Skiing Blind

Just over one week into the Hintertux camp and the conditions continue to challenge us. Melting snow, thunder & lightening, on-piste rivers and poor visibility have all combined to create arguably the most testing conditions I've ever skied in. I'll certainly never moan about the snow in Meribel ever again!

Today was another tester. Visibility was very poor and made things harder than we expected but we managed to get something out of the day and if nothing else, skiing blind certainly improves the feeling I get and the information I can take from my feet.

Given the softness of the snow and unreliability underfoot we couldn't ski gates so we used the 3 hours we had to cram in as many runs of drills and exercises as we could, making use of time to improve basic foundation and technique.

It's really not an ideal training environment when you can't see your hand in front of your face but what ever you get from the day is something you wouldn't have got back at the hotel and I feel that I had a pretty profitable day on the hill.

The weather forecasts contradict each other for the coming 10 days so it's a case of keeping fingers crossed for colder weather and the chance to nail some gates.

All systems GO!

With summer camp only four days away its all systems go in the Fellows house!

With my bag slung open across the bedroom floor, Clothes piled on top of more clothes, Ski prep half finished and Mom going crazy at me for not starting packing yet I just thought I'd take some time out and think about the next month.

Realistically it could be the biggest month in my skiing career so far. The 4 weeks in Hintertux sets the platform for the season ahead and with only a year left in children's racing until I enter FIS its a good opportunity to improve without worrying about time left until I enter the start gate for real. Although the snow may not be amazing in Hintertux I still see it as time and a huge opportunity to improve and like many people say "if you can ski rubbish snow good, you should ski good snow exceptionally"

I'm looking for big improvements in my skiing over the four weeks which would make me very happy and with almost month on the snow without the worry of races at the end I can not only learn the new concepts in my skiing but adapt them into my technique and have time to consolidate them. Hopefully the adaptations to my skiing will fit in easier than past years because of the massive amount of work I have put into my fitness over Spring and Summer and I am looking forward to seeing what impact this has on my skiing. Last year's injury nullified much of the fitness summer work I had in my legs so I have high hopes for what lies ahead. Certainly I've never been fitter, stronger or more ready to go.

Looking forward to Tuesday afternoon when we finally leave!!!

Waiting for the winter and fitness training

Waiting for the winter and fitness training

Winter is ever coming closer and with the prospect of Summer Camp with the British Team only 3 weeks away, fitness training is becoming ever more a necessity. After a few weeks off post Meribel the fitness regime has been intense ever since and I now have a heavy packed schedule - the idea being that I can get the most out of training sessions in Summer and October camps, develop my skiing further and hopefully convert more races into wins next year. 

The ultimate goal from the pre-winter camps is simply to improve all aspects of my skiing that are weak - essentially lay the foundation and build upon and strengthen the aspects that are good. With the help of my coaches Sean Langmuir, Andy Freshwater and Mark Vinter I hope that the summer training goes to plan well.