Park City, UT (Tuesday, July 23, 2002) - U.S. aerialists are catching their collective and individual breath after an intense 2-1/2-week training camp at Utah Olympic Park. They'll regroup in late July for their second camp in Lake Placid, NY.

"I thought it was a really productive camp for everyone, the coaches as well as the athletes," said Kate Reed (Montrose, CO). "We were beat at the end, but it's a 'good' beat. We got a lot done. It'll be a busy season with eight or nine World Cups, not including World Championships…

"They're doing some experimental things with us. I had some success last season with one arm up on takeoff and this camp they got me working with two arms up. I got it on the last day and I wished we had another day or two, but that just makes me hungry for Lake Placid in a couple of weeks."

Matt Christensen, starting his third season as aerials head coach, agreed with Reed, who headed home after the camp ended Friday to rejoin friends for the final week of an adult softball league. "This was shorter than a lot of our camps – we took two days off in the middle – but we got in a lot of great jumps," he said.

"We're trying a lot of new stuff, looking to see what works. The team spirit is better than I've ever seen it. A lot of bad attitudes are gone and the pressure of the Olympic Games is over and I'm seen a real team effort, which is outstanding," he said.

"Bergy [two-time World Cup champion Eric Bergoust, Missoula, MT] and Joe [Pack, Olympic silver medalist from Park City] are jumping well, and Jerry Grossi [also Park City] wasn't sure whether he wanted to be back," according to the coach, "but he's committed now and he looked good. And the girls were jumping very well, too…very well. Emily Cook [Belmont, MA, who underwent foot surgery] isn't back on skis but she was at every session, which is good to see, too."

The World Cup season opens Sept. 7-8 with two aerials events scheduled at Mount Buller, Australia, and resumes Nov. 30 with moguls and then the new-this-season skiercross in Tignes, France. The first payoff on the Olympic legacy from last season comes Jan. 26-Feb. 2 with the freestyle World Championships at Deer Valley, UT.

"We're not too tied-up with thinking about Worlds at Deer Valley," Christensen said. "It's important and we certainly want to do well but we also want to use this season as a strong start toward those 2006 Olympics in [Torino] Italy."