Great day of SL!

Great day! Very proud of the group!

Great weekend!

Hi everyone!!!!

Thank you all that came out this past weekend! Icy snow and sunny skies, what a great way to start our gate training sessions!

Looking forward to seeing more of you soon!!!!

First Day of GS!

It was our first day of GS training! Great day!

Some of the group was running a clean power line! Fun to watch!

Tsubakuro!

Great work by Tsubakuro to prepare the slopes!!!!

Great day at Tsubakuro!

Another great day at Tsubakuro!

Great start to the season!

It is great to see that more snow is falling in Japan this year! Super start!

The second weekend was a busy one. More skiers out to free ski. All racers are progressing well!

This weekend looks to be the first one we can train in brushes or stubbies! I bet all of you are looking forward to that!

Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Great first camp at Tsubakuro

Our first camp of the season was a good one. The group was small and the snow was fairly icy. We worked on the basics, strong, heavy balance changes, when to do it, and basic edging drills. It looks like all are stronger. Nice work training in the summer!

We are looking for to a great season. We hope to see you all soon!

Hello from Doug

The first thing I would like to write is an apology to those of you that wanted to come to Canada for the Fall training camps!!!! Much effort was made to make the camp a reality but in the end it was cancelled! I take full responsibility that that it was cancelled. Again I am very sorry for this! In the end we were actually lucky ,because there is very little snow in Canada at this time! The camp would have been very waste full. I look forward to the winter season in Japan! I see that it is cold there and the start of the season maybe better than recent seasons!

I have seen how Miho Takasawa has been working with a group of children through out the summer and Fall! Great work! And same to all the others that have been preparing for the winter ahead!

My summer season was a challenging one. My wife Chrissy has started her career. She is in the film Industry. She has worked on Feature films, commercials, and tv series. In the Okanagan Valley and in Vancouver. I am so proud of her. She has moved ahead in such a short time. In this I must do many more things for my Family in and out side of our home, plus continue my normal work in Kelowna. I have a new respect for those that must act as single parents! Much effort and time is needed. Working together as a team is best!

Which brings me to my next topic. I am so grateful to Ono San and the Takasawa family! So many details are and have been handled by them. A great team effort! Amazing really! And all of the racers that train with us! Thank you so much! I look forward to a successful season ahead! It will be a great one!!!!

I look forward to seeing you all soon!

Summer Update!

Hi Everyone,

It has been a very busy summer for me! Mostly work related. I have been installing cabinetry in a new apartment building in Kelowna. It is nice being in town though. Very close to my house. Makaiya has been working with at times too. Very helpful!

I have also been building a dinning room table. Finally finished it yesterday! 135cm wide and 235cm long. I call it the Crate! I will be selling it in Vancouver.

I hope you are all having great summer seasons and training hard to improve you physical fitness!!!!! If you can do that it will give you the best chance for better results this winter. Great job Miho Takasawa for helping many kids this summer! I wish you all the best!

Update from Canada

Hi All,

I hope you are all doing well in Japan!!!! But pushing your selves to improve your physical fitness and your positive mental control.

I have settled in to my life here. My family is busy. Tajanna, Seb her husband and my Grandson Zion bought a house and live within a 3 minute drive from us. That is great news! We are very proud of them.

I have been installing kitchens as usual. I just returned from a job in Christina Lake. A summer resort town in B.C.. The owner of the house showed me a water fall behind his house. Amazing!

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day to All of those Loving , supportive, beautiful, patient, dedicated, hardworking, awesome, moms!!!!!!!!!

You are all very special!! Thanks for being you!!!!

Return to Canada

Hi all!!!!

First, Thanks for a great season!!!! I appreciate you all so much for training with us!!! I am the luckiest man in the world! It is a true joy watching you improve in ski racing and in life skills. Patients, persistence, hard work, focus, positive attitude, and respectfulness! Keys to success in anything.

I guess some of you may have a few races left in April? After those are finished it is good to take a little time off to unwind after a long season. After that, perhaps starting in May it is time to start preparation for next season. I have never seen or met a fast ski racer that is not fast and strong. So it should be your goal to be faster and stronger! No matter what level you are at. Spring is a great time to improve your body's endurance. If you look on line there are many ways to do this. What age you are is a factor to how high you want your heart at during the training.

Good luck and work hard! I want to see all of you stronger for next season. If you improve your physical fitness you WILL have a successful 2016 2017 season!

Last day update!

Thanks for the great season!

It was challenging at times because of lack of snow, but many teams worked together and were able to achieve a lot!

Please work over the summer to improve your foot speed and strength. All fast ski racers are fast and strong!

Bye for now.

Last Day of GS

Another awesome spring day!

We trained with Sports Unity again today. It has been great this week! A good joint effort!

I really like how everyone is preparing before the start. Much better imagery preparation! Nice work!

I have noticed at the finish line most racers are skiing way to high of a line. 3 gates before the finish line you should be going as low as possible! Barely get past the last gate!

SL tomorrow! The weather looks to be good! A nice way to finish the season!

April 1 Update

Hi from Sugadaira,

We had a great day of training on Grand Prix at Omatsu Yama today. GS! There was a roll at the bottom of the GS set that made our training challenging. It was good to have the experience of turning while going over a bump though. Many stood up with arms out, going over it and ended up on the tails of their skis. A few were able to press their arms and upper body's forward maintaining center balance on the ski. Great job!

An important preparation point is at the start. I have noticed many racers just go in to the start after talking with their friends and start their run. No mental rehearsal of their run. It is vital to take time to see your desired performance before you start. Please take time to close your eyes and play a movie in your mind of the line you will ski and the powerful, clean, fast turns you will perform on that line. Be Prepared in as many ways as you can.

Bye for now!

Last day at Tsubakuro!

Today we had our last training day at Tsubakuro! It was a great day, Sunny, and icy snow for most of the day. Good skiing from the group too.

Thanks to The ski area for giving us a great season!!!! Of course thank you racers for joining our race camps!!!! We appreciate you all.

Tomorrow is GS at Omatsu Yama. See you soon!

Amazing snow conditions!

We had such a great day today. Icy snow all day! We had around 10 racers today. GS. A great day because many racers were able start a carving , power turn from the rise line. They were flying! Nice work!

March 23 Update

Amazing how fast the season has flown by! A little over a week left of the season in Sugadaira. I really appreciate all of the racers that choose to train with us! Thank you very much! Also, there is a lot of behind the scenes preparation done for our training. Miho Takasawa does it all so well. Great work!

Tomorrow is SL training. It is cool and cloudy so the snow condition is very good! Icy for most of the morning. Super for this time of year.

Big races coming up. Good Luck to all taking part!

See you soon !

GS pictures!

Good luck to all in races this weekend! Power the course line!!!!!!

March 14 Up date

Hi all!

More snow falling in Sugadaira! Under the new snow is ice though. Great conditions ! Over the weekend we had great training! Not a very big group so all had many runs! The Super G training really has helped everyone's GS. Better line and power going into the gate.

Speaking of line, a gentleman asked me " Doug I skied a high line but my time was slow." I asked" what was the set, and terrain like?" "Well it was flat and a simple set." If the set is straight you ski it straight! You match what ever the course gives you. Full power always, but your edging is always determined by snow conditions ,slope, and the set!

This week is early training. Lift starts from 7 am! SL tomorrow!

See you soon!

Hot day! SL trainiing!

A hot spring day! The SL training was good though. We used snow cement so the snow was hard! The group did well with their goals. They are really starting to fly! Fun to see! Looks like it is going to cool down again. We need it1 The snow has been melting too fast!

Super G training is scheduled for the weekend. The snow maybe icy so be ready for it.

Great results this past week end many wins and personal bests! Very proud of all of you!

Great support from Miho Takasawa! She has really done a great job to uplift the racers. Many great results at Naeba! Super!

Friday Update!

Hi Everyone!

It has been a great week of training! Great weather and super snow conditions. The group was small, so our on hill discussions were more detailed!

Races are scheduled this weekend. Be positive. Control your thoughts and picture what you want!!!

This weekend the we are training on #3. It will be a good change to be on a different slope!

I look forward to seeing you all soon!