FIS Program Philosophy

The Team Panorama FIS program is based on patience and racing skills development. Traditionally once a child finishes K2 a big decision must be made if they should carry on to the FIS circuit. The pressures of missing school and costs lead a lot of families to getting out of the sport.

Team Panorama started a new FIS program in 2009/10 based on a philosophy of just continuing with a K2 style program for the early FIS years. The goals of the program are to focus on the technical events, allow the kids to grow and improve their skiing skill, touching speed events only in training environments and easier race environments. The aim also is to race close to home and finish school. We know the journey to the elite levels of the sport is very difficult but if trained correctly covering all the bases of physical and technical elements with no unrealistic pressure of  results, the journey towards the elite levels can be a lot of fun and huge benefit to the person overall.

Paying attention to detail at this refining level is key to good performance outcomes. The quality and focus of the training day is still one of the cornerstones of a good program. The physical conditioning of a young athlete is another and we know because the physical demands greatly increase as the skiers reach the FIS level this area has become crucial for injury prevention and performance enhancement. Because of this we employ the services of experts in the field for overall long term physical development from the early ages.

The FIS program is based on a 110-120 on snow day format with a year round physical program. COP is used for a portion of the winter 2 nights a week. We only ski one short summer camp at Mt Hood and start 3-4 sessions a week on snow as soon as the snow is down at Panorama. The race series we base the program on is the Alberta and BC regional FIS circuit of approximately 25-30 starts. If skiers find themselves qualifying for higher level races based on past performances, we assess the value of the race and the needs of the individual at that time, before an entry is made.

The overall goal of the program is to create great skiers, great athletes, and great racers in a relaxed long term style setting that will allow any participant to follow their tracking and give them the opportunity to reach their inherent potential in this life long sport.