click to enlarge The mid crew at the soccer match in Santiago.

Several Middlebury alpine ski team members have been training on snow in El Colorado Chile as a part of an Eastern Region Collegiate Development Camp. Athletes from the University of Vermont, Colby College and Saint Lawrence University also attended.
As the camp wraps up the highlights were.
-4 days great weather at the begining of the camp in which drills and on snow time was maximized.
-A powder day in 3 ft of snow on Sunday.
-Some good slalom sessions followed by another powder day of over 3 ft of snow.
-A visit to Santiago to whatch a semi-professional club soccer match.
-a good block of gs training.
-plenty of new fuzzy dog friends. see photos below.
-Rumor has it the last day will conclude with a one run fun mock carnival.

The mountain after storm number one.

Flare and fans at Universide Catolica Soccer match.

Santiago in the valley. 40 switchbacks and several thousand feet below El Colorado.

click to enlarge Abi will join the alpine team this winter as a coach and assist with the field hockey "b" team.

Abigail Copeland, former St. Lawrence University athlete and coach, has been named to the assistant alpine position at Middlebury College. For the past two years Abby has been the assistant ski coach at St. Lawrence, a role in which she developed the necessary skills and achievements to be a knowledgeable and dedicated member of the program at Middlebury. While working at St. Lawrence Abby performed numerous responsibilities, including budget management, working with admissions, organizing team practices and mentoring student-athletes in their academic commitments. As a two-sport varsity athlete, Abby has the first-hand experience that enables her to be direct and effective in her communication with athletes.

Abby graduated from St. Lawrence with a BA in Fine Arts in May 2006. In May 2009 she completed her Masters of Education. She competed on both the field hockey and ski teams during her four years as an undergraduate and received numerous awards for her athletic accomplishments. She is excited for her new role at Middlebury and looks forward to working with the caliber of athletes currently on the team. She stated, “As an athlete and a coach on the EISA circuit, I have always had respect for the Middlebury ski team. I look forward to working for such an accomplished program.” Abby will certainly be an invaluable contribution to the Middlebury community. She will begin her new position in late August.
Welcome Abi!

click to enlarge Overlooking Mt English in BC Canada above the smokey haze.

Things are good. I spent last month doing some geophysics work up in Nunavut for a company doing uranium exploration. I was living about 80 miles out of any kind of civilization so I flew out to the field every morning on a helicopter and spent the days walking around in tundra swamps. I was working with one other guy from out west as well as a couple of Inuit people who are probably more like the American's stereotype of a Canadian. They build igloos, eat seal blubber, do sled dog racing, and wear those mammoth jackets with the fur hoods. They can also survive in the typical winter temperatures there, which hover around -70 degrees with strong winds, blowing snow, and only a couple hours of daylight. The snow was melting when I got there though and I was fortunate enough to have light and warmer weather, which made the tundra a hatching ground for mosquitos and black flies. On a day without wind you could literally kill 20 mosquitos by clapping your hands once. They were brutal. We saw some cool animals though: some wolves, a couple wolverines, caribou, and some giant arctic muskox, which are pretty crazy looking animals. Our camp was also full of rabbits, which the locals make good use of to make mitts and booties out of. I'll bust those out for inspection next year.

I'm back in BC now and am enjoying the nice weather and time off. I've managed to do some long hiking trips along the coast of BC, a bit of surfing, some waterskiing, and climbing. I might have a short job in the Yukon, but other than that I"m enjoying the time at home.

click to enlarge Thanks Jane for two great years with the Middlebury Team.

As most of you know Jane will be moving on this year pursuing her teaching and education aspirations. She is working on some leads with private schools and other academic institutions. Coaching is the teaching of ski racing and all of its intricacies. Based on how exceptional of a coach Jane is, I know she will be equal or better in the classroom.
Jane coached both the men and women on our team for the last two years. Her eye on the hill was always right on, her organization was impressive, and her leadership was integral to the team. Really I could go on and on about the numerous things that Jane does so well as a person and a coach. I have coached with quite a few individuals in my years coaching in the east coast, west coast and on the US team. I will honestly and directly say that she is one of the best, if not the best coach I have worked with in my career. I will miss her and the team will also miss her. We wish her the best of luck as she moves into the teaching/education world.
Thanks Jane.

Stever

Links and Resources

Head Alpine Coach

Stever Bartlett

Bartlett enters his fifth season as the Head Coach of the Middlebury College Alpine Ski Team in the winter of '10-'11. In his four years as head coach, Bartlett has worked hard to continue the success of Middlebury Skiing. On the circuit this past season the team collected a handful of carnival podiums and numerous eastern cup wins. In 2008 Bartlett was awarded the EISA Coach of the Year award and led the team to a 5th place finish at the 2008 NCAA Championships. In 2010 The alpine men finished 3rd in the nation in slalom and 4th in the nation in GS at the Championships hosted by the University Colorado. In 2008 they were 2nd in the nation in slalom and 3rd in the nation in GS. Bartlett came to Middlebury after working with the U.S. Ski Team in Park City, Utah. He most recently worked as a World Cup assistant coach for the alpine women's team during the winter of 2005-2006. Bartlett has also served as the head Europa coach, a Development Team coach and as a strength and conditioning coach with the program. Bartlett was a staff member at the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics, where he worked as a coach for gold medalist Julia Mancuso. In 2002 Bartlett was awarded the VARA (Vermont Alpine Ski Racing Assoc.)"Coach of the Year" award while working as the head coach of the Killington Mountain School. Bartlett is a 1996 graduate of St. Lawrence University, where he was captain and member of the alpine team. He earned his degree in environmental biology, with a minor in sports science.

shbartle@middlebury.edu

802.443.5845

Assistant Alpine Coach

Abigail Copeland

Copeland will be entering her second season as the alpine assistant coach. Copeland was an integral part of the teams success in 2009/2010 and brought much energy and dedication to the team. As well as a valuable on hill coach she also took on many of the strength and conditioning duties. Copeland comes to Middlebury from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, where she worked as the assistant men's and women's coach from 2007-2009. Copeland graduated from St. Lawrence University in 2006, where she was a four-time member of the alpine ski team and field hockey team. She graduated with a degree in Fine Arts and received her masters degree in Education Administration in the Spring of 2009. Prior to her education at St. Lawrence, she attended the Mount Mansfield Winter Academy in Stowe, Vermont.

acopeland@middlebury.edu

802 443 5270

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