Park and Pipe Athletes Take Flight at Camp

Hosted at National Snowsports Training Centre in Jindabyne, the NSWIS Park and Pipe Camp has been flying high as athletes are hard at work sharpening their skills. 

The camp provides its High Performance Athletes an additional 29 airbag training sessions throughout the month of November to increase their degree of difficulty, ensuring that their tricks are competition ready as they prepare for the northern winter season. 

NSWIS Winter Sports Manager Peter Topalovic shared that the camp is important for athletes to undertake in their training regime. 

“Over the duration of the camp, the athletes will have a greater understanding of what a competition trick looks like,” Topalovic said. 

“They learn how many reps it takes to make an airbag trick ready for snow, and the art versus the science behind it.

“The sessions also teach the athletes what trick quality on the airbag makes it ready for snow, as well as executing at different speeds, a variety of grabs ensuring a consistency of execution.”

The camp sessions also cover key themes such as ‘Prepare and Train like a Pro’ and ‘Gaps to Podium Sessions’. 

NSWIS athlete Josh Robertson-Hahn shared that he has thoroughly enjoyed the camp, finding the timing perfect ahead of his first World Cup of the season. 

“The camp has been extremely productive for me and the timing is perfect,” Robertson-Hahn said. 

“I am fine tuning my new tricks on the airbag that I hope to use at the Beijing, China World Cup in two weeks.”

Involved in the airbag camp are 15 NSWIS Park and Pipe scholarship athletes, including snowboard athletes Emily Arthur and Ally Hickman and ski athletes Daisy Thomas, Abi Harrigan and Joey Ellis to name a few. 

Several Snow Australia Emerging Talent athletes have also been involved to attend the airbag camp. 

Article and image courtesy of Snow Australia