{"id":801850,"date":"2019-11-29T16:52:53","date_gmt":"2019-11-29T23:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=375282"},"modified":"2019-11-29T16:52:53","modified_gmt":"2019-11-29T23:52:53","slug":"strength-and-conditioning-class-helps-breckenridge-ski-patrol-prep-for-grueling-on-mountain-gig","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/strength-and-conditioning-class-helps-breckenridge-ski-patrol-prep-for-grueling-on-mountain-gig\/","title":{"rendered":"Strength and conditioning class helps Breckenridge Ski Patrol prep for grueling on-mountain gig"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nikki LaRochelle leads a strength and conditioning class for the Breckenridge Ski Patrol on Tuesday, Nov. 26, at Breckenridge Recreation Center.<\/strong>
Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

BRECKENRIDGE \u2014 Eight years ago, Breckenridge Ski Resort director of ski patrol Kevin Ahern went to fellow Breckenridge local Nikki LaRochelle with an idea. LaRochelle, a competitive elite mountain endurance athlete, taught a ski-specific strength and conditioning class at Breckenridge Recreation Center, so he asked her if she\u2019d be able to teach a class specific for his ski patrollers.<\/p>\n

Ahern had been part of the resort\u2019s ski patrol since 1976 and served as director for several decades. He said patrollers would get ready for the grueling tasks of ski season how you\u2019d expect: by staying active in the spring, summer and fall when they\u2019d hit the trails and bike paths in the mountains. But Ahern and LaRochelle felt there was better preparation patrollers could be doing, namely for injury prevention and the challenge of maintaining muscular endurance and strength while undertaking tasks that put patroller\u2019s bodies in awkward positions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you learn is postural strength,\u201d LaRochelle said. \u201cSki patrollers, they are having to carry a patient down the ski slope, this huge amount of load behind them as they are wedging down. That\u2019s a lot of force. So we\u2019re trying to pay attention to their real needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, LaRochelle completed the final class of this year\u2019s ski patrol strength and conditioning. Since August, Breckenridge ski patrollers have been invited to voluntarily join the group\u2019s effective veteran team captain, Ahern, and LaRochelle each Tuesday night at the Breckenridge Recreation Center. There, LaRochelle has gradually increased the difficulty of workouts and circuits to address the dynamic strength patrollers need when working individually and as a team across the resort\u2019s nearly 3,000 skiable acres. Patrollers\u2019 responsibilities take them all over the resort\u2019s varying Rocky Mountain terrain, from Peaks 6 through 10 of the iconic Tenmile Range. That includes the 40% of the resort\u2019s terrain that is high Alpine, or above tree line.<\/p>\n

No one knows the fitness challenges these peaks present to an athlete better than Ahern. And if you ask LaRochelle, there certainly is an athletic element of being a patroller. Heck, she says most of these individuals become patrollers because of their penchant to rise to the challenge of grinding out hard work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s part of their ethos,\u201d LaRochelle said.<\/p>\n

Which brings us to Tuesday. About halfway through the week\u2019s hourlong workout, LaRochelle demonstrated the capstone circuit of this ski patrol conditioning master class. The final 30-seconds-on, 15-seconds-off circuit was the ultimate example of how she has improved the class over the past eight years. In the early days, LaRochelle said she led more static workouts that had much the same difficulty from August\u2019s first class to November\u2019s final class.<\/p>\n

These days, LaRochelle keeps most everything dynamic and ratchets up the difficulty from week to week. The strength and conditioning crescendo culminated with exercises that asked patrollers to do the following: execute single-leg deadlifts while balancing a kettle bell in hand at each side; deep squats complete with a vertical medicine ball throw and catch; deep squat holds while clasping a medicine ball out in front; two-foot jump to one-foot landing box jumps; alternating body-weight lunges, or \u201ctele jumps,\u201d in place; and a pair of body-weight core exercises, one on the floor and one balancing your toes on an exercise ball.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t know how hard that circuit felt,\u201d LaRochelle said, \u201cbut on paper it\u2019s the hardest one I\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n

That psychological element of enduring difficulty together wasn\u2019t the initial focus of the class, LaRochelle and Ahern said. Over time, though, they said the class has served as an ideal setting for patrollers, especially newbies, to feel a part of the team.<\/p>\n

Sure, in many cases patrollers might be undertaking tasks individually, communicating by radio. But when it\u2019s you who is tasked with ensuring the safety of thousands upon thousands of members of the public in all kinds of winter conditions, there has to be a uniting energy among teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just get to the point,\u201d Ahern said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of funny. We\u2019ll do things at work, and you can kind of communicate without talking. \u2026 From working enough together, you get to know the cues from each other. It\u2019s a cool thing. Sometimes it\u2019s hard to explain. But it\u2019s that team element of, \u2018You are all in it together, and you succeed together.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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