Queenstown, New Zealand – Coaches report good progression following the first two weeks of the U.S. Ski Team men’s technical camp in New Zealand, despite a constant battle with warm weather.

U.S. coaches have put in extra time watering and salting the slope at Coronet Peak near Queenstown to make for productive training. “The weather has been a challenge, but our staff has done a really good job maximizing our opportunities to create a good training surface by watering and salting,” said U.S. Ski Team Technical Coach, Mike Day.

The first of two major on snow summer sessions, the Coronet Peak camp is based on fundamentals. It also provides ample opportunity for athletes like Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety and World Cup slalom podium finisher Nolan Kasper to test new equipment and gain mileage prior to the Oct. 28 Audi FIS Alpine World Cup opener at the U.S. Ski Team’s European training base of Soelden, Austria.

“Everything feels great so far. I had hip surgery in the spring and was able to get back on snow for a few days at Mt. Hood before coming here, but now I’m starting to pick things up,” said Kasper, of Warren, Vt. “I’ve had around 11-12 days on snow and started the camp with a lot of free skiing and some short courses, but I should be up to full length pretty soon.”

“The camp thus far has provided us chances to get good feedback and information with our equipment. It’s all about creating a solid technical base to refine as we head in to Chile, and eventually the World Cup opener in Soelden,” added Reno, Nev.’s Tim Jitloff. “It’s been really productive and I’ve been able to knock out about 80% of the trial and error stuff required to have the right set up as I approach go time in October.”

Prior to returning to the U.S., many of the athletes will get some race time during a series of FIS races hosted by Japan at Coronet Peak and a pair of Australia New Zealand Cup races. Athletes were also able to experience a jet boat ride and bungee jumping on an off day, courtesy of New Zealand Tourism and Queenstown.

“New Zealand is a great place to come because there are a lot of things to do off snow,” Kasper said. “Bungee jumping the other day was incredible and we were sometimes in two to three inches of water while jet boating. It’s pretty unique to come to New Zealand and get those kind of experiences.”