MAST Update 16: Tuesday, January 5, 2021

MAST Update 16
Tuesday, January 5, 2020

Dear MAST Athletes, Families and Coaches:
As you know, MPS has delayed the start of winter sports until January 11.  This means that the coaches cannot hold in-person training.  We can, however, continue to provide you with skill building progressions via Instagram that will allow you to self-direct your training.  You have a season pass and you are welcome to use it.  MAST has also been assigned training lanes by Hyland. If you are going to ski, I encourage you to use the lanes.  This gives you safe space to practice your drills.   All other lanes on the north chair will be occupied by other clubs and high school teams.  The center and south chairs will be busy with lessons and the general public.  In other words, not a lot of room to ski other than on our assigned lanes so please use them if you are going skiing this week.  If they don’t get used, Hyland will ask us to forfeit the lanes.   I don’t want this to happen.  
Attached is a map that roughly outlines the lanes for you.  Do NOT ski in another team’s lanes.   That is not safe to do.   Listed below is the lane schedule for the week.   You will see that the lane assignment times do not correspond with our published practice times.  This is because -under normal conditions -our practice times overlap with Hyland’s lane assignment times.   Normally, we start practice on the south chair with directed free skiing and then move to our lanes for gate training. This allows us to have overlapping practice times.  As one group is finishing up with gate training, the next group is warming up and working on technical skills on another hill.  For this week, you can do all your self-directed free skiing in our assigned lanes during the times listed.  I encourage you to go during your assigned pod’s training time, but you are free to go whenever you wish this week. So, if you are in pods 7 or 8, you are welcome to use lanes 3 and 4 at 6:30 when practice would normally begin.  Next week when we start in-person coach led training, you will need to attend at your assigned pod’s training slot, and we will likely be asking you to start on the south chair.
Tuesday
3:00-5:15: Lane 3, 4. Pods 11 and 12. 
5:15-7:00: Lanes 3, 4. Pods 9, 10. 
7:00-9:00: Lane 4. Pods 7, 8. 

Wednesday 
3:00-5:15: Lanes A, B. Pods 11, 12. 
5:15-7:00: Lanes A, B. Pods 9, 10. 
7:00-9:00: Lanes A, B. Pods 7, 8. 

Thursday 
3:00-5:15: Lane 6, 7. Pods 11 and 12. 
5:15-7:00: Lanes 6, 7. Pods 9, 10. 
7:00-9:00: Lanes 7. Pods 7, 8. 

Friday 
3:00-5:15: Lane 3, 4. Pods 10, 11, 12. 
5:15-7:00: Lanes 3, 4. Pods 7, 8, 9. 

Saturday 
8:00-10:00: Lanes 1, 2. Pods 7, 8, 9. 
10:00-Noon: Lanes 1, 2. Pods 10, 11, 12.

If you are not following MAST on Instagram, my understanding is that you can find us at @mplsalpineski

The coaches are always worried about your safety and on the alert for unsafe situations and behaviors.  Here are some rules you should follow to help keep you safe.

Best Practices For Skiing Safely At Hyland

1. Space – it-- out… when starting downhill from the top of the hill. 
2. Corollary: Don’t all go at once. 
3. Be aware of skiers/snowboarders on your side and as they approach from behind. 
4. Be aware of skiers/snowboarders cutting across the bottom of the hill as they try to get to the lift. 
5. Remember that snowboarders have a blind spot. 
6. Take off your poles when riding the chair or rope tow. 
7. Never, ever slide your poles under your butt when riding the chair. They will, someday, get stuck and break. That’s a promise. 
8. Give room to other free-skiers, especially the non-racing public and small children. If you ski too close you can cause them to panic and fall and it is bad public relations. 
9. When skiing on north chair, use your assigned lane and ski to the bottom of the hill. Do not cross other lanes mid-run to cut over to the lift. 
10. When skiing across the bottom of the hill to the lift, keep an eye uphill to avoid getting struck by racers who fail to see you as the complete their run. 
11. Never ski the back bowls without formal avalanche training. 
12. Always wear a helmet. 
13. Be in control of your speed and direction at all times. 
14. Don’t stop suddenly in the middle of a run. Someone might be right behind you and run into you. 
15. Always look uphill when performing a drill that has you making long traverses across the hill (like Garlands or Downhill Ski Traverse). 

Some additional reminders about proper etiquette and behaviors and practices. 

1. Check to see that you have your season pass with your before leaving your house.
2. Always pick up a lift ticket before skiing. You have a season pass, but you must have the pass scanned to get a daily lift ticket. Do not ski without picking up your ticket. 
3. Always wear your mask. It needs to cover your nose as well as your mouth. You can remove it while skiing if the mask causes your goggles to fog, but put it on as soon as you finish your run. 
4. Stay socially distanced as much as possible. 
5. If you go into the chalet to use the restroom, put your skis and poles in a rack. Never leave your skis and poles on the snow. They will get kicked around, stepped on, and it is poor etiquette. I know, everyone else does, but MAST athletes should not follow the crowd. 
6. Make sure your name and phone number are printed on your skis and poles in permanent marker. You can also add some other identifying mark (like bright pink tape) to your equipment to make it stand out. Since there are so many racers at the hill at the same time, it is very easy for someone to go home with someone else’s skis or poles. They won’t discover they grabbed the wrong equipment until the next time they ski and their boots don’t fit into the bindings. 
7. Corollary: Make sure it is YOUR equipment that you are retrieving at the end of the night. Double and triple check. This may not be a big issue for the next couple of weeks but once the chalet opens up further it will be.

​Have fun. Use the drills. Trust the drills. We are the only team that uses drills religiously and it is the key to our success over the years.   Strive to make an improvement to your skills every day. Looking forward to seeing everyone on Monday. 

Mark Conway 
612-275-8392

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