Traveling the world is not very common in everyday life. When you travel you probably go somewhere warm where you can sleep all day and lie on the beach. When athletes travel i,t’s a little bit different. The Northwood School FIS ski team is currently training in Chile, and it’s definitely not a vacation. I’d like to take you through our lives so you can feel like you’re living it.
Valle Nevado is a ski resort situated at an altitude of 5,450 meters (about 3.39 mi). It is approximately a 2-hour drive from where we landed in Santiago. Chile is considered a developing country, and I felt it when I first arrived. Random people at the airport will ask if you need help carrying your suitcases and then will make you pay to get them back afterward.
Our journey from Northwood included a 3-hour flight, a 4-hour layover, and then another 9-hour flight. We had another 2-hour bus drive to our hotel. The view on the drive started with palm trees in the city to cacti while going up and finally, not a single tree, just some snow, and then a lot of snow.
Once we reached the base of the mountain, we really discovered another world. There’s a little village with hotels and one supermarket. There’s nothing else around us but beautiful white mountains.
On our first day, we went powder skiing. It was maybe one of the best ski days I’ve ever experienced. I had snow up to my knees and floated on the fresh powder. The altitude really hits when you ski or do any physical activity. Your heart rate is the same as after a big cardio workout.
For our first day of training, we trained slalom on a trail named “Fox Trot.” I woke up at 5:45 and went for a quick breakfast before doing my warm-up workout, I usually go for a little run, and then use a resistance band to activate my legs and shoulders.
Once I’m done, I head outside. I start with two to three free skis run to go back to bases. Our first run in the course is probably the most important because that’s the only run that counts in races. Our sessions are from 7:15 to 11:30.
After skiing, we headed to lunch, I was kind of worried about the food here, I was imagining myself starving for days because I wouldn’t like it. Surprisingly, the food here is the exact same as it is at school. It’s a buffet. As an athlete, it’s important to eat and fuel our body the right way, I usually get a portion of fruits or vegetables for every meal.
The academic side can be very difficult when athletes are away from school. Is leaving school for two and a half weeks hard for students? Do they work when they’re gone? The answer is, if students are not organized, they will 100% fall behind in their schoolwork. We normally have two hours per day dedicated to our homework. We can ask our teachers for help on the app. Some of the teachers are used to long-distance teaching because many of Northwood’s student-athletes are living the same reality when we’re away from school for games, training, or races.
Our day isn’t over when we are off the hill. Our skis require some work. We need to sharpen and wax them. How much work varies, but I remember spending maybe an hour and a half on just one ski just to repair an edge. After all of this, we go to bed around 9:00 p.m. and get ready to do it all again.
Photos by Ms. Raychel Germaine.
