Posted by: thepinetree on 12/29/2008 10:56 AM
Updated by: Kim_Hamilton on 12/29/2008 08:22 PM
Expires: 01/01/2013 12:00 AM
:
Bear Valley Teams Speed Their Way into 2009 ~ By John Hamilton
Bear Valley, CA...The local sports programs that have spawned Olympic, World Cup, X-Games, National Championship, Junior Olympic, National and International competitors are deep into their winter training camps as they tune up for the 2008/2009 season. The Bear Valley Race team already has a win and podium finishes in some of the early season races. Age ranges on these teams are from young first graders all the way to high school age. They are next generation competitors from skiing dynasties like the Rasmussen family and children of Olympic Gold Medalists in other sports mixed with the fresh dreams of many others striving to make their mark in the athletic world. The kids may be young but this is serious stuff...
Some of these young athletes have been skiing since they could barely walk and many log well over 100 days a year of on the snow training.
The Bear Valley Race, Devo and Freeride teams are some of the best programs on the West Coast. Our local competitors compete well and many times finish ahead of the powerhouse teams from resorts and full time academy programs like Squaw Valley, Sugar Bowl, Mammoth and more.
Last year two members of the Bear Valley Race Team, Justice Rasmussen and Zac Comstock qualified and competed in the Junior Olympics and a slew of others did very well at the Northern California Championships. Each year is filled with fresh challenges and goals for these young competitors.
Some are in it to just improve their skills and have fun but you can tell that many of them have dreams to be the next "Bode Miller" or "Picabo Street". When they are in the starting gates at the top of a race course below them they assume a seriousness that replaces their lack of chronological time on the clock.
Head Coach John Cashman and Assistant Coaches John Colonias, Greg Rasmussen and Tim Schimke are leading their young charges into battle for another year. From observing the coaches you can tell they just have a love of the sport and get a huge kick out of seeing improvement in their young racers.
These sports also require a huge commitment from all of the families involved. Some parents routinely log well over 10,000 travel miles a year going from race to race during the season. A whole winter family and support group develops around the kids for the duration of each season. Speedsuits, Skis, Boots, Safety Equipment and more becomes the talk of lunch and casual conversation. On some days it can resemble a never ending swap meet of gear that still has competitive life left in it being passed down or sold to another young racer.
We are very lucky to have programs like this in our backyard and we here at ThePineTree.net will be bringing you live and race day coverage starting with the Bear Valley Slalom in about 10 days and all of the Central Series Races and Culminating with the Farwest Championships in April at Mammoth. We hope you tune in and follow along and you may be lucky enough to say "I saw that future Gold Medalist when they were barely out of diapers"
The comments are owned by the poster. We are not responsible for its content. We value free speech but remember this is a public forum and we hope that people would use common sense and decency. If you see an offensive comment please email us at news@thepinetree.net
