TeamAVSC Blog

This article was originally published in the Aspen Times as part of our column, Clubhouse Chronicles. 

Certainly feels like summer is here. Online classes are wrapping up, trails are drying out up and down the Roaring Fork Valley, and Memorial Day has come and gone.

This shift in season feels particularly monumental this year. As a community, we are slowly moving toward safely returning to the places, programs and people who make this valley feel like home. While COVID-19 is still a present force, our local government and health officials are doing all they can to safely re-open Quick read more or view full article aspects of our community.

At Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club, this means we’re incredibly excited to return to providing in-person programming for our athletes in the next couple of weeks. Our internal COVID-19 committee has been working with our program directors to ensure we’re able to provide safe and fun growth opportunities for our athletes. While the operations of each day might look a bit different than in years past, the value of the camp remains: the ability to have fun, challenge yourself and progress alongside supportive team members and coaches!

You may have noticed Buttermilk Glacier forming from the mounds of snow that were left over from X Games. Head park and pipe coach Greg Ruppel has flattened the remainder of the park features into a football field-sized snowfield that will become a training ground for our freestyle, snowboard and alpine athletes. We’ll have early morning alpine training sessions, followed up by freestyle training on jumps and rails. We are incredibly grateful to Aspen Skiing Co. for their partnership with Buttermilk Glacier, a privilege that feels particularly special this year. The ability to provide on-snow training right here at home is invaluable. While group sizes will be smaller, teammates will be farther apart from each other, and sessions will be shorter, we know the excitement and work ethic will be through the roof!

We also look forward to kicking off our mountain biking programs, which are being held out of Crown Mountain Park in El Jebel this year, starting the week of June 8! Our Pre-Devo Shredders (age 7-9) groups are designed for young riders looking to learn and develop basic skills, our Devo Shredder (age 10-13) groups are designed to help athletes take whatever experience they have to the next level, and our EnDh (Enduro/Downhill) teams are for middle school- and high school-aged athletes who are motivated to race, train, progress and have fun. We are excited to call Crown Mountain Park home and know it will be a great training ground for riders of all ages and levels!

While registration has filled fast for some programs, there is plenty of space left in the second half of the summer for Devo Shredders and the whole summer for the EnDh bike program! To learn more about registration, please visit http://www.teamavsc.org/summer.

Many of our groups have been training remotely through online conferencing platforms and will continue to do so for the time being while we explore other options. If you’d like to join us, tune into AVSC Strongest Together, our Facebook group, where AVSC coaches host family-friendly workouts three times a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 3 p.m.).

Here’s to a safe, fun and productive summer!

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We are excited to announce that mountain biking programs are now open for registration! Please check out https://www.teamavsc.org/Mountain-Biking to learn more about the program philosophy, check out what’s being offered, and register your athlete. Programs start at age 7 with the Pre-Devo Shredders and continue through middle and high school aged athletes with the Enduro-Downhill teams. All programs will be based out of Crown Mountain Park in El Jebel. Please note that the first three weeks of the younger programs are half-day only.
 
Rob Russell is leading AVSC mountain biking and has built out an awesome program for all ages Quick read more or view full article and ability levels. Many of you will recognize Rob from his longstanding tenure as an AVSC Nordic coach; we are excited to have him join us for summer as well! If you have any questions about mountain biking, please feel free to reach out to Rob (rrussell@teamavsc.org).
 
We will continue to update you as we have more information regarding our capabilities to run other summer programs such as Buttermilk Glacier, trampoline camps, and nordic summer training. Please note that AVSC is doing all that we can to keep athletes, coaches, and families safe. We will only operate summer camps if we can do so in a manner that is comfortable to our staff and families while of course abiding by state and local guidelines. As such, we are offering a 100% refund for summer programs if we are unable to operate them due to COVID-19. Read Less