First races of the season!

Due to snow conditions and race quotas our race plans all changed last minute. We were originally all set to go to La Plagne, but there weren't enough race slots for the team. Then the races in Lizzola in Italy were cancelled so we ended up in Passo San Pellegrino for 2 Citizen slaloms. 

On the Wednesday morning we did a couple of hours of slalom gate training before the van was quickly packed for a 6 hour drive to Italy. 

Due to the Winter Universiade 2013 being held in Trentino just down the valley, the standard of the girls racing on the Thursday was really high. With national teams from Russia, Serbia and Czech Republic, lowest seed was on 13 FIS points. 

Unfortunately I didn't finished the first run on the Thursday, I was happy with how I attacked the top section but hip slid on the steeper pitch. 

Yesterday, I wasn't really happy with my performance. I skied solid, but too safe. I'm currently struggling with my race attitude and finding the balance between going all out and not completing or skiing safe but technically well. However, for the first race of the season with a small amount of training I think I can look at the positives. 

Back to hospital on Monday to see another therapist about my thumb which I injured again on the first run yesterday. Fingers crossed its nothing too serious and they can make me a better cast!

Now to enjoy christmas before I go back to Les Houches on the 29th!

Merry Christmas! 

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Back in Les Houches

There's not much snow in Les Houches at the moment. After arriving on Saturday we trained slalom gates on the Sunday on the bottom section of the World Cup hill. The snow was almost all artificial and we had to use the minibuses for the turn around as none of the lifts were open! Hard work but making the most of what we have. 

Monday, we went up the valley to Argentière to do some slalom free skiing, again most of the snow was artificial but it was refreshing to ski somewhere different to Les Houches. It was good just to cover the mileage on our skis and get some runs of drills in.

Today we went over to Italy to train in Courmayeur. The conditions were good enough to get out on the GS skis in the morning. I wasn't feeling particularly comfortable on them after the camp in Tignes. Now I've skied on them on hard packed snow I feel much happier.

Tomorrow we're running a couple of runs of slalom gates before we leave to go to San Pellegrino for 2 slalom races. So excited to get back into racing!! Fingers crossed conditions are good!

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Not long to go!

Haven't blogged in a while, I've spent most of my time since Tignes working, (run up to christmas in retail is a nightmare!) and in the gym. My sessions in the gym have mostly been focussing on strength and power, two things I consider to be my weaknesses, just hope the work pays off!

This weekend I went up to Chill Factore in Manchester to train with the Welsh team. The Saturday afternoon was spent free skiing with a few drills and video then  followed by a short fitness test. It was then an early start on the Sunday morning for some more drills and some runs in stubbies and gates. Although it was a good 4-5 hour drive each way, it was a good opportunity to get back on the skis and try out some new moves.

It's less than 2 weeks until I fly out to Les Houches to get the season started. Having watched the ladies racing in Beaver Creek at the weekend and seeing Mikaela Shiffrin, and Lara Gut's amazing performances I'm now inspired and excited! 

 A motivational quote for the season!

Thanks to Racer Ready for this photo from the English Championship GS last year!

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Last day in the gates..

The GS skis are unfortunately travel waxed and are ready to return home. So, onto the slalom skis it is! Having skied lots of slalom over the summer on indoor and on dry slope, I was feeling a lot more comfortable on the shorter skis. 

Yesterday I spent a lot of time working on my free skiing and experimenting with the transition and start of the turn. Towards the end of the morning we skied stubbies, the soft snow conditions meant the course rutted pretty quickly, adding the extra challenge. Taking positives from the day, I made some good changes to my line and attacked each run.

We finished off the day with another short sprint and bounding session down in the sports centre in Tignes. Having a head to head and relay race through an obstacle course involving hurdles, cones and boxes.

Today we again had beautiful conditions, however still slightly soft under foot. We moved onto full gates today. I managed to get in 7 full runs of 43 gates before lunch. Hard work but definitely worth it!

Tomorrow we're aiming to cram in some slalom free skiing, before a number of us fly home. I wish I was staying out to go to Les Deux Alpes, but I have to go back to work....

Now to start the packing....

Bad weather doesn't mean a bad day!

Yesterday we managed to set up some GS gates on 35. The visibility was poor and very high winds made another tough day training. With lifts stopping/breaking/closing frequently it meant the turn around for each run took much longer! In the end it was a matter of quality over quantity, I was lucky enough to get 3 runs in gates,  some had none! 

With the soft snow, I struggled on the new skis, but took positives from my runs - I was taking the right line and attacked. Next challenge is to nail the timing and transition.

The weather took a turn for the worst today as we woke up to heavy rain and low cloud, then told the glacier was shut. Luckily having seen the weather forecast, BSA had made arrangements to use the sports hall for a sprint session in the morning and basketball in the afternoon. Although I'd much rather be skiing, today was good fun!

GS for the week has now finished so we're moving onto the slalom skis tomorrow. Weather is looking a lot better so it should be good!

Photo courtesy of Jazzy Butcher: Me, Megs, Yaz and Abi tucking on the bridge on our walk to the lake.

Cloud moving down the valley:

New season, new skis

After a long journey yesterday (with a lot of kit!)

we finally made it to Tignes in the sunshine. A quick look at the weather forecast for today, we were praying the sun would stay and the temperatures to drop.... Unfortunately that didn't happen. 

This morning visibility was pretty poor, and there was a couple of inches of soft snow underfoot. As me and 2 other

skiers in the girls group today were moving onto the new regulation skis, we went back to the basics and tried to get a feel to the added length and longer radius. It definitely took a few runs of slow drills to get the balance right, we all found the new skis to be pretty unforgiving if you made a mistake at the top of the turn. They're hard work to lay over in the soft snow but I found once I carved out turns on the flat they're extremely stable and fast at high speeds. I can't wait to try them out on a hard piste!

Unfortunately the day was cut short slightly as the wind and the snow picked up so the lifts had to close. We were greeted by torrential rain as we got off the funicular so fingers crossed this weather passes!

Just light stretching and ski prep planned for this evening, then looking forward to what tomorrow has to bring!

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