CORONET PEAK, New Zealand (Aug. 26) - With a few days remaining in the U.S. Men's Alpine Ski Team technical camp at Coronet Peak, Head Coach Sasha Rearick has already marked the session in the success category.

"The men are focused and working hard. Everyone from the Europa Cup up to the World Cup level - this is a group of hard working dedicated athletes who are pushing each other. It's a cool environment to be in," said Rearick.

Ligety ahead of the curve
Reigning World Cup giant slalom champion Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) took full advantage of the snow conditions to work on his slalom with new Technical Head Coach Rudi Soulard. Ligety produced the most exciting race of the 2008 World Cup Finals winning the final run of GS to claim the title while competing with a broken hand.

"Rudi has been doing a good job working into the program, he's been doing some great work with Ted and also with Jimmy [Cochran, (Keene, NH)]. Ted doesn't have that much equipment to test right now, but he's definitely ahead of the curve for this time of year and Jimmy came into camp a little bit later than the others, but his skiing is right up there," Rearick said.

Park City pay off
Leading by example is World Championships medalist Erik Schlopy (Park City, UT), who missed two months of the 2008 season for the birth of his second child, a son, Charles Spyder. Earlier in the spring Schlopy dedicated himself to training at the U.S. Ski Team training center in Park City, Utah where he worked off a personalized program built by Team Strength and Conditioning Manager Per Lundstam. According to Rearick, it's paying off in New Zealand.

"Schlopes has been hammering in Park City with Per and it's translated directly into his intensity on the hill in giant slalom and I'm also seeing some great work from him in slalom. He's pushing the younger guys to perform and they're hanging right up there with him," he said.

Rearick pointed out the extra efforts made by Cody Marshall (Pittsfield, VT), who landed his first World Cup top 30 finishes last season and 2007 Ski Racing Alpine Junior of the Year Will Brandenburg (Spokane, WA).

"I'm seeing the same thing from Cody and Will. All three of these guys are so dedicated, virtually living at the training center. Per makes them hurt, that's for sure, but they're so strong because of it and it's showing in their skiing."

Race day dress rehearsal
A big part of the camp success is thanks to Coronet Peak, which- allowed the Team to inject the top half of the dedicated training hill with water providing hard "winter" conditions and an optimal race surface for training.

It showed as Schlopy led Cochran and Ligety to a 1-2-3 U.S. Ski Team sweep of an FIS giant slalom held August 19. But according to Rearick, just going through a race day as a Team was more important than the results.

"With a few new guys on staff, it was really important for us to go through a race routine. Each guy met with all the coaches and worked through what they like to do on a race day, that way when we start the season, everything will be dialed."

The men's World Cup season opens October 26 in Soelden, Austria with a giant slalom. The tour swings to the United States with the annual Birds of Prey World Cup Race Week at Beaver Creek, Colo. Dec. 5-7.