My best result from the seven races this season is a 120 which is terrible, I nearly scored that at the end of my first 12 months in ski racing! The groin injury and the ankle have both been playing up and with it being so late in the season the coaches have agreed it’s time to go home and recover and regroup, continuing like this is ok but not of real benefit.  It’s a shame because this last week in France has been amazing.

 Having to travel 7 hours to through South France it was great to go through the little villages full of character, stopping off for the odd break to have a look. After the first series of three ‘uni’ races (I fore-ran the slalom) we had a day off inbetween so left the race and continued to drive in the right direction, only stopping to get a hotel when the sun had gone down, in a place call Dignes Les Bains. Then the next day we drove through Cannes and stopped for a nice chill in the sun on the beach, my coach even got his skis out and went in the sea! In good time we made it up to Auron, where it looked like no snow but actually had the best conditions I’ve ever raced. I thought I skied ok but the results told a different story and being beaten by a 17 year-old whom I beat in Nz last year was a bit soul-destroying if I’m honest. The fore-running went well and it gave me some time to chit chat which is always nice!

Above Cannes..

In the smallest lift, 2 people and 1 bag. Just! Hotel in Auron.

The trip home was great, we had to go along the coast to start, which included a trip through Monaco, man what a place! Everything there is just class and so well maintained, even the flower baskets on the streets had multiple tiers. The girls weren’t too shabby either!

..Doing a lap of the Grand Prix track

So it’s with great sadness that I go home like this. I would have loved to have skied good and it showed but I tried given with what I was able to do! I’ll go home and see what can be done about the boot on the ankle and get in good shape, hopefully in time for NZ! 

Bring on sum..AAhem next Winterrr!! J

The town next to Mellau, it didn’t smell too bad actually!

60foot penis in the lake there!

Physio every day has undoubtebly made the recovery quicker.  A massive thanks is Due to Mattias and Karin at Steffan Pollyn Physio in Schwyz, If they hadn’t rubben my groin every day I would still be out!  Finally I can look towards returning to racing and I am still hoping to get maybe 15 races in by April 12th, fingers crossed.

Today

Named ‘Fasnact’, each week for a month a different village stages a parade in its streets with fancy dress as monsters, celebrities and alike. Brass bands with big drums make up a large proportion of the parade and they drive down the street throwing confetti and oranges to people! I wasn’t really on the hunt for these oranges but still caught six or seven and enjoyed a few Glu-wines as the parade passed through.   They then have some tents which the bands continue to play at into the night, covering big hits but playing them slightly out of time to give a Carnival feeling – basically they sound like they’re drunk haha. What a night, I had the day off today and made the most of last night. Good times

Jamaica’s bobsled team..

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…