Hintertux October

I've just returned from two weeks in Hintertux with Motion Team, it was a huge relief to finally go back out in the mountains, it was the best reminder of why I put in so many hours in the gym in the last couple of months! 

Me and fellow Motion and Rossignol UK team mate Kirsty Guest

I had a day of free skiing to get the feelings back and to get the feel of my new Rossignol equipment! I really like the new set up!

 It was straight back into GS gates for day two. As it was the week before Sölden, Hintertux was pretty busy with big national teams preparing for the races. It was cool to train alongside Tina Maze and the Italian World Cup teams there aren't many sports that give you the opportunity to train in exactly the same environment as the top athletes in the world. So I feel very lucky! Talking to some of them on the lift I was surprised but also relieved when they said they were finding the conditions really tough too! Despite not skiing for a couple of months I was really frustrated with how I was skiing and I think I found it more difficult than I was expecting.

Had a selfie and a lift queue chat with Elena Curtoni :)

With Davide SImoncelli, Giovanni Borsotti and Luca De Aliprandini

We couldn't train for the next two days because of the weather, the mountain had to close. Over a metre of snow fell in 48 hours at the top. Even where our team were staying at just 850m altitude we had 40cm. It turned the place into a winter wonderland, so we made the most of it and did a team snowball fight in the woods, watched a whole season of Suits and did fitness training sessions in an underground car park! 

  

When the bad weather had passed it was back to hard training. For some days we managed to do some double sessions of either slalom or GS in the morning with Super G in the afternoon. The slalom and GS wasn't going so well but I managed to get some good feelings on the Super G skis.

Conditions were almost perfect everyday for the second week. I managed to get more sessions of slalom in. I have to be careful training slalom because it's so easy to injure my thumb again.  Skiing slalom courses with only stubbies on the right foot turns looked a little odd, but at least among the sea of gates we could tell which course was ours... Hopefully when I am back out training again I can ski full slalom courses as I would in races.

The final day training was the best day for me. After a frustrating two weeks when I felt my skiing had not been where I wanted it to be. I finally started to feel like changes were being made and I got more confident skiing giant slalom. It was a good way to end the camp. 

I am now home for a month before I head out to Innerkrems in Austria. Hopefully my first races will be middle of December. Now it's the last final push to get stronger and ready for the winter and make the most of the time at home!   

Ready to go!

It's been a pretty good past few weeks! I've made quicker progress with the rehab for my thumb and wrist than my surgeon originally expected. As it's got stronger I've been able to vary my training and I'm feeling good! I've just got to be extra careful when I get back on skis and not to push it too hard.

Yesterday I was in London to meet my mentor, as part of the Jack Wills Young Brits prize. Stewart Castledine works for James Grant In the sports division - one of the biggest media and sports agencies in the UK. It was really cool to see the work they do for some of the biggest sports stars in the UK and their support for me and what I do was really encouraging. Probably one of the funniest parts of the day was being stopped by the police outside Piccadilly Circus tube station in the rain in rush hour...They suspected I was carrying a firearm.... but I was just carrying a pair of Super G poles I'd collected from Ski Bartlett that were wrapped in plastic. Not sure who was more embarassed, the police officers or me!

More good news! I'm so happy and thankful for the support from 9Point9Sports Ltd for their help and support from POC. I've used POC helmets, goggles and gloves for years as they are a brand I trust and I know suit me and my requirements so well! 

I'm now all ready to start training again in Hintertux! Also huge thank you to Jack Wills, X Bionic and X Socks, Reusch UK, Bounce Balls UK and Rossignol UK. Your help has made such a massive difference! 

I will keep you updated with how my training goes, don't forget to keep checking www.blog.jackwills.com for young brits updates too!

x

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: