New start...

It's been over two years since I finished studying full time, I had a great seasons of almost full time racing. In September I finally took up my place at the University of Manchester. I'm now studying for a BA in French and Business Management. I'm extremely fortunate to have been awarded a scholarship by SPORTmanchester which will allow me to continue with my ski racing career alongside my studies. It will help me to manage my time studying and training and they provide me with strength and conditioning coaching ans physio - things I have never had full access to before!

I will be competing for the university this year on the British BUCS series as well as training with the British Ski Academy. The next camp for me will be in Canada. I'm extremely excited, as it will be my first time skiing and competing outside of Europe. There are some amazing training opportunities while i'll out there and plenty of FIS starts! 

I'm extremely grateful to have continued support from Bounce Balls, POC Sports (2Pure Active), Reusch UK and X Bionic but I'm still looking for help and support for this season, balancing student life with a competitive sports career is never easy! So if anyone out there is interested in what i'm doing and wants to help or knows anyone who would please get in contact! 

I'll try to keep you updated with everything ski related! While trying to remember how to study!

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Summer Training

It literally seemed like I was barely back home before I was packing bags again to leave for France. I joined some of the team in Les Houches for a few days of fitness training with Steve from Sterling Health and Fitness. We hiked into Switzerland to Barrage d'Emosson, went white water rafting and mountain biking. It was a valuable few days where I learnt a lot about where I was going wrong with my current training programme and adaptations I make to make it better.

 

Me and Amber taking delivering a core workout

Due to the poor conditions in Tignes there was a change of plan and we ended up skiing in Les Deux Alpes for 2 weeks. I've never seen the glacier looking in such bad condition, yet we were incredibly lucky and the conditions for skiing were awesome. We only lost one day due to poor weather. Despite such a long time off skis and not doing my usual summer gym training. I was feeling good on my skis and was putting together good turns especially in GS. This was my first camp with different coaches, although the 'Canadian invasion' isn't kicking off until October it was refreshing to have some change and I really enjoyed it. It was good to have kids from BSA on the camp too as we finished the fortnight with a mixed team event. The FIS team took the 'fancy dress' a lot more seriously than the younger guys and we went with a Pants and Pigtails theme! We had plenty of strange looks that day and lots of people asking for selfies!

The FIS team the moved over to Zermatt to finish off the camp. I've never been before but now it's definitely one of my favourite glaciers. Snow was awesome and training was really good. Disappointing that we lost 2 of our 5 days to weather. But the 3 days we had were really high quality and it was really cool to train alongside Swiss, Canadian, Austrian and Croatian national teams - we were in good company! 

It's been a really intense few weeks but I've got a lot out of it. I don't feel like my time spent off travelling has caused me any major set backs I think it may have been beneficial to take a little time off. I'll now be working as a coach for the British Ski Academy dry slope camp at Norfolk for the last week of August! and I've now got time to prepare for university. I'm really happy to have been awarded a sports scholarship at university of Manchester. I'm now trying to figure out potential flexible training arrangements for the beginning of the season. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

New Plan of Action.... Want to be involved?!

A blog update will be coming shortly following my summer glacier training in Les Deux Alpes and Zermatt!



I'm happy to announce I'll be starting studying at university in September at Manchester doing French and Business Management. I'm desperately looking for any new support to help me continue my ski racing career whether it's advice, aiding travel arrangements, contributions towards new ski boots and a race suit. I'm extremely lucky to be offered a once in a lifetime training camp in Canada in November with the opportunity to train and compete in races. This comes alongside the British Ski Academy's new coaching team of ex Canadian WC team coaches. I'm looking for anyone who is willing to help with costs for transportation or training fees or knows someone who might be able to. I'm aiming to try and qualify for the winter universiade games to compete for GB and Manchester University and one of the very few British winter sports athletes attempting to continue their ski racing career alongside studying. I'm very fortunate to be recognised by my university and been awarded a sports scholarship. If you know anyone who is interested in helping young British athletes, with contributions big or small please don't hesitate to contact me. Thank you so much!


Nia Jenkins

Round the World in 50 days

Since finishing the end of the winter season its been a busy time for me. The majority of it has been spent travelling! As most of you I am sure are aware, as part of my Jack Wills Young Brits Award 2014 I was given a round the world flight ticket courtesy of STA Travel!

On the top of Burj Khalifa

First destination was Dubai where I experienced heat on a completely new level. It was a crazy place to visit, with the heat and the over the top extravagance. Not usually my cup of tea, I quite enjoy visiting cities but I got no feeling that I was experiencing a culture hugely different to the western one I already know! Burj Khalifa at night was definitely a highlight! I also visited ski Dubai while I was there - bizarre the heat can be 50 degrees outside yet there are penguins and a ski slope inside a shopping mall. I didn't have a go - it was quite nice to take a break from the skiing!

Flower Dome Singapore

Singapore: Gardens By The Bay

My next stop was Singapore, such a cool city with amazing energy. Such a contrast to Dubai where nature, sustainability and the environmental considerations are almost non existent.. I was there during the opening ceremony of the South East Asia games, so there was a lot of excitement and the fireworks were awesome. Gardens by the Bay were definitely one of the favourite places I visited!

Surfing in Bali

After Singapore I visited Bali. I think this was my favourite destination of all. The culture was so different to what I am used to, and there is so much to see and do! I wish I could have stayed for so much longer. I managed to go surfing in Kuta, climbed a volcano on my 20th birthday to see sunrise over Kintamani,

Monkeys in Bali

trekked across rice terraces and swam with turtles on the Gili Islands. Despite travelling alone, I met so many back packers in Indonesia doing exactly the same thing as me and I made so many friends from countries all over the world!

Fraser Island

I went to Australia after Bali, the weather was a bit of a contrast and on the whole I was pretty underwhelmed when I landed in Sydney for 3 days. Once I started to travel north, up the east coast I saw why people love Australia so much. Even though it wasn't summer the atmosphere and chilled vibes in Byron Bay were so cool especially with all of the surfing! I spent 3 days touring Fraser Island, camping and off roading in 4x4s. One of the most beautiful places I have ever seen! Everything is picture perfect, I saw humpback whales, sharks, dingoes, giant lizards and dolphins all in the space of 2 days! I only had 11  days in Australia which is no where near enough! Its a place I'd love to go back to!



The last country I visited was the US. I landed in Los Angeles, probably the worst place I visited on my travels. I'm not a huge fan of celebrity chasing, hollywood glitz and thousands of tourists! So when I joined my Trek America tour and made my way towards the Grand Canyon - campi

ng on the banks of the Colorado River on the way I felt much happier! The Grand Canyon was incredible, photos never do it justice! The sheer size of it just blows your mind! Next stop was Vegas, now considering I'm not a huge fan of fake, over the top tourist magnets I really enjoyed Vegas. It doesn't take itself seriously and despite not being 21 there are so many things to do and its so much fun! After another big city visiting Yosemite National Park was a well needed break, hiking 8 miles alongside waterfalls was amazing and it was such a good feeling to get back into mountains! After I finished the tour in San Francisco I spent a few extra days exploring the city - one of my favourite cities in the US, a cool atmosphere and so unique! I managed to squeeze in seeing a baseball game too - SF Giants vs NY Mets. New York was my last stop before flying home! One of the places I had been looking forward to seeing most on my trip! It didn't disappoint and despite being exhausted and broke I had an amazing time and it was a great place to end my trip!

Due to the fact I was taking almost two months of skiing and training some people questioned whether I was actually taking my skiing seriously. Less than a week after returning from my travels I am now preparing for summer glacier training with BSA in Les Deux Alpes and Zermatt and my motivation is as high as it's ever been! I can't wait to get back on skis! It will be a bit of a change this season. The coaching set up at BSA has been completely changed and although I was sad to see my old coach Ali Morton go after I have been coached by him for so many years I'm looking forward to working with someone new,

I have also made the decision to take up my place at University of Manchester in September. Although i've changed my course to Business and Management with French. After two years out from studying I realised I had a change of heart.  My goal is to continue to compete during the winter as much as I can while balancing my studies.

Its been a busy couple of months with so much going on I'll try to update a little more often! I have to send out a massive thanks to Jack Wills and STA Travel for the amazing opportunity they gave me and I wish the best of luck to all Young Brits Applicants for 2015!

Reflections

When people asked me the goals for this season, I always struggled to answer. Usually everyone uses FIS points to base progress and how successful a season was. When I did my first attempt at a 'full time' season points were all I wanted. I became obsessive and when things didn't go well I got really down. I realised the focus had completely moved from how I was skiing to the numbers.

This season I made a real conscious effort to focus on how I was skiing, not the points. So when people asked me "Nia what are you aiming for this season?" I simply replied "to enjoy my skiing, love what I do and feel satisfied with any improvements I make" some people laughed, some people questioned whether I was actually taking racing seriously. If you look down my FIS biography page, the results I scored were nothing particularly special, I was consistent but I managed to make improvements, no matter how small, across all 3 disciplines. In my last 2 GS races in Pila, I skied some the best GS I have ever skied, the points didn't reflect this but I couldn't have asked myself for anything else.

I can't deny I wished my points had come down lower, even if it's for recognition or to stop people questioning me why I am continuing to race and not going to university. However when I take a step back and think about how many set backs I've had this season, how at times I felt like I was attempting to do it alone, and how I actually managed to get where I am now. I'm quite satisfied with how it's gone!

I don't think I'd recommend travelling a total of 3460km by public transport, alone with all of your ski gear. I probably won't be doing it again if I can help it. At times it was scary and there were too many near misses, but I am thankful to the people who helped me! Special thanks to the American ski team girls who lent me race suits to allow me to race at the Welsh Championships because my luggage was lost, the Swiss Army who at some crazy hour in the morning carried all of my luggage for me off the train and across the airport in Zurich, the countless people who attempted to help me carry luggage at stations in Austria and attempted to understand the request for directions in terrible German, and the taxi drivers in Slovenia and Croatia who hilariously requested photos and autographs but kept me entertained with funny stories. Some people would say I'm mad and to some extent I will agree with them, but I did it because I love my sport and I felt like I was doing what was best for me. It probably didn't do the best for my performance but I don't regret it at all!

Again even more thanks to my sponsors for this season who helped me on this crazy adventure - especially Jack Wills who show so much belief in me, 2Pure Active who provided me with awesome POC gear, Reusch gloves who came to the rescue when I injured my thumb again in January, X-Bionic UK for providing me with base layers I'm not sure how I managed to survive without before and Bounce Balls who kept my energy levels going all season whether on the race hill or on a 5am train across Europe!

Of course the biggest decision is where to go from here... At the end of May I embark on my crazy journey around the world provided by STA travel as part of my prize from Jack Wills. Importantly I am going to continue my summer with it mind to continue ski racing. It is a huge decision to make. I have deferred my entry for university twice now ( I am forever thankful for Manchester University for this!) but I cannot expect them to do it again a third time. Many people will think I am stupid for this. At the moment my true passion is skiing, and I don't want to throw myself into a degree when my heart is somewhere else. However realistically, if I can't get my funds together for a season I will have no choice but to finish, so i've got some hard work ahead!

Few days off for rest now then the summer physical training starts again, let's go!

Tiredness, tears and Tignes

When I last blogged I explained I'd be moving back to Les Houches to finish the season training with the British Ski Academy. I'm happy I made the move,and I think I'm now in a much better place mentally.

I've done a few races since being back in France, a night slalom in Morzine, a GS in Les Gets and the French National Junior championships Super G and Alpine Combined in Les Menuires. The races were pretty good, in slalom I still feel like I'm struggling and that's reflecting in my results. In Les Gets I managed to score my best GS result, it was a huge surprise I really didn't think I deserved it from how I skied but it was a score nonetheless. The french nationals were tough but a really good experience, especially when some of the French World Cup women's team turned up to practice for the World Cup Finals in Meribel. Super G is definitely not my strongest discipline, I never manage to train gates and in comparison to slalom and GS I spend much less time on the skis. However I really enjoy skiing it so I like it when I get the chance. Results wise I've been super consistent this season no huge improvement but knocking off a couple of points here and there.

In the run up to the British Championships in Tignes training arrangements in Les Houches have been pretty difficult, it's meant we have had to train in Courmayeur, Pila and La Thuile in Italy.

Travelling further everyday has been tiring and meant I've much less time to rest and relax compared to usual. It was good to train on different pistes and in different conditions, being in Les Houches all season can get a little boring and you can get too used to training on the same hill.

I've just returned from the British Champs. The results haven't been what I hoped for... I really enjoyed skiing the Super G, the course was really good. I DNF in the NC and made the same mistake in the NJC but managed to complete but the time was slow. Conditions were tough for the NC GS with really hard snow and very poor visibility. I crashed out along with many girls, I've never been to a race where 5 blood wagons were used for 50 girls.....

Onto the slalom - a race I'd rather forget. It was one of those races where when you are skiing nothing feels particularly good, but nothing feels that bad, but when you look at the time it's just disappointing. In the NJC GS it was probably the first time in the week I was actually satisfied with what I was doing, my first run put me in a good start position for the second run. On the second run though my ski released on the fourth gate, and me and my coach have no idea why. I was so frustrated, I didn't do anything wrong but I was unlucky. I ended up falling inside onto my thumb which I had surgery on in the summer. I don't think any serious damage was done, but it made slalom the next day a bit more difficult. I tried to end the week on a high, I wasn't too disappointed with how I skied in the last slalom, my second run was pretty good so I know I can do it!

Welsh Ski Team at the British Championships

Usually the British Championships marks the end of the season but this year I'm lucky enough to stay out for a couple more weeks and fit in a few more races. Hopefully I'll end the season on a high!

If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you

After a well needed break back at home, I had a pretty good intense training block of slalom and giant slalom in Hinterstoder, Austria. It was then time to go to Bormio for the English Alpine Championships. Bormio is definitely one of my favourite places to race, the weather is almost always perfect and the hills are great for racing!

Hinterstoder

The races didn't go too badly, I think it took me a while to get into it. I didn't feel hugely race ready, its not something I've experienced so far into the season before but I think I managed well. In the first slalom I put down an average first run full of mistakes, but followed it up with a pretty fast second run. I need to find the right mindset to nail it on the first run next time! Then came my first GS start of the season, and it didn't go to plan. I wasn't confident enough and a huge mistake on the flat meant I didn't finish the first run.

Bormio FIS GS

The Super G in Bormio is always great fun. I don't ski a lot of speed, but it is probably my favourite Super G. Despite not being on my skis since October and not had a proper Super G run in gates since February last year. I was feeling pretty good and confident. I was happy with my performance, I would have liked to have been a bit closer to the leader but I skied to my points in the first, and scored points in the second - can't argue with a personal best!

I got a second attempt at the GS a day later in the NJR races, I think skiing the Super G made a big difference. I was happy with my performance, although I didn't make points I'm now definitely ready to get some more GS races under my belt. 6 races in 5 days is a pretty intense programme, I finished the week with another slalom race, on a pretty strange hill but came away with a personal best score in slalom which I was pleased with and I know there is room for more :)

Chamonix Valley

After Bormio I returned to Les Houches. I decided to leave my team in Austria. I wasn't happy and wasn't sure things were working out. I think its hard to perform your best when you are in an environment you aren't happy and comfortable in. I think I made the right decision and hopefully things will get a lot better towards the end of the season. I'm now back training with Ali at the British Ski Academy and things are working out well. I've got 3 races lined up for the end of this week (providing snow conditions are good) 1 slalom in Morzine and 2 GS races in Les Gets. Fingers crossed I can my head down and put in some good performances!