Cutting Edge 05.12.07
30 years of Support from British Land
The British Land Company will celebrate its 30th anniversary
of sponsorship of the British Land National Championship this
season. The Alpine Ski Championships held in the French resort
of Méribel will once more bring together the best of
British senior, junior and children racers to compete in the
Downhill, Super G, Giant Slalom, Slalom and Super Combined
disciplines.
Located in the 'Heart of the Three Valleys' in the Savoie
region and sitting at 1,450 metres, Méribel has two
Olympic tracks, two slalom arenas and no less than 150 km
of ski slopes. Méribel is arguably one of the world's
largest and interesting skiing areas.
Thanks to the continued involvement of Sir John Ritblat,
President of Snowsport GB, and the British Land Company, this
will be the 30th year of sponsorship of the British Land National
Ski Championships. As one of the largest property development
and investment companies in the UK, The British Land Company
has supported the contest since 1978 and is also the principal
sponsor of the British Alpine Ski Team. The Championship will
see senior and junior racers competing from 30 March until
6 April, and the children's competitions running from 8 April
until 11 April 2008
 Alain
Baxter: Local Hero
Baxter Facts
*Age: 33
*Home Town: Aviemore, Scotland
*Disciplines: Slalom, Giant Slalom
*Named after the 1970s skier Alain Penz
*Alain was a semi professional hockey player
*At 16 he was selected for the British Alpine Ski Team
*He worked in labouring and landscaping to pay his way through
races
*2002 ranked 11th in the world, the highest ever position
for a British alpine racer
How long have you been skiing?
I first put on skis when I was two years old as my family
are really into skiing!
What is your preferred discipline?
Slalom.
If you were not a ski racer what would you be doing?
Playing ice hockey and still trying to play golf.
What's on your ipod?
Everything from Barry White to ACDC.
What was the first record you ever bought?
The first record I had was the Band Aid song 'Do They Know
It's Christmas'. I was given it by my first girlfriend at
school.
What's the last thing you think of before going to
sleep?
I'm not a great sleeper. I always have a lot of things on
my mind, especially racing. I try to relax before bed by watching
DVDs or playing Tiger Woods' golf game on the Playstation.
What is your daily training regime?
My training programme changes quite a lot. In summer I do
around six to nine weeks skiing. This year the whole team
went to Chile for four weeks as well as training in Europe
before hand. Normally we are skiing for three or four hours
in the morning then after lunch I usually do about an hour
and a half physical training. When I’m not skiing I’m
at home physical training, five days a week, two sessions
a day. During the season I train around the races and do more
physical training to keep a good level of fitness through
the season.
What would be your advice to young skiers?
Start racing seriously from the age of 11. I was bought a
season ticket, so it meant that I had to go every weekend.
I used to ski a lot for fun and then changed to racing. I
also played a lot of different sports; this really helps continued
levels of fitness. You should also find out about the local
ski club in your area. For further information on this contact
your Home Nation governing body (i.e. Snowsport Scotland,
Snowsport England or Snowsport Wales).
What do you hope to achieve this season?
To be back in the top 30. It is very competitive amongst
the top athletes. I'm racing as fast as everyone else so the
podium places are there for the taking.
What do you see in the future for Alain Baxter?
A quiet life on a sunny deserted island sounds great! I’ll
continue to compete as long as I believe I can still win.
I am still hungry for success and I want to win World Cups.
Round-Up
Gelio in Norway will be the focus point on the Europa Cup
circuit this week (4-5 December). Britain has high hopes for
Andy Noble who is expected to be battling for a podium place.
Dougie Crawford is competing in the slalom events at Tschagguns,
Austria this week and will take confidence from his 10th place
overall in the SuperCombined in Davos, Switzerland last week.
Recovering from a broken arm, Noel Baxter finished an encouraging
15th place in the Slalom round of the Nor-Am Championship,
Colorado.
Chemmy Alcott added to her World Cup points score with two
consecutive 28th places in the Downhill and SuperG in Lake
Louise, Canada last weekend. World Cup
The next competition sees the ladies compete in the World
Cup competition in Aspen and the men hit the slopes in Austria.
* 4-9 December - Downhill, Slalom and Super G (Ladies) -
Aspen, USA, coverage on Eurosport 5.30 - 7.30pm Friday 7 December
and Sunday 9 December 5.45 - 7.15.
* 8-9 December - Slalom and Giant Slalom (Mens) - Bad Kleinkrichheim,
Austria
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