Villars 24hr Charity Race

After been invited out to Villars by Disability Snow Sports UK for the 24hr race again this year I jumped at the chance as long as I hadn’t qualified for the world cups or it didn’t clash with any other races I was there. Although we weren’t really putting in a competitive team its great to be able to show face and show off after DSUK were the main beneficiaries a couple of years ago.

I was also thrilled to be able to be joined by my brother and ski with him for the first time since my accident. (When I say ski with him I mean leave him in my wake!!!) It snowed continuously for the 1^st 12 hrs meaning conditions were tough leaving me to do a lot of the skiing. For an endurance feat like this Mars Drinks were out in force to keep me and the others refuelled throughout the 24hr race.

Yet again the race was a great success and a great laugh to be a part of, and a real privilege to ski with some truly unique characters!!! Skiing through the sunrise in the Alps is amazing and makes all the hard work worth it. Thanks to all those that were out there to help and the teams that raised more money for DSUK. The experiences they offer people are fantastic and often taken for granted by some people long may their work continue to help people enjoy the ski slopes and my passion.

Happy New Year

After a whirl wind week home for Christmas fitting in seeing all the family and some friends it was straight back on the plane out to Innsbruck for the next race in Rinn. With it been so close to Christmas it was a reduced team with only Sean, Jo, Craig and Coach Jane making it out. With Rinn been no higher than 900m the snow was limited and high winds prevented us to from getting the higher race run. This meant it was two Slaloms rather than just the one and a GS run. The run was not the most challenging but the competion was still very strong on the first day Jo, Sean and Craig all failed to finish leaving me as the only Brit coming in 16^th the 2^nd day was a reverse with me been caught out by a gate in the 2^nd run. This time Sean was able to put in a good result splitting up the top 6 of Austrians!

After a great celebration after the last day put on by the organisers with a demonstration dual slalom. I was on an amazing train journey through the alps off to Villar for the Charity 24hr race I attended last year with Russ.  

Busy Start and Europa Cups

So far this season has been non stop since getting out on the snow for pre season training in Hintertux in November. After getting down to some hard skiing with the Royal Engineers in Stubai I was home for a couple of days rest before heading back out to Pitztal for the first race of the season. 

Pitztal is always a hard race with early mornings, cold conditions and the toughest competition there is. This year was no different with 20 nations and over 170racers taking part. After a couple of days training and getting used to the surroundings it was an early start for the first race (Slalom everybody’s favourite!) The race really begins at 6 in the morning with the race to beat the Germans and Japanese to the lift which only takes 9 wheelchairs at a time (when there are over 70 this means if your last you can be waiting a long time in the cold)

In the first race I skied well finishing 14^th but in the 2^nd run I thought I may have missed a delay gate which was confirmed when I was disqualified! GS the next day did not get any better after pulling out a stormer of a first run finishing 0.4 secs behind Sean and beating Russ just outside the top 10. I was pumped for the 2^nd run but several gates in I hit a cross rut and my ski came off. (I will always double check that before a race now!) the super G was very flat and I struggled to get up to speed early on the flats but still finished in the top 20. Overall I was frustrated with the races but despite not finishing in the GS and slalom I had skied well and now knew that I could get up there with the best in the world. Kutai followed straight after and I was a lot more consistent with 3 top 20s. The rest of the British team all had our ups and downs but overall the team was off to a great start with podiums coming from Sean, Jo and newbie Jane and also good finishes for Talan and Russ. The races were also a great eye opener for the new members of the development squad. Showing them how much work needed to do to get to the top.