Matt Terwillegar said he has never seen anything like this before.
The sport program manager at the Utah Olympic Park, who is familiar with some of the most high-profile ski towns in the country, expects one of the newest programs at the UOP to open some doors and some eyes, too.
The Lake Placid, N.Y., native, is excited just to get its name out there.
The FUNdamental Ski Club is an all-in-one-type program that is designed to help local youths become familiar with skiing. But it’s not just focused on one ski sport. It features pretty much everything one could do once strapped into a pair of skis.
Children in the club will be able to become acclimatized to the sports of freestyle skiing, freeride skiing, alpine skiing, skiercross and nordic combined.
“It’s all-encompassing,” Terwillegar said. “Ultimately, if we’re talking about kids on skis, this will only help higher their skill level.”
The UOP has an ideal age range from 7 to 11 for those wanting to give the second-year program a shot.
The inaugural year wasn’t exactly what the UOP had envisioned when the club was created; the hope was to hold the whole program at the park and for children to get used to the terrain and become more comfortable learning. However, the park hadn’t developed a significant amount of space for each group to practice each sport. Much of the skiing was held at Canyons resort last year, but Terwillegar and his associates wanted to give the kids an opportunity to experience it all in once spot.
He said the park has recently cleared an area where the alpine skiing will take place, including a mini-moguls course for freestyle.
“Environment is the first piece,” he said. “We’ve always wanted a completed youth environment.”
Each sport will have its own coaching staff.
The staff wants to act as sort of a bridge to the local resorts, according to Terwillegar. He said that program directors envision members of this club eventually moving on to the resorts or, as Terwillegar said, as a “potential feeder.”
“Living in a town like this, this is a program where kids don’t have to choose what they want,” he said. “It’s one-stop shopping.”
FUNdamental isn’t a competitive-specific program. It’s designed to help children get out and experience the joy of different sports; the motto is “building confidence and promoting lifelong physical fitness.”
The program plans on targeting children who don’t really have an idea what these differing types of skiing have to offer. It’s a get-off-the-couch atmosphere that could eventually turn kids on to something that they could excel at going forward.
“It’s filling a niche. If the desire is to be competitive, then that’s what it will be,” Terwillegar said. “We want people to get with this program because of all the different environments involved.”
Terwillegar was adamant in stating that the up-and-coming club is “not trying to compete” with the three resorts in Park City.
This year’s program kicks off on Jan. 5 and will run ’til March 12. There will be two sessions a week: a Wednesday session that includes nordic jumping, freestyle and alpine skiing, and skiercross. A Saturday session will feature everything from the Wednesday session plus cross-country skiing.
When asked if the UOP had set out any track for cross-country skiing, Terwillegar said, “We have a SnoCat. We can create a good loop wherever for the kids to learn.”
Children interested in nordic jumping will begin jumping on one-foot jumps and will progress from there.
The UOP has already set up gates for alpine-aspiring youngsters and even has a small terrain park with rails and boxes for freeriders.
“First and foremost, our goal is fun,” Terwillegar said. “Kids just need alpine skis and a helmet.”
For more information on the club, go to www.olyparks.com or call (435)-658-4208.