Peak performers: Mikaela Shiffrin, ski team return to snow for camp

Mikaela Shiffrin rode the chair lift to the top of Copper Mountain on a sunny June day and took in a sight she hadn't seen in a while: A freshly groomed, snow-packed course just waiting to be skied. Paradise.

A little tropical, too, given the warm weather that had the carefully manicured slopes turning mushy by mid-morning.

Didn't matter. It was just energizing to be back on skis.

The two-time Olympic champion and the rest of the U.S. women's team, along with the men's Europa squad, recently returned to snow for a two-week, pay-strict-adherence-to-socialdistance-guidelines camp in Copper Mountain, Colorado. This was a chance to zip through a course again after the season abruptly ended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The main objective of the camp that ended last week was nothing more than honing technique. For about three hours a day — beginning around sunrise — the team turned in run after run on the giant slalom course. Shiffrin and the other technical racers also were able to charge through some slalom gates.

It marks the first time the team has been assembled in an organized setting since the 2019-20 season was halted in March just as the women's squad prepared for a World Cup race in Are, Sweden. Shiffrin was set to make her return to the slopes after taking a six-week break from the circuit following the death of her father. Federica Brignone of Italy captured the overall crown, ending Shiffrin's three-year reign.

Several European teams have already returned to training: The Austrian men's and women's teams in Soelden, the Swiss team on the Zermatt Glacier and the French in Courchevel and Val D'Isere.

French racer Alexis Pinturault posted a video on social media with the comment: "Sunny and Cold GS day in June."

In the Rocky Mountains, more like sunny and warm.

Copper Mountain made it work, though. The resort is the home of the U.S. ski team's speed center and has a crew up for the challenge — no matter the tricky conditions. The hill still had around a 60-inch base following their closure in mid-March due to the pandemic.

Given the varying temperatures, it was far from easy to prepare the three trails for the group. Some days, it would rain. Some days, it would be 50 degrees (10 Celsius), with the course turning into a slimy, wet consistency.

Enter the course groomers, who worked their magic sometimes late into the night.

"It's like grooming a slushy," laughed Mike Looney, the senior slope maintenance manager at Copper Mountain. "But when the weather cooled down, it got a little bit better to manage and then it started setting up. By the time athletes hit the course in the morning, it was a nice firm, race product again."