SnowsportGB Newsletter Volume 10
Latest News
* Britain's best look to break records at the British Land
National Ski Championship's in Meribel, France.
* Chemmy secures Top 15 at her first world cup finals.
* Dan Wakeham is the first male Brit to reach Half Pipe World
Cup Finals
* SnowsportGB announce new Chief Executive
British Championships
The British Land National Ski Championships return to Meribel
in France for the fourth successive year with Chemmy Alcott
looking to make championship history by becoming the first
skier ever to win the overall title five times. Noel Baxter
(24, Aviemore), the defending men's champion is looking to
equal his brother Alain's tally of four overall titles.
But with the top accolade open to men and women - decided
on aggregated championship points - the question is: who will
leave Meribel next Saturday with the top overall title. Will
it be a Victric or Victrix Ludorum?
On current form Chemmy (24, Twickenham), as Britain's top
world cup skier this season, should not be troubled by any
of the chasing pack of British girls, and has long since grown
out of the nervousness which used to affect her in her teens
which was completely disproportionate to the level of the
event, but she knows the titles are hers to lose rather than
win, and that means pressure.
"I really am just going to enjoy myself, come what may.
It is always great to hook up with the rest of the guys and
girls on The British Land Alpine team at the end of the season.
We don't see each other enough during the season. There is
nothing really that I can tell the other girls directly to
help them, that's between them and their coaches, but I think
that the younger ones seeing that I am just the same as them
maybe helps them to push on and realise that so much of this
sport is down to hard work and dedication." Suggested
Chemmy this week having just driven eight hours from Austria
and a metre and a half of new snow, to the tired, thin conditions
of Montgenevre.
Noel Baxter's all-round world cup programme, focussing on
Super Combined, means Downhill and Super G racing and training
as well as slalom has been a big part of his season. The form
book suggests he should not be giving Finlay Mickel (30, Edinburgh)
a run for his money in Downhill, but the Meribel Olympic downhill
piste punishes inattention or overconfidence with some difficult
terrain and direction changes.
Super G should be a closer affair and on his day Noel could
give Fin something to think about. Roger Cruickshank, fresh
from his Olympic experience pushed Fin to within seven hundredths
last year, but retired shortly afterwards. Now a full time
RAF pilot Cruickshank is believed to be entering the Super
G.
"I think that a season out is too much for Roger and
I should be OK. Noel is a different matter, but I am really
looking forward to these championships. I have been skiing
well in Giant Slalom but I think my ranking is against me
and I might have to start too late to present a challenge."
Said Mickel.
For the up and coming younger skiers the British Land National
Ski Championships is always an important platform to present
a challenge to the established world cup racers. Among those
on form are David Ryding (21, Leyland, Lancs), who has skied
to a set of promising FIS results in his first season on the
British Land Alpine team including a 9th in GS in Slovenia
earlier this month, but so too Douglas Crawford (20, Bearsden,
Glasgow) and Andy Noble (23, Edinburgh) are well capable of
title wins.
The most exciting event of the week should be the Men's Slalom.
Alain Baxter (34, Stirling) is likely to only compete in this
event, and has been regularly outpaced by Noel in timed trials
this season, but the young guns will have nothing to lose.
Racing starts Tuesday with downhill, if the programme runs
to schedule, and finishes Friday with Slalom, but heavy snowfall
is forecast.
The event has been supported continuously for the last 28
years by The British Land Company plc - this is their 29th
as headline sponsor - and the company chairman Sir John Ritblat
enjoys his skiing at the championships and will host HRH The
Duke of Wessex, Patron of Snowsport GB.
Alpine
 Chemmy
Alcott finished her long, tough World Cup racing season at
the weekend on a high note when she once more returned another
career best result, finishing 15th in the World Cup Finals
women's giant slalom in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
For a skier who over the last five years had been pigeonholed
as a speed specialist - excelling in downhill and super g
- Chemmy's form in giant slalom this season has been encouraging.
She has scored world cup points, gained for a top 30 result,
in all six of her giant slalom races and today improved on
her 16th in Slovenia in February. Her season has included
a further two Top 20 results in giant slalom. With the 16
world cup points gained at the finals takes Alcott's ranking
on the final standings in giant slalom to 21st.
On the steep, hard course she lay 16th after the first run,
set to chase the 2.78 seconds deficit she had over Austria's
eventual race winner Nicole Hosp. Fifteenth fastest in the
second heat she finished 4.76 seconds adrift of Hosp who clinched
the overall world cup title.
"I just feel happy I made it here for the first time."
said Chemmy, enjoying the end-of-term mood at the end of the
World Cup season, " I did not appreciate until a couple
of days ago that only the top 15 skiers at World Cup Finals
get world cup points, so the pressure was on to make the result.
It is a very different atmosphere and standard here to usual
world cups, just the crème de la crème as you'd
expect, so making a result is great."
"It was a tough, tough course, very steep at the top
and that kind of phased me in the first run, but I skied the
bottom well, and then in the second run I was good on the
top but made a mistake on the lower part."
Alcott's consistent form this season has been all the more
remarkable given that she spent her normal summer training
period on crutches after surgery on her feet, missing out
on most of her strength and conditioning training.
"Looking at the season as a whole I am just pleased
to have been consistent. I kind of figured that having missed
the summer I would make one step forward getting back on snow
and then it would be three steps back in terms of results,
but I feel I got back to where I was. I lost my roll of form
in the middle of the season and was overanalysing why. So
now I feel I have surpassed all my expectations. I feel like
I know what I have to do, what's ahead and am already really
looking forward to next season, crunching down this summer
and getting into the fitness and strength work I missed."
Snowboard
In the Snowboard World Cup finals, Dan Wakeham who has the
honour of being the first ever British male rider to qualify
for the finals, finished 18th place. Zoe Gillings finished
her positive season by securing a Top 10 in the women's snowboard
cross event, and this result moves Zoe from 35th in the World
to 12th a tremendous achievement in her first season back
from injury.
At the Brits in Laax, Switzerland, Angus Leith won the Half
Pipe title improving on his previous best of 5th in this event.
In second place was his British team mate Sam Cullum, who
like Angus has just finished his first season following the
World Cup Half-Pipe Circuit.
Britain's number 1 Half Pipe rider, Lesley McKenna retained
her title for the third consecutive year in the Women's Half
Pipe event.
Nordic
March saw athletes competing in Japan, Poland and Canada.
Alan Eason's participation in the World Championships in Sapporo
was intended to pave the way for future athletes in the development
programme. Alan's disappointing results in the sprints and
15km free technique races did point out a few lessons to be
learned, such as the need for technical support, good waxing
advice and time to acclimatise to the local conditions after
a long flight.
On the junior front, Alastair Duncan performed well in the
sprints in the World Junior Championships at Tarvisio breaking
the 200 FIS pts barrier for the first time. Thanks must go
to the Canadian team who provided the necessary support. Hopefully
we can build on this partnership for the future. Alastair
and Sarah Young are currently competing in the Canadian National
Championships in Quebec.
The programme of competitions in foreign national and regional
championships has proved very effective this season. In Szklarska
Poreba - Jakuszyce, Poland, it was the turn of the younger
juniors to demonstrate their motivation to compete well in
relatively large fields of athletes. Andrew Young gained two
first places and Ruaridh Newman finished fifth in two races.
William Newman, Simon Spencer and Peter J Barron put in creditable
performances, demonstrating their continuing improvement and
potential for the future.
Other News
SnowsportGB have announce Mark Simmers as their new Chief
Executive, Mark, who has over 15 years experience in international
sports events and promotion including successful spells at
IMG, the sports management group and as a director with J.A.
Tonge ltd., planning and implementing events such as the Loch
Lomond World Invitational Golf Championships.
Commenting on the appointment Oliver Jones, Chairman of SnowsportGB,
said: "I and the board of the British Ski and Snowboard
Federation are delighted that Mark has agreed to join us as
our new Chief Executive. Mark has considerable strengths in
the sports sector overall, in commercial sponsorship and management,
and in business administration. Of equal importance, he has
an impressive sporting history and a great enthusiasm for
winter sports and skiing in particular."
Mark, who will officially take up his position on the 2nd
April, 200& said of his appointment, "I am honoured
and excited to have been appointed as Chief Executive of Snowsport
GB. I look forward to working closely with a dedicated board,
with an excellent team of coaches and staff at Snowsport GB,
and with the talented winter sport athletes to build on the
excellent progress achieved over the past few years."
James Leuzinger has, sadly, decided to retire from ski racing
at the end of this season. 'Leuzi' who competed for Team GB
in the Men's slalom event at the Winter Olympics in Turin
2006 has made the difficult decision to leave the sport he
loves to pursue new ambitions.
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