This is just a return to snow,
sort of, the first camp of the summer.
And for us here, it's just to, kind of, keep working
on what we've been introduced to.
The last time we skied was in May.
So it was quite a few months.
In that amount of time, we got strong
and now we have to put that strength back on to snow.
I think it's just a lot of race prep.
I'm trying to get stronger and better on my skis,
just to feel more confident for the next camp
and then for the season.
And then, also, slowly ramping up the skiing
and, like, now starting to do some timing, probably.
Just trying to put it in different situations
where you're in the pitch or on the ice today, which was...
The first day is always tough!
You feel a little bit... a really different feeling.
(PATAGONIA DREAMING)
No two days are the same.
Sometimes, it's flat light,
so you have to choose your goggle lens.
You have to, kind of, push through that.
A lot of it's just pushing through it,
because you can't change it.
The best thing is that it prepares you
for a race scenario,
because we race in fog, we race in snow and on ice.
So every day is a little bit different,
and I think that, kind of, makes skiing special.
You can't quite prepare for what you're going to get.
Your lunch!
Your ear's out.
We'll have another session later.
And we'll do a special warm-up today
because we'll have more time.
We'll pretend it's a warm-up before a race.
And we try to adapt ourselves.
We usually do a long warm-up,
so, when they put on the skis, they're well-trained
and ready to avoid injuries and stuff.
And today we've added agility and speed exercises
so that, in the first run, they are as strong as possible.
The idea is to focus and pretend
that you'll be running a race
and to get a bit of that feeling and tenseness.
To control those things that make you anxious,
so that you try to do your best.
You have to work, to focus here.
Valerie is an old friend of mine.
We've been skiing together for... What, four years?
All my team-mates are good friends of mine.
It just helps a lot to have them around.
They really encourage me and keep me going.
She's the best.
She's one of my best friends on the team.
With the team behind you,
they really help bring the positive back into it
and why you're doing it
and why you're here.
That's kind of the idea - to keep everyone motivated
and not to be hard on themselves.
Just push towards being positive, always.
Nice, Candace! That's good!
Yeah.
- Cerro Castor. - Sure!
Come on!
The ski area in Cerro Castor offers a big variety on slopes.
We can train different terrain.
We can stay within the trees
and it's more like winter in Europe or also in the States
when we have our important competition period going on.
And it's gorgeous.
I love how we are near the ocean where we stay
and then there's mountains at 40 minutes, not very far.
You don't get that in many places.
It's actually amazing.
It's great training and we're very happy as a team.
Oh, my God!
- It's normal, don't worry. - How was it?
- Good try. - I'm trying. That's good.
I think sometimes, on these camps,
we're trying to fix things or change things,
so it can get very frustrating if it's not working.
Maybe one run you're doing it really well
and then you go to do the next run and it's just the opposite.
Some days, I'm like, "This course is really hard",
and one of the girls is, like, really loving it
and going really fast.
So I'm like, "Oh, my God, I can go fast too!"
It's really pushing me.
The hill is great. The snow is a little bumpy,
so it's hard to transfer what we've learned into the course.
But we're slowly getting there.
Training on ice is one of the difficulties,
but that's something we do every year.
It's not, like, something we're uncommon to
or just haven't done it this year,
so that's always a bit of...
It feels like a slap in the face, really!
I'm not being able to put in what I learned
so far this summer yet,
but I'm working on it every run.
Sport is really hard.
Sport is hard because you put all of yourself into it.
You put everything you have, you put everything on hold,
and I think that that's what makes the difficulties so hard.
We've all had difficulties.
But, at the same point, you become a little bit stronger.
When I was young,
I set a goal that I would go to the Olympics.
I didn't think about how I would get there,
I didn't think about the steps or the process.
I just said, "This is what I want to do."
I think that it's so special being Canadian
because, no matter what,
you have the support of your country.
(CANADA MADE ITS DEBUT IN THE WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES ON ITS FIRST EDITION IN CHAMONIX, 1924)
Everyone wants to be a medal contender.
Everyone wants to get that, to stand on the podium.
And that's my dream.
Whatever your goal is, just always try and achieve it,
because I'm already on my way there
and it feels amazing just to know
that I'm always one step closer to reaching my goals
and my dreams.
You gotta love it.
You gotta be passionate about it.
If you really want to be an athlete
and to be really at the top of that sport,
you gotta love training and working hard
and you've got to love what you're doing,
because it's all about fun, really.
We work hard, but those sacrifices
come so much easier when you're having fun.
(PATAGONIA DREAMING)