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.