In Maurienne, you no longer need to wait for the snow to fall to ski! Young Savoyard skiers can now train on an indoor ski mat installed in Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne. Thanks to this equipment inaugurated last September in a room located behind the Tourist Office, young members of the department’s clubs can slide without snow.
It was the Savoie Ski Committee which was behind the purchase of this second-hand carpet, which came from Lyon, with financial assistance from the Departmental Council and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region in particular. This carpet cost nearly 85,000 euros and the aim is that “young people from the Savoie ski clubs but also skiers from the high level section of the Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne professional high school and the Modane ski study sports section can benefit from it” explains Philippe Baudin, member of the steering committee of the Savoie Ski Committee and treasurer at the Maurienne District. “There was a carpet in Courchevel and Passy but there was none at home and it is a very interesting piece of equipment.“.
This indoor mat is 10 meters long and 6 meters wideit rotates and skiers can practice before the start of the ski season. “It is a large module which represents a slope and it is the track which moves below us” adds Loïc, coach of the Valmeinier Ski Club and the Maurienne District who regularly takes his students on this indoor ski mat. His colleague, Pauline, coach of the Valmeinier Ski Club specifies: “it’s very complementary to skiing, they can look at themselves in a mirror and correct their position, their way of skiing while doing“. “The edges of the skis are not sharpened so as not to cut the canvas and the skis are much smaller so that it is easier to turn and they have space on the mat.
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“It’s not at all like snow, there’s a greater risk of falling, you have to be hyper-concentrated” explains Charlie, ten years old. “It’s very very strange the first times, it’s not the same sensations as on the real slopes” adds James, another young member of the Valmeinier ski club. “It’s very very good while waiting for the snow” adds the young Savoyard. Stéphanie, Mat’s mother, also appreciates this new equipment: “before you had to go to Passy in Haute-Savoie, more than two hours away, to find an indoor ski mat, now it’s right there and young people can train in all seasons, it’s really great.” .
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