The Ullr team pre-season begins late-August, and runs through December. The focus of the pre-season is on team building, athletic assessment, and developing aerial skills. We offer a minimum of 10 dryland sessions per athlete, at a baseline cost of 325$ (incl. GST). This fee covers pre-season planning, dryland coaching, administration, and staff training. This fee does not cover venue fees, where applicable (an example of this would be payment for gymnastic training facilities), or coach gas expenses. The staple features of dryland are at least 1 water ramp session in Red Deer; 1 air-bag session; a minimum of 4 trampoline sessions per athlete; 1 dive tank session; and 1 mountain bike session. We also do aerials camps each year, rotating between sites in B.C., Quebec, Park City, and the Yukon. Occasionally, we supplement the pre-season dryland with conditioning sessions; team hikes; paintball; parkour; canoeing/rafting; road riding; an overnight backcountry trip; rock climbing (with a certified ACMG guide); and Freshtival.
Program Pricing
We have 2 on-snow programs that can be refined via add-on packages (prices listed below include GST, but do not include SnowReg processing fees)
Entry
Program
Or
20 Sundays on snow with comp flex days.
- As a stand-alone, this program is ideal for younger athletes, or athletes not as interested in aerials, or IFSA competitions. But, it also can be used in combination with add-on packages.
Mid-range
Program
Packages 4 day $330.00
8 day $660.00
- These packages can be used only as supplements to the 20 or 35 day program and are meant to help the athlete find a level of participation that matches their unique interests.
Competitive
Program
- This program is great for athletes who view freeride as their primary winter sport, or who are hoping to be professional skiers.
On-snow ski days run at $82.50 per day.
Please ask about our ‘hockey package’
All of our programs offer opt-in sports psychology sessions, an opt-in backcountry program, and regular video analysis to improve the athlete’s skiing.
Each local training day begins (conditions permitting) at 8:45 a.m. and usually ends at 3:30 p.m. When the skiing is really good, we sometimes stretch the day to 4 p.m.
We base the ski groups not on age, but skill level, and social compatibility.
Ullr Big Mountain is set up to create a balance of predictable participation and flexibility. The 20 day programs come with ‘competition flex days.’ In the event an athlete does not compete or inspect on their specified program day (a Saturday or Sunday), s/he can substitute one program day, per competition, for a day s/he does compete or inspect. For example, an athlete can trade their regular Saturday for a Friday ‘qualifier,’ if needed. This opportunity helps the athlete maximize their attendance and avoid extra costs. Add-on days and packages can also be used to find alternate ski days that work best for the athlete. The 35 day program is a full punch-card system. With early notification, the athlete can chose to attend any day in our official calendar (with occasional constraints on age, skill level, or group ceilings) or be absent. However, it is the participant’s responsibility to fulfill the program days they pay for.
To keep the quality of the program high, we try to keep the ratio between coach and athletes low, and are committed to having a team ceiling of 170 athletes.
With respect to equipment, helmets and back protectors are mandatory; we request the athletes have a mouth guard; ski poles that are standard length; rock skis (ideally a park ski); and an all mountain, or freeride ski.
There is no official parent volunteer commitment. However, parents can ease logistics, or offset the additional participant costs of the program, by a willingness to chaperone athletes at away events (which may involve car-pooling other athletes), or by helping with safety at team events (e.g., dryland hikes, and backcountry trips).
The specific details of the day-to-day program are covered in a parent information session in late November, and regular group emails. New families to the freeride competition circuit are coached throughout the season on how to manage the logistics of these competitions.
