Ski Racing
The Aiglon College race team is currently going through a period of renaissance as a more professional and stringent approach is now being taken to increase the level of student expectation and involvement. The squad consists of 60 students who are aged between 15 and 18. They are coached and taken through pre season and ski race competitons by David Mansfield, the race team manager, and his team of professional race instructors. Students also take part in rigorous training camps which includes; fitness for skiing, video analysis of technique, ski maintenance, nutrition for skiing and, evening theory sessions.
Our race team currently trains throughout two seasons: Pre-season (autumn term) and Competition Season (winter term).
Pre-Season:
- Dry land fitness training entails students working on specific components of their fitness which is required for optimal ski race performances
- Pre-Season ski training entails students travelling to ski resorts farther afield in order to focus on their technique and skills. Typical pre-season ski training includes a 4 day training camp in Zermatt during the October half term; a 2 weekend training sessions utilising les Diablerets glacier; a 4 day training camp utilising Villars and Diablerets ski areas at the end of the Autumn term.
Competition Season:
- January-March training sessions which includes 3 ½ days of training sessions per week including timed training and video analysis
- January-March race competitions. Aiglon is involved in 10 competitions throughout the age categories of various local and international ski races including:
- Swiss Group of International Schools;
- Association des Directeurs d’Institutes de la Suisse Romande;
- Grand Prix Migros;
- Welsh Alpine Championships;
- British Interschools’;
- British Schoolboys’ and Schoolgirls’.
Future Developments
We would like the ski racing programme to develop further over the coming years. Some of the developmental ideas include:
- Extra weekly training sessions;
- Longer duration of ski racing training sessions;
- Development and accreditation of an Aiglon Ski Racing Club which would allow our students accumulate FIS points;
- Summer training camps before the beginning of the school year.
For any enquires regarding racing at Aiglon College please contact the Head of Physical Education and Sport (Michael Thompson – mvt@aiglon.ch) or the Race Team Manager (David Mansfield – dsm@aiglon.ch
