{"id":794357,"date":"2019-03-30T19:28:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-31T01:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/america-rising-u-s-ski-mountaineering-head-coach-joe-howdyshell-talks-lessons-learned-from-world-championships\/"},"modified":"2019-03-30T19:28:00","modified_gmt":"2019-03-31T01:28:00","slug":"america-rising-u-s-ski-mountaineering-head-coach-joe-howdyshell-talks-lessons-learned-from-world-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/america-rising-u-s-ski-mountaineering-head-coach-joe-howdyshell-talks-lessons-learned-from-world-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"America rising: U.S. ski mountaineering head coach Joe Howdyshell talks lessons learned from World Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery\" readability=\"6.7868852459016\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-363796-921\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/USSkiMo-SDN-033119-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/USSkiMo-SDN-033119-3.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Courtesy U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association | Members of Team USA ascend uphill during the International Ski Mountaineering Federation World Championships earlier this month in Switzerland.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"6.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/USSkiMo-SDN-033119-3.jpg\" alt=\"Members of Team USA ascend uphill during the International Ski Mountaineering Federation World Championships earlier this month in Switzerland.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Members of Team USA ascend uphill during the International Ski Mountaineering Federation World Championships earlier this month in Switzerland.<\/strong><br \/>Courtesy U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/USSkiMo-SDN-033119-3-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/USSkiMo-SDN-033119-3-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Courtesy U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association | Members of Team USA march in a ceremony during the International Ski Mountaineering Federation World Championships earlier this month in Switzerland.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"6.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/USSkiMo-SDN-033119-3-1.jpg\" alt=\"Members of Team USA march in a ceremony during the International Ski Mountaineering Federation World Championships earlier this month in Switzerland.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Members of Team USA march in a ceremony during the International Ski Mountaineering Federation World Championships earlier this month in Switzerland.<\/strong><br \/>Courtesy U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/USSkiMo-SDN-033119-3-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/USSkiMo-SDN-033119-3-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Courtesy U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association | Breckenridge local and Team USA ski mountaineering head coach Joe Howdyshell is seen earlier this month at the International Ski Mountaineering Federation World Championships in Switzerland.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"7\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/USSkiMo-SDN-033119-3-2.jpg\" alt=\"Breckenridge local and Team USA ski mountaineering head coach Joe Howdyshell is seen earlier this month at the International Ski Mountaineering Federation World Championships in Switzerland.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Breckenridge local and Team USA ski mountaineering head coach Joe Howdyshell is seen earlier this month at the International Ski Mountaineering Federation World Championships in Switzerland.<\/strong><br \/>Courtesy U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/USSkiMo-SDN-033119-3-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/USSkiMo-SDN-033119-3-3.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Courtesy U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association | Summit County local Jaime Brede (right) skins uphill during the International Ski Mountaineering Federation World Championships earlier this month in Switzerland.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"7\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/USSkiMo-SDN-033119-3-3.jpg\" alt=\"Summit County local Jaime Brede (right) skins uphill during the International Ski Mountaineering Federation World Championships earlier this month in Switzerland.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Summit County local Jaime Brede (right) skins uphill during the International Ski Mountaineering Federation World Championships earlier this month in Switzerland.<\/strong><br \/>Courtesy U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/america-rising-u-s-ski-mountaineering-head-coach-joe-howdyshell-talks-lessons-learned-from-world-championships\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/america-rising-u-s-ski-mountaineering-head-coach-joe-howdyshell-talks-lessons-learned-from-world-championships\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association head coach Joe Howdyshell, this month\u2019s International Ski Mountaineering Federation World Championships in Switzerland proved to be an opportunity for his youth and senior athletes to see in person what he had been telling them about leading up to the international event.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Considering the majority of the 35 Team USA ski mountaineering athletes were competing at a World Championships for the first time, Howdyshell advised them going into the event that the international competition would be much more dialed-in, efficient and faster than what they\u2019d seen in the U.S. But it\u2019s hard to grasp the difference until you see it for yourself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s exciting for me to see some of those light bulbs come on,\u201d Howdyshell said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">At a 2019 World Championships Howdyshell described as more competitive than the previous international event two years ago, Team USA finished in seventh place of 31 teams. That compared with a sixth-place finish of 25 teams in 2017. That said, Howdyshell feels Team USA\u2019s showing may have been more impressive this time around considering the increased level of skiing in senior and youth competitions, particularly in the youth because of the prospect of next January\u2019s Youth Olympic Games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cEverybody brought their A-game,\u201d he said. \u201cEverybody brought the best racers. It was a big year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Team USA brought its A-game too. Looking ahead, though, Howdyshell feels many of the first-time American racers departed the Swiss Alps with a greater hunger to dedicate themselves to reach that next level \u2014 that of the top Europeans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe get a kind of a big fish in a little pond feeling in the U.S.,\u201d Howdyshell said. \u201cWe think we are really good at this sport and then we go over to Europe and see it\u2019s at a different level. Most of the athletes in the U.S., it\u2019s not a year-round sport.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">On that note, Howdyshell said one of the standout quotes of the week in Switzerland came when an American parent asked one of the top European countries about what specifically they do in their training to race so fast. The answer: 49 weeks a year, six days a week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cAnd that was for a 15-year-old,\u201d Howdyshell said. \u201cAnd that is not the way I think most of us in the U.S. approach the sport. For most of us, I think there are one or two of the senior athletes who approach it with that level of dedication.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Howdyshell full-well knows that the sport is still a nascent one, a growing one here in the U.S. The coach himself has only been involved in the sport for about seven years. As such, he says he\u2019s still finding out \u201cthe why\u201d behind what makes Europe\u2019s best racers so good. Part of the difference, he says, comes down to the disparity in training and racing venues and the equipment the Europeans have access to compared to Team USA racers in Summit County. For example, Howdyshell said it can be a detriment to Team USA skiers that they train at Summit County\u2019s elevation. Yes, 10,000 feet is harder to train at than 5,000. But that doesn\u2019t mean an inherent advantage when a competition takes place at 5,000 feet. Rather, it\u2019s the competitors who train each day at 5,000 feet who more routinely train at a faster pace, which can then be easier to replicate than someone transitioning from a slower pace at a higher elevation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cAnd the equipment that they use over there, the race skier, actually works really well on their mountains,\u201d Howdyshell said. \u201cThe snow isn\u2019t as soft and light and fluffy as it is here. So a really narrow ski works. It\u2019s fine. You don\u2019t sink as much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In the wake of worlds, Howdyshell and Team USA left encouraged for the future. With so many youth athletes competing, Howdyshell said it increases the chances some of them may ultimately grow to become high-level senior athletes who can compete with the best in the world. But that\u2019ll only come with more experience against the world\u2019s best.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Case in point: Howdyshell said there was a race at the world championships where a skier finished each minute across a 30-minute span. A minute gap like that between racers is not common here in the U.S., he said, where in some races a skier may have the luxury of a four-minute margin. As such, a mistake may not be as costly. But in Europe, it could mean you lose ground to several competitors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cEssentially, all mistakes are magnified by 10,\u201d Howdyshell said. \u201cSo what was really exciting for me, is that, I think that there are a lot of lessons you can try to give people and athletes can understand from an academic sense why they need to do or practice something. But it isn\u2019t until they have a real emotional reason to work on that skill, that\u2019s when they take it seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Looking ahead, Howdyshell said the international ski mountaineering world was excited to see Team USA bring such a large youth contingent to Switzerland. Because the better the U.S. is at skimo, and the bigger it is here on the homefront, the better the sport\u2019s chances of being introduced into the Olympics.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe frank situation with the Olympics is that the Olympic Committee and everybody involved needs to make money,\u201d Howdyshell said. \u201cAnd for the sport of skimo to make money, having it popular in the United States is hugely important. \u2026 It\u2019s not hinging on us by any means, but it certainly is something that helps, if we could make thousands of people in the U.S. be excited about it enough to be on TV. That only helps the chance of it being in the Olympics. And I do think the chance of it being in the Olympics is really only just getting better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/america-rising-u-s-ski-mountaineering-head-coach-joe-howdyshell-talks-lessons-learned-from-world-championships\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Members of Team USA ascend uphill during the International Ski Mountaineering Federation World Championships earlier this month in Switzerland.Courtesy U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association Members of Team USA march in a ceremony during the International Ski Mountaineering Federation World Championships earlier this month in Switzerland.Courtesy U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association Breckenridge local and Team USA ski mountaineering [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-794357","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-14 05:26:02","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794357\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}