Brandon Corbits Hot Summer in the Ice House

Ever dreamed of spending your whole summer training daily and physically preparing for the opportunity to push an 85 lb. sled 40 meters on ice and have your timing and techniques assessed? Try repeating this for up to nine times per day, then getting up the next day and doing it again over an extended one week period.

Thats just what Brandon Corbit, Dickinson incoming senior, did for his summer vacation.
Brandon , Dickinsons first USBSF national pool skeleton slider, returned on Sept. 1st from a one week push camp in Calgary, Canada coached by Don Haas, Director, Lake Placid Elite Olympic Development Program. Brandon, profiled in the Baltimore Sun and Dickinsonian last year was selected through a USBSF national tryout process from over 300 athletes to participate and race in the USBSF Skeleton Elite Olympic Development Program.

The extreme sport of Skeleton, like Bobsled, has a 40 meter push / sprint with an 85 pound sled at the beginning of the race. An individual slider then races head first down a mile long ice track at speeds in excess of 85 miles per hour.

The Calgary Olympic facility (ice house) was specially designed to address the critical push start and allow athletes to improve their start times through an arduous training process. The ice house, as it is known, is used by athletes and teams from around the world during the summer months. U.S. athletes pushed three to nine starts per day and were reviewed for technique and speed during the daily training periods.

While attending the camp, Brandons start times were consistently in the top three daily.

During the summer, Brandon trained for the push camp by participating in a personal development program designed by Body Energy to specifically recognize the demands placed on world class skeleton athletes and develop the speed and timing required for extreme world competition.

Brandon will relocate to the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center in December for his second year of team training and racing. He will be in Lake Placid through March and will be traveling and racing extensively throughout North America and possibly Europe. This year will see Brandon racing a sled built and tailored specifically for his physical dimensions by Ryan Davenport (2002 U.S.A. Winter Olympics bobsled & skeleton head coach).

Dickinson students can track Brandons race results and send emails of support and encouragement by going to http://www.skeletonsport.com and clicking on Brandon Corbit under search for athlete by name. (You will be proud to see Dickinson College on this website as part of Brandons profile). Skeletonsport.com is an international website dedicated to international skeleton teams. Over 820 world class competitive athletes are profiled under their respective national team countries.