Team Summit’s U16’s Take on Stelvio
Twelve of Team Summit Colorado’s U16 alpine ski racers just wrapped up over a week of on-snow training on the Stelvio Glacier in Italy. The trip was as much about growing up as it was about getting faster. For many of these athletes, it was their first international travel experience, and it delivered both world-class training and a crash course in independence.
[Aldo Radamus coaching the U16 athletes alongside Fletcher McDonald]
Why Stelvio? Why now?
Alpine ski racing is a Euro-centric sport, and Stelvio puts athletes in the heart of it. Assistant Alpine Director and Head U14 Coach Doug Elsey, who helped lead the trip alongside Head Alpine Director Aldo Radamus, Fletcher McDonald, Jack Farrell and Sara Radamus, explained that Italy offers something different as well as reliably firm, race-quality snow, plus the chance to train alongside national team programs from Germany and Austria and more. It’s also a deliberate choice for this age group: young enough to absorb cultural exposure in a healthy way, old enough to start taking real ownership of their gear, schedule, and choices. This trip sits squarely in Team Summit’s Age Class pipeline, the step between Ski Race Devo (SRD) and the program’s top tier, FIS racing. Age Class breaks into U12, U14, and U16 categories, with the U16 group representing athletes who’ve already committed multiple seasons to the sport and are starting to set their sights on college or national team goals. Learn more about where this fits into the full pathway on the Team Summit Alpine Racing program page.
A schedule that builds character before dawn
The days in Stelvio started early — really early. Breakfast at 4am, cat service running by 5am to haul athletes up the glacier. Athletes were tuning their own skis and managing their own routines. As Doug put it, there’s “no room for the weary” when the cat is leaving on schedule.- Early mornings taught punctuality and personal accountability, from wake-up to gear prep.
- Teammates leaned on each other, with older athletes helping younger ones adjust to the pace.
- Coaches set clear room and public-space expectations while staying on call for any medical needs.
- Downtime outside training was limited, with occasional group outings, to keep the focus on ski racing.
[U16 Athletes tuning their skis]
Food, culture, and a different kind of education
Meals were a learning experience of their own. The food was excellent but different from what most athletes were used to, and coaches used it as a chance to talk about portion control and not wasting what you put on your plate. Watching how professional nutritionists prepared meals for the national teams training alongside them gave athletes a glimpse into what fueling like a high-level racer actually looks like.
[Meals were prepared not just for Team Summit’s athletes, but also national teams such as the German National Ski Team, Austrian National Ski Team, etc…]
Who this camp is really for
Doug was clear that Stelvio isn’t a general intro experience. The Stelvio Camp is built for athletes who’ve already logged years on snow and are setting real goals for themselves, whether that’s a college program or a national team track. If your athlete is asking hard questions about how far they want to take alpine racing, this is the kind of camp that starts answering them.
[There are no chairlifts on the glacier so Team Summit Athletes get hauled up the hill via Snow Cats]
It cannot be overstated how much planning, hard work, and thought goes into designing this annual alpine race training opportunity. The coaching staff (under Aldo Radamus’ leadership) is directly credited for how smoothly everything ran start to finish.
Upon returning from Italy, the U16’s immediately jumped into training on the Copper Glacier at home, putting Stelvio’s lessons to work on more familiar terrain.
Ready to see where your athlete fits in this pipeline?
Explore Team Summit’s Alpine Ski Racing program to learn how athletes progress from ITS through Ski Race Devo, Age Class, and into FIS and reach out to our Alpine coaching staff to talk about next steps for your skier. Contact Team Summit about the Alpine Program by emailing membership@teamsummit.org
*All photos courtesy of Doug Elsey and the alpine racing team coaches