Sean Hartel's Blog

August 5, 2008

Hey everyone!

So I'm packing up my stuff and getting ready to take off from New Jersey. I've been super busy out here getting things rolling for the winter and spending lots of time with my rad family. On friday I'm flying out to Colorado, where I'm picking up my car and headed for the Utah Olympic Park to coach and train for a few weeks.

I've been pretty out of touch for the last month or so because I've been dealing with some big changes in my life and taking on a big challenge. For those of you who haven't heard the tragic news, my coach and mentor in skiing, Clay Beck, just recently passed away. He was a great guy and played a major role in our sport. He coached a team of some of the most talented young skiers in the world, who he was very close with and cared a lot about, and I was his right hand man and assistant coach. Most of these kids had their careers and plans wrapped up in his doings, and would have had the rug ripped out from under them if someone didn't jump in to fill his shoes. So I stepped up to the plate to help these guys out. I started a business called the Tahoe Freeride Company, which runs a freeride ski team and snowboard team. These teams are geared towards riders between the ages of 15 and 20, who are pursuing skiing or snowboarding as a career. Along with the technical skills needed to be tomorrow's top pros, we teach the skills needed to be successful, professional athletes. The coaching is focused on backcountry freestyle, park & pipe, big mountain, creative jibbing, and competitive mentality. We also offer similar services as a sports agency, but teach the kids how to do it themselves and encourage self advocacy. It will definitely be the most progressive team to date in freeskiing and I am super stoked on it! I will be putting a ton of effort into helping these kids succeed and a fair amount of time into coaching, but don't be fooled... I will be working towards my own personal goals as hard as ever, and I think this program will open a lot of doors for me as an athlete.

Enough about that....

Check out www.newschoolers.com. If you aren't familiar with it, it's proved to be one of the most powerful media conglomerations in all of skiing and it's kind of like an internet magazine, but with lots of forums and media posts. I think it's an awesome source of information for athletes and fans, and can be an incredible marketing tool for businesses in the industry.

Well anyways, I just got the Cover Shot on newschoolers. It's a pretty big deal for me because I'm so new on the scene and the other handful of guys who have gotten cover shots this last year are all rockstars in freeskiing. Check it out and let me know what you think... it's one of my favorite shots from this year. It was shot by Ben Meester on Donner Lake, at 5am before the sun came up when there was fog covering the lake. It took a lot of work to get the shot and it definitely paid off... the parking lot was plowed, so we had to carry in snow late at night(wouldn't want to ruin the shot by taking the snow on the dock) to build a drop in ramp and runway to the rail, then we came back at 4am to build the lip to the rail and set up (I remember it being 6 degrees out), then the fun was on... hit the rail a few times, dodge those posts, land on the dock, and hurry up and stop before I skied into the water off the end of the dock! FUN STUFF! The photos picked for the cover page are the cream of the crop and supposed to be some of the best photos of the year, and I'm really stoked because this photo got especially good reviews. Ben is an incredible photographer and he along with Moment Skis (who submitted the photo) are rockin my world!

Also check out the September issue of Men's Journal, which should hit stands later this week. There's another ad I'm in for Team Fuel put out by Twinlab, who is also rockin my world!

I hope all is well and you're having a great summer!

Thanks for all the support!

Sean

April 20, 2008

Q. I want to build up strength in my legs – what exercises would you suggest? Mark Tulsa, OK

A. Well Mark, if you’re trying to strengthen your legs for an action sport like skiing, snowboarding, or even surfing I would recommend a few exercises. For any sport that involves quick turns and reactions, you want explosive power rather than heavy lifting power. So the next time you hit the weights try the following: instead of doing a set with a counted repetition using heavy weight, use a bit lighter weights and do as many repetitions as you can in one minute. After the first week try to increase the weight slightly. Another thing you want to focus on is the way you lift; rather than a slow steady lift, think explosion on the outward lift and slow on the return. For example: if you’re doing a leg press, explode up using your quads first and then your calves, and let the weights down slow and steady.

Another great way to strengthen your legs for any sport is road biking. It will improve strength, endurance, and get the fluids in your knees going which is extremely healthy. This is especially good if you’ve had any knee injuries in the past because it promotes healing and is a no-impact exercise. I try to bike 10-20 miles every day.

If you’d like some exercises that are more specific to skiing, let me know!

Q. What do you do to maintain endurance and stamina for your competitions? Tamara Evart, MI

A. Hey Tamara, There is an obvious change that occurs inside me on competition day, I like to call it “hot sauce”. Adrenaline is a huge source of energy and due to the format of ski competitions, I naturally add a little more hot sauce as the day goes on. In addition to the natural craze, I’m usually pounding my Pure Fuel energy drinks at the top of every run, and I have a double dosage of the Pure Energy Greens with MSM at lunch time (part of the Inner Balance line by Anthony Robbins, produced by Twinlab).

I also train in preparation for competitions with lots of road biking and hiking the halfpipe every day rather than taking the lift.

March 17, 20088

Hey everyone, sorry that I have to make this update rather brief, but I only have one hand to type with. I crashed in practice for a big air competition last Sunday and tore my Ulnar Lateral Ligament in my left hand and broke a bone, and I just got surgery on Friday. The surgery went really well and I get my hand put into a permanent cast next weekend for 6-8 weeks.

I'm a little bummed that I've had such an unlucky few weeks as far as injuries go, but it's part of the sport and I'm glad none of them were too serious. I also just had a bunch of stitches in my leg and arm, which kept me out for 2 weeks. I was back on snow for a week and traveled to Southern California for the Big Bear Open, which is one of the three stops on the Open Freeski Tour. I took third place, getting my second podium of the year in a major event.

You can check out a recap here: http://newschoolers.com/web/content/viewcult/action/news/id/3785/jid/841/eid/2367/

and here: http://newschoolers.com/web/content/news/news_id/1966/

After the podium ceremony I hopped back into my car with the Moment Skis Team Manager, Jason Badgley, and high tailed it back up to Alpine Meadows in Northern California for the big air competition the following day. After driving all night, I showed up for the competition ready to rock. Coming off my podium from the day before, I really wanted to win this one. I guess I went a little too nuts though because I crashed doing a switch 1260 about an hour before the comp even started. I was still determined, so I went into patrol and got my hand taped up so I could still compete. Unfortunately, my bum hand slowed me down a bit and Bernard Rosow won with a switch 1080. Then off to the hospital...

So I've changed my plans a bit to work around my recovery and make the most of my time over the next few months. There are 2 more major competitions this spring, the Mt. Snow Open and World Skiing Invitational, which I will not be doing. I am going to take the next month and a half off, heal up, work out and get my body back to 110% for a killer summer session.

So here is my tentative plan for the next few months: I am flying back to NJ on Tuesday to take a break and spend some time with my family. While I'm home I'll be doing a ton of road biking, lifting, and core strength work on the balance ball. Then I will come back to Tahoe at the beginning of May for some filming, before heading up to Mt. Hood to train on the glacier and get some shots. Throughout June and July I will be coaching and training at the Utah Olympic Park on the water ramps and trampoline. Then I'd like to head back to New Zealand for the big summer competitions in August and September.

So my spring season is cut short a little bit, but all in all I'm pretty stoked about the past 9 months. This was my first season competing and pursuing my dreams of a freestyle skier and I have accomplished a ton. I'm stoked to get started again this summer and I'd like to thank all of you for your help and support. My rookie year would not be a success without you!

Thanks! Sean - Ask Sean

March 8, 2008

Hello everyone, Welcome to the Team Fuel Blog! I'm really excited to be apart of this and to have the opportunity to represent Twinlab in the snow sports industry. As a professional freestyle skier, my body is the most important piece of equipment I own and Twinlab products give me the ability to keep it fine-tuned and give me a competitive edge. In this blog you can read up on the products I use, my travel experiences, how I train and prepare for competition, and hopefully a few entertaining stories from the road.

First, I'd like to explain what it is I do and why I do it...
I have more fun skiing than anything else in life. It's always been that way. But now it's my job too, which is a pretty recent thing. And before this I had other career aspirations that I took very seriously. And as with that, I give it everything I have, because I want to be the best at whatever it is I do. I'm ridiculously competitive and I really like to win. So for a little under a year now, I've been training hard and making alot of sacrifices in the rest of my life. My job pretty much consumes my life now. I have business trips all the time to these boring places like Aspen and New Zealand. Most days I'm on the hill from 8am to 4pm, and again then from 5pm to 9pm practicing under the lights. Basically, I work doubles 7 days a week. Aren't you jealous?

I have several sponsors, but Twinlab is one of my biggest supporters. My job is to travel around and represent these companies in two ways, competitions and media exposure. I compete in FIS events, which award you cumulative points to earn rankings on World Cup and eventually qualify you for the Olympics, and I compete in Pro events, like the US Open, where you win money and fame. As far as media goes, I film throughout the season with different production companies to be featured in their ski movies. I also have a photographer that I travel around with, Ben Meester, and take pictures for magazines, posters, and advertising for sponsors. I have incentives for photo's and competitions so my livelihood depends on the exposure I receive and my competition rankings. My job is a ton of fun, but there is also alot of pressure and stress.

There are a few different types of skiing that I specialize in as a freestyler: superpipe, slopestyle, moguls, and big mountain/backcountry freestyle... Superpipe and Slopestyle are the two main events that I compete in. Slopestyle is an event where your score is a result of a full run, which consists of different types of jumps and rails that you have to grind (like a skateboarder). Both of these events are very entertaining and can get pretty gruesome, and they require tons of training. My favorite part of skiing is backcountry, where a skier can really get creative. Backcountry skiing is what happens off piste and away from the resorts, and it takes more knowledge and experience than skill because you're battling nature rather than other skiers. I've spent hours upon hours in the classroom learning about winter meteorology, the science of snowpack, avalanche awareness, and search and rescue. Once you know your stuff you can head out into the backcountry where you strap your skins or snowshoes to your feet, your avalanche beacon to your chest, and your shovel and probe on your back, just before you get yourself to the top (rather than a chairlift). Then you can swim through untouched powder on your skis and jump off giant cliffs into soft pillowy landings. AAAAHHH, my daydream.

Wow, I really am day dreaming because I'm stuck on the couch this week and it just snowed 4 feet here! The other day I crashed pretty bad on a big jump and my edge cut me up. I got a pretty big laceration on my knee and elbow, with lots of stitches. It's a pretty risky sport so injuries are part of the game. I'm lucky it's just a flesh wound because I'll be back on the hill in a few more days to compete. I fly to NY on Thursday for a competition at Hunter Mountain over the weekend. It's called the Latitude 42 Degrees North Air Assault, in case any of you east coasters want to come watch. Then I fly back to California on Tuesday to get the stitches taken out. Wahoooo! Well it's time for me to get back on the stationary bike.... Gotta be ready for this weekend!

Ask Sean