2019 AST Coach Journal: Jonas Haelhen

In the least cliché way possible; that’s a wrap! This past weekend of racing at Nakiska concluded the FIS racing calendar in Alberta for the 2018-19 season. During this season we visited 4 countries, 6 states and provinces, 16 different ski resorts, raced 55 times, stood on the podium 77 times, flew and drove 1000s of kilometers and spent countless hours together. These hours included their fair share of ups and downs, laughs, frustrations, joys, nerves and the odd set of tears, both happy and sad. But in the end, as a team, we had a pretty awesome season. This was my first year with the team and I truly enjoyed working with all the staff and athletes at Alberta Alpine. The season saw a lot of personal bests and personal growth and created a lot of excitement for that the future holds. As mentioned in the most recent Alberta Ski Team Instagram post, there is a lot of depth in this group both in talent and in personality.  Everyone stood on the top step of a podium at least twice this season and contributed in their own way to making this one awesome group of athletes and I am very excited for next season.

Currently the team is on a bit of a break before we hit the slopes for a couple of spring camps at the end of April and beginning of May. During these camps we will be getting on snow in the mornings with the goal of getting high volume with some solid technical focus and ironing out some equipment set ups. The afternoons will involve some gym time and probably some mountain biking and other none skiing activities. I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in making this a great year: the volunteers and ROC at all the races, the parents, friends and family that put up with and support the crazy ups and downs and travel schedule of all the athletes and coaches, and the sponsors of the Alberta Ski Team, Western GMC, Descente, Sporting Life, Pro Sport Protection, Ski Big 3 and Nakiska for providing us with transportation, clothing, equipment, protection and training space. I hope everyone enjoys the warm spring weather and hopefully hot summer away from the cold and white landscape. See you all on the mountain bike trails soon!

Cheers,

Jonas