Mt Ruapehu launches medal pathway training


May 4, 2018: With the ski season on the doorstep Mt Ruapehu has launched a new training programme aimed at aspiring young athletes.

The goal of 'Team Ruapehu' is to produce talented athletes and, more importantly outstanding young people, whether they set goals to develop and become world-class champions, fun weekend rippers or NIPS/NISSSC (North Island Primary School/North Island Secondary Schools Championships) competition racers.

Tūroa General Manager JP Chevalier says, "Team Ruapehu offers a clear development pathway for athletes aged 7 - 19 years to emerge from the existing Ski & Ride School Academy weekend programmes into this elite training environment.

"We'll be building bridges from recreational experiences to elite competition in Alpine Ski Racing, Freestyle/Terrain Park and Freeride disciplines."

Athletes can sign up to train all season, just weekends and holidays, or drop in for a day (subject to availability via pre-booking) if they are part of another team. SSNZ (Snow Sports NZ) licenced athletes can train with the team.

"There are some talented youngsters out there and we're aiming to fast track their career, progressing to interfield and national champs - and possibly even higher, maybe to even winning a medal at international level," JP says.

Team Ruapehu offers either Alpine Ski Racing at Whakapapa or Freeride/Freestyle at Tūroa programmes and is focused on training athletes to compete and win, or achieve personal best. Training days are not always all day in length and can include dryland off mountain, as well as video, diet advice and equipment review/tuning.

Team Ruapehu Alpine Ski programmes are for dedicated experienced racers who are fully immersed in the sport of ski racing. New Zealand regional interfield events, National Titles, ANC Cup, FIS (International Ski Federation), through to earning a spot on the NZ Ski Team will be the goal for these athletes.

Team Ruapehu Freeride/Freestyle is for SSNZ slopestyle events, Junior Freeride Tour, Big Mountain events and open Big Air and Terrain Park events. These sports are judged events that require on-snow and air confidence with alert acrobatic skiing and snowboarding. Exploring amplitude, mental focus and gymnastic skills are the core training focuses.

Some key coaches have already been secured for Team Ruapehu with recruiting continuing throughout autumn.

Whakapapa Race Team Head Coach is Matt Liebersbach. Matt most recently worked for Stockman Sports, coached FIS in Asia and on the Mammoth Mountain Ski Team USA - one of the best programmes in North America.

He has joined Team Ruapehu because he sees tremendous opportunity to build a strong programme. His goal is to set the standards for the North Island with U8-U14’s in the immediate future.

Matt is accompanied by two other great youth coaches Melissa Vistoli from Canada and Johanna Tikkanen from Finland. These women bring great U14 scope, from not only the northern hemisphere, but also experience from Australian race clubs and competition calendar.

For the Tūroa Freeride/Freestyle Team, Head Coach Andrew Manuel comes to Team Ruapehu from Banff Canada and as an existing coach at Tūroa for a private team that has been operating out of Tūroa Ski & Ride School for the past several seasons.

Other coaching staff include Harry Patterson and Julie Bernasconi.

ENDS

For more information about Race & Freestyle/Freeride programmes visit -www.mtruapehu.com/programmes

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