On a scale of one to 10, Alpine Freestyle Team coach Drew Fisher gave this summer’s trip to the water ramps in Park City, Utah, a nine. ‘Everyone progressed, everyone had fun, and there were no serious injuries,’ he said. ‘I’ll save the 10 for now because our trips keep getting better and better.’
That statement reveals a lot about Fisher, a 21-year-old Truckee local who founded the Alpine Freestyle Team a year ago with friend and fellow coach Tyler Homen. Fisher is practical, soft-spoken, and understated, qualities not necessarily associated with people involved in a sport known for flashiness and risk. Nonetheless, these are essential traits for planning and executing all aspects of getting 11 skiers and all their gear out to Park City by car, camping out for the duration, spending five straight days training, and most importantly, getting everyone back safe and injury-free.
Going to the Utah Olympic Park’s world-famous ramps is a rite of passage for freeride skiers looking to step up their game and usually becomes an integral part of summer training regimes. The site features four primary kickers of varying sizes, which launch skiers into a 750,000-gallon, bubbled-water pool. The bubbles help cushion the landings, which even into water can be pretty harsh from 30 or 40 feet high.
‘Training at water ramps is actually a lot of hard work for the athletes,’ Fisher explained. ‘They are hiking stairs in wet ski boots carrying their gear all day. The water offers a softer landing to progress on than snow, but the falls still hurt. The only difference is no one is ever riding away on a sled like what can happen on snow. Once they can land their tricks over and over again on water, the athletes can confidently put down the tricks on snow.’
In addition to five or more hours of ramping each day, the skiers also spent time working out on UOP’s trampolines and took part in daily pre- and post-ramp yoga sessions with Shannon Dillon, who traveled to Utah with the team. Dillon and Fisher both asked themselves beforehand if a bunch of unruly, teenage freestyle skiers would be able to concentrate long enough to participate in a full-on yoga class, but ended up agreeing that skiing and yoga were a perfect match. ‘Balance, concentration, body awareness, strength, flexibility, and injury prevention are all benefits of yoga training, and Shannon did an amazing job getting these kids excited about yoga,’ Fisher said. ‘They all noticed a change in their flexibility and attributed yoga to helping them with difficult tricks during the week.’
The athletes agreed.
‘My yoga breathing helped so much up there,’ said Truckee senior Cooper Davidson after successfully completing his first double back-flip off UOP’s giant triple jump. ‘I’m really hoping that we can continue to incorporate yoga in our routine throughout the winter.’
For Charlie Ingalls, a 13-year-old freshman at Truckee High, the trip to water ramps was his first. ‘I can tell that the trip to Utah is really going to help me bring some new tricks to the snow this winter. The environment was super-chill, which led to lots of progression personally for me,’ he said. ‘Everybody had a really awesome time. Experiencing everyone learning new things and being a part of that is why freestyle skiing is such an amazing sport.’
Trip musings and success aside, one can’t help but wonder what it would mean to have a world-class facility like UOP here at home. ‘I think it would be a big hit,’ Fisher said. ‘People come from all over the world to the park in Utah. Why wouldn’t they do the same in beautiful Lake Tahoe? One of AFT’s dreams is to be part of a movement to get a water ramp facility built here.’
For now, Fisher is focusing on the upcoming season. ‘We’ll be training hard, traveling to contests, and doing video shoots. But when it comes down to it, the best part is just being on the mountain with a group of people that love what they do. The vibes are great for AFT; we always have such a good time skiing.’ Info: alpinefreestyle.com
