The Ski Club of Ireland was founded in 1963 and a few years later ran its first slope in Knockrabo in Goatstown, south County Dublin. In the mid-1970s the club moved from Goatstown to its present location close to Kilternan.
Facilities
The ski club has four ski slopes: a main slope, an intermediate slope and two nursery slopes. The slopes' surfaces are covered in Dendix, a by-product of brush manufacturing which is similar to a short haired brush with the bristles sticking upwards. Dendix is manufactured in Chepstow in the United Kingdom; however, it can be found on slopes throughout the world. A water misting system lubricates the main and intermediate slopes, which helps increase speed and reduce friction. The ski club has a clubhouse located beside the slopes which houses an office and equipment dispensing area. Rental equipment is included in the price of class tickets or practice passes. Boots are Salomon and skis tend to be Rossignol or Head. There is a kitchen with basic tea and coffee facilities and a microwave.
Ski School
The club offers ski lessons for all abilities. Instructors in the ski school include ISIA qualified instructors.The minis gets taught by two or three instructors, and goes on from 10:00 to11:30.The instructors are quite nice and the minis is very enjoyable, especially the biscuits we get at break. Most of the instructors' qualifications have been obtained through the Irish Association of Snow Sports Instructors or BASI. There are, however, a few native Austrian, German and Spanish skiers amongst the instructors. Class groups consist of four 1.15-hour classes and 30 minutes of free skiing afterwards. The classes are broken down as follows
A1-A4: Introduction to skiing through to basic plough turns and learning to use a drag lift
B1-B4: Refining plough turns and progressing to swing turns
C1-C4: Progression through swing turns and includes traversing, side slipping, effective use of ski poles, and introduces elements of the parallel turn
D1-D4: Working towards linked parallel turns from the top of the main slope
E1-E4: Teaches variations on the parallel turn, practicing techniques for confident and efficient mastery of the piste; includes carved turns and short swings
The Ski School runs clinics on Wednesday and Friday nights for more advanced skiers. These clinics focus on high end skiing and adult race training including Slalom and GS race courses through gates. One day courses are run on Saturdays through the ski season. These normally compact five lessons into one day; for example, new skiers are taken from class A1-B1 in one day. There is a snowboarding school on Tuesday and Thursday nights with a Sunday evening Jam for boarders only.
Race Squad
The squad trains on Wednesday evenings, 7:30pm to 10:30pm and Sunday mornings, 9am to 12pm under the guidance of head coach Brian Byrne. The coaching panel includes Carolyn Dent-Neville, Suzanne Reidy and Matthew Mitchell. The Race Training Squad caters for those wishing to further develop their racing skills and are interested in committing to an intensive training program. Training sessions are divided as follows:
Ski training
This involves working towards more complex aspects of skiing such as weight distribution in the turn, loading the ski, hip and knee angulation, etc. but can include some basic exercises where necessary. In addition a large amount of time is spent working in slalom courses.
This consists of activities such as dynamic warm-ups, anaerobic fitness, and speed training. It also includes regular fitness testing. Fitness training sessions vary between 30 and 60 minutes. Shane O'Connor, BrianByrne, Peter Byrne and Kirsty McGarry all competed at the World Championships in Val d'isere in 2009 with Shane O'Connor also competing in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010.
Development squad training
Development squad training runs on Wednesdays and Sundays alongside Race Squad training, coached by Tony McGuiness under the direction of Shane O'Connor. This training session caters for juniors aged 11 years old and upwards who are looking to further develop their skills towards joining the race training squad. Prospective trainees should have the ability to ski from the top of the slope and should be comfortable skiing at speed. The development training sessions focus on improving basic technique in progression to carving parallel turns. Over time trainees may graduate to the Race Training Squad.
Children's race training
Children's race training runs on a Saturday morning under the guidance of Ciaran Columb. The session caters for children aged between 7 and 11 years old. Prospective trainees need to have the ability to ski from the top of the slope and should be comfortable skiing at speed. The children's race training sessions focus on improving basic technique, progression from snowplough to parallel skiing, introduction to slalom training and racing. Over time trainees graduate to either the Development Squad or the Race Training Squad.
