Frequently Asked Questions

You should be able to manage any kind of ski-run with parallel turns easily. However, experience regarding Slalom ski pole training or ski racing is not required. For ARC it is not important that you are already a good skier, what is really essential for us is the right attitude towards skiing and motivation. If you work hard and if you are offered a professional environment you will be ale to reach everything in skiing. Therefore, our coaches do not consider it important how good somebody is at skiing, but it is expected that every participant tries to do his or her best every day, so we can support them to make progress systematically.

According to our experience we have gained in many years, a child can participate easily at the age of 8, provided it has the appropriate skills in terms of skiing technique. Nevertheless, there have been younger athletes in our groups as well; this is the case when a child is an exceptional skier and when it is independent. Private training lessons e.g. are already available for children at the age of 4.

Skiing athletes at age 4 can participate in training sessions; up to now the oldest participant has been 84 years old. Due to the large number of participants in our camps, we can offer different groups for each athlete, regardless whether somebody wants to begin with ski racing, or already takes part in World Cup races. ARC’s major strength and core competence is definitely the training of Children and Junior ski racers.

Skiing is a highly complex sport and professional coaches should teach the athlete from the very beginning. Unfortunately, children are often trained by people, who do not have the appropriate qualification, and then a lot of time and energy is needed to teach the brain to delete incorrectly practiced movements and save the correct ones.

First of all, a possible World Cup victory should not be the reason for registering with ARC, even though such registration has led to victories for many of our athletes. On the contrary, a child should have a hobby as compensation for the stressful situation in school, and it should spend its leisure time in nature with friends from all over the world. Unfortunately, children are busy with their computers, video game consoles and mobile telephones too often. In our opinion, ski sport is the best preparation for life in future. Children learn to be punctual, to be independent and how to organise themselves. Athletes are taught to work hard and consistently in order to achieve their goals. Their reward is a successful result in the race. Above all, they learn how to cope with pressure, victories and defeats. Moreover, the difficult times of puberty can be overcome quite well and they also realize that in an athlete’s life there is no space for things such as alcohol, tobacco or drugs.

Your child will still have fun. Even though children have to face a challenging programme, each training lesson is held in a playful and relaxing manner so that all children can enjoy the sessions. Children tend to loose fun, if they do not see any progress and if they are not rewarded for their efforts. Well, a 23rd place with a 3.7 second-deficit can definitely not be considered a reward! Children like to train and they should learn that hard work will be rewarded! They appreciate strict rules and discipline as soon as they understand the rules and consider them helpful and justified. Apart from that, consequent training and success allows to build a healthy self esteem for young children.

06:30 a.m. Coaches personally wake up their athletes
06:45 a.m. Physical exercise in the morning
07:00 a.m. Breakfast
08:15 a.m. Ride with the cable car and ski training until 12:30 p.m.
01:30 p.m. Lunch in the hotel
02:00 p.m. Video analysis
04:00 p.m. Dry land training
05:30 p.m. Ski preparation
06:30 p.m. Dinner
08:00 p.m. Camp meeting
09:30 p.m. Bed rest for all children and adolescents under 18

The example below describes a five days Classic Camp programme; nevertheless, it is also possible to book e.g. Saturday as the 6th training day, or several weeks/sessions.
The program of our Elite Camps and Private Camps is customized for our athletes.

Sunday

• Arrival
• Hotel check-in until 06:00 p.m.
• Common dinner at 06:30 p.m.
• Programme presentation at 08:00 p.m.

Monday

• Start of ski training
• Technical exercises to improve basic position and basic movements
• Video analysis of technical exercises

Tuesday

• Repetition and continuation of technical exercises for Giant Slalom (GS)
• Start of GS pole training
• Video analysis of GS pole training

Wednesday

• Repetition and continuation of technical exercises for GS
• GS pole training
• Video analysis of GS pole training

Thursday

• Start of technical exercises for SL
• Start of SL pole training
• Video analysis of SL pole training

Friday

• Repetition and continuation of technical exercises for SL
• SL pole training
• Video analysis of SL pole training

Regarding our summer and autumn camps we recommend arriving on Sunday, as the technical programme, which is a step-by-step approach, starts on Monday. In special cases, e.g. if athletes can not get an appropriate flight connection, we can react flexibly and we will support the athletes concerned in the best possible way. As far as the winter camps are concerned, arrival or departure is possible at any day, as this is the time when the races take place and hence, the content of the training is defined accordingly.

Our groups are rather small and comprise 3 to maximum 5 athletes per coach, which guarantees efficient use of existing training time. In the course of the ski training, the video analysis and the fitness training, the coach can take care of his or her athletes on an individual and intensive basis, which consequently leads to guaranteed progress. Apart from that, the particular training programme is more individual as it can be adapted to the needs of each single athlete.

Due to the large number of athletes participating in ARC, we are in the happy position to divide our groups in terms of age and skills. It goes without saying that in Elite Camps it is easier to make such a precise division than in Classic Camps with 8 to 9 ski runners.

We are happy if parents come to ARC together with their children to learn about our philosophy, and to see for themselves how we work with our athletes; however, it is not necessary to join them. Subsequent to the first common stay in ARC, many athletes arrive on their own, because their parents have seen that we look after their children very well. Every morning, the athletes are woken up by their respective coaches, who look after them during the whole day and who carry out regular room inspections in the evening to ensure that every athlete goes to bed in time and that the rooms are tidied up.

We have been working with “Four Season Travel”, a professional transfer company, for many years. All athletes are picked up by the driver, who is provided with an ARC sign and who awaits the athlete at the gate. Afterwards the athletes are directly taken to the reception of the hotel. As far as the departure is concerned, the child is picked up again at the reception of the hotel; the driver helps at the airport check in and waits until the athlete has passed the gate.

Of course they can’t! Even if parents are present, each child is taken to the race track and back to the hotel by the coach. All athletes are under supervision during their entire stay.

We perfectly understand that concern. Parents are always worried about their children – but there is no need! Our coaches are available 24 hours a day and they will look after your child in the best possible way. In order to guarantee the best possible support, we have established strict ARC rules:

Yellow Card Rules:

• Punctuality
• Discipline in the hotel (table manners)
• Respect, politeness towards all athletes and trainers
• Tidy rooms
• Bed rest at 09:30 p.m.

Red Card Rules:

• Swimming in the hotel pool without coaches/parents being present is strictly prohibited
• Girls are not allowed to visit boys in their rooms and vice versa
• Leaving the hotel without prior information of the coach is not permitted
• Always stay with your coach
• Alcohol, tobacco or other drugs are strictly prohibited

Our camp is well known for its discipline, some people even describe it as military. However, rules are of utmost importance to guarantee safety and maximum training success. Nevertheless, children must be allowed to make mistakes. If “Yellow Card Rules” are disregarded, a warning will be given, whereas if “Red Card Rules” are not obeyed, parents shall have to pick up their children immediately without any exception and without reimbursement of the camp costs. As we have already mentioned before, our camp is well known for its extraordinary discipline; anyway, it has never been necessary to take such measures in the past 40 years of ARC.

The safety of our children is our highest precept – we think all parents agree in this respect. Apart from that, discipline is crucial to achieve top training success. Not only does ARC consider itself as a training centre for alpine skiing, it also wants to provide support in relation to the development of the entire life of an athlete. We believe that ski sport is the best preparation in order to cope with the challenges one has to face later in life. It is all about the same values: discipline, tidiness, respect, politeness, determination.

In general – yes; but very often a diversified training requires changing the coach. Especially athletes, who stay in the camp for a longer period, benefit from changing coaches. ARC invests a lot of time, energy and money in the vocational training of its coaches in order to ensure a kind of philosophy and a technical understanding that is absolutely uniform in every detail. This is one of the strengths of ARC, because the athlete is explained the same technical details every time, just by using other words. In case of coach changes, the new coach receives a training report, which exactly describes the things that have been elaborated and the kind of steps that have to be taken next.

In general, ARC trainings are held in all weathers! We don’t want to waste training times of our international athletes and we consider managing nature and its conditions a crucial training component. Rain, snow, wind or fog are conditions an athlete has to cope with during the race as well; that is why trainings will be held at any time regardless of the weather. “Fine weather athletes” will never be champions. In the event, that the ski-lift is not operating due to bad weather, alternative programmes have been developed, such as fitness exercises, World Cup analysis, lectures on ski preparation, etc.

In addition to the training, it is possible to book the ski pass and full board in the hotel directly at ARC. Apart from that no money is needed, except for drinks or snacks for the slopes.

Especially athletes, who stay with ARC for a longer period, have to manage their school studies. Please inform our office in time, so we can include study times in the schedule. If your child needs help, we can organise a private teacher, who will come to the hotel.

Of course – this is no problem at all. Nevertheless, it is more efficient to stay in the same hotel as the trainer and the other athletes, because the daily routine is very intensive. Moreover, the athlete should not miss the international familiar atmosphere in the hotel and the opportunity to make new friends.

Many athletes stay for a couple of weeks. Thus, training programmes are planned accordingly and we make sure that the athlete has enough time to relax. A longer stay allows more progress.

Of course, we will mange that. Please tell our office together with the registration, and we will inform the hotel prior to your arrival.

If the ski pass was booked via our camp, we record the code number of every athlete. In case a skier looses the ski pass, the Camp Management will organise a new one. The athlete just has to pay a deposit for the ticket in the amount of € 2,-. If you have bought the ski pass directly, please take down the code number, because without that number you have to buy a new ski pass.

Every ARC coach speaks German and English. Some coaches also have other language skills.

Parents are welcome to watch trainings e.g. in the middle of the race track, or they can stay in the back while watching the video analysis. However, we don not appreciate parents giving additional information/corrections during the ARC training process. Skiing is a highly complex sport and requires a high degree of concentration. If the athlete receives differing orders from coaches and parents, it is simply not possible to achieve training success.

• Giant Slalom and Slalom skis
• Ski boots
• Ski poles
• Helmet
• Gloves
• Ski goggles
• Protectors (hand, shin, back)
• Ski clothes for warm and cold days
• Backpack for ski-training on the glacier
• Water bottle for ski training and Dry land training
• Sport clothes for Dry land training for warm and cold days
• Sport shoes for Dry land training
• Ski tuning equipment (tables, vices and irons are present)

If friends come to our camp together, they can certainly stay in one room – please inform our office together with the registration. Athletes, who arrive on their own, will stay in twin rooms or triple bed rooms according to their age. It is also possible to book single rooms which involve extra charges.

ARC provides a separate room for ski preparation. The room is equipped with tables, insert devices and irons. The athlete should bring other material such as files, file-holders, wax, etc. In case the athlete has forgotten something or does not own a specific tool, such things can be purchased in the camp.

Yes. Regardless of any participation in Austria Racing Camps, every ski athlete should be sufficiently insured for the whole year. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to conclude an appropriate sports and accidental insurance. Travel insurance is also very useful for any kind of journey.