Mark “Speedy” Archer has been a skier his entire life, and now he teaches others how to ski through the New York Ski Educational Foundation.

“When I was just 6 years old, my coach was 87,” Archer said. “That inspired me to have a passion for the sport.”

The 61-year-old Archer competed in slalom and giant slalom when he was younger, and that carried over into coaching the sport more than 40 years ago.

Now, Archer is the head coach for NYSEF’s women’s program. It’s the highest level of training before the athletes move on to the college or US Ski Team level. Women 16 to 20 years old can enter.

Training takes place on and off the slopes. In the fall, NYSEF coaches use the gym at Northwood School in Lake Placid to train the skiers until snow begins to fall.

“We try to focus on strength and power in the weight room,” Archer said. “We’re trying to have their whole body strong so we can bring that to skiing. We spend most of September, October and November in the weight room.”

When they’re not in the weight room, the skiers might be found running the stairs in the hockey arena or doing hikes on Cobble Hill or the Henry’s Woods trails.

Archer loves being in shape, and spend most of his time being active. There’s more to the NYSEF training regiment than sweat, though.

“We try to promote the competition, the training, the love for the sport and being able to do it after,” Archer said. “We try to work on their character, to help them become good, kind people, as well as on the competitive aspect. It’s something they’ll carry on for the rest of their lives.”

Even so, there is a side to skiing that is undeniably physical. To demonstrate that, Decker called on Sheila Decker.

The 17-year-old racer from Saranac Lake has been involved with NYSEF since she was 7, and she said it’s paid off. Last year, she had the best four overall races in the state in slalom and giant slalom.

In the Northwood School’s weight room, Archer stood on the flat side of a BOSU ball and waited for Archer to toss a medicine ball to her. She caught the ball and squatted on one leg. After holding the pose for several seconds, she stood and tossed the ball back to Archer.

The exercise is designed to strengthen the ankles, which are essential for doing ski turns.

After the exercise, Decker said she doesn’t have Olympic aspirations, but she would like to coach with the program.

“For me, it’s not necessarily about being a good ski racer; it’s about being a good skier in general,” Decker said.

As the skiers worked on their strength, the gymnasium next to the weight room was bustling with about 35 young athletes ranging in age from 7 to 17. They played floor hockey, sprinted from wall to wall and refined various stretches.

At first it didn’t seem like they were training for skiing, but they were.

NYSEF Alpine Program Director John Norton explained that the goal of the program is to lay a foundation of good habits, strength and balance while the athletes are still young. That means using the correct muscles when being active, even if it’s just a game of floor hockey.

“We start by trying to get them in balanced and strong positions whenever they’re doing anything athletic,” Norton said. “One of the things we try to incorporate into each session is a fun activity. Half of it is serious and specific to skiing and half is about having fun and being a kid.”

NYSEF focuses on three disciplines: nordic, alpine and freeride skiing. The program happens every Saturday throughout the fall.

“As the kids participate, we’re able to tailor the program to meet their needs a little more,” Norton said. “They all have learned a ski-specific dynamic warmup that they do as they go into the ski season. As soon as there’s snow on the ground we start to move them into on-snow training, which is mid-November in the east.”

It doesn’t end in the spring. Athletes as young as 10 head to Mount Hood in Oregon to ski after school ends in July. Older athletes travel to Chile in August. NYSEF runs training camps in Chile, New Zealand, Switzerland, Austria and Canada.

Norton said he’s a product of the program and proud of it. He listed some recognizable names of others who’ve been through NYSEF: Tommy Biesemeyer, Andrew Weibrecht, Tim Burke, Lowell Bailey, Tim Young and Annelies Cook.

He said NYSEF’s recent notable athletes include Cecily Decker and Trixie Lever, who were the top skiers in US and Canada, respectively.

NYSEF head ski jumping coach Evan Bliss is also a product of the program. When he was about 8 he tried ski jumping for the first time and never looked back.

“That feeling you get when you’re flying through the air is not something that a lot of people understand or even know about, so it’s hard to describe,” Bliss said. “That rush of being in the air just got me.”

Young skiers can try the 20-meter jump when they’re 6. Bliss said the biggest challenge is getting them up there.

“Some kids just go for it, and have no fear,” Bliss said. “Others, it’s a whole night ordeal just to get them to jump. Once they do it, I think that nervousness goes away. They’re usually sprinting up the hill to do it again.”

Bliss was one of those kids who sprinted back up the hill, but what he didn’t realize at the time was that he was also sprinting toward a newfound livelihood.

“NYSEF is kind of a small community within the community,” Bliss said. “It’s not just about ski skills, but hopefully life skills, too.”

NYSEF and the Lake Placid Ski Club will hold their annual ski and snowboard sale at St. Agnes Church, 169 Hillcrest Ave., Lake Placid, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Equipment can be dropped off at the gym the previous Friday from 6 to 8 p.m.