Tomorrow I will travel to central Switzerland for my base for the season, in the small town of Brunnen. Once again this Kiwi run team (WorldSkiConnection) is clearly the best choice for me, with coaches, training hills and a support system I know and trust well. Training hills close by include Andermatt and Stoos, well away from the most tourist tracks which makes for a great choice for training lane space. I am still not sure who my coach will be for the season, probably either Swissy Cedric Maret or Italian Pirmin Karbon who also coached me in Nz in the summer. The team stays in a hotel Continue Reading...
Every year I have the same difficult decision as to who to train with in the ‘northern season’ and this year’s more difficult than usual. With there not being many British run teams and the unrivalled wisdom that Europeans have of racing I always choose to train with a European run team. However with two of the teams I have trained with before evolving onto something else and my favourite WorldSkiConnection (Kiwi and Swiss run) either running too elite a program for my own needs or to basic I am looking for new options. Important for me is the cost, so I am looking at a couple of resort local Continue Reading...
It was amazing trainnig last week, with Bluebird days and a win in timing by 1.9 seconds. This weekend had the arrival of snow in Europe for the winter and in the last two days there is well over half a meter here in Tignes. This makes gate training impossible as it’s too much snow to ‘slip’ away and training in soft stuff makes knee injuries likely. So Power it is! What a Monday and Tuesday it has been. Yesterday we gave up on the lifts so skiied back home around the flat lake in Tignes, I tried a grind which was great for the first meter but I’m no Park monkey aye! Continue Reading...
Training is going really well, we have agreed that it’s an error in my technique that puts stress on my back and I’m dealing with it, keeping forward throughout the second third of my turn. I’m really happy with how I’m skiing, it’s going really well. Perfect sunny days make it easier to play around with the tecnique and try things to get faster so I’m feeling good. The snow is getting harder here as it hasnt snowed for a few weeks, and I have taken a couple of core shots through the base of my skis so I’ll have to try and get them ‘patched up’ Continue Reading...
This is very cool; recently Ted Ligety (currently GS champ and bloody legend) stated on his blog he wasn’t too sure of his own ‘tuck’. Perhaps in response Hans Olsson (top Dowhiller and gliding master) has posted a blog of his own about how to tuck. Copied from his page: Tuck like a champion. November 18, 2011Coming up on the mountain this morning, things were not looking very good. 15cm of fresh powder on top of our freshly injected hill, is normally = f####g Disaster!! I know you can do a lot if you get access to a ratrac & good coaches to give instructions, but today a new level of Continue Reading...