US Women's Ski Team Training in Portillo

I'm sad to say the Austrian Men's Alpine Team is only a memory to us now here in Portillo (oh how I miss the muscular men in those tight speed suits). Luckily, we've been graced by the presence of the US Women's Team this past week. Although I don't appreciate the girls in the tight suits quite as much, I have to say, watching the ladies race is a whole different--and very educational--experience.
While pro racers are all incredibly talented and incredibly strong, most people would probably say that there is a definite difference between the way men and women look in a race course (generally). Although the mental approach isn't all that much different, the physical appearance can vary drastically. It has been really cool getting to spend some serious time over the past few weeks watching both the men and the women and seeing the differences between the groups.


This past Tuesday at our weekly ski school clinic we got to watch the girls train downhill. I never thought I would get to stand 20 meters from Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso (among others) as they barreled down a mountain but I was able to do that that this week. The grace and the power these girls exhibit is amazing. The Austrians are power houses, I will definitely give them that, but the smoothness in the US women was definitely impressive. Of course being ski instructors, we had to talk about edge changes and transitions and a whole bunch of technical stuff, but I have to say, I was blown away by how easy they make it all look.
Not only is having the teams here a cool experience for the more advanced skier who knows a bit about the whole thing, but watching the kids in the group classes stand by the edge of the giant slalom course and see these world class skiers train is really awesome. Not to sound cliche but I feel a little bit like this place is inspiring. It promotes skiing in a whole new generation of youth... and of course it helped me push myself a little bit harder in this week's Sol de Portillo race.

Pool Jumping in Portillo...

So it has been quite the interesting week here in Portillo. As I already mentioned, we've recently seen numerous "superstars" of skiing roaming the halls (and the slopes) and believe me, they wasted no time during their stay. They've taken advantage of everything the hotel has to offer, including the swimming pool.

For some reason, the pool at the hotel has always fascinated people a bit more than your average resort pool. Maybe because it looks out over the Laguna del Inca or because the deck actually gets warm enough sometimes to sunbathe, but people seem to flock there, and it isn't all that uncommon to see some seriously interesting behavior.

Before I ever stepped foot here I had seen YouTube videos of the Norwegian ski team doing flips into the pool. Last week the Spyder crew used one of the Austrian ski team's snowmobiles to tow them over a jump into the pool. Then... to top it all off, pro-skier Colby West actually jumped out of a helicopter, in full ski gear, into the pool. Apparently you will eventually be able to see this in the upcoming Warren Miller film. Luckily, I got to sit about 30 yards away and see the whole thing first hand. Pretty darn cool...

The helicopter actually landed in the area where ski school meets, which is no more than 30 yards from the hotel. The athletes climbed in (a door had to be removed for easier exit) and they were off. After a quick circle around the area, the helicopter began to hover over the pool. Colby climbed out and actually worked his way around until he was hanging from one of the legs of the chopper. A little alignment was done, and then drop! Of course he popped out of the pool with all his gear totally unscathed. And then apparently the first time they were a little low so he actually had to repeat this incredibly stunt from a higher position. I guess that's why he's the pro...

(Due to some technical difficulties I'm currently unable to upload the video of this jump but if you check out the Ski Portillo Facebook page, you should be able to watch it there!)