My Way

There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll get it out of the way first. I’ve hung up the catsuit and finished ski racing.

Why? Well there are lots of reasons, but primarily I want to go to University and give it a proper go. There’ll be no halfway house of skimping on study & squeezing in training in the hope that both won’t suffer, because they will. And I know they will.

This season was always make or break. Results haven’t been as good as I’d have wanted and they haven’t justified the effort I’ve put in but this decision isn’t really about results and FIS points. I’ve got to the conclusion I have based on who I am, who I think I can be and where I can go.

It’s hardly a secret that I really don’t enjoy slalom, and to an extent you can add GS into that. I know that the World Cup is out of reach in these events and as much as I’ve always given them everything my heart lies elsewhere. I never was interested in just making up the numbers.

I still buzz off the speed events and with the right training and environment I honestly believe I have enough ability get to where I’m ambitious to be but I don't think I want to be waiting around for the best part of a decade to reach my physical peak in these disciplines.

So there it is, my alpine racing career has crossed the finishing line. At this point I really should say thanks to lots of people. Firstly, my coaches; Richard, Sally, Mark, Alan & Chris at Telford + Ruslan, Kip & Dwayne at BSA. Thanks to every single one of them and their coaching teams, all of whom contributed to my skiing.

I’d also like to thank Matt at Head whose long term support has been huge and unwavering. To make it possible to be racing on the best ski brand was an enormous help and I was privileged to ski in them. Thanks also to Sally, Terry and the whole Ski Bartlett team who have always been brilliant. As has Neil at Racer Ready. Thanks also to my other sponsors – Artemis, Leki, Swix, Chill Factore, The Dickie Bird Trust, The Skiers Trust & Telford & Wrekin Council. Without any of the above what I have achieved wouldn’t have been remotely possible.

Thanks to Jenny & Gar, who made representing the BCST fun whilst preparing racers for future challenges. Thanks also to everyone at BSS for giving me the chance to be on a national team programme for 7 years.

Huge thanks also to Malcolm Erskine and everyone at the British Ski Academy. It’s a brilliant race club that enables racers to achieve their best not only on the slopes but also in the classroom and I’d have never achieved the school grades or the Team GB selection I did without them.

I should also mention all of my brilliant team mates and competitors over the years. There’s no fun in training and no challenge in races without you. Shout out to Laurie Taylor, we are going our separate ways but stay strong, put on some weight, have a hair cut and keep sending 'er.

Finally, thanks to absolutely everyone at Team Telford. From White Tigers right through to today they have always been constantly brilliant to me and I have always been proud to race with their name next to mine. Chris Blagden in particular has been a constant source of support and help. Wherever I go, whatever I do I will forever be a Telford Ski Racer.

A new chapter started today, I completed day 1 of my BASI 2 Performance coaching course. Working with others is what now excites me and I really want to transfer what I’ve learned to a new generation, make it possible for a child from a zero ski background to experience what I have. I know can do this and University properly.

So that’s it. I won a few races, crashed out of a fair share. Irritated a few coaches, frustrated a few more and achieved so much more than I ever could have expected to have done all those years ago. It was hard work but huge fun.

Thanks to everyone who helped, supported, inspired, officiated or cheered. I loved every single minute of it. However it’s time to move on. Racer 17513 (TEL) has abandoned the course.

Another Great Camp

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.

 

October Camp - Week 1

An Awesome Summer Camp

For the past 4 weeks I've been out in the Alps preparing for the winter campaign. This was my longest block of summer training I've ever done, so I was aware that I had to make every second of it count on and off the hill.

Summer training is always important because it gives us time to strip everything back down to basics without worrying when the next race is, and make the small adjustments that help to find that extra tenth of a second. Its simple and sometimes really tedious but I also know it's essential, all those hours of looping on the flatter slopes taking things back to basics will sure help at some point next season. It also gives us a great opportunity to blast some fitness whilst reaping the rewards of altitude.

For all the above things to happen however you need to find a glacier with some snow, something that France has found hard to provide this summer due to their biggest heat wave in decades. This forced our original plans to spend 2 weeks in Tignes to be switched with Malcolm Erskine pulling an inspired last minute rabbit out of his hat to find us accommodation and training lanes in Les Deux Alps instead. 

However before all that we had a fitness week in the not so snowy Les Houches. It was great to go back to our winter base for a week of fitness because its genuinely a second home for some of us. It was brilliant to get the opportunity to work with Steve Cooper from Sterling Health and Fitness who put together a fantastic week where all our sessions were purposeful, challenging and beneficial. It was awesome being trained by someone whose life is sports performance and has the best up to date knowledge of the science behind it. We started off with some general cardiovascular conditioning; hiking, running and cycling. It was great to get out on the bikes with Laurie and also enable us to crush some metres on our Make-a-Champ sponsored hike.


Alongside the weight lifting sessions and the stretching we were able to do some really cool actives like rafting. It was such a good laugh especially as it was flash flooding the night before and the rivers were at an annual high making it even better. For adrenaline junkies this was a fantastic experience.

 

As the fitness week concluded we packed up the vans, waxed up the skis and rolled out to Les Deux Alpes. The short & mid length weather forecasts were pretty suspect so it was essential we made sure we were fully prepared for long days on the hill and maximal intensity while we had the access to training pistes. It was a great week and a excellent opportunity to do some good work with Dave Morris. We had lot of time just to re programme skills and refine the basics. The FIS group all split off to help out a coach with another group, the idea being as well as doing the exercises yourself you could relay information and demonstrate them, therefore consolidating our own knowledge. It was a really great week to just be able to loop round with some of the new and fresh talent coming through BSA and not have to worry about the pressures of racing.

Unlike a lot of the photos I'd seen conditions were very good, the Deux Alps piste crew had done a cracking job of making sure any snow was spot on up high where the training lanes were and we worked in perfect snow every day until around 11am. Yes it meant taking the train up to the very top and another half hour longer before we got to train but when you are awake at 5:30 time just becomes a blur anyway. We were working a lot and getting our alignment square in the hips and once getting that strong position the pressure can start to be built into quicker turns. We managed to get lots of video footage which helped us really analyse where we can improve. Dave has a sharp eye and can pick out even the finest of errors in the basics, which really helps us understand what's going on.

We moved onto the second week where Salt Lake bronze medalist Alain Baxter took over coaching duties. Which was great as we had a slalom lane all week. It was interesting getting coached from someone who had achieved at the very highest level because there is a mentality where by everything can be done better and improved upon. There was definitely a great ethos in the FIS group that week and everyone knuckled down, never settling for a "good" run and always pushing for more. Even though we had a training lane with gates up we still made sure we were working on our basic positions and muscle tensions but this time we were concentrating on line and timing too.

It was a solid week of progression for me personally. Slalom is the weakest of my disciplines, however I know I can perform so much better than my points suggest. One of my early season goals is to put some respectable scores on the board and then build from there. At present my woeful start positions are killing me, courses are trashed before I've even started. Early scores might just give me the freedom to go race as hard as I want in search of lower points and would contrast to last season where injury meant I was scrambling around the April slush looking to minimise FIS point damage.

The week with Alain allowed me to develop good discipline with line and timing whilst adding some decent levels of consistency. Only coming out 2 times in the whole 3 weeks of skiing was a big confidence booster because i knew the line was there or there about on every gate. At the end of the week we had a BSA combi head to head which was really fun for all involved! Laurie Taylor beat me to the line in a close final which saw him take the BSA FIS Men's Cup home aka (Super U medals).

After the week of skiing was done it was time for the childrens group to leave for home which meant we had a BSA awards evening/skit night. It was a really cool idea from new coach Lyndsey Strange which eventually led to me, Charles Rankin and Euan Robertson singing "Let It Go" from Frozen. Let's just say none of us will be auditioning for The X Factor any time soon! All in all it was a great laugh and some well deserved prizes went out to some great people, so well done for all involved. Team 2 - we absolutely have to win next year (you know who you are).

After Deux Alpes we headed straight out to Zermatt for a final few days where again the conditions looked a bit suspect. Despite sharing a great camp with the younger racers, it was great to have just the FIS guys there as we could really get the best training in for us with Natalia and Lyndsey. We were also introduced to our first Canadian racer after our new coaching team took over. Jeff Frisch was a great lad who skis off 6 points in DH (ranked #36 in the world) and 10.6 in Super-G. He was great in showing me and Laurie how the pros do it and we learnt a lot of secrets that week from a top guy. It was also great training next to the Canadian women's team ladies, not least because our breaks on the top of the course were regularly eye catchingly brilliant. The already impressive natural scenery was certainly enhanced when Marie Michelle Gagnon arrived.

On a more serious note it was brilliant final few days skiing. I put together some really good GS turns and the glimmers of a promising start to the season looked like they were starting to take form.

Throughout the camp I was inspired by something one of the BSA coaches said to me in the opening days of training - "You know how to make one world cup turn, you've just got to make 60 of those in every run." No one can pull off 60 world cup turns every time but the point is persistency and consistency. I feel like during this camp, especially now in slalom, I have started to develop the ethic of consistency in my skiing. Perhaps not nailing every turn but certainly within line and movement patterns. The discipline is there and so is the will and intention to execute this. It was a brilliant four weeks where I improved just about every aspect of what I do.

Hopefully from the platform we've worked hard to put down we're ready to go again and build on my technique both in October and when the season starts.

Tignes (part 2)

For Tignes (Part 1) please click here

The national championship Giant Slalom was a goal of mine to win at the start of the season. GS is the discipline I've enjoyed my strongest results over the years and I really wanted to win the U18 GS races. I'd sat down at the very start of the season with Ruslan and identified winning both the NC and the NJC GS races at the British as my season aims. 

In the National Championships things were going really well. I knew I was fast and I was pushing myself hard all the way, however I got too greedy in the line coming off of a very technical section in the slope and unfortunately missed the next gate. I was both disappointed and massively annoyed at myself immediately after however I was also glad that I was pushing myself to the extent I was. To go that hard takes confidence and belief and I feel like my GS skiing has come on a lot this season even if the results up until this point didn't really give a true reflection. In a season decimated by injury and illness I was proud I had the courage and ability to attack a GS like this.

I wasn't going to dwell on the past as it was a hard week of racing and there is no time for mental weakness at the national championships. The slalom was next and I think that everyone will agree that it was a very tough set for the first run. It was hard to get into the rhythm of the course at first and then when you did it was ever changing due to the several combinations and constant changing terrain. A lot of people succumbed to the traps in the course however I got past a lot of these and then my binding pre-released and I lost a ski half way down the steep coming into the finish area. I was again really disappointed because a lot of my rivauuls for the title had came out in the tricky parts of the course and I'd dealt with these pretty well from a long way back. It essentially summed up my season in slalom in one run. Lots of promise, zero luck. 

That was the end of the national championships but the national junior championships were following the day after. 

In the NJC GS I was really motivated to challenge for the win after the disappointment of the previous race. I had a good start bib number and this offered me a very good chance to make it into the top 30 flip and attack the 2nd run. However I knew that I needed a solid first run before thinking about any of that. My first run was great. I was leading U18 and had indeed made the top 30 so I could attack the 2nd run and I had a good chance to make my first points of the season.

One of this season's aims achieved

I started the 2nd run at bib 5 so for once I had a clean course that offered a good chance to extend my lead for the 2nd run. My 2nd run was solid without being spectacular and whilst some of my rivals made up a small amount of time on me I managed to hold on to my lead and take the win! I was extremely happy not only had I achieved one of the goals I set out at the start of the season I had also scored a PB of 61 points which was both good for me and a huge relief. It was a good response to all of my injures and setbacks in the months before. I also had a trophy to take back to England with me which was a great reward for my efforts and will provide motivation going forward.

The final day of the championships was the NJC slalom. I had a lot of hopes for slalom as I only had a limited number of races until the end of the season and I had a lot of points to make up on the other lads I consider my competitors. Because my slalom points were a bit higher than the rest of the guys I started a lot of big numbers after them and the course cut up quite badly in the soft conditions. However I had to move on from that and give it my best shot. 

Again it was another tough set in the slalom for the first run and I was a long way off the leader however I did manage to squeeze into the top 30 flip again and had a clean course for the second run. My 2nd run was probably the best I have ever skied slalom in my life. I came 10th on that run only 0.7 seconds behind the winner meaning I had made up a big chunk of time and I was hoping to score some good points. I also finished 3rd under 18 in the slalom which was good for me especially I didn’t have any serious goals for the slalom, I just wanted to ski well and score points. In the end, that 3rd place was an added bonus to go with a season's best FIS score in slalom, however given I was unable to ski slalom for 9 weeks the latter wasn't exactly difficult to achieve.

Overall, despite it feeling at the time like a mixed week, I would say it was pretty good in hindsight. I'd made the podium every time I finished, I won a GS and scored my best points of the season. In addition, had I been in Tignes for the Super G I know I'd have been good enough to be in with a shout of the overall U18 NJC, something that fills me with confidence moving forward. 

However, I'm not naive enough to know that I also needed to back up some solid skiing with some good scores for my FIS page and whilst DH, SG & GS points are solid and more or less reflect where I am there is still a huge differential between my FIS points in slalom and what I can do. Given the season I've had however, the ugly numbers next to my name in slalom can't really be helped right now. 

In hindsight, the Delancy British Championships have been pretty kind for me for another year. I podiumed every time I completed, I was competitive every day and would've fancied my chances of taking the NJC U18 overall had I raced the SG.

Looking ahead, I now have the chance to go on from here and score hopefully score some points in the Citizen races I have lined up on my programme. I've learned much this season, it's just a pity that so much of it revolved around dealing with injury and illness.

Thanks to Ruslan, Ali & the BSA team for coaching me and Chris back in Telford for advice & support. Thanks also to everyone who has supported me this year - Head, Ski Bartlett, Velocity Health & Fitness, The Winter Sports Foundation, The British Ski Academy, Telford Ski Club, Uvex and the great press coverage I've had from the Walsall Advertiser. Roll on 2015/16.

Tignes (part 1)

The British Championships has usually been pretty kind to me. A win in the Super Combined last year, 2nd overall the year before and lots of podiums in earlier years. Meribel was certainly a happy hunting ground. This year with the races in Tignes, things would be a different challenge.

A change of venue made it tough for everyone. No one really knew the slopes and how the sets would be, the timings for races were new and it was all a bit of a stab in the dark for the first few days. 

That once in a lifetime moment

Strangely, my British Championships started off in London, at Wembley to be precise. Missing the Super G races, arguably my strongest discipline, to watch my football team Walsall was unquestionably a huge sacrifice. However it was a sacrifice I was always going to make. My skiing is hugely important to me and Super G offers me genuine podium opportunities but with a team like Walsall you only get one chance to go to a place like that. Seeing them walk out into the National Stadium in front of 72000 people was a truly spine tingling experience, so despite it being a tough choice the answer was always going to be 36 hour round trip to Wembley. 

As it turned out the Sunday Super G's were cancelled and moved back 24 hours. At that point I knew I'd made the right decision to fly back as I'd have been fuming if I'd missed Wembley for a cancelled race day. However it was still slightly frustrating to see the following day's results and how everyone had benefited from the arrival of the French National team with a bit of a FIS points bonanza. That said I knew I had already scored respectable points in Super G this season and deep down I've got a pretty good idea of where I rank against my competitors in this event.

A nice start to the week

I flew in for the Downhill on the Monday. At first it was only meant to be a training run but as the day wore on it became a training run then a race, then a training run + two race runs. Three runs of downhill after a day of travelling took a lot out of me both mentally and physically, however I was skiing downhill pretty much for fun this year rather than for points and results. Going as fast as possible gives me an amazing feeling that is difficult to describe and I didn’t want to ruin that by putting pressure on myself when thinking about points. That can come when I've got a lot more downhill miles in the tank. For now just going from A to B as quickly as possible and learning the discipline was all I needed to enjoy myself. That I managed to grab a second place in the NJC was a great way to kick start my British Championships and a bit of a bonus result.

After the slog of downhill there was a day off racing and although it sounds silly given I had only been in Tignes for 24 hours the downhill’s really did sap my legs so a bit of a lie in was particularly welcome. 

We started off that morning with a good confidence building slalom course. I needed to score a result in slalom as I hadn't done any training or racing with my hand in plaster for 8 weeks of the season and illness had left me in no shape to compete in early January. The morning went really well however, I got some fantastic runs in and these gave me a huge boost of confidence to go into the upcoming slaloms. Following a quick lunch we had a short training block of GS. The GS was also going great for me until the last run where I crashed hard into the base of the gate, face first. I was pretty shaken by the whole accident and I wasn't feeling the best for a good 24 hours after the injury. My face was covered in cuts and scabs and whilst my brace probably saved my front teeth it absolutely shredded the inside of my mouth. More worryingly however, my knee was very sore internally from twisting during falling and it did knock my confidence for what was ahead.

For Tignes (part 2) please click here

English Alpine Champs 2015

EYOF 2015

Last week I was lucky enough to be representing Team GB at the European Youth Olympic Winter Games Festival in Austria and Lichtenstein.

Getting selected was by far the greatest achievement of not only my career so far but possibly in my life. The criteria for the games had been set by BSS a few months in advance and even though I had met the criteria being selected was far from guaranteed, especially when the lack of early season snow meant I was relying on my scores from last year to qualify.

So when the email arrived confirming that I was selected to go to EYOF I was ecstatic to be part of Team GB. It had been one of my main goals for this season and something I've been eyeing for some time now. It was great to finally get there. I was aware that the selection wasn't just great for me however. I also knew how important it was for my family, my friends, team mates, coaches, ski clubs, school and sponsors - all of whom helped me get there. They all contributed to make me a better athlete so I could get to the games. Thank you guys, you're the best and always will be!

Team Session

So we started the adventure with a team get together on Friday 23rd at Bisham Abbey. Before they built the National Football Centre in Burton this was where the England football team used to prepare for tournaments so I was obviously looking forward to going there. It was also great to finally meet the faces of the team officials that would be taking us, the different athletes from the other sports and the other faces we all know so well in British skiing.

It was really good to have Mark Vinter lead the Alpine Team. He's previously coached all four of us boys selected to represent Team GB at EYOF, something that I'm well aware wasn't just by luck. Personally I'd like to thank Mark for all the years of training he has given us and I hope we did you proud. Paul Telling also joined up with the team. Paul's already been to 3 previous Youth Olympics so provided us with invaluable experience.

Team GB - EYOF 2015

Kitting out on the Friday was really great fun. Being handed a suitcase full of free Adidas kit is never bad really and when dressed in the same apparel we all looked like a team and I started to get the sense of what "Team GB" is all about. After lunch we had a team bonding session and a variety of workshops from media training to drug testing. All of which was very interesting and gave me a lot of new knowledge that I will be able to use should I be able to progress to higher levels of the sport. It was also really good for me to learn things off the skis too because the more knowledge I gain the more it helps me as I look to become a better athlete in the future.

The Alpine boys at kitting out

We got to Austria on Saturday after a long travel day and set about preparing for training on Sunday. It was good to go skiing with the boys I had trained with over the past few years. We had such a good laugh and brought back all the old memories what went on when we were training together. Much as I love racing, there is nothing better than having a blast with the boys, carving some fast turns and popping a jump or three without the pressure of the clock over us. Certainly the Sunday session helped us relax and get Saturday's travel day out of the legs. Most of all however we were looking forward to the race the following day.  But before all that was the Team GB reception party and the Opening Ceremony.

Taking place in the ski jumping stadium, the Opening Ceremony was a brilliant experience, where everyone seemed to be grinning from ear to ear. Waiting to enter the stadium was huge fun and it was a really proud moment for everyone to walk out as a team behind the British flag. Following a few speeches from the EYOF president, Presidents of Lichtenstein and Austria and the chief organisers we swore the Olympic oath and the flame was lit. The games had officially started and it was time to go racing.

The events of the opening day GS didn't exactly to go to plan. The first run was pretty solid, I skied the steep strongly, carried speed onto the flat and set up really well for the late kicker. Where so many had been late and scrubbed speed but I was spot on. That early in fact that I hooked my arm inside the gate and jarred my thumb against it. I knew I'd damaged it immediately - the pain was intense - but I managed to negotiate the final eight or so gates and crossed the finishing line without losing too much time.

Holding a ski pole - Plan B

After checking the hand out, the physio and team doctor told me that I had snapped the ligaments in my thumb and wanted to pull me out of the race. Needless to say that was never happening. So with the help of a few paracetamol and a pole taped to my hand I started the 2nd run. That it ended it pretty soon after the start was hardly a surprise, I reacted to the jolting pain of catching my thumb, missed to turning point and was rewarded with a double ejection on the steep, a face plant followed by a head into the net to top it off. A crash that acted as a metaphor of the day.

It was a good experience for me however and a character building one at that. To have all my ambitions snatched away from me like that was tough to take but it was important to me to ski the 2nd run because I wouldn't have wanted to give it all up there and then. Without injury I think I had a real shot at making the top 25/30 so at least I know where I am. After the race was done we went down to the medical centre. The various scans and X-rays showed that whilst the ligament had stayed in one piece it had fractured my thumb bone where it connects and that was me out for the rest of the week. Massively disappointing, however it gave me a chance to watch some other sports and enjoy EYOF a bit more without the added pressure of racing.

The following day we went to watch ski jumping, which is absolutely crazy. No wonder we have no stand out ski jumpers in the UK, who would even try jump that far! I'd have jumped the lower jumps but the 110 metre hill is a bit too far for me. It was great to see the other nations fly so far though and it was cool to see such a different side of what can be achieved on skis. As well as that we went to watch ice hockey, which is utterly brutal. After a few fights, square ups and a few goals Slovakia beat Austria 10-1. Not great for the home nation but riveting viewing.

Fun at the Ice Hockey

It was also cool to support the other skiers in their races. They held their own against some of the very best in Europe and the stars of tomorrow. I was so disappointed to not be able to pull on the bib for the slalom but it's cool to cheer the others on. Especially at the end of the week with the parallel pro-slalom. We drew Austria so there was no expectation. However in a parallel pro slalom there is always chances. We lost, but everyone was neck and neck with their opponents and they raced hard and fast. With a few crashes and DNF's we went out giving it our all and that's all they could have done. We all raced hard to get there and we all continue to race hard to achieve our ambitions, it's never going to be plain sailing every day.

That evening saw the Olympic flame extinguished at the closing ceremony, all the medals had been handed out, kit had been swapped, friends and memories had been made. OK, I travelled home with an injury and didn't get the chance to truly show what I could do but I got to wear the Olympic rings and had some great experiences that I will remember forever. Thanks to Sarah and all of Team GB for such a brilliant week. Thank you also to everyone who helped me get here and thanks to everyone who follows and supports what we do.

Summer '14

After a month of body rest in May and then a stack of fitness work back home three weeks in the Alps was a great way to kick off the up and coming season. Three weeks of combining some good quality ski time with lots of fitness, the perfect summer training!

I’ve been to Zermatt quite a few times before this camp however I’ve never really appreciated the potential it has for a good all-round summer training camp. The facilities down in the town are great for fitness and the hill always brings the best conditions for drills and gates, which is essential when you're trying to get the most out of early season training.



Zermatt also offered us the great opportunity to train alongside some of the world’s best and see how they do it compared to you! So close in fact that me and Ozzy-Paradis had a keepy-uppy contest on our day off. We also had a great opportunity to train with some of the best guys in Britain again with Jai Geyer and Dougie Crawford working and training alongside us. This was a great opportunity to see how good they are and to pick up a few tips off them. Knowing that they’re from the same place as you, that they’ve worked their way to the top through the various pathways and are now succeeding also helps. Being able to relate to what they’ve achieved also keeps the motivation high and it’s great when you hear and see those people doing so well not last when I’m working so hard to emulate them.



Team BSA hiking in Les Houches

However before the skiing started we spent a week in Les Houches on a dryland camp, working hard on our fitness. Three intense training sessions per day for six days was very good for me and the other lads on the camp because it got us in tip top shape for skiing and showed Ruslan how well we had progressed in our fitness over the summer.



Every day we went out on the bikes, averaging 100km per day. Given the mountains around us this was pretty demanding at times but it was great to just get out and turn some gears with the lads and have some fun trialling various slip streams and team chains.

The main aim of the camp was to improve balance, stamina and core strength; these components of fitness are abilities that need constant work to get to and keep to a high standard. They are the fundamentals of any sport. It was good to get some new exercises from Ruslan and you know your commitment is there when you're working on the slack line at 7 o’clock every morning.

The ultimate ice bucket challenge.

We also took part in various new activities such as cannoning down rivers, hiking around Mont Blanc and other fun activities. This included time for a good game of football with a few locals off the street who called themselves the Chamonix FC first team. Fraser Buchan put in a top drawer goal keeping performance, keeping the ball out of the jumpers and water bottles on numerous occasions however, much like the super Saddlers back home, we lacked goals up front. David MacWilliam gave it plenty of effort but despite lots of encouragement (including suggesting he was the alpine Kenny Miller) our lack of firepower did for us in the end.

So, after a good week in les Houches we moved onto Zermatt and picked up a few more of the team from Geneva along the way. Zermatt was great, however – as with Summer camps generally - the weather was a bit of an issue on some days. 4 days of storms meant we had a fair bit of time to have good fun fitness sessions and make good use of the facilities in the town, even if it was a bit rainy. The camp was very full on yet we had a lot of time to learn some new exercises from Jai and Dougie that we are now incorporating into our weekly fitness programme. The new exercises are very ski specific and bring great variety into the programme, hopefully making us more versatile athletes.

The first week we did a lot of slow drills to get back used to the skis again and rebuild the foundations of the technique which is essential to have a good season. It is important to re-learn the right techniques again and bring everything back to a basic level to get the fundamentals right before incorporating speed into the skiing again. Ruslan has a very good way of improving the basic skills and we spent a fair bit of time going back to basics before progressing on to some more advanced tweaks which I feel really helped my skiing.

A T-Bar selfie with Milo

As the camp progressed we started smashing some gates down, looking at focusing on skiing the right line and generating space at the top of the turn to make the right type of arcs to get the most out of the skis. This meant we spent lot of time in the gates simply working on line and transition which is really good for me because it this one of my main weaknesses right now. It was also very useful to do a fair bit of pro slalom because it relies on a good line to get anything from it.

Overall I feel that I really benefitted from the work that we did in the gates in the week. We did plenty of video analysis and I spent of lot of time with Ruslan analysing what was going on. The fact we were both so picky about the finer details is a good sign that I’m taking my skiing up a notch.

Overall I think it was one of the best summer camps I’ve been on. My fitness was in good shape and I feel that my skiing progressed a lot over the camp. It was also great to catch up with some of the lads and share some laughs without the immediate pressures of race preparation over us. Now I’m home and back to the real world of work (we've got a winter to pay for), visiting the gym and watching Walsall win week-in-week-out (or maybe not).

Finally, best wishes to Dougie who has recently announced that he’s taking a step back from ski racing for the near future. Hopefully he’ll re-find his racing mojo and bounce back even stronger. Working with him in Zermatt was an absolute pleasure.

Thanks to Malcolm for putting together such a great camp, to Ali for putting up with me and Fraser all the way there and Ruslan and his coaching team for a brilliant three weeks. Looking forward to October already!

2014 British Alpine Champs

A successful British! The last fortnight at the British champs has left me on a high at the conclusion of the 2013/14 winter season.

Essentially it's been my most successful British Championships ever, which is ironic because it is the year where I had the least expectations for success. I arrived to Meribel both optimistic and apprehensive. I was skiing well but my first British Championships away from children's racing is something I'd been building towards to for a long time. Watching the never ending slalom come down one of the toughest most relentless race pistes around and seeing the speeds that some of the bigger boys hit in the super G is a pretty daunting sight for a mini or early years child racer. I was always told that one day I'd have to do the same and that I needed to be both mentally and physically ready, however I'm pretty sure that when everyone snaps the bindings shut they feel at least some nerves before leaving the start of your National Championships.

The first day was a bit of an odd one. We all came into the car park looking for the Super G set down the stade. I love the speed events and opportunities to hammer it down the Meribel stade are few and far between, however to a twinge of early disappointment the course had been set higher up and finished just above the stade. On the other hand I also knew that piste had so many more challenges. High speeds in to the newer, tighter A nets, the steep fall away coming over aeroplane, being able to carry the speed down and through meadows, then laying the skis right over down the 90 degree panorama bend. I was well up for this one.

Pic courtesy of Racer Ready

Following a delayed start we finally kicked off with the early starters spinning round on the chair saying it was a tough set.

Me? I got it bang on and put down a really solid run. My course read had been good, I positioned myself well right the way down and making minimum mistakes meant that I'd limited any time lost to errors and didn't have to scrub any speed at any point. Having not done a lot of Super G turns this year I thought that 105 was a decent score and for a while it looked like I'd just made the flip from a start number of 55. Frustratingly an Italian lad nudged under my time and I'd been squeezed out of the top 30 by 0.06s. Still 2nd U18, 1st 1997 Brit and 8th placed Brit overall was a decent start to the week.

Onto the super combi and after missing the flip by 1 in the Super G my aim was simple. Survive and complete. After achieving the task, just, I got down to hear the news that some of the boys in front of me had struggled and that I'd finally won my first British title! Me and the BSA boys had a good laugh at the bottom about the day until I got cheered onto the top step by all of them. I can't thank them enough for the season I've had and truly appreciate the fact that they all welcomed me into the team with open arms.

In the two GS's I was strong and solid, putting down good runs and looked to be making the best turns of the season.  I love the 195's and my turns seem to benefit from the having the longer ski under me. Unfortunately I had already ran out of my 25 technical starts, however we used this as an advantage because it meant I could ski with freedom and not worry about points! The first GS contained two decent, if unspectacular, runs and I managed to place 2nd U18 & first 97 Brit.

Taking to Dave & Ruslan

The second GS went really well - or should I say really well right until my ski popped off. Without question it was the best I'd raced GS all season, I made up lots of places on run 1 getting well inside the flip and was looking well set for a great result right up to the moment my binding popped. Ruslan said I'd have been right up there with the best boys in my Y.O.B and that my entry and line into the turn where the ski popped was perfect. I was good knowing how well I'd raced but massively frustrating that the chance of a 2nd British title had managed to sneak out of the back door.

Both slaloms weren't great, however given how difficult conditions were at the back of the field I was looking just to make the finish. Not least as (ridiculously) I've never actually made It down 2 slalom runs at the British before. In the first slalom, having survived a minefield of ruts on run 1, I somehow made the flip and despite a really scratchy 2nd run I made it down finishing 3rd U18 and first 97 again.

After a surprising change of fortune in the first slalom, I slipped into old habits again into the 2nd getting punished for chasing time after a mistake by going too straight into a hairpin. A painful straddle to the calf and very upper inner thigh (if you know what I mean!) was the inevitable result - trust me, these 30mm gates really do hurt.

Overall it was a great week. 4/6 podiums, 1st British 97 every day I finished and I finally managed to get my name on a trophy at the British Champs. I'd like to thank everyone who supported me and helped me get to this stage, not least my old Telford coaches. Also everyone at BSA who has made me feel so welcome and worked so hard with me. I hope I've started to repay at least some of your faith in me! I probably should have won one of these before now but it feels pretty good knowing you'll always be the first FIS 97 to get your name on a junior trophy.

Now I'm back home ready for a long summer of training in the gym, doing exams and finding some work to pay for my summer training. Bit of a change from the beauty and banter of Mont Blanc!

My Tour of Race Piste Cafés ~ Part 2

So..... After the truly huge response I had about my first café ratings for the first half of the season I thought I better knock up a part 2.

Unfortunately due to the fact I've started to complete a few more races my café time has been significantly reduced thus this might not be as thorough as part 1. A bit selfish I know (I do apologise) but occasionally even the old FIS points need to come before a bit of café research.

That said, even on good days there'll always be time for a hot chocolate and pain au chocolat between inspections so here goes....

Les Gets

Pretty good positioning half way down the long practice piste which is conveniently sat next to the race course. Minimum space inside meant that the race to get to the café to get a seat was almost as competitive as the slalom event going on outside, something that consequently meant making the flip for second run even more vital than usual. During somewhat of a blizzard and finger freezing wind-chill on the 2nd day we were extremely grateful to Saint Laurie Taylor who, in unselfishly sacrificing his day on run 1, was able to be sat in the café reserving seats for the previous two hours. Hot chocolate was decent but points lost for being expensive. 4/10

Bormio

4 Euros for a slice of pizza - or if you're in there for a while and a growing lad (the bulking phase) - 12 Euros for 3 slices. Happy days. Inevitably a few too many hours were spent in the bormio café, including a 7 hour long marathon stint in which a number of Flappy Bird high scores were destroyed! One point frustratingly deducted because the Polish guys there thought it was a good idea to stand in front of the TV when the skiing was on but even that can't deny the home of the English Champs a competitive score. Everyone knows that this gem is up there with the very best! 8/10

Val Thorens

Other than a little shed at the bottom you would have expected more from one of the Three Valley's jewels. Fortunately it was sunny and hot otherwise I'd have spent my whole time in the van in between runs. All the two's on this one I'm afraid - too expensive, too small, two finishes left too little time to check out facilities properly. 2/10

Meribel

The good old Meribel marquee! Sun, snow, rain? Then the tent is where to head! Pain au chocolat, hot chocolate and change from 5 euros is rarer than a smile from the ESF in Meribel! Extra pointage given for substantial space for even the biggest of teams, perfect viewing of the slalom piste and almost decent toilets (for France) close by give this canvassed covered crowd pleaser an impressive 8/10

Whilst in Meribel we must also give a shout out to the newly re-named Meri-Bar. I'm pretty sure Fraser Buchan will also back me up on this rasper. Slip down to the bar and order "the big one". 12 euros later, a near dustbin lid sized platter of bacon, sausage, egg, hash browns, beans, mushrooms, tomatoes and toast appears in front of you - without doubt it's the mother, father and god-parent of race piste breakfasts. Granted it's pretty unsuitable for any elite or aspiring racers, therefore denying it a near perfect 10. However even the inevitable downgrading gets slightly offset by the extra pointage earned by having Sky Sports rolling inside - Stelling, Merse & Matt Le Tiss are essential company every Saturday afternoon in the Alps! A  9.5/10 makes the marquee/Meri-Bar combo a must try (at least once) for every first run DNF-er - to quote Cammy "it's unbelievable Jeff"

Courchevel

Poor facilities even though it is very accessible and offering easy lift access for post run bag & ski collection. Only the one gazebo, tables which collapse any time you have more than 3 people perched on them and a pair of toilets that flood more regularly than Somerset cost this one significant pointage. Also, it has to be noted that we were hugely disappointed with the absence of pre-promised pig products to be served between baps and brown sauce. Organisers - please don't promise to bring along the bacon then turn up with soggy pastries, it only costs you café rating points. As a result - 3/10, and I'm flattering you.

Success...

A solid weekend of racing in St. Gervais has left me with nothing but smiles and confidence just a few days before the British Champs in Meribel. Three races, three finishes, all three results reducing my FIS Points, two PB's in GS and lots & lots of positives. As of last weekend I have lowered my points down to an average of 71 in GS and converted my consistency in slalom training into a race day with another battling finish down a challenging course.

An on-lift selfie - courtesy of Milo

I feel that my short break home after Bormio did me a lot of good and allowed me some much needed rest time both physically and mentally. Now with the batteries fully recharged I’m back out, fully focused on getting the job done on the hill over the final month of the season.

The slalom in St Gervais provided some soft and rutty conditions which made it very difficult to attack from the back. A tight set along the flat and a huge off-set on the steep meant the race was always going to be stacked, making it virtually impossible to make the top 30 flip from bib 101. It was a tough battle but I really wanted to up my race consistency before the British, to finally put together a consistent run of slalom races this year and show a true reflection of what I do, run after run in training. As I crossed the line on the second run to end up 36th overall I thought it was a good performance from a start bib of 101. And whilst the points weren’t great they were enough to shave a couple off what I've already got and I think if I keep producing the same kind of fighting performance I should start to drag my slalom points down next season.

Saturday and Sunday were the type of performances we'd been waiting for all season long. Two runs of solid skiing on both days, scoring my best two results of the season. With the terrain ever changing it constantly made it difficult to know what was going to happen but as long as we continued to take it to the hill throughout the runs and stayed strong Ruslan said we would be in a good position to score.

Again the conditions were a little soft, however my start bib was a lot better in the GS's and I started both days with the opportunity to advance through the field with the intention of gatecrashing the top 30 - something I achieved on on both days. 

On the lift with the BSA boys

Certainly the second run on the Sunday, where I got within 0.5s of the race winner whilst knowing I can still go quicker was one of the highlights of my season so far. All in all, it was a great race meet and it has fueled me with plenty of confidence ahead of the British Champs next week.

Next stop however for the training group is Val Thorens and my final opportunity to score this season, as I will have used up all my allocated first year technical starts by the end of these races. With Meribel also just around the corner it'd also be nice to put down some more good runs in both slalom and GS and hopefully get something really low on the board in advance of next winter.

Below are a couple of videos of my training that I've managed to get up online. However keep a look out for the BSA Junior 2014 season video coming out soon and I'll hopefully get my own end of season video over the next few weeks. There may be a bit of GoPro footage mixed into this one as well!

Finally, best wishes to everyone racing in the British Champs and Scottish races next week. It should be a blast.

 

Villars Killed The Radio Star

It’s been another hectic month with lots of races, training, travelling and I even managed to squeeze in a guest radio appearance!

February has been the busiest month of my season and whilst I was expecting it to be tough and physically demanding when we planned the programme at the start of the season, I never thought it would be as hard as it was. It sounds glamorous but eleven races,  five resorts and three countries all in the space of 20 days is incredibly demanding. However it provided me with ample opportunities to score good points and start kicking my season on to achieve the targets I set out at the start of the year.

The first set of races was located in Combloux, which is just around the corner from our base in Les Houches. The first day was a mixed emotions day for me because I didn’t score any new points, however I skied really well in sections of the course but just made a few too many mistakes on both runs. In retrospect, this was most probably due to losing sight of the game plan that me and Ruslan had drawn up during inspection and me looking to charge at every gate of every run. These mistakes most probably cost me the chance to score good points in the race but, as I have come to realise over this past month, it isn’t about scoring new points all of the time. It is about skiing well, consistently putting yourself in good positions and taking the chances when they come. If you are skiing well then it is likely that the points will follow very quickly.

Blue skies for skiing - perfect 

It can be frustrating for every racer when we ski well but don’t quite hit the jackpot with a new score however by keeping patience and developing my consistency when racing, I know I'm going score at some point in the season.

When we got back to the hotel I had a sit down with Ruslan to look at some video and analyse where I went wrong on the day and how if I had ironed out the silly mistakes how my performances would have improved.

This left me very determined to go out the next day and prove to myself that I could do it. Unfortunately heavy overnight snow meant it was pointless me even going to the races as it would just be a waste of one of my 25 tech starts given the inevitable ruts and bumps that would make it virtually impossible to ski well from the back of the field. Frustrating to the max maybe, but it fired me up to ski well the in the next races in Les Gets.

Early morning in Les Houches

A few days later we were in Les Gets ready to do business down some pretty long GS courses. Les Gets was the perfect race for me; long, lots of rolls and suited to the bigger racers on the circuit. After a dream first run I found myself about 3 seconds out which was a great time from the back of the field. I’d also made the top 30 flip, which meant the next run I'd be going down right at the front of the field. I had an unrutted course and the track should be clean which was perfect. This was the opportunity I’d been waiting for all year. However, never one to do things the easy way, it is very much like me to waste these opportunities and yes, you guessed it, I wasted another. Flying down the course I went over one of the rollers, took air and my ski literally clipped one of the gates which was enough to pre-release the binding and that was the end of that. There's no point in trying to complete the course on one ski. Ouch.

It was really disappointing to see that my recurring nightmare had happened again but it’s something I’ve learned to live with over the year and I know it will continue to happen. I've learned that it’s just about getting through it and focusing on the next set of races. To compound that disappointment again, we turned up the following day to see that the race was cancelled due to high wind and poor visibility. Again the opportunity to make amends for the day before had been snatched away from me, but that’s ski racing for you. It's a completely unpredictable sport that has frustrated skiers a lot better than me, so you just have to live with it and go out racing hard the next time you leave the start gate.

In Villars

I didn't have to wait long however as three days later we were in Villars, Switzerland - a place of absolute nightmares as I will explain shortly. There were three races on offer for us, two GS and one slalom, which was great because we finally got to stay in one place for a while. It was a relief to not be on road every day as all of the traveling does take a toll on you physically.

The first two days in Villars were great for me, scoring my two best scores in Giant Slalom of 86 and 81 which was right on my target of 80 GS points by the end of the season.  I skied really well on both GS days and managed to score the 81 despite making a big mistake on the second run over shooting after going off a small jump and as a result nearly missed the following gate. I decided just to go all out in Villars because the conditions were great and I was psyched for the runs. I just wanted to go out and win, no matter how far back I was in the field. Training the week before had gone really well and I knew that I could get right up there if I skied like I did that week. It was great to see that finally my perseverance and hard work had finally repaid me with some promising scores.

However, the slalom the following day was a disaster! I skied really well again and despite making one hefty mistake on the first run I still had a good time. My second run was clean but whilst not necessarily fast I still scored a 78, which was the best score of the year. It was great to see that I can make a few mistakes and still manage to score my best result of the season in slalom because it means that my skiing had moved up a gear. I was over the moon.

We left Villars incredibly happy after the best week I’d had in a long time, only to realise when checking the FIS website for points earned that I had been disqualified on the last gate. I sunk  through the seat in the van, through the floor and then through the motorway tarmac. I couldn't believe that my best score of the year had been taken away from me. I knew that I hadn't done anything wrong and when we checked the video later it indeed proved that I'd skied clean and hadn't done anything wrong.

Obviously, because we had no issues, we assumed that everything would be OK and left the race before checking protocol in order to get back to Les Houches at a sensible time. We had the English Champs coming up and were transferring to Bormio the following day and needed to rest.

Unfortunately however, it appears that the last gate judge got me confused with someone else, put my number down on his paperwork and I was wrongly disqualified. Having missed protocol we couldn’t protest the decision and frustratingly this result is now gone forever. It's a terrible feeling at the moment, however I know that I’ll be scoring results way below the 78 I lost some time soon and I'll forget all about it. For now though I still need the two scores that will to get my average points down and meet my target I set for the year.

Two days later we were in Bormio for the English Alpine Championships 2014. The English has been a pretty happy hunting ground for me in previous years so I was going in with high hopes and real determination after the events in Villars. However this year wasn't really meant to be. Throughout the week I found myself constantly battling against the conditions at the back of the race and unable to race how I wanted to. I really don't think that it was down to any lack of focus, I just think I was trying too hard to re-score that 78 again and it was completely impossible in those conditions from the back. There is however a pretty good café review ready to write the next report!

Good focus at the start 

The final day in Bormio finally bought a really good day however! 1^st British 1997 and 3^rd under 18 brought me my first medal of the year and - more importantly - also saw the return of some solid race day skiing. The first run I put down in the GS was one of the poorest technical performances I'd produced all season but I was determined to just keep wanting more speed and keep fighting on the line to stay in. All through my mind down that first course was the same line I've heard all season from Ruslan “never agree with situation, always more, ALWAYS MORE! NEVER AGREE!”

It finally hit home the sole meaning of that quote when I got to the bottom after Run 1. It wasn't clean and it wasn't great but I'd blitzed the lads I was really racing. Run 2 was a little bit slower, scrappier and the time wasn't great but the feelings I got from the first run and the trophy I was bringing home was enough to satisfy me for all of the journey from Bormio back to Walsall.

Now I’m back home things have quietened down quite a little and I've had time for some good reflections on the past month. Overall I think it's been a very good month that has taught me a lot about FIS ski racing and the qualities you need to be a good racer at the top end of skiing. It is all about perseverance, keeping focused on the ultimate goal and not being disheartened when the points are raining home for what feels like everyone but you because you know if you keep skiing well then they will follow quickly.

Vicky & Adam at BBC Radio Shropshire

It was also nice to come home to a bit of press! Earlier this week I was swooped over to BBC Radio Shropshire to do an interview about me, my training at BSA, Telford Ski Club and everything to do with skiing. It was really good to talk to Adam Green and Vicki Archer about what I was doing, where I'm hoping to go with skiing and how I am going to get there. It was important to tell people all this information and hopefully I get some replies and maybe some attention from it in the future. It was also good to get my Dad on the radio - especially as he spent the whole journey there trying to spook me over how many people would be listening. We also got some nice plugs in for some of my sponsors, so Head, Velocity Heath & Fitness, Ski Bartlett and Uvex will no doubt be delighted!

For now at least I'm back at school, finding time to keep on top of my A levels and spending some time with my friends and family, which is always nice. It was also great have time to sit back and watch Dave Ryding do so well in Sochi - 17th in the Olympics with a Fellows-esque 2nd run mistake was a great effort from the Rocket.

No doubt it won't be long until I'm looking forward to getting back out to BSA and building up to the season's grand finale, the British Alpine Championships. Wish me luck!