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Thrills amid the chills

Fantasy camps and clinics allow fans to take a crack at some of the Winter Olympics' most exciting sports.

By DEBORAH ABRAMS KAPLAN
Published January 22, 2006

[Photos: Deborah Abrams Kaplan]

A Fly Freestyle team member demonstrates an aerial trick at Utah Olympic Park. After practicing on smaller ramps, visitors can jump from these ramps.

	Greg Fann jumps from the introductory kicker (the ramp) during a summer freestyle clinic at Utah Olympic Park.

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - When Bruce Norman took his first luge "slide" here two years ago, he was exhilarated: "You're four inches off the ice, going downhill at 50 miles per hour with no brakes . . . It totally consumes your attention."

Norman, a 48-year-old research manager from Burnt Hills, N.Y., said he has participated in sports all his life, but he's hardly an Olympian. Yet it was on an Olympic track where he took his lessons.

And for sums ranging from $65 to $2,000, most anyone else can taste the Olympic life. Sites in Lake Placid and Park City, Utah, that were Olympic venues now host a variety of introductory clinics and fantasy camps for bobsled, skeleton, luge, freestyle skiing and ski jumping.

Several rinks - including one in Fort Myers - are the site of hockey and figure-skating clinics, where even beginners get coached by Steve Jensen, former Olympian and NHL player, or Oksana Baiul, the 1994 Olympic gold medal skater.

Participants may try a sport just once, for bragging rights and cocktail party conversation. For instance, those at the Utah Olympic Park's camp for the skeleton will start at the top of the milelong track, lying flat on a skeleton "tray" as they descend headfirst at up to 80 mph, their chins just inches above the ice.

"People have no idea what they're getting into," said Robbie Lyon, a U.S. skeleton coach, of the fantasy campers. "It feels like the biggest run of adrenaline - something you can't explain 'til you do it."

Athletic ability helps you improve your technique and timing on this semicontrolled slide, but it won't help you get down the track. "It's 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical," Lyon said. "It's not hard to lie on the sled."

Norman, the novice luge slider, agreed. "It's not tiring," he said. "You're sliding for just over 30 seconds, and (on the luge) you're lying on your back. It's an experience, not an exertion."

Though a participant doesn't have to be in top shape to attend, camps often require a doctor's permission to take part.

Although fantasy camps are generally open to teens through seniors, most campers are 30 to 55 years old - those who can afford it and "really want that experience," according to Steve Peters, the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation's eastern programs manager.

Sliding camps attract an equal number of men and women, and participants often come alone.

With camps gaining in popularity, the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation is doubling the number of their Lake Placid fantasy camps this winter, owing to expected Olympic hype. And though small - the 8 to 10 campers pay $2,000 each - the programs usually sell out.

For the money, campers get instruction from Olympic coaches and athletes, ice time, equipment and clothing use, videos of their performance, and a tax deduction, because some of the fees go to support the U.S. teams.

Participants at Lake Placid's programs stay at the Olympic Training Center, sharing the dorms and eating at the cafeteria with athletes training for winter as well as summer sports, including boxing, equestrian events, rowing and volleyball.

Park City's luge participants stay at the USA Luge house.

"You're living at the training center, interacting and rubbing shoulders with the athletes," said Norman. "You're having meals with them before they go off to competitions."

Camps typically include several hours of daily ice time, interspersed with off-ice instruction on technique, equipment care, exercise and video analysis of the day's efforts.

While a destination fantasy camp interests some weekend warriors, others want to immerse themselves in the sport.

David Hamasaki didn't start playing ice hockey until he was 30. Now 35, the San Francisco project manager allocates a week each summer to go to "a podunk place in Minnesota to spend 14 hours a day skating with a bunch of guys."

Hamasaki has been twice to Heartland Hockey's adult camp, and he has blocked off another week on his calendar this year for the camp. Run by Jensen, a former Olympian and NHL player, the program focuses on beginner and intermediate players.

A quarter of the hockey campers are female, though most are novices.

Some fantasy camps boast expensive hotel rooms, but Heartland Hockey's adult campers sleep in kids' dorm rooms. Each is decorated with a different team's logo, including the curtains, clocks and trash cans. "When I got there, I had to take a picture and send it back to my girlfriend," Hamasaki said.

The intense ice time and the professional coaching did wonders for his hockey skills. "During the evening skate scrimmages, the coaches will come out and play with you," he said. "They've played professional or (NCAA) Division I . . . It raises your level of game."

Hamasaki says that although the campers share a love of hockey and competition, they have no illusion they're anything but amateurs. "We're not in the NHL," he said. "We've all got to go to work at the end of the week - there's no knocking each other's teeth out."

Rubbing elbows with the sports' elite can be intimidating, but the Olympic coaches and athletes are happy to work with amateurs. Mary Swim, a 45-year-old computer programmer, has been to all four of the Adult Training Camps at the Ice House in Hackensack, N.J.

"They're used to working with Olympians," Swim said of the coaches, who include Baiul (1994 Olympic gold medalist), Robin Wagner (coached Sarah Hughes to 2002 Olympic gold medal), Silvia Fontana (five-time Italian national champion), and John Zimmerman (three-time U.S. national champ).

"They didn't know what to make of us at the first camp," said Swim, of Morgantown, W.Va. "They managed to . . . bring it down to our level."

Coaches stick around for an autograph and Q&A session at the end of camp. "I wasn't into the autograph session part," Swim said. "I didn't want to switch from student into fan at that point."

Craig Maurizi, the Ice House's director of figure skating, attributes the clinic's success to the coaching staff. "It's who is presenting the material, not necessarily what the material is," Maurizi said. "It gives (the campers) a big shot in the arm in terms of motivation."

The camp attracts a range of skaters, from beginners who can't jump on ice, to national-level amateurs, from as far as England and Qatar. The camp hasn't had a problem filling its 120 slots.

For those wanting a taste of a sport, with minimal financial and time commitment, the Park City and Lake Placid Olympic parks offer shorter clinics.

Greg Fann, a 35-year-old actuary from Woodland Hills, Calif., took a half-day freestyle ski clinic at Utah Olympic Park last summer. Donning a wet suit, boots and skis, he was coached by Olympians and managed to nearly land a 360-degree turn off the end of the park's smallest kicker, or ramp, landing in a pool. This method of landing in a pool is how skiers can repeatedly practice in warm weather.

After a few practice runs jumping 4 feet in the air, Fann graduated to the larger kicker, where he jumped 15 feet before entering the water.

Would he do it again? "It's not at the top of my list," Fann says. "There are a lot of other adventurous things to do. But I'm glad I've done it."

Deborah Abrams Kaplan is a freelance writer living in Foster City, Calif.

ICE HOCKEY: A camp was held Jan. 6-8 and another will take place April 7-9, in Fort Myers. Lessons are $300; lodging is extra. Summer sessions are Aug. 13-19 and 20-26 in Deerwood, Minn. Cost is $900, including lodging and food. For more information, go to heartlandhockey.com; call toll-free 1-800-945-7465.

FIGURE SKATING: Ice House, Hackensack, N.J. Adult camp, June 30-July 2. Costs $250 to $270. Housing and some meals not included. Go to icehousenj.com; (201) 487-8444.

LUGE: The Utah Olympic Park's luge fantasy camp is Friday through Jan. 23. It costs $2,000, which includes meals, lodging and transfer from and to the airport. Toll-free 1-800-872-5843; usaluge.org and click on "Programs" at the top.

Half-day Park City luge camps in January and February are $150 and include three runs. 435 658-4208; www.olyparks.com

Lake Placid's fantasy camp is March 3-6 and costs $2,000, including meals and lodging. Toll-free 1-800-USA-LUGE; usaluge.org and click on "Programs."

BOBSLED AND SKELETON: Lake Placid's three-day March bobsled and skeleton camp costs $2,000; that includes lodging, meals, instruction, equipment and gear. (518) 523-1842.

Utah Olympic Park's March 8-11 skeleton fantasy camp is $750, and the March 8-11 bobsled camp is $1,500. Lodging is extra.

Each camp limited to 10 participants. (435) 658-4208; utaholympicpark.com.

Half-day skeleton introductory camps are held in January and February and cost $150, including three runs. (435) 658-4208; utaholympicpark.

SKI JUMPING: Ongoing half-day clinics at Utah Olympic Park, on the mountain in winter, and in the swimming pool area in summer. $65 for half-day class, includes all equipment in summer; bring your own equipment in winter. (435) 658-2359; flyfreestyle.com.

[Last modified January 20, 2006, 09:54:04]