Training Progression
The Philosophy
Loveland Ski Club trains within close reach of one of the largest populations of motivated young skiers in the region, backed by an exceptional partnership with Loveland Ski Area.
On the racing side, our dedicated venue at Loveland Valley is meticulously maintained, well-staffed, and built to give every athlete a real shot at their full racing potential. For all-mountain development, Loveland Basin's range of intermediate-to-expert terrain gives every LSC athlete room to grow.
Everything we do starts with fundamentals.
We believe the foundational movements of skiing, performed correctly and repeated until they're instinctual, are what separate a good racer from a lifelong skier. That's a long game: real skill takes years, not seasons, and we coach for where an athlete will be five years out, not just this weekend.
There are no shortcuts.
Skill is built one correct repetition at a time, tens of thousands of times over, until it becomes automatic. That discipline is what it takes to develop the "total skier," and it's the standard we hold every LSC athlete to.
“The importance of repetition until automaticity cannot be overstated. Repetition is the key to learning.”
— John Wooden, You Haven’t Taught Until They Have Learned
The Method
We coach the “Loveland Method of Progression” which focuses on three arenas of skill development.
Gateless Training
During Gateless Training, Loveland athletes are focused on Skill Acquisition. This is the first step in the learning process. This time is spent on relatively easy terrain working on acquiring fundamental movement patterns. As these fundamental skills are acquired, the athlete will then progress to Skill Development. During this time, the athlete is repeating the newly acquired skill correctly to engrain the movement. It is crucial that new skills are first developed outside of the gates and are then transferred to the gated environment. Following Skill Development, we progress to Skill Application, at which time the athlete is applying the new movements in increasingly more challenging environments, including Gated Training.
Gated Training
During Gated Training, the athletes are applying the fundamental skills acquired and developed during Gateless Training. We begin this process with simple brush corridors and short rhythmical courses. Once the athletes are applying the fundamental movements correctly, we progress to more challenging courses, steeper terrain, timed runs, and race simulation. Our primary gated arena is the Twist trail at Loveland Valley and the gentle Boomerang trail which is reserved exclusively for our D-Team on Saturday mornings. Additionally, we enjoy access to training on a variety of trails at Loveland Basin, including full-length speed training.
Directed Free-Skiing
During Directed Free-skiing, Loveland athletes are exploring the mountain environment. Steeps, powder, bumps, trees, etc., play a crucial role in the development of the skier. During this time, the athlete is under the supervision of a coach and being taught by the mountain arena. In this environment, the athlete’s developing fundamental skills are further applied, tested and refined
Support the Club
LSC is a nonprofit, and everything we do - the coaching, the venue set up, the programming - runs on the generosity of this community as much as it does on tuition. If you're in a position to chip in, even a small amount makes a real difference.