Alpine Training Centre run a fun and focused FIS programme for aspiring young racers, who are looking to continue their time in Ski Racing in a friendly and supportive environment. While at the same time pushing their skiing to the next level with high quality coaching.
The ATC FIS program is led by Jamie McWilliam and Adam Piper, both of whom have an extensive experience working with FIS athletes of different nationalities and different levels and working in different countries around the world.
The program consists of 7 weeks of training and racing split into blocks at Christmas/ New Year, February and March/ April. These are the blocks that involve FIS racing a well as training. We also offer specific training only camps in October and in June/July. All of our training and racing blocks are aimed at tying in with school/university holidays. Making the program a great option for those who cannot commit to something more full time.
ATC FIS athlete and university student Calum Shepherd loves being a part of the program “The ATC FIS program has been great for me, allowing me to balance ski racing with my latter years of school and now into university. We cram a lot into our camps, getting in plenty of training, as well as recovery fitness and plenty of time to do our schoolwork too. FIS racing can be a bit of a step up from Children’s racing, but ATC made it pretty easy for me, and over the years I’ve learned a lot from my coaches and other athletes too. ATC has a great on-camp atmosphere, too, so it’s always a good break from academic work, even though the skiing is hard work too.”
Our Christmas and New Year training and racing block lasts for just over three weeks where we stay at our base in Steinach am Brenner. This is a fantastic base where we have access to a great resort (20 meters across the road from our base) that also offers fantastic training. We are given lane space each day and can train Slalom and GS, with the option of Super G free skiing. The resort also offers us specific club sessions, where the mountain is closed to members of the public and only race teams are allowed access. Steinach am Brenner is located within 30 minutes of Innsbruck airport and two hours from Munich. This makes it incredibly accessible and easy to come out for training blocks varying in time. The location of our base also makes racing very easy, we are situated in un area that is surrounded by races giving us the opportunity to compete in CIT competitions, NJRs and FIS races.
Our next race and training block is in February for the English Alpine Championships. This is a two week training and racing block, where the first week is specifically training and the second is specifically racing. We base ourselves in Bormio itself for these two weeks and have the option to train in a few of the surrounding resorts. This camp offers an intense block of training that is immediately followed by a race week, made up of 6 races.
The final Race block is in March/April, during this time we have the option of racing at the British Alpine Championships. Additionally, we have the option to head back to our base in Steinach where we can again utilise the fantastic location of this base for races and training. This again is another 2/3 week block. There is the option for athletes to only come out for the British Championship week, or to only come out for the training and racing weeks back at our base in Steinach.
In Addition to our race and training blocks we offer specific training only blocks. These blocks consist of a 3 week camp in Norway training up on the beautiful Fonna Glacier. This offers a great opportunity for those who are unable to travel to the southern hemisphere to train and compete in place like New Zealand and Australia. Fonna itself is only a short drive away from where we base ourselves in Jondal, which sits right on the Fjord edge. The training here is as good if not better than many of the european glaciers around this time and the resort itself is almost exclusively for race teams at this time of year.
The final training block we offer is a two week camp in Hintertux in October. We have a long standing relationship with a brilliant family run hotel in Vorderlanersbach, which is only a 10 minute journey away from the lift. The hotel is located at the bottom of the free bus loop transporting skiers to the mountain every 15 minutes. The training on the Glacier itself is some of the best europe has to offer around that time of year. With all most every national team training there in October it gives our ATC athletes the chance to train alongside some of the best in the world.
ATC is a tight knit community where athletes can build new friendships and have the chance to race and train alongside university and school work.