October camp 2015 was a real learning experience and a big step forward. For the past two weeks I have been adapting to a new set of coaches, new skis and boots and a new lifestyle as an athlete without education commitments.
Although the camp was only just over the two weeks long I feel like I made a lot of progress and kicked on again from where I found myself at the end of summer.
The first week in Tignes was great. We spent a few days at BSA base in Les Houches meeting our new coaches Kip Harrington and Duane Baird before heading over to Tignes to start working with them. It was really good just to get to know them both before getting on the hill because I've always felt that a good relationship with coaches off the hill is arguably more important than the one on the hill. We all spend too long in apartments and vans to not get on.
On arrival at Tignes we got told the lift queues were empty because lots of teams had reconsidered their plans after the poor state of the glacier in summer. I think it's fair to say that most would have rued those plans had they have trained with us during that week. Perfect conditions all week, and whilst it may have got choppy and a bit rutty as the day progressed, its perfect training for us in my opinion because any FIS race we enter this year won’t be perfect conditions. It also gives me a good chance to work on keeping my form and technique well drilled even when I'm having to fight to stay on line and not get thrown around all over the place.
My main focus in slalom that week was to simply try and get on the new ski as early as possible, build a strong platform and then drive through every turn to generate as much speed as possible. This is something which I feel I achieved more often than not and towards the back end of the week I could feel a lot of progress.
However the ruts did cause me some problems, mainly when just two days into the camp I paid the price for never bothering with a chin guard and took a gate full on into the face. My lip exploded and our lane almost instantly became a genuine red run. Later I had to get my lip glued (yes glued) back together by some French doctors but that was pretty much the only real low point of my week.
There were a lot of long days during that first week. Kip's up first, down last philosophy afforded us maximum time to work on what he asked and I felt I really improved. On each run I had a clear focus which I feel helped me a lot as Kip's coaching style encouraged us to think for ourselves a lot more on the hill and not just rely what I was being told every run.
It was fair to say Tignes was going so well and the conditions were that good that we didn’t want to leave. However we had to move on to Les Deux Alpes for a week of GS.
Giant Slalom is always quite tough in Deux Alpes particularly because of the flattish gradient there. It is constantly difficult to build the speed to turn the 195cm skis like is needed. It was a good first few days with the older FIS guys like me, Laurie Taylor and Euan Kick helping the younger kids get up to speed with some technical slow drill demonstrations, brush work and general technique refinement.
Like I noted in my last blog it is always good just to take a few days to strip everything back and just work on basic positioning, movement patterns and simple skills like the pole plant. It also makes it a lot easier when you eventually go back into the gates, even if it is a bit tedious at the time you're doing it.
After these few days Kip decided that Deux Alpes was simply just too busy to get the lanes and ski space we wanted. Huge credit goes to Malcolm who re-planned, pulled a few strings and got us back to Tignes. Thanks also Jo Ryding & Dave Tee for letting us apartment share with them for a few days.
When we got back to Tignes it wasn’t quite as we expected. Powder days are generally the best however they can be a pain when we're trying to train gates. Never mind, after a lot of sliding snow out of our line we turned what could've been a wasted day into near perfect training conditions.
Similar to the first week things got a bit rutty but that makes us work to set the rut in the correct place, something which I have come to learn is essential in GS. Any chance of generating speed through the turn with such a long ski means the pressure points and line has got to be bang on. Therefore it was good practice to set that right from the start of the day, otherwise our training sessions may not have been so good.
This was a common theme throughout the week and as the snow got more packed down we were more able to start ripping some good turns off more frequently. It was a great few days training which I think was necessary to boost confidence before my trip to Canada next week.
Canada is something I’m really excited for as I’ve never been outside of Europe to ski before. We're back in Kip and Duane’s homeland so I’m sure they'll be able to maximise local knowledge and opportunities to get us the best quality of training.
I’m especially looking forward to racing out there. We have quite a busy race schedule planned so hopefully we can pull a few early results out the bag, which is something I'm aware I’ve not done enough of in the previous 2 years.
Finally, I'm honoured to note that on last Friday evening I was presented with 2015 Black Country Young Sportsperson of the Year at the Black Country BeActive Partnership Awards.
This is something that I'm extremely proud of, especially as skiing is hardly a mainstream sport in the Black Country. Sharing a stage with multiple gold medallist at London's 2012 Paralympic Games David Weir, Midlands cycling icon Hugh Porter and a host of massively talented athletes from the Black Country was a great experience. Obviously I can't achieve awards like this on my own I’d like to thank all my sponsors for their support; Head, Ski Bartlett, Leki, X-Bionic, Chill Factore, Fitness First, Sterling Health and Fitness, BSA and Telford Ski Club. Also thanks to Wood Green Academy for nominating me. Every time I go ski racing wouldn’t be possible without any of you guys.
Finally, I'm honoured to note that on last Friday evening I was presented with 2015 Black Country Young Sportsperson of the Year at the Black Country BeActive Partnership Awards.
This is something that I'm extremely proud of, especially as skiing is hardly a mainstream sport in the Black Country. Sharing a stage with multiple gold medallist at London's 2012 Paralympic Games David Weir, Midlands cycling icon Hugh Porter and a host of massively talented athletes from the Black Country was a great experience. Obviously I can't achieve awards like this on my own I’d like to thank all my sponsors for their support; Head, Ski Bartlett, Leki, X-Bionic, Chill Factore, Fitness First, Sterling Health and Fitness, BSA and Telford Ski Club. Also thanks to Wood Green Academy for nominating me. Every time I go ski racing wouldn’t be possible without any of you guys.
October Camp - Week 1