Sun Peaks

Not wanting a repeat of the races in Kimberley the first GS race went a lot better. After delays to the start due to fresh snow the race finally got on the way. A strong first run put me in 2^nd place which I held on to for the silver medal. It even ended up with a GB 1,2,3,4.

The next day saw me put in another good run coming in 3^rd with this time the hundreds of a second going me way keeping me ahead of Josh in 4^th place. Knowing I had to put on a strong performance to keep my place I set of out the gates catching my outrigger. But despite my poor start I was able to hold on to my 3^rd place although allowing Josh on to the podium in 2^nd place.

The next two days were to be Slalom. I was a little tentative having not done slalom in a while, but was able to put in another solid performance on both days for two more Bronze medals.

To top it all off I was lucky enough to meet two past Canadian Olympic Medallist Nancy Green and Ken Read. As well as finishing the races in Canada with four medals and a Mohawk!

Team GB

Even if I did only finish up in Kimberley with a Mohawk the British team on the whole had an amazing competition getting 17 medals. The Team looked like a well oiled professional team in our matching team jackets. After the races we had a couple of days off before our next set in Sun Peaks. We stopped off to break the journey up in Kicking Horse where we enjoyed the extreme hill and a few drinks to celebrate! Thanks to Stuart and Aaron for putting us up for the 2 nights- much appreciated.

Speed Races and hundreds of a second!

After two weeks training with the team it was time for things to get serious! The slopes have filled up with more Disabled athletes sit skiers, Amputees leg and arm and many more! Causing many curious questions and raising a lot of eyes. As would be expected when a three tracker or someone with no arms comes flying past you warming up!

The first two days we got two runs a day on the course training for the downhill. Despite my times improving with every run I was still off the mark compared too those with more downhill experience.

Well you already know the result of the first downhill race coming 6^th losing to Talan and most my hair! The second run was an improvement. And despite only a couple of seconds separating the leading 6, for me it was still as disappointment.

The next day I was relieved to be off the downhill course having fun it for the past few days and pleased to move on to the super G and hoped for a more technical course to suit me.

The results were again better as I attacked the course more aggressively. And was kept out of the medals by Canada’s Josh Dueck by only two hundreds of a second. Although I was still disappointed to leaving Kimberley with only a Mohawk! I can only take heart out of the fact in real time I would have been on the podium every time.  

Why betting is the root of all evil and will eventually bring the collapse of all civilisation as we know it!

Ok maybe a bit of an exaduration but I can say that making bets is stupid and should not be done! After been joined by the rest of the British Team out in Kimberley Talan and myself decided to make a bet that whoever lost the first downhill would get a Mohawk. Now this immediately sounds like a stupid bet as firstly Talan has more experience and generally has the upper hand on me in the speed events and with the run not been the most technical was more likely to suit him. (Just get my excuse in their early!!) Secondly I have a lot more to lose than Talan as his hair is already rather short while mine is rather long at the moment having only having it cut once since last year. After the first couple of days training I was actually feeling rather confident as Talan was having a few difficulties I believe now only to be lulling me in to a false sense of security. But although putting in faster real times than Talan I had to compete against his factor. Well as you can see from the video and photos the result went against me!

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Safety First

With the Disabled races of the world ascending on Kimberley for the Canadian Norams (North American Cups) the only downhill events to take place this year and two Super Gs the Kimberley ski patrol wanted to make sure that they were up to date on their safety procedures and be prepared for all the sit skiers! Been a regular for the last couple of years I volunteered myself  to be thrown off the lift using their evac straps to make sure they could get us off the lift in case of a breakdown while we were still on it. We waited until the ski hill was shut then set up the lift ourselves. The whole experience was a lot smoother than I anticipated and although satisfying my urge to jump of the lift early every time I was on it the best bit was to have the whole hill to myself for the ski down! Check out how it all worked on the video.