About PV Alpine Ski Race Camps

  • Olympic Programming: Each session is programmed by Olympic Coach Ryan Shorter to get the most improvement out of the athletes over the course of the session(s) and this is exactly how he programmed for his World Cup and Olympic athletes when they were juniors.

 

  • World Class Coaching: The coaching the athletes receive at our camp has won World Junior Championships, multiple US National and NCAA titles. The coaches target the athletes areas for improvement and use easy to understand language and drills to help the athlete unlock their best skiing. Our coaches are experts at helping junior athletes reach their full potential.

 

  • Personalized Experience: Coaching is an exchange of energy from coach to athlete. Great coaches put as much energy as possible into their athletes. At PV Alpine our coaches focus their attention and energy on the athletes to help facilitate maximum improvement everyday.

 

  • Focus on Training: We focus on getting the most out of each day of training. We spend our time training on snow and then doing quality video review to help athletes with a focus for the next day of training. At PV Alpine off snow time is for recovering for the next skiing session and not for filler activities.

 

  • Intensive Training Block: Each camp is built to help athletes progress as quickly as possible while focusing on skills that allow for long term athlete development. Our training format is 3 days on snow, 1 day off, 3 days on snow. This block allows for intense and deeply focused training sessions that lead to maximum improvement.

 

  • IPad Video on Hill: PVA pioneered using Ipads on hill for instant feedback. If the athlete can see their skiing within 45 seconds of finishing their run they can associate what they see with what they felt. With our Ipad methods athletes are able to watch their run as soon as they finish and take advantage of that window. Relating what you feel to what you see leads to more efficient improvement.

 

  • Proper Course Sets, Legal Gates & Terrain Selection: We make sure the athletes are on the correct sized gates and USSA legal sets. We look for the best lane/ terrain selection to yield the most gains for the athlete.

 

  • Positive Environment: At PVA it is very important to us that each athlete has a positive environment that they can thrive in.

COACHES

PVA coaches are all selected with care. They are invested in each camper and helping them have the best experience by being a positive mentor. PVA coaches are World Class and have skied or coached at the Olympic, World Cup, Nor-Am, NCAA, and FIS level. At PVA, we make sure your child is matched with a coach who will help them improve the most possible, whether it is with one of our youth experts or an Olympic-level coach.

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Ryan Shorter

Ryan Shorter: PV Alpine Founder & Olympic Coach

Ryan coached at the 2018 PyeongChang and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. He has helped athletes reach the World Cup, Olympics, US Ski Team, US Nationals, and Nor-Ams. Ryan’s athletes have won World Junior Championships, National Championships, NCAA National Championships, and countless USSA and FIS races. Ryan was the PNSA Coach of the Year in 2009. He is 100% dedicated to helping all PV Alpine athletes ski their very best, whether they are a beginning racer or an Olympian. Ryan Co-Founded PV Alpine in 1996, and has been running high-quality ski camps at Mt. Hood, Oregon and in Colorado since 2003.

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Alex Shorter

Alex Shorter: PV Alpine Program Director & Coach
Alex Shorter has vast experience at all levels of the sport.  She was a career alpine ski racing coach for 17 years. Alex was the Alpine Children's Program Director for Ski Club Vail for 3 years in which she transformed the program from an underperforming program to a program with a level of never seen before domination. In 2023 Alex was awarded coach of the year for the Rocky division of US Ski and Snowboard. Before that, Alex served as a head coach and alpine “link” coach for the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club. In these roles, Alex was responsible for all elements of programming for 120 athletes, while concurrently providing technical leadership for the entire U10-U16 coaching staffs.  Before moving to Colorado, Alex served an integral member of the leadership team at the Mission Ridge Ski Team and Academy. She was Youth Director for seven years and Head J3 (U16) Coach for five years before that. In 2015 Alex was recognized as the Coach of the Year by the Pacific Northwest division of the USSA; only the 3rd woman ever to earn that distinction.
In her diverse background, Alex has coached athletes who have gone on to win Divisional, Regional, and National Championships, NCAA titles, and who have scored on the World Cup. She is committed to creating a culture where athletes develop superior technical skills that will serve them for as long as they remain in the sport. Alex is excited to help her athletes find their potential through positive culture, a shared responsibility to be one’s best every day, and ultimately empowerment in whatever they undertake in ski racing and beyond.

“Alex Shorter is a true star in American coaching. Her vast leadership skills and intimate technical knowledge at a broad range of the most crucial developmental stages in athletic literacy (and specifically in alpine ski racing) are unmatched in the US, and possibly the world. Alex’s track record of success, at times in unlikely environments, is simply staggering. I have seen Alex connect with athletes in an instant, and earn their trust for a lifetime in just one day. Nobody teaches that kind of intelligence or learns that kind of greatness. Alex is a much-needed unapologetic crusader for evidence-based teaching and youth empowerment in our sports culture. I am proud to call her a great friend and most respected colleague.”
– Adam Chadbourne (Coach of many Olympic medalists including Mikaela Shiffrin, Ted Ligety and Andrew Weibrecht)

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Louis Otto

PV Alpine Coach

Louis Otto works for PV Alpine and Ski Club Vail and has decades of leadership experience as a coach and director in the sport of alpine ski racing. Over the course of his career Lou has played a key role in developing numerous World Cup, Olympic, and National Team athletes. While coaching in Washington, Louis was named Coach of the Year by the Pacific Northwest division of US Skiing in both 1999 and 2008; one of only two coaches to earn the honor twice in its history. A level 400 nationally certified coach, experience has taught Lou that distilling ski racing to its most core principles and always working through that lens is the most efficient and effective way to instill long term growth and skill development in athletes. Beyond the accomplishments and accolades he has earned, Lou is a humble, kind individual who loves working with children in sport.

Ready to get started? Contact us online to learn about our ski camps, and be sure to enroll to take your skills to the next level!