This season has gone by so quickly, just like every season at the beginning, there is so much time on the snow, so many races…. Then before you know it it’s March already and we’re on the final run in.  Off to the Slovenian Champs for speed races and the first couple went well, but the weather came in and with it, one of a racers worst nightmares…. it snowed!! Conditions were too soft to run the remaining races. So it was off the the south of France, but not to the beach as you might think! The French Championships were down there in a suprisingly big resort, Auron. Despite the location and the time of year, was freezing cold still! It was sweet to be racing along side some of the best skiers in the world but unfortunately  I didn’t bring my A game. After a couple of days off, it was time to go to the British Champs in Meribel, France. Channel 4 were covering the event which is great for the profile of British skiing and I hope that you ALL watched it! My sponsor, Scott Dunn, lent me a car for the races which was sooooo cool, but at the same time a bit nerve wracking as it had summer tyres and there was quite a bit of snow on the roads! The races went really well for me, I won 4 out of the 5 titles available and got myself into the top 100 in the world for Super G, which is  a great step in the right direction for my skiing career. I’m now back in the UK with only 10 more days until we are back out on the snow again! Hopefully it will be warmer once I get back!!! 

Been back out for a while now, done a load of travelling over the last couple of weeks. First off I was in Austria doing speed races all went without a problem the piste was flat and not that fast speed wise.  After a couple of days off, it was off to Bansko, Bulgaria for 2 Europa Cup Downhill’s. I have never been to Bulgaria before so it’s always good to go somewhere new. As most of the athletes racing are from central Europe, the race organisers chartered a flight from Munich to Sofia (the Bulgarian capital) we then had a 2 hour coach ride to the resort, picture postcard weather for the arrival day and the free skiing day before the Downhill days started. To get up to the main resort there is only one gondola up which takes about 20 mins. It was possible to ski down but as it was 15 degrees it would have been more like water skiing! But apart from that, the skiing over there was really good, plenty of lifts and a whole range of pistes. We did the 1^st training run down the race course and I ended up 30^th and I was really pleased, averaged over 100kph about 60mph and topped out at about 125kph (78mph) a really challenging downhill. The next day was cancelled due to bad weather, so it was straight into the race the following day I started 47 for the race and ended up finishing 23^rd my goal was top 30. the second race was going even better, up until I came out right near the bottom, luckily not a crash I just misjudged a couple of turns and ended up being too low to stay in the course. A shame, as would have been better than the previous day. Not many skiing days left now so I am hoping to stay focussed right up to the last day and try to continue to improve my skiing. Keep your fingers crossed for the snow to stay till the end of the season!

Eagles Nest 

I have been at home for a couple of days now, so nice to be home and re-charge the batteries, having caught up with friends and sleep, I’m already ready to get back out and get on with my job!

The races I did before I came back went well and got gradually better. The first of the four races, in Goetschen Germany, were postponed due to bad weather, so the organisers decided to run the 2 GS races in 1 day! (a morning raced followed by a night one). The first race didn’t go well I was a bit to passive and didn’t ski well and I ended up finishing 35th, not a good race! Race 2 went well I ended up 6th, much better all round!

With two Slaloms remaining we changed resorts moving to Jenner. This resorts main lift up to the ski areas is a gondola built in 1954 (its pretty obvious!!!), its a two person lift but you don’t sit facing each other like conventional gondolas, you sit next to each other, facing the door you entered!

From the middle-station of this gondola you can see ‘Eagles Nest’ it was built for Adolf Hitlers 50th Birthday, it was meant to be a retreat for Hitler and a place for him to entertain visiting dignitaries during  WW2, there are tours of the site but as the races take up so much time there is no chance to go and take a closer look. The races on the other hand went really well, the first day I finished 4th and the following day I won which was awesome!

Leogang, Austria

When most of the skiing public are preparing to head out to the mountains for half term holidays, we are cramming races in before we head in the opposite direction, England. As the pistes become too crowded with holiday makers training spaces at the various resorts become scarce so we get to go home for four days of R and R, till mid April when the season ends.I was in Italy last week racing Super G, not a good couple of days at the office as unfortunately the races didn’t go my way! The conditions at these races were really rough, not only had the Italians failed to water the course so that the surface would freeze hard enough to make the race even for the whole field, but there were lots of racers making for a tough time which got the better of me both days. Luckily no injuries though. Few more days training then more races, this time Giant Slalom in Austria, yesterday and today, according to my coach my technique is going really. But alas pretty skiing isn’t always fast and there are no points for style (unlike holidaymakers) the results weren’t what I was hoping for, but with four more races to fit in before my flight home, plenty of opportunities coming up so I am looking forward not back.

Just back from Chamonix in France, we got to run the same downhill as the World Cup the week before. The jumps on the course were pretty big, really cool though, they were like 30metres but steep landings so it was fine on the knees. In downhill you get to practice the race course at least once, because the speeds in downhill are up to 90mph on some courses, it is pretty vital that you know where you are going! The first run of the downhill was perfect weather, blue sky and sunshine, the classic skiing weather. The following day was the race but when I opened the curtains I knew it was going to be a long day (it was cloudy and snowing), I inspected the course as normal, the officials decided to delay the race and try and run it a little later. After a 2 hour delay they decided that the weather was good enough to start the race, with the clouds rolling in and out there were many stoppages throughout the race, until after about a third of the field had gone one racer went off the jump and couldn’t see the landing properly and had a massive crash, they cancelled it and decided to add an extra day onto the end of the weeks racing. The next two days fortunately ran with out too many delays. The course was really fast and bumpy because the piste had been watered so that it stays as smooth as possible for the whole field.

This past week I’ve been in Sarntal, in the Sudtirol region of Italy. As there were a lot of racers competing there our hotel was about a 40minute commute to the slopes, as long a Londoners but far less pictures! With no access to the Internet up at our hotel I went on a quest to find some, as i needed to update this with the photos i promised. I tried the main town half an hour away, speaking in my best German/slow English i walked around asking the locals but no luck about the Internet though once they clocked my British Team jacket they asked about the racing and as my German isn’t good enough to hold a conversation and Italian is even worse it mostly turned into a game of charades to explain how my day went!  

This week was so windy over there they had to move the start gate down as otherwise we would have been blown away, but luckily the snow wasn’t. Plenty of snow over there unlike here in Lofer as it has been raining all weekend. Fortunately we are off to France first thing in the morning to race again, another European Cup race hence the 9 hour drive tomorrow!

Firstly don’t park infront of a snow cannon, secondly definitely don’t leave your window open!!! 

Over now in Crans Montana, Switzerland. My first downhill races of 2008. We have been testing out a new World Cup piste the the women will be using later on in the season, to check how the course will run and that there isn’t anything dangerous. Basically using us as guinea pigs

We have had all types of weather this week, there has been about 15-20cm of fresh snow, winds of up to 85kph and temperatures ranging from -5 to 5 degrees. The different conditions making the challenges of downhill even more challenging, when the snow gets softer the course becomes bumpier so you need to have more feeling through your feet and absorb the ruts, to help carry your speed.

The next stop on the tour will be in Italy, a quick 6 hour drive or so!!

As the racing side of skiing starts to pick up the pace after the new year, there is less and less time to train and more and more time traveling, our suitcases stay packed and so do the vans!

The rest of January will be spend following the Europa Cup circuit which is mostly speed races (Super G & Downhill), for those of you who are not avid ski racing fans, this is the tier down from World Cup circuit (the racing on the TV). I did my first Europa Cup race this week in a resort in Austria called Hinterstoder. The piste there was the hardest i have ever raced down, lots of rolls and twists, but most of all the middle of it was sooo steep and with trees on both side of this narrow section it felt even faster!

 The top of the course fortunately was quite flat so easy to get into a rhythm, quickly followed by a big jump, adrenaline really pumping now! Some tight turns and big rolls to contend with, then onto the steep, absolutely flying down there trying to keep the skis pointing straight down for as long as possible but at the same time struggling to stay in control and command! Off the steep but no rest as the bottom is undulating all the time whilst still turning legs really burning now, wanting to stand up a bit taller to ease the demands on quads and hamstrings but resisting to stay aerodynamic to help keep the speed up, the last jump in sight only a small one this time and then a tuck straight to the line reaching out to try and break the timing beam as early as possible. Ahhh finished! But as the finishing area is diminishing rapidly one last big effort to go from around 60mph to nothing! Exhausted but totally pumped! Brilliant fun, well worth it!

Ah back at my home away from home, Lofer. After a pretty subdued New Years Eve, 2008 kicked of in rather the same manner as any other day (except not at the usual 6.30!) training as usual! Just free skiing though, no gates was great to just be able to go and relax while skiing, something that we hardly get a chance to do. Bit of off piste as there has been a bit of new snow in Lofer recently, some jumps and just generally clowning around, taking full advantage of the rare opportunity. The locals we out in force by the afternoon so had to call it a day a bit earlier than we would have liked but with so many people around from beginners to accomplished skiers, we ended up dodging equipment and people strewn across the piste!

Since then training has been a lot more serious, back to doing courses and the early start so that we get the best training (when the snow is iciest). The timing has been set back up to help simulate race conditions, the video cameras in the hands of the coaches ready for evaluation after the session is finished and one or two falls from some of the other lads, coupled with some near misses caught on video help to keep mood light! Fortunately for me i am still in one piece my skis stayed beneath me!

Good luck in 2008!

The winter season really got under way at the beginning of November. We had the British Ski Team official launch in Leicester Square, an amazing film that had been shot in Chile, showing the guests what we had been up to, giving an insight into life as a professional ski racer, exciting, but at the same time a bit scary, when a twelve foot me appeared on the cinema screen!!

 The start of the season saw so much snow, we even had to put chains on, which had turned totally orange because of course we hadn’t needed them last year! Getting back into a racing frame of mind is quite a challenge when we haven’t been racing for a couple of months, I see a sports phychologist, and, no, there is no sofa and no guy going “oh, so you go straight down the mountain in a skin tight lycra suit at over 70mph, I can’t help you, but the psyc ward down the road can!”  Instead we talk about visualising and mental preparation, that sort of thing.

Armed with some new techniques, we did time trials for races in Scandinavia. The time trails were in a place called Reiteralm in Austria, they were for slalom, fastest 2 out of 3 runs added together. After winning runs 1 and 2 I decided to go all out on the 3rd and final run just to push the envelope. In retrospect, not a good plan!!  I crashed into the timing at the bottom, a few aches and pains but nothing too bad, or so I thought. Turns out I went home for a much longer Christmas break than scheduled.

Back to the slopes on Monday training starts at 6am on New Years Day, so celebrations are on hold!!