The snow is pretty thin on the face but good enough for some awesome training, and Colin even set a super-g like course over jumps from I-89 to the face this past Tuesday...in the dark. This weekend there are lots of races, mostly GS so feel free to email me with pictures and fun stories.

Some Super "High-Def" Training Footage

2012-01-18T19:36:00.000-08:00

It doesn't want to let me put the video right in the blog. But make sure you watch it in 720p, and crank the stereo! Great skiing everyone lately.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psyo5tDw81g

J3's Slaying at Burke

2012-01-17T04:53:00.000-08:00

The J3's headed to Burke Mt. this weekend and knifed the legendary race hill.
Check out the photos.....

Photos from Proctor

2012-01-16T17:35:00.000-08:00

Top Speed on a Little Hill (GS @ Proctor Ski Area)

2012-01-14T18:54:00.000-08:00

This is the balcony one can see the second half of the course from. It was a nice transition for the group into GS for the season with the course running about 35 seconds long. Folks were pumped to see athlete's from Cochrans, the last of the "dying breed" of small ski areas, and the head coach promptly told us the story about Roger and Jimmy getting the new engine for the t-bar from the ski area a few years back.

Here is the start list for tomorrow's slalom at Waterville: http://live-timing.com/report.php?r=30754&rp=560228&page=1

Quote Of The Week

2012-01-12T17:54:00.000-08:00

"It's Like Bikram Yoga; really painful and it might be good for you."

-EWR

First Big Race Weekend!

2012-01-10T12:44:00.000-08:00

Well, This past weekend everyone raced from J4's to J1's at Cochrans, Stowe, Smuggs, and Waterville Valley! It's great to see so many Cochrans kids at the top of the results pages, but more importantly its great to see so many Cochrans athlete's racing. We had 9 J1/J2 's racing at Smuggs on Saturday which was a great time despite a bit of rain....and some lines.

Cody, Tristan, and myself then drove to Waterville Valley, NH. For two days of FIS racing against all of the regions academy's and a few colleges. After the receptionist informed me that there was no tuning allowed in the rooms and that there was no tuning room in the hotel we quickly improvised.

We all had our moments of glory during the 4 runs on the icy hill but Cody's second run on the second day was lightning fast and secured him 3rd place after starting 115th first run.

I've edited together a few videos of race runs, training, and just skiing around at Cochrans. They aren't perfect but I wanted to get them out so people could watch some of their skiing. I will have more coming soon, sorry if I didn't post any of your runs. We have a lot of training on the other video camera and on Leandro's camera.

Here is some skiing and training (watch full screen on 420p:

Here are the J1/J2 race runs I've gotten on video so far:

Great skiing for some really tough conditions. Smuggs was really soft and rutted out and Waterville was incredibly firm with lots of grooves that knocked a lot of skiers out of the race. I'm pumped for everyone to get on their GS skis now and start looking for speed!!!

See you at the mountain,
Elliot

First J3 Race "Cochrans"

2012-01-09T08:48:00.000-08:00

What an unbelievable race... The 1st race for the J3's was a 3 run SL at Cochrans. The snow was perfect. Rock hard for all three runs. For the ladies: Abby, Karin, Lucie-Rose, Tory, Amelia and Emma all looked amazing. They were presented with a challenging 1st run. They all handled the pressure with great composure. The boys "Rocked" as well... Oliver, Tommy, Boomer, Harken, "Z" and Burke "Blazed" down the three courses that were offered to them.
GREAT 1st RACE GUYS and GALS !
Check out the pics....

Go Cochrans

2012-01-05T05:30:00.000-08:00

Not that results should be the focus of skiers or their parents, but once in awhile its nice to acknowledge hard work and how it translates into how people ski and perform race day. First of all, congrats to Ali Chivers who won the first High-School race of the year by 2.5 seconds! And also to Ryan Susslin (a new member in our part time 1/2 program) for the win on the mens side. Then to continue the Cochrans sweep RZ in his first High School race on the adult 165 slalom ski scored an awesome 2nd. This Cochran clan is going to be tough to beat on the High School circuit this season. Here are the complete results. The next High School race is at Cochrans next Wednesday under the lights. Come help and watch our athlete's compete against the regions High School racers!
           Also, Jimmy will be competing in about an hour starting bib 30, and his run can be streamed live from Sportlemon (Google it) with coverage starting at 8:30am.
             For those of you who still remember what it's like to ski powder here is a fun clip: CLICK HERE.

            I will try to upload some video of training over the last week soon. I've been having some technical difficulties.

Elliot

2012-01-02T09:10:00.000-08:00

Congrats folks! We’ve gone from no snow on the t-bar line and biting our nails with anticipation for the season to start, to 8 days of training, and literally thousands of runs on the rope tow, on excellent snow. I watched dozens of ski club kids move from their sluggish awkward return to gates into explosive and well-timed slalom experts in merely a week. A great thanks to all the parents, athlete’s, Cochran’s family members, ski area employees, and coaches, who brought positive and motivated energy everyday through the holiday break. We are collectively turning the worst winter in Vermont history into Cochran’s most successful.

All week there was a constant chain of skiers whipping on and off the rope tow from 9am to 4pm, closely testing the capacity of our little mountain. I can’t wait to see our kids bring this skiing into race day. As the snow begins to fall (even in Burlington) the junior racing season is finally upon us. Both our ranked age groups will be competing this coming Sunday in slalom, with the 3’s at home for 3 runs and the 4’s over to Stowe for two runs on slalom hill (the J4 race is not stubbies). The 3’s then jump into GS at Burke for 3 runs again, while the 4’s have a week off to prepare for a panel slalom at Cochrans, followed by their first GS at Jay Peak on the 29th. And the 5/6’s have their opening GS at Smuggs. The month finishes off with the J3’s racing GS on Main Street, their 3^rd out of 4th race before the State Championships in February.

Basically, January is a big month! So rest up, get your gear dialed in, ask your coaches any important questions you have, do those exercises that we worked on all fall, and ski as much as possible. That said our first GS is in 2 weeks and we are going to do what we can to get some GS in before racing. Here are some awesome shots Pennie took of our challenging training course in the ruts yesterday!

(Colin being the man holding our new 25mm brush gates)

(Clara had a super fast day Sunday!)

(Ella getting mad! She's clearly ready for J4's)

(CALVINATOR's lips are sealed after learning the hard way not to repeat childish remarks by coaches/me)

(Working hard to stay on top before next Sunday's show down)

(Ski Club Presidente laying down some fat arc's already way ahead of the game for the season's coaches race. Maybe we should start another coaches race?)

(Karin trying not to bite her tongue off in the ruts)

(Pic of the day! saved for last...mouth still open wide!)

See yall out on the hill this week!

-Elliot

Night Slalom = Great Success!

2011-12-31T16:02:00.000-08:00

(The Cochran's World Cup)

(photo by E. Grubman)

Thanks to all the volunteers from the ski club who helped make this dream come true. We've talked about having a holiday race for years and finally watching it come together was incredible. Results were just posted. It cannot be overstated how fun it is to race at Cochrans, not just for our racers but for everyone participating. The sight of so many incredible skiers under the lights was powerful. I've gotten emails, texts, comments, from all corners of ski racing that Cochran's has buzz about it that is unstoppable and exciting! Have an awesome New Years everyone and stay safe!

-Elliot

PS: I want to Congratulate Tom Licata, a new member of the J1/J2 team, who started dead last and finished 58th and scored a solid result.

World Cup Tomorrow!

2011-12-20T18:03:00.000-08:00

SL at Attitash today...lots of ruts

Check out the World Cup tomorrow, which is happening in the afternoon and evening in Austria similar timing as our Cochran's Holiday SL. First run will air at 9:30am in the US and 12pm second run. Jimmy is running 29th first run. They are usually streaming from Europe on this website: http://www.sportlemon.tv/. Hopefully see you guys on the hill soon,

Elliot

Jimmy's 1 & 2 Run at Alta Badia!

2011-12-19T14:15:00.001-08:00

Check out the link to both Jimmy's SL runs at Alta Badia. Congrats on a 17th place!

US SKI TEAM

Opening Day at Cochrans!

2011-12-19T13:17:00.000-08:00

Just a day later than we planned to open, the mitey-mite was running, and about 50 club kids were ripping a stubby course over the whale backs getting there feel back and meeting new club members. I was really pumped to see how many little guys were skiing braving the dirt patches and the post hole ruts down the mitey-mite. Here are a few shots from the day:

(Coach Callie)

(Hannah and Tyler at the start)

(no goggles needed)

(Ella and Viva)

(ARI!!!!)

(Charlie!)

(Karin taking a tight line!)

Check back in for more photos and updates! I hear they are making more snow tonight!

-EWR

Attitash FIS Slaloms

2011-12-18T17:50:00.000-08:00

(marble tuning bench)

Well as we’ve learned from the winter so far, it’s important to be flexible with skiing. Tristan and I got to the coaches meeting at Attitash, New Hampshire with minutes to spare only to find out that the races have been pushed back another day, and they are going to try to hold 2 races (4 runs) with the entire 120 racer field on Tuesday. The good news is that because everyone is here and ready to race tomorrow, there will be a day of training tomorrow and Cochrans drew the afternoon block so we get to sleep in!

It was 5 degrees when we were driving over the notch so we are hoping they can make a lot of snow over night. At the moment they don’t even have snow on the hill we are planning to race on but are hoping to get it set up for Tuesday morning.

Several academy coaches expressed interest in the December 30^th race and were surprised to here that it was almost full. Right now only Tristan is racing on Tuesday but I’m trying to argue to get myself put back on the list. We wish Cody was here with us and are hoping that his ankle heels up quickly. Well I’m going to go back to eating my TV dinner and tuning my skis. See you all at Cochrans this week.

--Elliot

Look who's on top Of Nor Am's SL

2011-12-14T16:01:00.000-08:00

A few clips from Stowe

2011-12-13T05:28:00.000-08:00

Check out who is on "TOP" in Nor-Am SG

2011-12-12T15:19:00.000-08:00

The Return of "Jimmy"

2011-12-09T03:00:00.000-08:00

Big Day Tomorrow!

2011-12-07T18:10:00.000-08:00

Well the first run start list just came out for tomorrow with Jimmy starting 30th, Nolan 20th and Ted 18th. A good opportunity for the Americans to move up in the World Rankings on their home hill. If you happen to be by a computer the first run is usually around 11:30-12 and the second run starts around 2-2:30pmish. You can stream it from here http://www.sportlemon.tv/. Hope everyone is pumped about the forecast!

Funny Video of Euro ski racers talking about America and how big our cars are

2011-12-05T13:40:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el8lSM1MjuM

Extreme skiing on one trail!

2011-12-05T12:46:00.000-08:00

The past few weekends some of our ski club's die-hard racers have been making the trek to Stowe to capitalize on their new high-speed quad (2,100 vertical feet in 6 minutes) and one extremely bumpy trail. Most of us just went up for the afternoon 12:30-3:30 and got anywhere from 10-15 runs on the North Slope leg burner. I can feel it this morning!
Here's a picture of Cody, Ryan and Tyler on the top Saturday afternoon:

Although we could get some rain tonight and tomorrow it's mostly supposed to change to snow up at Stowe. So next weekend could be a good weekend to bite the bullet and buy a day ticket to Stowe. A bunch of folks got coupons at Warren Miller for this coming Saturday at Stowe for 39 dollars. Not free but not bad for the amount of skiing you can get in with the new lift and 2,100 feet of vert. We are also going to do dryland at Cochrans this Wednesday. More coming on that.

Former Cochrans Kid Adventure Touring in Patagonia

2011-12-01T08:34:00.000-08:00

Check out the article in Powder Magazine about Chuck Mumford and his buddies exploring the southern Andes by horse back and skins. There are several videos that are extremely well done. Enjoy:

Cerro Castillo

Also notice the forecast for Stowe. Temps seem to be dropping to the point where decent skiing will be had on the east shortly.

Ryan Cochran-Siegle will also be participating in a World Cup downhill training run today at Beaver Creek. With the race tomorrow, the Super-G Saturday, GS Sunday, and Jimmy racing in a slalom next Thursday which replaces Val d'isere. Lots of exciting racing coming up. Because 60 dollars is a rip off to watch ski racing I will be finding links to Europe's superior streaming live coverage of the seasons World Cup which (besides for the momentary freezing is better in every way, and even gives one an opportunity to learn bizarre languages). I will likely be going to Stowe tomorrow afternoon as well as Saturday and Sunday afternoons, if folks are interested give me a call 802-922-5891.

-Elliot

(Chucky is the little black dot)

Dryland at the Gut

2011-11-30T19:55:00.000-08:00

So as the season has been approaching and we've been waiting (very long) for the snow to fall, some of the J1's, Elliot and Tyler have been finding creative in ways to prepare for the upcoming season. With UVM and "the gut" right down the road from all of us we have all been using our "connections" to get into the facilities and up until tonight it has worked great. The typical workout would be some core and lifting in the gym and then a bleacher workout after but a bitter work study student put an end to that tonight. As I swiped my step-sisters ID to get into the gym the person at the gate asked "Can I see that ID?" well of course I had a plan, I would say it was my girlfriends and I grabbed the wrong one off the counter...well after some negotiating they still didn't seem to buy it. After the lady at the fitness center desk confiscated the ID, of course we still found a way to workout, because when you want success as much as you want to breathe...then you will be successful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X38PCf7kao

Well we used our resources like always...

With our obstacle we invented the "ghetto" one legged squat. This was a typical one legged squat but on top of an old fold out aluminum chair (hence the ghetto)...the real balance test. We came up with some new agility and core workouts that resulted in very confused looks from the broom ball teams and a group of girls standing by. Overall a very successful night, I would say when we're squatting on a foldout chair and doing back crunches over the bleachers...we want to succeed.

-Cody

Come On Winter!

2011-11-28T09:59:00.000-08:00

Well just as it seemed like it was going to snap into winter the temps are way up and the ground is looking brown.:( The only thing that is saving me at this point is all the awesome racing going on in the World Cup. Watching the women's slalom yesterday was awesome. It took me about 30 minutes to find a website that was streaming the race live from Europe. If anyone hasn't seen the fastest J2 in the world's run from yesterday here it is: Shriffrin. Pretty nuts!

Tyler and I also had a fun day last Wednesday up in Maine with all the new snow.

Watch in 720p. Hopefully more storms like this are on their way. I will plan to take a group of kids to Stowe this weekend unless Killington goes ahead and has their Vcup slalom that is scheduled. Then maybe we could ski on Sunday. Remind your kids to workout this week. They built a lot of important muscles over the course of Sunday River that they want to maintain and build upon. Let's not let our funny climate slow us down!

Sunday River

2011-11-23T19:27:00.000-08:00

Check out some fun shots from Sunday River. Parents got a lot more excellent footage and stills, so this is just the tip of the ice berg. Hope everyone is enjoying the new snow.

GREAT SMILES at SUNDAY RIVER Nov19th 2011

2011-11-19T14:09:00.000-08:00

Awesome articles about parenting ski racers

2011-11-16T18:24:00.000-08:00

These are the best articles I've ever read about ski racing psychology and ski racing parenting. I think many parents and coaches fall into some of these traps which detracts from everyone's experience on the hill. One of the things that makes Cochran's Ski Club unique is that we have some of the most grounded and level headed parents, but everyone can become more aware. The Do's and the don't. Jim Taylor is a clinical associate professor in the Sport&Performance Psychology graduate program at the University of Denver.

Killington video

2011-11-14T12:06:00.000-08:00

Watch this in full screen and 720p it looks pretty awesome. I wanted more footage from this saturday but didn't manage to get much. Thanks to everyone who came skiing it was a lot of fun.

Workin at Cochrans.... Summer 2011

2011-11-11T03:14:00.000-08:00

New Countdown

2011-11-07T10:53:00.000-08:00

(Chris spreading seed on the new trail)

Well the ski sale was a huge success, most of the kids have their new quivers all lined up, and the ski club is set for what promises to be our most successful and fun packed winter ever! It's safe to say that the kids in the club today have way better and more gear than I ever did when I raced for Cochrans. This is a testament to how supportive our club parents are as well as how persuasive our racers are. Maybe they will grow up to be marketing professionals. Not that I claim to be any more frugal than the next skier. Since I no longer have parents to convince to buy me the latest gear I just type in my credit card number on my laptop comfortably perched on my bed and wait a few days for my new shiny gear to arrive at my doorstep. Are skis any more justifiable than heels or Italian shirts?

Anyways, we want to thank everyone again for putting on an awesome sale and making the coolest ski area and ski club even cooler and more viable. I'm writing because the end of the ski sale marks an important turning point in the Cochrans seasonal calendar. It means the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder. It means that Sunday River is blowing lots of snow and Jesse, Don, Leandro, and the Cochrans clan are moving around guns, fixing up loose ends, putting the tracks back on the groomer, and Tom Wells continues to weld and maneuver the piping that will be the new snow making and training space on the improved race trail. So lets look at the numbers:

Killington has "5" trails open, skies more like 2
Sunday River is open with 2 trails for weekends
11 days until we leave for Sunday River
12 days until Stowe opens
1 week until cochrans can start making snow
26 days until first J1/J2 race
34 days until Cochrans opening J3 slalom
Less than 5 months until the TGFS 2012

They got face shots before double enders? OH YA!!!

SKI SALE SUCCESS !!!!

2011-11-07T03:45:00.000-08:00

2011 hit another high water mark ! Thanks to all for the hard work and dedication !

Skiing in October!

2011-10-31T13:37:00.000-07:00

So winter came a bit faster than anyone expected. If anyone was wondering why I didn't make it to sandpits. A few hardcore Cochrans kids made their way to Killington on Sunday after a freak snowstorm blanketed the mountain in a fresh 6-8 inches of new snow. Although the open trails were a bit skied off we found some awesome powder and knee deep turns on the long gondola runs from the top to bottom of Killington.

Santi in his Halloween costume.

Getting pumped!

Santi was one of the brave souls trying the ice covered box at the bottom of the park. His second try he was so excited that he got going a little fast and landed on his head.

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN TO WINTER

2011-10-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

Check out a few exciting numbers and facts for the coming ski season:

-Last season Killington opened November 2^nd which is in 14 days.

-The opening World Cup is in Solden is in 4 days.

-We leave for Sunday River Camp in 30 days.

-Last year Stowe opened in 35 days: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrvOksTHONY

-Last Year Cochrans opened in 52 days.

-The Ski Sale is in 16 day

-Number of weekends we have left before we spend all our time at Camels Hump Middle School: 1

-First J1/J2 race is in 44 days.

-Number of Colorado ski areas open 3.

-Number of slalom training lanes we will have at Cochrans this winter 7.

-Number of days J3's and up should be working out a week 5-6.

So what do these numbers mean? Well we should be getting prepared and uncontrollably excited for the 2011-2012 ski season. People all over the Northern Hemisphere are watching ski movies, trying on their gear, checking the forecast, cutting trees and brush behind their house for that little backcountry run, spending hours in the gym, on their bikes, roller skies, trampolines, and pretending to be interested in exorbitantly expensive skis at local ski shops just to look at them and flex them and touch the glossy un-scuffed top sheets, all in anticipation in what will undoubtedly be a winter to remember.

On that note, if any folks have videos or pictures of how they prepare for the ski season I would love to post them on the youtube site or this blog. So contact me at 802-922-5891 or email Elliot1186@gmail.com.

Or pictures like this:

Also there is a premier of the new Matchstick Productions ski movie next Tuesday October 25th and I’m planning to take kids to the UVM hockey rink for a bleacher workout and then for those interested to the premier at 8pm at Higher Ground in South Burlington afterwards. J4's and up are welcome to participate in the workout and all ages can come to the show, but some years the movie has been a bit inappropriate for, let's say 13 and under age group. But they are always my favorite ski movies.

Check it out: http://www.highergroundmusic.com/2011/08/attack-of-la-nina/

Also be sure to come to dryland this Sunday at 2pm. Parents will be having an organizational meeting about the ski sale the following weekend. And Colin, Tyler, and myself will be testing the stamina and hopefully improved strength of the ski team.

Oh and here is a great clip I found on pros in the 90's skiing big mountain lines at Jackson on straight skis. Clear video evidence of why kids, husbands, wives, and buddy's should be asking for that new powder ski for X-mas.

http://freeskier.com/videos/continuums-grand-targhee-huck-fest-%E2%80%94-blast-past-episode-5

Oakley..a guy I skied with last April at Snowbird competing in South America this past summer:

Till next time and remember to do those squats and sits ups,

-Elliot

Fall at Cochrans

2011-10-10T16:11:00.000-07:00

                This time of year skiers get bored of fall. For skiers fall is the season with cold temperatures, falling leaves, lots of mud, rain, and no snow. While winter never seems to come soon enough, we also realize that it's so close we can taste it. Personally I plan to be skiing somewhere at least for a few turns within a month.

   And at Cochrans fall means a mad dash to spruce up our little ski hill. In the past its been snow making, last year it was lights, and this year it's a new trail and snow making. Instead of falling apart and going under like most small ski areas in the country Cochran's seems to have reached a golden era of community dedication and expansion! What an opportunity for these kids to have a ski area in their backyard and come back each winter to new features.

             Here are a few pics of the happenings at Cochrans this fall. If you have good ones send them to me and I will add them.

                 Karin and Matt decided that not only was biking 50 miles in the cold rain not an issue, neither was doing it on Mt. Bikes!

Leandro decided that OSHA wasn't coming this day. Desperate times call for...kids in heavy machinery. Everyone in the Vasquez family spent time driving this beast except for Santi, I hope. All in an effort to move a mountain of dirt for our new race trail.

Pennie's picture of me with the big girls. I told them at dryland if they get taller than me then they kicked off the team. Lucy is pretty close.

Check out the trailer to the Meathead's 10th East Coast Movie! I saw the premier last Friday. Cochran's own Will Hibbs is all over the film. Someone has to buy it for pizza night.

-Elliot

If anyone wants to share stuff on this blog I can give them the log-in information.

Check Out This New Video

2011-09-12T04:22:00.001-07:00

Click On the link below:

http://player.vimeo.com/video/28907886?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0

GREAT GROUP !

2011-08-27T17:27:00.000-07:00

Bluebird Pow Day

2011-08-21T18:20:00.000-07:00

Finally the skies cleared here in Portillo and we woke up to an absolutely perfect bluebird morning. Everything had been blanketed in a storm total of 30-35 inches and none of it had been skied since the beginning of the storm. The cold day lead to amazing light powder all over the mountain. The steep poma lifts opened up mid morning and we were able to get first poma up Cara Cara, which lead to amazing terrain with seemingly endless powder. After skiing non stop from 9am until 1:30pm we hit Tio Bob's for some lunch and then got back to crushing the powder. This place never ceases to amaze, and is a truly special place! Hope everyone enjoys the pics and video, sorry about the video link but I couldn't get it onto the blog, so just click the link to watch it on Vimeo.
Watch the Video Here

RG awaiting his shot at untracked Cara Cara

The Snow Safety Crew was unreal, they opened everything up as soon as it was totally safe.

Top of the S chute, about to drop in for lots of pow

Beautiful Morning

Setting the Poma track up Cara Cara

But First it had to be dug out!

Approaching Roca Jack just after its opening

Let's Keep Talking about Skiing!!!

2011-08-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

                        I've been home for 48 hours and I wish I was back in Chile. Vermont is beautiful and the warm weather is great, but shredding thigh deep powder in the largest mountain range in the world, just makes everything else seem mundane.

                      I changed the title of the blog to "Cochran's Ski Club" since the camp is over, the blog format is fun, the website is tedious and tough to update, the blog can be used for all types of ski club related information/journalism. If someone wants to post something let me know and I can send you the password. For example, anything exciting that ski club kids, parents, or alumni are doing anywhere in the world...especially Richmond.
                     Luckily we still have Ellis and Richard in Portillo, giving us fresh updates on the 30+ inches of new snow they just got. Maybe we can recruit Cochran's own Chuck Mumford (who is leaving for a trip in South America) to do a few guest blog posts of his own trip.

                    I've also been following the results of our Cochrans team in New Zealand. Timmy, Robbie, Ryan, and Jim are all down there training and racing and apparently it's been snowing a lot! Here are the results of the first RACE. Everyone is skiing fast and our favorite Canadian David Donaldson is back on track just in time to race for Middlebury this coming winter. Another notable was that Jon Olsson, everyone's favorite Swedish twin-tipper poster child, won the opening GS, moving him one step closer to winning his 50,000 dollar bet Byggmark that he could make the 2014 Olympics.
                       Also here is the link to the trailer of the ski movie they were filming in Portillo while we were there. We were skiing by these guys everyday and hitting their jumps (wink).

Sweetgrass Movie

                   Oh and finally, I ordered some new skis for this winter since between Erik and myself we destroyed my two pairs of powder boards. I bought these from Chuck's company out in Utah. A great deal if anyone is looking for some burly mountain chargers with a ski race construction. Time to get back on the road bike,

-Elliot

More Snow, Another Three day Storm!

2011-08-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

Sunny Afternoon

After a few nice days of sun and great skiing, yet another storm system has moved into the area! The snow began to fall late Tuesday, and it is still dumping outside right now. The forecast has been changing by the minute (which makes some wonder if its totally made up) but as of now the snow is supposed to end tomorrow morning, after it finishes dumping a total of 25-30 inches of fresh blower powder. Luckily, in the days it has been snowing, there have been small pockets of visibility that have allowed the resort to bomb and open up lifts other than little Conejo! Everyone here at Portillo is missing the Cochran's group, and I wish everyone was still here so we could all be shredding the new snow. Hope everyone enjoys the pictures and the video.

Snow Cats Preparing to Open Plateu

A Very Snowy Hotel

Heading Home!!!

2011-08-16T14:19:00.000-07:00

                   I'm comatose after eating a big lunch of Indian food. My taxi arrives in 1 hour to bring me to the airport. From there I have a 12 hour flight from Santiago to JFK. Then a 4-hour layover and arrive in Burlington at 2:40pm. It's been cold and rainy here in the city for the last few days which means lots of snow in the mountains. I still haven't heard the storm totals but the pow skiing should be superb. I couldn't risk a visit to the slopes because of the chance of getting stuck and missing my flight.

                But at this point the season that everyone was complaining about has made a valiant showing and the skiing is good all over the Andes. I spent the day cruising around looking at different Burroughs and apartments in the city daydreaming about the idea of doing a "summer" ski bum season in Chile. The only question would be if I could deal with the pollution, the crowded streets, and the generally conservative Chilean society. A K2 photographer told me in La Parva that Santiago might be the best ski town in the world if it wasn't for the inversion (the way the pollution sits in the valley).

            Well for now I'm content to home in Vermont. My legs feel strange after not riding my bike and miss the feeling of the hot summer sun on the back of my neck. most importantly I haven't slept in a room alone (without a bunch of snoring strangers) in over 3 weeks! One of the big drawbacks of affordable traveling.

           If this trip has made me realize anything it's how much I love skiing and can't wait for this coming winter. And the snow will be flying before we know it!

A FEW PICS:

                                          (my buddy, Henry Grover, hucking on fat tele-skis)

(Chuck's Van in the Snowbird parking lot)

(a classic "bum naked")

And a link to a great trailer HERE

Memories!

2011-08-15T11:42:00.000-07:00

A joke on trip became what sort of absurd things we could "GoPro". A verb that means to catch something on video from the point of view of a person. There is a general sentiment in skiing and ski films that P.O.V. footage has been overdone. So we thought why not take it way to far and do a series of "GoPro life". Unfortunately I accidentally deleted my imovie, but I will have a more comprehensive edit when I'm home.

Where are the gringo boys in the onesie's?

2011-08-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

I will spend tomorrow and Tuesday in Santiago relaxing, biking, and looking into connections to make an even better trip next year. I have also spoken with the director of a ski club down here about bringing 10-15 Chilean J2 and J3's to Vermont for a training and racing trip during their summer vacation.
These video's came out a few days ago of the final edits of the footage taken at La Parva while I was there. I sitting in the hostel checking them out and the vibe is way different without all the rug rats running around in their one piece's.

Vermont boys final La Parva Edit

Winning video of Eye of the Condor

CLICK ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE:

A few more pow pics that no one has seen..

Here also is a great video of the Norwegians training a few years ago. Watch the whole thing and you will see an awesome save made while training downhill with no nets.

The Attacking Vikings

"Culture"

2011-08-13T13:39:00.000-07:00

We somehow strategically planned our stay at Los Andes Hostel during the 5th year anniversary party. There were free empanadas, drummers and a Brazilian belly dancer. Most of the group was too beat for the party from days of intense skiing, but Harken somehow managed to rally his strength and even received a lip-stick covered smooch from the life of the parties' [Brazilian] goddess.

Ryan and Burke were then so jealous that they had to get some pictures with some chicas of their own.

CAN SANTIAGO HANDLE COCHRANS ?

2011-08-13T05:21:00.000-07:00

We had a great time getting to know the capital of Chile..... We saw almost everything yesterday and have most of the day today to tie up any lose ends the boys may have. What a great trip and a beginning to a new tradition..... Enjoy the pics below.... Remember to click on them to see them full sized.

Notice the Cochran's sticker on the street sign...

The dj clown selling birthday party supplies. I think he creeped us all out a bit.

Last Day of SL Training (BURN SESH)

2011-08-12T15:48:00.000-07:00

IN SANTIAGO !

2011-08-12T05:55:00.000-07:00

Well after a VERY early wake-up yesterday 8/12..... The mountain started spinning the lifts one hour earlier for us.... Both Gilly and EE set a sick, long SL course..... The boys ran that 10/12 times, but it was more like 20/24 times.... Everyone's legs were on FIRE !!!! After a nice lunch, the hammerheads packed up but left out their SL skis so they could RIP around for the last time...... We jumped into our van/bus and headed down to Santiago. We arrived at "Los Andes" hostal at 7:30pm. We walked the streets a bit and found some good empanadas and finished them off with so me sick ice-cream. The Boys hit their pillows by 10:30pm.
Today we plan to see how true Chileans live..... Going to the food markets... Outdoor markets etc....
I will follow this up with more pics and video.... Just did not have a chance to download, edit and post....
You will see them soon though.
Our flight is due to arrive in Montreal just before 17:00 on Sunday. The plan is for a pick up at Cochrans Sunday night. I'm sure your kids will call you en-route to give you all a more accurate ETA.....

Too much snow

2011-08-11T01:48:00.000-07:00

The boys had a great day as the mountain slowly opened after bombing potential avalanche areas....
Check out the video below. We will post video of yesterdays leg burning GS training where the boys put down 12 / 15 long runs on Plateau.....

Today, 8/11 is our last day in the mountains before we head down to Santiago. The plan it to set up a SL course at 7:45am and burn the boys till lunch. After that they will Rip around the mountain for the last time...... "This Year"....... They will begin packing for our 5:00pm pick-up.... What a memorable trip. A lot of hard for, but a lot of "FUN" Too. I don't know how we could have made this a better one.... other than to have you all come out and enjoy it next year !

2011-08-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day since last Friday that most of the mountain was open, and the snow stopped accumulating. We capitalized by free skiing lots of GS in the morning and setting a ripping SL course in the afternoon. The massive storm has finally left and the skies are beginning to clear.
As I type Erik or “cobra” is going over step-by-step photos from today with the kids. Having time during the summer away from the fast-paced and high-pressure winter season has allowed our campers to focus on isolated techniques and body position that has brought noticeable improvement over the course of the camp. There is already murmur amongst the kids about coming down for a full 2 weeks next summer. The forecast looks like we will have nice hard snow for the last two days on snow and our plan is to finish strong with double training sessions for the rest of the trip.
At this point the group has transformed from a relatively random collection of skiers to something of a family. It’s amazing how fast these bonds form after spending every moment together and sleeping four to small bunk rooms. Most of us are bummed about the prospect of the trip ending, but will also welcome a nice swim and a hot day on the beach after wearing snow pants for two weeks. We all feel truly fortunate to have enjoy the climatic diversity of our off-axis world.

Here are some of my favorite pics of the day:

The lines off Lake Run untouched this morning. You could spend awhile exploring around here.

Elliot

Stills but not so "STILL"

2011-08-09T02:53:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures I'd thought you all would enjoy from yesterday. Today we are back to business.... The mountain has worked hard so we will have both SL and GS training for the next three days.. Tomorrow and Thursday they will spin the lift 1 hour earlier so we can get some hard core training in before the other guests are on the mountain.... WHAT A PLACE...... Enjoy these pictures...

Updates

2011-08-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

Here is the link to the new video:

New video from the last 2 days

Still Cranking

2011-08-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

Apparently the storm is going to let up this afternoon. Tomorrow (Monday) we will have a nice day of powder skiing with better light and more trails open and then Tuesday we will be back in gates. We had fun hiking around this morning finding little features to jump off and swapping skis determining the ideal amount of rocker for a the heavy Chilean pow. This afternoon we have the option to ski more, watch a movie in the cinema or just relax in the lounge. We are slowly putting together a video edit of the best of the storm but it might not be ready for a bit longer. Here is a pic of Leandro up to his neck in pow!!!

And Brad...

This was actually a turn, he skied away no problem.

Snowed In!!!!

2011-08-06T16:46:00.000-07:00

We are officially snowed in here in Portillo. No one has left or arrived since Thursday. I guess they haven't run out of food because we are getting handed free cheese empanadas at the moment. The roads are closed and it has snowed about 3 feet. The forecast calls for the storm to let up Sunday night. We managed to pass the time fine on the one lift they opened today. We will be up early tomorrow testing the powder out again. We will post a video of the highlights tomorrow evening.

PS: "Kevin just to warn you, both the boys know what they want for Christmas...." check out what Harken is wearing in the photo above...

OUR 3rd DAY OF INTENSE SL TRAINING

2011-08-06T05:07:00.000-07:00

The Boys were spent by the end of the day....
They worked hard and in the end it paid off with a video session after lunch.... They improved...Watch this one in
"Full Screen, 720 and turn up the volume !

ENJOY !

2011-08-05T19:27:00.001-07:00

Picasa Photo Album Link

I just put a bunch of new pictures up on this link. I also wanted to post that Burke Spillane won the award for the most improved from last spring with a bunch of smokin' fast slalom runs. Looking stronger and more balanced and feeling pumped!

2011-08-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

First Day of SL

2011-08-05T08:50:00.000-07:00

Everyone was ripping right out of the block during our first SL session this morning. Trained on a steep short double chair that was a nice consistent pitch for about 25 gates.

A bit of GS Racing today........

2011-08-04T12:10:00.000-07:00

Today we skied SL in the morning and just before lunch we broke out the GS boards and jumped in on our 1st race in the Southern Hemisphere... It was SUPER windy..... The Boys are doing GREAT and getting worked... Last night Harken was at the head of the YOGA class... The instructor was super impressed.. Thanks to Gilly for making that one mandatory! Parents... Think the boys benefited so much from that that they will want to continue when they are state side !

Here are some race pics of Boomer

video

2011-08-03T18:38:00.001-07:00

Video coming soon....

2011-08-03T18:02:00.000-07:00

So I put together a few shots from powder skiing today. I'm having trouble loading it, but it should be up later tonight. Check the Cochran's youtube site later to see if it works.

We are getting up early to ski on our sl skis and GS in the afternoon. Here's my favorite picture from today:

Our 1st day on snow POW POW !

2011-08-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

So here we are..... After our adventurous ride from Santiago thru a snow storm and a closed road.... which we managed to make it thru... We found ourselves with NO luggage.... Just out hand carry and what we had on our backs... In true Cochrans Spirt we managed to get EVERYONE set up... We were not going to let that stop us.... I have to say Elliot's long johns smell like this Really funky cheese I eat in France.... "Epuase" sp? Today started out Glorious ! After around 12/14 inches of POW last night... We decided to hit these peaks... and I mean peaks... 18,000 + in TRUE Vermont Style... Check out the Pics below... OH.. By the way, been on the phone with AA... They are bringing out stuff up here this afternoon.... just before the 3 feet of snow that is due to start Fri..... ENJOY !! WE ARE !!

BOOMER AND HARKEN

CRAZY ELLIOT

ERIK (GILLY)

BRAD

ELLIS

"Z Man"

CODY

BURKE BOY

BOOOMER

HARK DADDY

I'm just sitting here winded smelling like Cheese !

Our trip to the Southern Hemisphire

2011-08-02T17:19:00.000-07:00

The Troops

Sunrise in the Southern Hemesphire

Los Andes

The Closed road due to the snow...
The owner of Portillo called the Capt. and convinced him to let us through.... I hear he loves Cochrans.

The Dog that busted Boomer with an undeclared apple in his bag......

WE MADE IT!!!

2011-08-02T14:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, we are wiped out! After the long journey we finally made it to Portillo, unfortunately without skis. We almost didn't make it up the mountain pass because it was officially closed. It wasn't until the owner of Portillo called the national police and told them to let us up that we were able to arrive. After unpacking and checking into the hotel we are attending "tea time" the 3rd out of the 4 meals a day, and the group is looking pretty tired and ready for a good night sleep. Our skis should get to Portillo tomorrow midday so we can sleep in and enjoy the afternoon with a few feet of new snow and blue skies!

The photos are from a traditional restaurant that we ate lunch at on the way to Portillo. These are beef empanadas that are cooked fresh in the clay oven constantly.

Waiting In the Dark

2011-08-02T04:25:00.000-07:00

This morning I got up at 5:45am to take a shuttle to the airport. When the taxi driver saw all my luggage, he stammered, turned around and called his boss. After ranting to his boss in Spanish about how people with skis need to pay double he proceeded to pass me his little blue tooth ear-piece (not very hygienic). I then argued for awhile about how I would put all my luggage on my lap but I wasn't going to pay any more. I decided to give him a tip... Now I'm sitting in the airport restaurant and the group has about an hour left in their flight, which is now only a few minutes late. It's still pitch black here at 7:15 because of the short winter days but I'm sippin' on my cafe con leche.

Here's a Great photo that a Brazilian photographer took on Sunday at El Colorado.

I made this really big, which is awkward but I thought it was such a great pic, I wanted folks to be able to see it up close.

Big storm coming this weekend

2011-08-01T09:26:00.001-07:00

This storm looks way bigger on the forecast than the last one did before it came and it ended up dropping 30+ cm. Could be 2-3 meters or more...

http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Portillo/6day/mid

Chillaxin' in the Hostel

2011-08-01T06:58:00.000-07:00

Although there is a steady stream of people coming in and out of the hostel. It's been a nice place to relax, and recover from skiing and traveling. Right now the place is mostly full of Brazilians because it is their winter break. They are VERY friendly and always try to coax me to the night clubs. I've been having trouble communicating with them because they usually speak a few words of English and a few words of Spanish. So, I try saying things both ways and then they reply in Portuguese and I usually don't get it. Unfortunately by the time they "go out" (usually around 1-2am) I'm fast asleep. The funny part is that they usually arrange tours to the surrounding areas early the next morning and never wake up in time to go on them. The bus drivers often have to come into the hostel to wake them up!

I'm constantly trying to explain skiing and ski racing to people in the hostel but its not easy. The girl above had been to the World Champs in Val d'lsere (I believe the race that Jimmy won the second run) so she was easier to talk to.

Free pasta dinner...

Powder Recon in La Parva

2011-07-31T21:12:00.000-07:00

Just hitched down from La Parva to Santiago, awaiting the group. Skiing here is officially better than I had ever imagined! I had a few back-country runs today that rivaled my best runs ever. I keep re-living the feeling of exploding through super light powder at high speeds. Had a great time hanging out with and skiing with a bunch of Vermonters. Today I skied with Lars Chickering-Ayers and his brother Silas, chilled with Tanner Rainville (Jericho/Stowe boy) and last night ran into Cochran's own Will Hibbs (link of him sliding a rail at the comp) competing in the international photo competition. Will and a bunch of pro skiers in on the conversation all agreed that Cochrans should have at least a small terrain park...

I'm loving the new carbon fiber Dodge ski boots that I brought down to try out, and can't wait to try them out with race skis and some hard snow. Meanwhile I'm hoping the powder holds up until the group gets here. A coach told me on the hill that Thursday is going to be another big storm system. Thanks to Tom Winter and Skiing Magazine for letting me sleep in their condo. Here are a few short clips from today:

The banner for the comp.

One of the many comp parties with free food and everything else....

Skiing deep pow with the pros

2011-07-30T16:57:00.000-07:00

Well,
I got up early today to catch a bus up to Valle Nevado to do some skiing. I got packed into a minibus that barely made it to the mountain and had chains on all four wheels. The pass to Valle Nevado was closed so I went to La Parva which turned out to be a good thing. It had already snowed about 10 inches when I made it to the mountain after a 4 hour journey. The skiing was so good that I was meloncholy about having to go back to Portillo when it was snowing so hard. By my 5th run I ended up taking the lift with two pro skiers from Montpelier Silas and Lars and they invited me to stay in their condo. After following them around getting face shots and skiing deep but slightly heavy powder I found out that they were here for a big freeride competition with many of worlds best and most famous skiers. They´ve been working with the mountain to build some huge features around the condo with the new snow. I´m contemplating hitting some of the smaller ones but don´t want to get hurt before the group comes...these guys are intense. So I´m going to ski pow with these tomorrow and watch the pros and then head down to the valley to meet the group on Tuesday morning. Chile is the real deal! Here is the link to the comp eye of the condor. I´ve got picks and video coming soon. I love the pic of Leandro waxing! I can´t wait to see folks.
One thing I want to suggest to the camp is to bring ear plugs. We will be staying in a lot of bunk style housing and I´ve been sleeping in a room with a super loud snorer and its been really tough to sleep! Seems like a little thing but I think it will impact your trip. Anyway keep checking the forecast and consider bring pow skis because it´s puking here!!!

Elliot.... Were Coming ...........

2011-07-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

Feels Weird to Wax when its 85 degrees out !

Santiago from a bike

2011-07-29T18:36:00.000-07:00

This is a video I made of my first day in Santiago. Mostly biking around and just taking in the scenery. It's not that eventful but gives you a decent idea of what the city looks like.

Testing out the slopes tomorrow at Valle Nevado!

2011-07-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I'm finally getting into my boots for a day of skiing. Portillo had no room in their hotel so I'm going to Valle Nevado (the largest resort in South America, or so they say) to do some shreddin'. It's supposed to snow so I think I'm going to bring my powder skis but am feeling a bit torn about which skis to bring. What if it doesn't snow and I have my huge fatties and the snow is hardpack! The dilemmas of a skier. I keep trying to explain to the Brazilians in the hostel why I brought 2 pairs of skis and they just look at me like I'm crazy. Might try and throw both pairs into the shuttle. Check out the forecast.
I made a picasa site with the same log-in name as the Cochran's youtube and trip blog here photo album.
Once we are here I will give folks the password for this site and all the kids can upload pictures from their cameras.

My buddy hucking it on our Utah back-country trip in April.

Photo Journalism by bike in Santiago

2011-07-28T19:15:00.003-07:00

Although most of the food here costs about the same as in the US. The produce in the markets is very cheap. We are still pretty close to harvest season for many things especially apples. The apples are super good and sell for about 25 cents a pound.

I thought this could be the "Where's Waldo?" of the trip. This is the window of a seafood restaurant in the Mercado Central, and the other stickers are mostly motorcycle clubs that have completed an 8,000 mile route through South America, flags, and various soccer clubs. When I asked them if I could put a sticker on their window they not only put it on but proceeded to chat me up for an hour.

Clearly Chileans are magical realists. I guess Pinochet was able to get rid of beards on people but not on buildings. Although if it's shorter on one side is it a mullet?

Dude, I'm in another country and it's WINTER!!

2011-07-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

Just got to cloudy Santiago, sippin’ coffee in a downtown café. I’ve been here for 2 hours and everyone has been nice and helpful. The temperature is 52 degrees which feels refreshing after my struggle with different sleeping tactics during our Vermont heat wave! Everyone in the city dresses in a uniform black business attire (will post photos soon). They also have a passion for the male mullet. So since my new jacket is black I basically look like a blue-eyed Chilean.

Although the city itself is flat, large snow covered mountains jut steeply upwards on both sides of the urban valley. My first goal is to rent a bicycle and rip around the city streets. Most of the streets seem old and narrow, and besides the clear pollution hanging in the air, the city is very clean and modern.

My “photo journal” goal of the day will be as many weird haircuts as possible and will try and post them tonight.

Before I start exploring I do want to make some suggestions about the trip down:

Suggestions:

-Before I left I went for a bike ride, which was essential before sitting stationary (in a “bloody” middle-seat) for my 22 hour journey. So make sure you move around a bit whether running or biking either the morning or the day before you leave.

-Also, bring as much food as possible, like a lot of food. Because it’s such a long trip you will get hungry and face absolutely awful and overpriced fast food options. Remember the “no liquids rule” so don’t bring drinks.

-But, do bring an empty water bottle that you can fill up once you are past security. LAN Chile had inconsistent service on my flight and did not offer enough water (the air on the plane is really dry).

- Furthermore, the food that was served on my international flight was bad, so I would plan on having enough snacks and foods to feel good for 24 hours (that’s a lot of snacks) I ran out during the beginning of my second flight. Also, your body will deal with the stresses of travel way better if you eat healthy food!

-MONEY: You will see many exchange booths as you enter the baggage and customs section of the airport. These are pretty much obsolete if you have a debit/credit card and there is a ATM (“cajero” in Spanish) once you leave the baggage screening section. If you are trying to exchange money then I would compare rates but they should all be pretty close to the official rate.

-SKIS: I was able to pack 2 long/heavy pairs of ski and poles for under 50 lbs. and fit all of my gear in another bag for no extra charge. I then carried on a backpack with a few books and laptop and my ski boots. This worked great although dragging it all into a hostel was pretty cumbersome (wished I had some trendy leopard print wheelie luggage).

-ELECTRONICS: If you plan to bring electronics you will need to get an adapter back in Vermont or down here. I just bought one at the hostel I’m staying at for 4 dollars which is working but dims the lights in the coffee shop every time I plug it in.

Those are more details than I usually care to discuss but each of them I feel will have an impact on how enjoyable or potentially painful your trip down to Chile is. Especially the food, water and exercise stuff.

I also just uploaded some clips from the end of the 2010-2011 ski season on the youtube site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACbSCBra01o

I hope you guys have an awesome dryland session with Gilly and smooth trip down here. More updates coming soon..

Also check out next years ski movies here:
Trailers

Check this out folks !

2011-07-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

GOT SNOW ?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43848242/ns/weather/

Take a look where Elliot is headed !

2011-07-26T09:25:00.000-07:00

Leaving Tomorrow

2011-07-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

I just packed up my skis and equipment, got on the scale and made sure I was under the 50 lb. weight limit. I fly out at 6pm tomorrow from Burlington and arrive the next morning of the 27th of July. I've been watching a lot of skiing on my computer and reading about Chile. Travelling gets me pumped like nothing else and so does skiing, so the anticipation of both is making me feel like a little kid on Christmas morning. Check out this corny video that Portillo put together. LINK HERE

Boomer dealing with packing-in his new boots! YAHHHHHH

2011-07-25T16:53:00.000-07:00

PACKING and prepping!!!

2011-07-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

Hey folks,
I made this blog to post photos, updates, links, and videos of our trip. I will likely post all video's on the Cochran's youtube site: here. Hope everyone is getting pumped.
Elliot