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Steamboat Springs — The Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, in conjunction with The Lowell Whiteman School, has selected 14 skiers for its inaugural Austria Residency Program.

The program includes a month of training throughout Austria during October. Those selected include: Maria Hillenbrand, Shane Mclean, Ciar Colgan, Kirsten Gee, Paula Moltzen, Vreni Lupear, Julia Cooper, Kate Cooper, Annie Ochs, Tyler Thies, Alex Barounos, Brant Crossan and Hunter Mclean.

Accompanying the athletes will be Winter Sports Club Alpine coach Rob Worrell, former U.S. Ski Team member Scott Wither, and teachers Gina Wither and Peter Anderson.

"It really is that sense of urgency that the skiers will feel on the glaciers from the other Europeans," Worrell said. "I had this idea for a couple of years for the Sports Club. I was hoping something like this could work out. I approached Whiteman, and they were super excited."

At Whiteman, nonskiing students take part in a foreign exchange program every spring while the skiers stay and catch up on schoolwork they missed during their competitive season.

Worrell said when he looked at it, he thought he could do the same thing with the skiers and take them overseas for solid training while not missing much school.

Worrell said the camp will be designed in four blocks. The first will be reviewing fundamentals, the second will be turns and transitions, the third will be turn shape and placement, and the fourth will be glide turns, terrain adaptation and speed.

Although the atmosphere at the camp will be more laid back, Worrell said part of its allure is that Steamboat skiers will see the level and intensity of their European counterparts.

"It will be a slower approach where we can really work on stuff," he said. "On the other hand, we want them learning that sense of urgency. We want them to look around at the other 3,000 kids on these glaciers and realize they got to get things going."

Worrell said the program may expand to freestyle in the future.