Does it ever stop? Not sure really but one thing is for sure, running a ski team is certainly not a winter only job! It makes me laugh when people ask what i do with my summers.... Chill out and bum about?! Not a chance, we are busy sorting programs and plans for the summer & following year whilst delivering the summer program at the same time.

Which brings us onto the summer camps. At Ambition we run 2 types of summer camp really, the first set being the Ambition Race Team camps where we head to Kitzsteinhorn, Stelvio and Chile, noramlly in that order, throughout May, July & August. The second type of camp is the UK Camp Tour, which we run with the support of Atomic.

The Ambition Race Team is kicking on well and camps in Kitzsteinhorn and through June have gone extremely well for those involved. There has not been an overkill of new faces this summer which has meant less ice-breaking and introduction and more carrying on from last season. The new coaches; Rob & TJ have settled in very well and you may have seen them around the UK scene, covering cars in flyers and watching (or on occassion entering) the races. It is great to have such enthusiastic guys on board who are keen to work with the athletes throughout a full calendar year. In little over a month we will head to Chile where we will ski in El Colorado for 2 weeks before heading to La Parva for a further 3 weeks, with a team of 11 athletes who will depart at different times depending on age & program requirements. Volume, volume, volume! Of course improving your skiing is about quality training but in all honesty, the guys that are willing (and able) to be on the snow for longer will do better. Someone made me laugh recently by saying 'oh person x is only good because they spend so much time on snow.' Uhuh Sherlock... no kidding??!!!!!

With the Stelvio trip coming up in the next few weeks, we are looking forwards to pushing on with some of the younger guys. We are investing in these guys as much as we can, taking all 4 coaches on a camp with just 14 athletes. Being able to work in such small ratio's will be great for all concerned. We are taking our chef from Haus-Tirol (Gabor) to both the Stelvio & Chile Camps as we continue to look for advantages across the board in everything we do.

The Hemel Camp at the end of July is already full. Amazing progress and anyone who says grass routes ski racing is dying out is incorrect! It would be interesting to leave the camp open and see what the interest level would actually get to in a months time. I imagine even higher still. Perhaps this is more from the good work the club at Hemel have done or to do with keeping the kids occupied in the summer but again, whatever the reason, at least there are a large number of kids spending decent time on snow - it all makes a difference.

Our other camps (Suffolk, Brentwood & Manchester2) are filling up well now with a decent number of the Vikings on the Suffolk Camp. Suffolk probably has one of the best slopes in the country now and as a keen dry slope skier myself, it is good to get back on the real stuff and burn out a few edges! Manchester comes towards the end of the summer, with Brentwood later still, directly before the All-England Champs at Norwich, so if you want some last minute sneaky training, feel free to come along. So, lets hope its a great summer and that everyone who is off training & racing, whether it be in the UK or overseas, has a great time and takes some steps forwards for the sport. It was sad to see TJ Baldwin retire this spring but at least he is keen to inspire the next generation of skiers to an even higher level. Hopefully by the time they get there, we have managed to progress things in an more productive and inspiring direction.

 Enjoy the summer, Ambition Racing