Going quite hard out on Wednesday I straddled the last gate of a GS course, with one leg going around the gate and the other between the poles and under the flag. Initially I thought it was bad as my lower leg bloody hurt and I’d ripped through my salapettes and thermals but I got back up and skied off. Later I realised that the top of my leg was very sore and I’ve damaged two tendons at the top of it. Apparently it may take upwards of a month to fully recover but I can ski gently in the meantime. Today off and then back on it tomorrow I reckon.

As with everywhere it has been bloody cold here the last week, skiing about in -30 sometimes I think I need thicker socks haha..

It was however cut short after the timing had broken and by the time it was replaced at 1 pm there was not enough daylight time to run the second run of the boys. It’s a shame, the races are usually run very efficiently and are a good atmosphere because lets be honest, noone expects fierce competition from the welsh at a wintersport. It’s ok though, I got the feeling of a raceday again which I wasn’t really expecting as I only had my entry confirmed at 5 O’clock the evening before!!

I am back in training though which is fantastic, I realy love to improve and the ‘feeling’ is coming back in the skis. It’s really tough progress at the moment as pressure points in my boots are caused extra ‘bone spurs’ to form, but hopefully I’ll have that sorted in the next week or so to crack on and get quick

My first day of slalom gate training went really well, here’s a video of how it went

SL return in Andermatt. GoPro 31-01-12

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 closed for winter which means we have plenty of room for all our stuff, including where the magic happens, the tuning room…

Awesome views from the hotel though..

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 teams, as they often have a great standard of athlete and are always very enthusiastic about supporting athletes living in the area.

My basic criteria are as follows; Great training from a good coach (he/she doesn’t have to be likeable) on a variation of terrains, in a team with a limited number of athletes, some of which are faster than me. Also a place to live with room for tuning, and transport for training and races. Most importantly at a good price.

Other things I now also have to think about are standards of local gym facilities, of ski shops (for grinds and repairs), chiropractors and physios and the location within the Alps for races.

Let the search continue…

I look forward to starting to do some races to see where I’m at. There’s been a few here in Tignes this week as some FIS races were to be held in Val Thorens but due to no snow they moved them here. The top guys are really something to aspire to, the winner scored 23 points, which is about 300th in the world.

I have a small race of my own tomorrow, our Snoworks group and another eurotest training team Podium are joining to simulate races conditions. I am definetly going for the win, as I think I’m the only one with FIS points! It should be good fun anyways, with training resuming as usual afterwards.

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 amazingness was reached. They turned up side down on the whole situation & took out some “gandalf the grey” magic & turned the hill into the icy pist we were looking for!!

So lets go over to some tucking instructions…

Are you a ski racer & have a hard time killing the flats, well listen up…

Tucking ABC..

What NOT to do.

*Do not go to deep in the tuck! That way you can´t absorb all the small bumps & its very hard to move smoothly during a turn.

*Do not lean forward & have pressure on the front of the skis. That makes the skis want to turn instead of floating nice on top of the snow.

*Do not dip you ass low to get the pressure on you tails, that makes your aerodynamic suck nuts+ you can´t absorb bumps in a effective way!

Do not go to a wind tunnel & try to find the best tuck possible. Just because its the best aerodynamic position dosen´t mean its the fastest position while skiing! Your stans, pressure points, absorbing abilities are way more important factors in the search of speed!

What to do…

*Try to have your ass as high up as possible, without dipping your arms & upper body to low. That creates a aerodynamic position that still allows you to move freely & relaxed!

*Make sure you have your knees in a perfect straight parallel position, imagen your self being a sled!

*Make sure to have properly bent poles that fits your tuck!

*Focus while tucking, use every little bump as your friend & try to create speed instead of loosing speed on them!

*If your not fast on the flats & you think its boring to work on your gliding skills… Well go & have some MC Donalds, make sure to super size your meals. Yes thats right, “meals” & not meal, one meal is for sure not enough!!

Questions will for sure be answered by Dr Liontuck!

/Hans