Gymnastics Helps Moguls Skiers Go Round

PARK CITY, Utah (June 21) - Young budding gymnasts aren't the only ones perfecting their flips and balance at the Black Diamond gymnastics center in Park City, UT, this summer. The U.S. Freestyle Ski Team's moguls athletes are also setting up shop at the gym to hone in the perfect air package and dial in their balance and coordination skills.

"What we want to do is get all the athletes to do some basic gymnastics training in balance, strength, and flips," said Moguls Coach Lasse Fahlen. "We want them to get the gymnastics down to make them more safe on the snow. They will be better off because they can get used to the flips and really execute them on snow."

In their gymnastics training, the group of athletes, which included 2008 U.S. moguls champion Emiko Torito (Denver), and team rookie Ani Haas (Missoula, MT), work on balance beams, floor tumbling, and flipping off a trampoline into a pit filled with foam cubes.

"It makes you feel better in your body. Stupid little things like climbing out of the foam pit - that makes you have to figure out where your legs and arms are," Torito said. "For moguls skiing, being aware of your body is really fundamental so this is just the type of preparation you have to do."

For Haas, who is in her first summer of training with the team, the exposure to gymnastics is welcome because she believes it will give her a leg up on the competition next season.

"With how the sport is progressing, I feel like the people who have had a gymnastics background definitely have an edge over those who didn't grow up doing it," Haas said. "So, to be able to come in here and do acrobatic moves like that, I feel like it's only going to be better for our balance and body positioning in the air.

"We're lucky that we're getting to be able to do something like this that completes and rounds out our training."

The biggest thing Haas plans to take away from gymnastics training this summer will be a sense of confidence.

"I feel like the growing confidence level, because I am doing things I have never done before, is the biggest thing that's going to help me," Haas said.

According to Torito, who is not familiar with gymnastics, the training hours she puts in at the gym are going to drive her improvement not only throughout the summer, but also in jumping on snow during the 2009 season.

"I feel like a fish out of water a little bit. I'm not super coordinated at this stuff and you are here with all the little girls who are really good at it. But it's great for anything from body awareness to balance," Torito said "As far as all of our jumps, with the flipping and twisting, you really need those fundamental skills that you can learn here while competing, so it's beneficial."

In addition to workouts and water ramping, the moguls skiers will be spending time in the gym throughout the summer.

The Black Diamond Gym is a 15,000 square foot, state of the art, gymnastics training center located in Park City, UT.

Click here for video of moguls skiers in the gym.