This past winter was very short; I like to call it “the winter that never was!” During my off-season of skiing, I run cross-country, and this past spring started a lot earlier then past years. By the beginning of June, I had logged 200 miles until I injured my hip. After several physical therapy visits, I was told I had a inflamed hip bursitis, a small sack of fluid between the tendon and bone, that is very painful when you run, something only rest could heal.

In late June, to keep in shape and train for the upcoming winter season, I went to a five-day water ramping camp at The Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY. My focus was to quality my back flip for competitions. The first day I worked on my back tucks so I could get the hang on jumping on water ramps again. Then, I started working on laying out my back flips, getting them as straight as I could. I was having a little trouble because I kept generating my backflips with my thighs instead of my hips (using my hips would help me stay straight in my backflips). By the last day of water ramping, I started using my hips to rotate my back lay.

After camp, still not running, I started weight training to strengthen my leg muscles. I also started trampolining at Green Mountain Freestyle Center to work on new tricks, such as Corks and back fulls. My corks were constantly progressing and getting better, but then they started to flip more forward then backward and I couldn’t get out of the habit. Soon they got to the point where some corks were looking more like a misty.

In July, I went back to ramp camp for ten days. My goal was to try backflips with different positions, like back X’s or back truck drivers, and to qualify my back lay. Qualifying my back lay would allow me to compete it next year in moguls. The first five-days I worked on getting my back lays straight and also worked on my back truck drivers. If I was having trouble with any trick I was working on I would take a break and work on another trick. By the end of the ten days I had qualified my back lay and could consistently land my back truck drivers. For the rest of the summer I rested trying to heel my inured hip so I would be able to run during the upcoming cross-country season at Mt Abe. Even though I was injured throughout the summer I still managed to accomplish a lot with my ski training goals and I’m looking forward to an awesome season!

SJ Grundon

Lincoln, VT