Powder and more powder

Training has been going really well recently and I am beginning to see some real improvements in my skiing. However in the last week we have had over a meter of fresh Pow pow. As sad as I was that this meant a forced break from gates for just over a week due to there been just too much snow to set gates. I didn’t say no to a chance at some free skiing in some deep powder and hitting all the bump runs and other runs that I don’t always get to ski due to training. If you can handle it check out my Mars video to get a glimpse at just how good it really was.

Fear of gates

Slalom is the most technical event in Alpine ski racing. It is when you ski between gates much closer together than in the speed events, therefore causing quicker and shorter turns. To get the quickest race line it means the gates are in your way. For an able bodied skier this causes little problem as they can cross block. (knocking/ punching the gates out their way) with sit skiing this is not really possible due to the level of people balance which means if you want to take the fastest line you need to deal with a little bit of pain for your glory, and take them across your chest.

Having a gate fly at your face is not a natural feeling even with hockey pads on over my chest and my helmet with full face mask. And is something I am having a little problem with. I feel it is only natural to want to duck my head out the way of a hard gate. It is this which at the moment is causing much frustration within the slalom gates. As I can ski great out of them but as soon as I get in the gates it all goes wrong with the head movement causing all sorts of problems with rotation and my balance. The only thing I can think of that will help is just going for it and getting used to the occasional smack in the face or nipple cripple and slight bruising. No pain no glory, something like that!!!

Apology!!!

After my accident I did say (kind of promise) to my family (particularly my mum) that I wouldn’t do any more jumps. That does sound like the sensible thing to do. This promise was also mentioned in the Saturday times in an article on the dangers of skiing! During the recent Speed training camp however I had to break this promise. When skiing at speeds up to and over 80km during downhill and super G races even the slightest roller can cause me to get air and have that feeling of been very light in the air. This is why it was very important for me to be able to feel very comfortable in the air. It did take me a while too build up the confidence to take the specially made jumps but it was all in the aid of safety in the future. Sorry for breaking a promise but it is all in the cause of future safety!

I did learn that I really needed to spend money on a new shock but after a few jumps felt a lot safer and confident at taking air.

And I wasn’t doing quite as much as Russ Docker is in this photo, I don’t quite trust that my equipment would hold up in a jump that size!!

Speed Camp

Having only been back from Winter Park a couple of days there is only time for a couple of days rest  before getting straight back in to training. As I have mentioned before
Kimberley now has the Worlds first permanent Downhill & Super G speed training runs and this week we are concentrating on these speed events which is great training as it is always hard to find the time and safe space to train for these events. (It would have been good to have it before
Winter Park but that is a little late now!)

            The weather cold have been better for the 3days of training, as this strange fog had come on to this hill out of no where and just sat there. Despite this it was great to get some time on the Super G ski and feel a lot more comfortable on it by the end of the week. On the 2^nd day Coach Steve brought out the speed Guns to see what speed we were getting on the course and straight lining it.

            Sean Rose went first and pulled off 79Km the fastest out of everybody who had been. Until I went that was pulling off 81km a whole two Km and hour faster. Not that I’m competitive or anything but it always feels great to get one up on Sean when I get a chance! Even if it wasn’t a real race I did like the feeling. I could now say that I am the fastest Sit skier on the mountain. (even if it is going in a straight line.) Sorry Sean maybe you might be able to catch me next time!!!

Winter Park race

After a long couple of flights down to Denver from Kimberley transferring at Calgary airport I finally made it to Winter Park. To save on a bit of money, I was very kindly been put up by Carl Burnett and Gerald Hayden two of team USA’s top Para Olympian skiers. There were three races been held two Super Gs and slalom. It was to be my first Super G race with me not having much ski time on my large 206 meter super G ski. Thankfully I had one day to get some warm up runs on it a couple of days early but with gale force winds making the early morning start rather cold it wasn’t the most productive training!

The first race was to be the slalom. There was tough competition at the race with all the American team entering as well as the Canadians Australian and some other world cup skiers entering still around from the world cup. The only other British entry came from Para Olympian leg amputee Liz Miller who was hoping to do well on the slopes that she had been training on for the last couple of years.

The slalom was a challenging set with the slope having a large double fall line to the left which made the turns and keeping a tight line a lot harder work. Still with my disappointing fall from the race at Pitztal in slalom I was pleased to have finished the 1^st run qualifying for the 2^nd race. However I knew that I could ski better. After waiting for all the women and stand up males to go before us it was the time for the sitting skiers male to go. My 2^nd run was going a lot better with me taking a much more aggressive attitude, however halfway down the course again I caught my out rigger on the gate and span out this time been able to control it more and getting up around the gate I was still able to finish. Despite the small tumble I was a lot happier with my 2^nd run and to get some FIS points for the slalom.

The next two days were to be the Super G races. With not being as confident on the super G ski as I would have liked I had no expectations of winning any medals yet but hoped to still be able to put in some good runs. On the first super G during course inspection I felt that the course was going to be very fast making it harder for me to feel comfortable on my ski. I also failed to get a good couple of warm up runs in. I skied far too cautiously and it showed in the times. The next day I made sure I had a good warm up with Carl and felt a lot more confident to really go for it. I skied 100 times better but it was far from perfect but nothing that I don’t think more time on the snow won’t cure and as with everything this season it is all experience and there have been some valuable lessons learnt.

 

It was great to see Liz Miller on the podium with Silver in the slalom and just missing out in both the Super Gs with two 4th positions.  great effort Liz

Kimberley World Cup

After just one nights sleep after arriving in Kimberley I couldn’t hold myself with excitement and was the first one on the bus and first in the lift line before it was even open. The snow was great and despite my back still giving me problems since Villars, I could really feel the difference. After five days straight on the slopes without a break Kimberley was hosting the 2^nd world cup of the season.

Although I don’t have the points for the race, I was given the chance to forerun before the other races competed. Britain had two World Cup racers competing Liz Miller who came up from training at
Winter Park despite still recovering from an injury in an earlier race. Sean Rose who now lives in
Kimberley part time had high hopes of getting on the podium on his home slope. I foreran the Super-G and GS giving me a great experience at a first class race against some of the top athletes. Unfortunately for Sean he didn’t have the races he would have liked but still achieved two top 10s. I hope that in the near future I will be competing in the world cup circuit myself.

Catch Up

I am afraid that since I started this blog I have been trying to catch up with what I am doing at the moment. I am now back in the UK so hopefully this week I will be able to get up date, so please come back to read up on how my progress has been out in Canada, training and in races.