A new Carbondale facility for the Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club (AVSC) expands dryland training opportunities and limits long commutes for young snowsport athletes and their families.
Located in one of the warehouse spaces on Industry Place, the Carbondale Athlete Development Center (ADC) began seeing its first training sessions last week, as athletes work on their preseason conditioning ahead of the winter sports season.
It has long been a goal for AVSC directors and coaches to make training more accessible for the growing number of member athletes and their families who reside between Basalt and western Garfield County, said Colin Suszynski, marketing and communications manager for AVSC.
“We have a pretty even split between athletes who reside upvalley and our downvalley residents who utilize our clubhouse on a regular basis,” Suszynski said of the main AVSC Clubhouse located near Aspen High School, at the base of the Aspen Highlands ski area.
“For a lot of those downvalley kids, it’s a pretty hefty drive to get up to the clubhouse, especially for our after-school dryland training sessions,” he said. “Having this facility splits the distance, and for our Carbondale athletes it’s right here in their hometown.”
Currently, about 58% of AVSC athletes reside between El Jebel and Parachute, including a total of 1,184 athletes living between Carbondale and El Jebel/Basalt, Suszynski said.
“A quarter of our registrants this year [743] came out of Carbondale alone,” he said.
The training center features the Valley’s only indoor super trampoline, where snowboard and freestyle ski athletes can work on their aerial skills. There’s also an indoor skate park, a roller ski treadmill for Nordic skiers to do their workouts, weight equipment for strength training, plus office and meeting spaces for staff.
A grand opening party for the Carbondale ADC is planned for 3 to 6:30pm on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 770 Industry Place.
Nordic skier Sadie Silcox of Carbondale is entering her 13th year with AVSC, and last year competed at the junior nationals for the first time, racing in both classic and skate skiing events. She said her typical dryland training during the offseason includes roller skiing, running, biking and training in the gym.
“Having a gym facility closer to home will help my teammates and me because there’s a lot more to the sport than just skiing on snow,” Silcox said. “Strength training helps us build power and endurance and become more efficient skiers.”
Since Nordic skiing is such a seasonal sport, she said that having access to a gym during the offseason is especially helpful.
“We can continue developing as athletes even when we aren’t skiing,” she said. “This will make it easier to stay consistent with that training throughout the year.”
For families with younger AVSC athletes, and for the many coaches who also reside downvalley, the new gym makes things more convenient, said Jetzen O’Connor, coach for the U12 freestyle competitive ski team.
Having two indoor training facilities also helps spread things out when it comes to demands for training time between the different age groups, he said.
The indoor trampoline is in addition to an outdoor trampoline located at the main AVSC clubhouse, which is limited for use depending on the weather and often reserved for the older athletes.
“Having this as an opportunity for them to get the same kind of trampoline experience is huge,” said O’Connor, a former AVSC athlete himself who now has kids.
It can also help grow the program when more downvalley kids learn that there is a gym close by, he said.
“It also gives us a chance to spend some extra time with these developmental level athletes and bring them along a little faster,” O’Connor said.
AVSC Executive Director August Teague said the Carbondale facility helps the organization to fulfill its mission.
“Ultimately, combining these spaces with the people is what we do,” he said. “To create great kids and provide great programming, we need to have a great environment where we can interact with the kids. This is yet another step for us to be able to support kids from Aspen to Parachute.”
A grand opening party for AVSC’s Carbondale Athletic Development Center is planned for 3 to 6:30pm on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 770 Industry Place.