Ski & Snowboard Club Vail Joins High Performance Center Program
U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced today the addition of Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (SSCV) as the newest member of its High Performance Center (HPC) Partnership Program. The HPC program was initiated in 2017 to share knowledge, systems and processes of athlete development between ski and snowboard clubs and U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s High Performance Department.
The program encourages certified Gold and Silver Clubs, who have excellence in athletic development, sports science, and sports medicine, to become a designated High Performance Center with U.S. Ski & Snowboard to maintain strong and robust talent pathways that can consistently identify and develop world-class athletes.
“The High Performance Center partnership program is critical to our success in developing our future athletes and we are delighted to have Ski & Snowboard Club Vail officially on board,” said Troy Taylor, Director of High Performance for U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “This is something really special and Vail, along with our other elite partnerships and High Performance Centers, will play a key role in our athlete development strategies and the effectiveness of a shared, collaborative system for years to come.”
Ski & Snowboard Club Vail has a long and storied history of developing champions and mentors more than 650 young athletes who participate in its on-snow programs across five disciplines: alpine, freeski, moguls, Nordic and snowboard. In 2019, SSCV also announced the launch of a full-time cycling program for dedicated, year-round competitive mountain bikers.
SSCV’s Minturn Fitness Center (MFC) opened its doors in 2014 as the first club-run facility to provide full human performance and medical services to its athletes. The 9,000-square-foot facility has been training SSCV and U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes, as well as the general public, for the past five years, developing a reputation as an industry leader in the area of human performance.
The MFC requires its staff to have and maintain the highest standard of education, including all of the following certifications: National Strength and Conditioning Association, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists, Certified Personal Trainers, and EXOS/XPS Performance Specialists. The MFC is also a club leader in developing programs using periodization and a 12-month collaboration with on-hill staff.
This new HPC designation will further ensure SSCV is able to provide world-class services to its athletes, coaches and clients.
“We are overwhelmed by this accolade from U.S. Ski & Snowboard, which recognizes SSCV’s expertise and dedication to the health and performance of its athletes,” said John Cole, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail’s Director of Human Performance. “As we continue to innovate our training and periodization systems, we will look forward to our new partnerships and collaborations, not only with the Center of Excellence in Park City, but also our fellow High Performance Centers throughout the U.S.”
“It’s an honor to officially partner with U.S. Ski & Snowboard,” said Jimmy Pritchard, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail’s Director of Strength and Conditioning. “We are thrilled to further support the athletes with highest level of service and expand our educational relationships with the staff.”
Ski and Snowboard Club Vail’s commitment to athlete development culminates annually during Mountain-Con, a sport performance conference geared specifically for the mountain sport athlete professional that provides access to information from the most highly-acclaimed sport performance professionals in the industries of physiology, strength and conditioning, performance psychology, nutrition and altitude/sea level performance. Participants of Mountain-Con may use their attendance as continuing education credits with U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s coaching certification program.
For more information about U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s High Performance Partnership Program, please contact Tom Webb, Director of Marketing and Communications at tom.webb@usskiandsnowboard.org.
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About Ski and Snowboard Club Vail
Founded in 1962, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (SSCV) is the Vail Valley’s oldest nonprofit. Today, the club remains true to its roots by instilling the values of “character, courage and commitment” through mentorship of more than 650 young athletes who participate in its on-snow programs. The organization provides training and competition services for aspiring snow-sport athletes across five snowsport disciplines: alpine, freeski, moguls, Nordic, and snowboard. A U.S. Ski & Snowboard Gold Certified Club, SSCV has received numerous accolades form the national governing body, including Club of the Year (2010, 2014), Alpine Club of the Year (1999, 2010, 2014-16), Cross Country Club of the Year (2013), Freeski Club of the Year (2013-14), Freestyle Club of the Year (2014), and Snowboard Club of the Year (2014). Over the years, SSCV has helped cultivate numerous champions. Three Olympic gold medalists — Lindsey Vonn, Mikaela Shiffrin, and Kaitlyn Farrington — all booted up at the SSCV clubhouse during their formative years, as did X Games gold medalist Aaron Blunck, world champion Chris Del Bosco, and Olympic bronze medalist Toby Dawson.
About U.S. Ski & Snowboard
U.S. Ski & Snowboard is the Olympic National Governing Body (NGB) of ski and snowboard sports in the USA, based in Park City, Utah. Tracing its roots directly back to 1905, the organization represents nearly 200 elite skiers and snowboarders in 2019, competing in seven teams; alpine, cross country, freeski, freestyle, snowboard, nordic combined and ski jumping. In addition to the elite teams, U.S. Ski & Snowboard also provides leadership and direction for tens of thousands of young skiers and snowboarders across the USA, encouraging and supporting them in achieving excellence. By empowering national teams, clubs, coaches, parents, officials, volunteers and fans, U.S. Ski & Snowboard is committed to the progression of its sports, athlete success and the value of team. For more information, visit www.usskiandsnowboard.org.