The goal for our program is simple—to create excellent skiers through sound fundamental skiing. It’s imperative that our athletes become great skiers before they become great racers.

The most important lessons for our racers, are those learned through improving their skills on the hill and the resulting pride and accomplishment of doing so. These are lessons that will last a lifetime. It is my sincere hope that, above all, each athlete retains not only a love for the sport of skiing, but a love for learning new skills that will enhance their skiing ability and also provide valuable life-lessons—such as the importance of a healthy and fit lifestyle, good sportsmanship, teamwork, time management and responsibility—lessons our coaches strive to teach every day.

Our program is designed to follow a specific learning curve that has been defined by sport scientists and coaches throughout the country. This structure stresses skill acquisition at the younger ages, and gradually becomes more race-centric as the athlete ages. The old saying, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” may not be entirely true, but it does state an important point: it is harder to acquire new skills the older you get. Read about alpine development skills progression.

What does this mean? Simply put, the longer our athletes exhibit bad habits, the harder it will be to change those habits. As you will see in our handbook, our younger athletes will focus on acquiring new skills and changing bad habits through a lot of directed free skiing and drill work, along with fun everyday free skiing. As the athlete ages, and hopefully improves in their fundamental skill, they will slowly shift their focus to speed or race training. By structuring the program with this in mind, we allow for the greatest amount of success and continued improvement, rather than a “plateau effect” we sometimes see in athletes.

On behalf of the entire Toggenburg Junior Race Association, we look forward to the rewarding experience of working with your young racers! Be sure to review our race handbook for the essential details of our program  and contact us with any questions you may have.

Tyler Travis
Program Director
tyler.w.travis@gmail.com