The English Championships

Last Saturday, I left Chamonix on a long trip to Bormio, Italy. Bormio is where the English Championships are held. It took us five hours to drive there, which is relatively quick compared to what it usually takes. When we had finally arrived at the hotel, there was a lot of kit and skis to unload which took some time. After having unpacked and unloaded and eating dinner it was time for us to get some sleep for the Super G training on Sunday.
We had to wake up at six that morning (and every morning) because our hotel was about 20 minutes away from the race piste. Once we had inspected the course, the girls were the first to go down it, then the boys, so I was quite far back in the order. It was now my time to go so my coach clipped my boots into my skis, then I was off out the start gate. My run was good but conservative as this was my first time in Bormio. Because this was a training day we were allowed to ski two runs so I decided to attack the second run. I attacked the second run but I made more mistakes. Since there was no timing on the training day I could not compare myself to the other racers.
Monday was the Super G race day. I felt awake and fresh. We inspected the course for the second time, it was very similar to the training day, so I wasn't worried about any changes in the course. After the girls had had their run I did my warm up and got ready to go. I launched out of the start gate pushing as hard as I could, I crouched down into a tuck and stayed in it until the steep section. I nailed the steep section but coming onto the flat I hit a bump and one of my skis was launched into the air. I managed to bring it down but it cost me half a second, I managed to recover and hold a good line until the finish. I came across the finish annoyed at myself because of the mistake, but I found out that I was in fourth place and had missed  the podium by only 5 hundreds of a second (0.05). I was pleased with my result because I knew that all the racers in Britain were there, but I knew I could have been quicker without that mistake.
Tuesday was another training day for Giant Slalom. I was skiing well and fast, but when it came to Wednesday (the race day), I didn't ski so fast. I ended up finishing 8th after the two runs which I was disappointed with.
Thursday was the Slalom race which I had high hopes for as I had already won a medal in slalom. My first run was speedy at the top section, but I ended up getting taking my turns very late on the flat which cost me a few seconds, I finished ninth on the first run so I was determined to have a better second run. Second run was a lot faster: my time was 2 seconds quicker than my first run! I ended coming fourth overall, so I moved up 5 places.
At prize giving they announced the overall English winner of the whole championships and I came fourth, again just off the podium. Friday morning we drove back to Chamonix and I thought that I had skied well over the last 5 days.
My videos from the races will be up next week.

Welsh Championships

Two weeks ago, I competed in the Welsh Alpine Ski Championships. The two disciplines that I competed in were Slalom and Giant Slalom. On the day of the Slalom the weather was sunny and cold, perfect for racing.  On the first run I skied well along the flat, but made a few mistakes on the steep section, as I approached the  finish, a gate smashed into my face and I made a huge mistake and I only just made it around the next gate. Once I had finished I looked at my time and I had come fourth overall, and second British skier. The two skiers in 2nd and 3rd were from Patagonia in South America. The second run was better and I made less mistakes and ended up coming 3rd that run and 3rd overall. I came 1st overall British skier, so I was pretty happy.

The second day was the Giant Slalom event, the weather was foggy and cold. The snow was good but the visibility was awful. I skied my first run and managed to stay in the course despite the many mistakes that I made. The second run was similar as I made a few mistakes. I came 4th overall and 3rd British skier, but it was not my best performance. Hopefully I can achieve some good results at the English Championships in Bormio.

Pain

Don't worry, this isn't me!

So, it's my first week back, I've had two days of training then guess what happens? I crash! Luckily it was not  a serious crash, not like a broken leg or anything. So I carry on skiing for another two days then I feel pain in my lower back when I'm reaching down. The next day I'm finding it difficult getting out of bed because my back was so stiff. I went to the doctors that day and had an x-ray. Fortunately there was nothing broken, but my lower back muscles had contracted. This made it nearly impossible to move around without being in pain. This week I've been having physiotherapy to sort it out. I'm finally nearly better now, I can nearly touch my toes! Hopefully back skiing this week!!  

The Interschool and Aiglon Championships

This week I have competed in 2 races. One in Chamonix, called the Interschool ski Championship, and another in Villars called the Aiglon College Cup. The Interschool ski Champs was the first race. The first day was Giant Slalom, the snow was soft and the sun was warm. First run I was skiing really well, but made a huge mistake half way through the course, but managed to recover and have a good bottom section. By the time I had finished I had the third quickest time, which I thought wasn’t too bad since the mistake that I had made. Second run I didn’t make a huge mistake but I didn’t ski as well  as the 1st run and finished that run as well. The next day was Slalom. First run I fell over at the 8th gate and was disqualified. Second run I fell over again but I hiked round the gate so I wasn’t disqualified.
Next up was the Aiglon. The first day again was Giant Slalom, the snow was icy and hard. The first run I had a really good top section and made a few mistakes at the bottom of the course but managed to win that run. By the second run the snow had softened, I skied the course consistently and managed to win the competition, I was proud to get a gold medal at prize giving. The slalom was on the second day. Again, the snow was icy. I skied my first run well and when I came to the finish I had the quickest time by nearly a second, but when the protocol of disqualifications came out I was listed on it. It turned out that I had straddled the 6rh gate without noticing. Second run the snow had softened but I came to the finish with quickest second run time which I was quite pleased about, despite the disappointing first run.

Races

Ski Jump!

In the last few days I have done lots of races. Two days ago I did a Super G, a Giant slalom and a ski jump. In the Super G I won by 2 tenths of a second! The Giant slalom I won by 4 seconds!! and in the jump I came joint first by jumping 14.5 meters! Yesterday I had two slalom races, in the first one I came 3rd, but in the second one I was disqualified. Today I did two Giant Slalom races and a Skier Cross race. In the first one I fell over on the 3rd last gate, which was disappointing. In the second race I lost my pole half way through the course but I managed to ski all the way to the bottom with one pole and finish with the second best time. The Skier Cross was really fun and I managed to take second place. I have uploaded some videos of the races on my video page.

Winter Freeze!

This week has been one of the coldest weeks in 2 decades. Reaching temperatures of -27 which you can guess, was not fun to train in. The coldest day last week was around -21, this resulted with us going into the cafe every two or so runs. Even though the cold air and wind would freeze my feet off, the snow and overall training was really good.
We were skiing Super G (a fast downhill race which freezes our faces) on Tuesday last week which was probably the coldest day, it was so cold that we had to put duct tape and electrical tape on our faces to stop us getting frost bite! 
The world cup has just been held on the slope which I train on. The world cup racers were racing with some thermals, a layer of lycra and a helmet in the same temperature that I was skiing  in with thick salopettes, a big jacket and three layers of thermals. TJ Baldwin, the best British skier, managed to come 32nd in the combined results which is a great position for a British skier. I had a chat with him afterwards and congratulated him.

The Welsh Ski Championships

The Welsh Championships

Three days ago I skied in a race called the Welsh Championships. The first discipline we skied was slalom. Normally slalom is not my strongest discipline, but that day I managed to secure a bronze medal. One of the people that beat me was from Patagonia, Argentina. Therefore I was the second quickest British boy in the race. In the Giant Slalom the next day things didn't go aswell as the slalom. On the first run of the GS I managed to fall over and miss a gate which meant I had to hike up about 3 metres, by the time I had got to the bottom I was second last.
The second run was much better; I didn't fall, I didn't have to hike up, and I ended up second quickest boy on that run, which I was quite chuffed about. Overall I thought my performance in the Welsh Championships encouraging.