Skicross Olympics race report!!

Last night Skicross made its debut into the winter olypics with a crash, bang and a wallop... Literally.

I sat glued to the TV watching every heat like i was there with the boys racing! The first heat saw Mr Daron Rahlves go down which was a suprise to everyone. Daron, coming back from a dislocated hip only three weeks prior to the games looked strong but was forced wide which in turn made him crash and loose all hope of securing a spot on the podium. Daron sat at the bottom talking to the media whilst watching the heats and was quoted as saying "I was determined to race in the Olympics, But I'm disappointed with the outcome."

Daron Rahlves and Ted Piccard mid air collision

The Second heat saw Anders Rekdal and Simon Stickl crash on the second to last jump which meant my Jamaican pal Errol Kerr and Canadian Davey Barr went though to the quarter finals.

The other heats were filled with action packed racing, with thrills and spills and surprising results. Australian boy Scotty Kneller brought something special out of the bag and skied his heart out, beating some of the top dogs taking him though to the semi finals. An absolutely amazing result for him. Shout outs go out to Scotty for racing like a champ.
Another underdog Filip Flisar from Slovenia dominated round after round taking him through to the semifinals. Filip is a force to be reckoned with when racing. He isnt one of the biggest guys out there but he sure enough has the power to force people out and hold his line. He showed this last night when he finished in 8th place. A massive shout out to Filip and all the Slovenian boys for this awesome result. Congrats buddy!

From left to right - Filip Flisar, Audun Groenvold, Scott Kneller and Chris Delbosco

The finals didnt leave any action out either. Out of the start power house Schmid took the lead followed by Andreas Matt, Groenvold and in 4th Delbosco. Matt chased Schmid like a fox chasing a hare but Schmid was too quick for Matt to make a move. Behind them Groenvold was tried to hold of Delbosco but the canadian used Groenvolds slip stream and made a brilliant over take. Coming into the second to last jump Delbosco juiced his skis and found some speed looking to take Andreas Matt. He came off the second to last jump sitting to far in the back seat and crashed leaving room for Groenvold to take the bronze.
A massive Congratulations goes out to Schmid, Matt and Groenvold for becoming the first Olympic medalists.

Last night was a turning point in Skicross. We can only hope that this pushes our sport to knew heights and bigger things.

Welcome to the mad world of Skicross...

If you want to watch the full race go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00qjsqy/Olympics_2010_Vancouver_2010_Mens_Giant_Slalom_and_Mens_Ski_Cross/

P.S Here are some Pictures from the last few weeks as promised!!!

Home sweet home

At the moment im sitting on my comfy sofa at home in the UK. We are only back for 10 days before we drive back out to train some more before the next race in Sierra Nevada.

This week ill be in the gym, online booking flights and going to meetings! FUN FUN FUN! I will keep you guys updated as to what ive been doing and whats going on in the next few weeks.
Take care and remember to keep shredding x

Lienz, Austria

On saturday we drove from Niederau to Lienz for a week of training before my next race in Davos, Switzerland.
We started training on monday with some free skiing working on some race technique and how to get as little air off jumps as possible. We trained hard and the results seemed to pay off.
Yesterday we got up bright and early and went up the hill to use the skicross course for some good training. My coach set the course and we trained hard for a good 5 hours. Needless to say the training the previous day had payed off and i was skiing really well. I just hope i can take this into the race in Davos. Today we are going to the gym and prepping the skis for traveling tomorrow.
Ill keep you updated in the next few days
x

Niederau, Austria..

So for the last week my coach and I have been in a little resort called Niederau, Austria near Kitzbuhel. We are staying here for another day then traveling to Lienz for a week for some intense Giant slalom and Super G training before the next europacup race in Davos, Switzerland.

After being in Niederau for a week we have both been pleasently supprised at how awesome this little resort is! We are staying in a place called the Auhof which is situated up the mountain a little way. It takes around 15 minutes to walk into town and around 25 minutes on the way back up!!!
The owners of the Auhof are British and they moved out here about 5 years ago to start this amazing hotel. My coach Ian knows them from racing on the dry slope circuit back home so they have given us a pretty nice room! Their son Martin is fascinated with brewing beer, so a year ago he got all his finances together and started brewing his own beer. Now most of you are probably imagining a little home brewing kit in his garage but you couldn't be more wrong!
The room is full of large machinery, Sterilising units, Bags of Malt, Hundreds of Bottles and more. Martin at only 18 is the proud owner of his brewery and the beer he sells to the local bars. It is so popular that he is finding it hard to keep upto the high demand of his very tasty beverage called Drachental Beer. If your ever in the area be sure to go along to one of the local bars and try this heavenly tasting beer.

This week we have had a brilliant powder day and have free skied the rest of the time. My ankle is feeling strong again after my injury and i am hoping that I will be skiing well in Davos. Hopefully i will make a good result in what i can only believe will be a very hard field.
I shall keep you posted as to what i am doing over the next few days and how my training is going. Unfortunately at the moment our internet is very slow so uploading pics is taking ages but i will add some as soon as i get some better signal.

Take care and remember to keep shredding x

Europa cup...

So i left you last time just before the race in Le Sauze. Well that was interesting to say the least!

The first race didnt go as well i has planned but still wasnt the worst. I came 52 out of a very hard field which was suprising as i made a few mistakes.
The second race i managed to take 3 seconds off my time but as most people had run the course a fair few times, it seemed everyone was faster and racing quicker. In training i fell pretty badly, knocking myself out and taking my confidence with it. I got up and got ready to race. Unfortunately my confidence was shot and this showed in my run, making silly mistakes and being wary through every turn. I got to the bottom and knew i could have skied faster. This time i came 56th which was fairly disapointing.
From Le Sauze we traveled to Les Houches to drop off England Skicross Team mate Max Hardy at the British Ski Academy and continued our journey to Niderau, Austria.

In a few days we will be traveling back to Lienz, Austria to train before the next race in Davos. We will be training some hard GS and Super G and will also be working on air position. Hopefully this will give me the confidence and Technique i will need to race well in Davos. After Davos i will be getting back in the van and departing the alps for a few days whilst thousands of tourist descend on the ski resorts around europe.
On the 24th ill be heading back out to meet the Jack Wills boys for two days of fun before the two week intensive training I have before the race in Sierra Nevada.

Here are some pictures from the last two weeks...

Les Contamines World Cup

Les Contamines World Cup

Satski Helmet

Snow sculptures

More snow...

Chilling in the Jack Wills Seasonnaire Hoody

View from the Chamonix pass to Sion