English Alpine Championships

It's been a while since I last blogged, it's been a pretty intense few weeks, I've been racing most weekends.

The slalom races in Combloux didn't go too well, I crashed out on my second run, both days! I'm still very frustrated with my inconsistency in slalom, but hopefully it will improve with some more training.

(Combloux CIT slalom)

The next set of races were two GS races in Les Gets, France. I haven't done many GS races this season so I felt more pressure to make them count! The course was long and flat with lots of varying terrain which made it challenging. The conditions were tough, with lots of soft snow and poor visibility. I put together two solid runs and ended up scoring my lowest points in GS to date - 98! The race on Sunday was unfortunately cancelled due to dangerous weather conditions, after one of the early girls crashed and injured herself. 

(Had some pretty awesome views while training slalom in Les Houches!)

We then went back to Les Houches, for a few days training before heading to Villars, Switzerland for the Aiglon College CIT races. There were three races, two GS and one slalom. I was relieved to have finally finished three races on the belt, my inconsistency in finishing races had put me under more pressure and I seem to be making even more mistakes. In the first GS, I scored my second best points of 105 (still not quite under 100!!)  and in the Slalom I scored my lowest points of 108 and came 7th overall. 

(Juniors at BSA - transporting over 70 sets of skis to Switzerland and back) 

(Getting ready to race with my Bounce Ball!)

Once we had returned from Villars, it was a quick turn around to leave for Bormio the next day. With the English Alpine Championships being one of the busiest weeks for BSA during the season, I was working with the minis for most of the week and racing myself on the last two days, once the under 10s and 12s had finished. At the beginning of the week we spent most of our time free skiing and learning names as there were lots of new faces. As their first race was a combi we focused on skiing on different sorts of terrain, jumps and powder! 

The combi took place alongside the NJR GS and was a mixture of stubbie gates, GS gates, rollers and banked turns with a jump at the end. It was a great course and looked so much fun! There were a few issues with the timing and a couple of delays so it was a long day up the hill for the coaches and athletes but we were thankful for two runs and some great results for BSA!! Their next race was a GS on the World Cup Stelvio piste. The weather was very warm and the rain came in during the first run, luckily the course held up for the minis to get two runs in. The race was tough, especially for the under 10s due the length of the course along with the snow conditions. BSA had the winners for the under 12 in both boys and girls and athletes on the podium in the under 10 age group.

(Bormio FIS Super G below the jump)

I originally planned to do the two FIS technical races - slalom and the GS but the programme was changed because of the weather, so I entered the two Super Gs and the GS last minute. The Super G went well, I finished 3rd Under 21 and scored my best points. The second Super G was cancelled due to the course cutting up badly and the snow was very soft. The GS didn't go to plan, my ski came off on the seventh gate so I crashed out.

After the BSA children and most of the juniors went back to Les Houches on Friday, five of us stayed in Italy to race in Santa Caterina. We did a double Super G, initially planning to do a GS too. On the first SG race I crashed and injured my knee, I competed in the second run but I skied a round, safe line  which resulted with a slow time. I felt like I needed to race the second run just to keep my confidence up! After the races, all of the team were really tired after doing 12 days without a day off so we decided to head back to Les Houches to rest.

(Santa Caterina)

I've now flown home for 5 days to get some rest, hopefully my knee will be better by the weekend and I need to go back to hospital to see a doctor about my thumb. Then on Saturday I head back out for the rest of the season! 

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Back on the skis!

After my crash on Monday I was forced to take 2 days off skiing to recover. Being at BSA and not being able to ski is torture! Definitely think the days off we're needed though!

Yesterday I got back on my slalom skis, we focused mainly on our free skiing but managed to get a few runs in the gates. Free skiing turns are starting to feel pretty good, just need to transfer it into the gates! Some of us went up in the afternoon to get some more gate training in but just after we set the course the lift broke! The cable had come off so we had to walk back to the top so the course was pulled and I took one of the minis free skiing instead. 

(Broken lift)

Today we trained on the stade chamois and did a BSA fun race through some stubbies with the minis and children. 

(Me and Jazzy Butcher racing today)

I'm currently preparing for two slalom races in Combloux this weekend, I've never raced there before but I'm so excited. I definitely have enough snacks for the hill thanks to Bounce Foods! Peanut protein blast will keep me going all day!! It's easy to just eat sugary foods like sweets and chocolate on race days to keep your energy levels high. These are all completely natural, gluten free, have no added sugar and are high in protein! Perfect!

Also a HUGE well done to my little sister Megs who was racing with the U16 British Alpine Ski Team in Andorra! Managed to pick up 3 medals - two 2nd and a 4th!

(Meg on the podium in 2nd place in the Super G)

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Welsh Alpine Championships

ÛIt hasn't been the best week or so for me. Last Tuesday and Wednesday I went over to Champery in Switzerland for the Welsh FIS races. 

In the slalom the conditions were pretty difficult, there was poor visibility and soft snow. I completed my first run in a reasonable time but was angry with myself due the number of silly mistakes I kept making. I made the top 30 flip for the second and going down 4th gave me a good opportunity to make up some time, but I made a huge mistake halfway down the course and didn't finish.

(FIS Slalom start area)

Wednesday was my first GS race of the season. I think I was more anxious than necessary as I'd put a lot of pressure on myself to better my points along with adapting to the new ski. The conditions were brilliant with grippy snow and sunshine and I really enjoyed the first course! I skied solidly on my first run and made the 30 flip. I was so up for the second run and skied well but I didn't ski with my head, completely misinterpretating my line over the terrain changes I missed a gate and skied out.

To get more race practice I fore ran the children's BASS GS. Conditions weren't as good as the FIS race and the course was tough as it was set slightly tighter for children's skis but I think it was a good experience.

(Me and Jazzy Butcher inspecting the BASS GS)

(Me in the start gate)

I was meant to be competing in an GS race in Italy on Sunday but that was cancelled due to poor snow conditions so I spent the weekend coaching the under 10 and 12 weekend skiers in Les Houches. We did a mixture of free skiing and technical work, gates and off piste jumps in the trees. We definitely covered a few miles on the skis and it was good fun.

Yesterday I was back into training, due to the GS in Italy being cancelled we found a double Super G in Meribel to enter, so we got out the speed skis. As it had snowed overnight the conditions were too soft to set, so we just free skied. Unfortunately I managed to crash going over a roller 4th run into the day. I can't really remember what happened...... But I was put in a blood wagon and sent in an ambulance to Sallanches hospital. After spending 6 hours in a neck brace getting a nice view of the hospital ceiling I found out I had concussion and sprained the top 2 vertebrae in my neck. This means I can no longer race in Meribel but fingers crossed I'll be ok to race in two slaloms in Combloux at the weekend!

(On the Super G skis)

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Quick New Year Update!

Happy New Year!!

I arrived back in Les Houches on the 28th of December. New Year is one of the busiest weeks in Les Houches and at BSA so I was helping out coaching the minis and providing race support.

I managed to squeeze in some training on New Year's Day for the Scottish FIS night slaloms in Chamonix.

On the 5th and 6th of Jan, I helped out with the under 10s race support before heading off to Chamonix to race.  Very tiring but worth it. On the first day I DNF first run, I was really frustrated as I felt quite confident in training but was unable to put the confidence into my race runs. The second day was much better. I skied technically well but could have taken more risks. I still ended up scoring a personal best for my SL points. 

As soon as the children's races had finished I had the chance to go free skiing on my super G skis before 2 Super G races in Tignes. Originally I hadn't planned on skiing Super G at all this season. In previous seasons I hadn't had much training so my confidence was pretty low and I didn't want to buy new regulation skis. Last minute I changed my mind and luckily I managed to get hold of some skis. I'm glad I did, they're so much fun! 

The course in Tignes was short, fun and fast! The winner completed the course in under 50 seconds! The start had to be moved down due to the snow conditions. 

I loved the course and really enjoyed the race experience. Girls from the Canadian, French and Andorran teams were racing so the standard of competition was higher than I'm used to, it was great to watch. Added bonus, I scored my best 2 super G results - something I wasn't expecting! I'm looking forward to my next chance to do some speed races!

Now it's just time to get my head down and train hard during the week to prepare for the Welsh Alpine Championships and upcoming Citizen races! I'm still continuing to coach the under 10s and 12s on the weekends, it's hard work but I'm enjoying it!

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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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