Exclusive Coverage - All of the Action... All of the Results
Meribel played host to one of the best British Land National
Ski Championships on record, and not even the poor weather
on Day 2 could dampen the spirits of the supporters.
This year's British Championships offered a whole host of
exciting events; the emergence of Ed Drake as a force to be
reckoned with was a major talking point, as was the sixth
overall championship title for Chemmy Alcott. The standard
of competition proved outstanding with Louise Thomas in particular
catching the eye of many with a fantastic result in the Women's
Super Combined. In this edition of Cutting Edge you will find
a summary of the performances from the Senior and Junior events
at the 2008 British Land National Ski Championships, watch
out for the next edition of Cutting Edge for the results from
the Children's Championships.
Snowsport GB would like to say a big thank you to all the
sponsors of the British Championships - British Land, Land
Rover, Citizen, directski.com, Merchant Capital, Trespass
and Meribel resort. Their support and that of our partners
is what makes the Championships such a fantastic event.
Day 1 and 2
Day 1 - The Fight for the Super G Title
The British Championships couldn't have got of to a better
start as Meribel produced perfect weather and excellent snow
conditions for day one of the eight-day event.
The day witnessed a fantastic win for 22 year old Ed Drake
from Kingston on Thames who won the British Men's Super G
title.
Day 1 also brought the first win for Britain's leading World
Cup skier, Chemmy Alcott who retained the Women's Super G
Championship title. Twenty- five year-old Chemmy set herself
immediately on course for the clean sweep of all six major
British titles available to her in this year's Championships.
Day 2
After an amazing start to the Championships, the postponement
of the first Downhill training runs was a bitter pill to swallow
for the competitors. Milder temperatures and poor weather
lead to reduced overhead visibility and the runs were called
off.
However, the off piste action was still keeping spirits high,
as his Royal Highness Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex was
presented with a special pair of Dynastar skis to celebrate
the 70th anniversary of the ski resort of Méribel.
Days 3 and 4 - Downhill, more Downhill and the Slalom!
Day 3 - Back to Business
 It
was back to the serious business of racing on Day 3 as Chemmy
Alcott notched up her second title of the Championships. She
added the Women's Downhill title to her Super G success. However
it wasn't all smiles for Chemmy who commented on her performance:
"I was maybe a little less focused than I should have
been today, but I came here to win and I did that."
Alcott finished 76 hundredths of a second ahead of second
placed Pam Thorburn in a closely contested Downhill competition.
However, Day 3 belonged to Ed Drake, as he too added to the
Super G title he won on the opening day by winning the British
Men's Downhill - an achievement he has pushed for since the
beginning of his skiing career.
Day 4 - Spotlight on the Juniors
It was the turn of the Juniors to show their skills on the
Meribel slopes as Peter Whelan took the British Junior Men's
Downhill title adding to his 3rd place in the Senior Downhill.
In flat light conditions on a fast, technically challenging
course, 18 year old Whelan skied a time of 1.15.75 seconds
which lead him to finish 1.08 seconds ahead of Thomas 'TJ'
Baldwin, his compatriot from The British Land Alpine Ski Team
who finished runner up.
The Women's Junior Downhill saw one big jump near the top
of the course cause major problems for the girls. The title
was eventually lifted by Swadlincote racer Sega Fairweather
who finished ahead of Swiss based Liz Stevenson.
Sega Fairweather said: "It was hard in some places,
but I tend to like the aggressive snow on this course."
Day 4 - Part 2; The Senior Slalom!!!
The night brought an eerie glow to the Du Corbey Slalom caused
by falling snow and drifting mountain mist which lead to difficult
conditions for the competitors.
The challenging conditions didn't phase young star Dave 'the
Rocket' Ryding from pulling off one of the best results of
the week as he beat seven times British Slalom champion Alain
Baxter to the Men's Slalom title.
It was business as usual for Chemmy Alcott who was pushed
all the way by 17 year old Jayme Baggio from Harpenden, Middlesex.
The Slalom was Chemmy's third title of the week to add to
her Downhill and Super G titles.
Day 5 and 6
Day 5 - Super Stars of the Super Combined
The Championships saw its second triumph of youth succeeding
age and experience. In the Women's Super Combined event, 19-year-old
Louise Thomas produced a marvellous display of speed and skill
to upset the formbooks and take her first Super Combined title
ahead of Britain's World Cup star Chemmy Alcott.
Alcott who has a string of World Cup top 30's in Super G
to her credit, lead the Super G run, earning a margin of 1.18
seconds over third placed Thomas. However an error on the
entry to the flatter section of the single Slalom led her
to drop time in the soft, wet snow.
This was pounced upon by Thomas who went on to win by 12
hundredths of a second, breaking Alcott's clean sweep of titles
after winning the Downhill, Slalom and Super G titles.
Day 5 also saw Ed Drake match Chemmy Alcott's hat trick of
titles at the British...
Day 6 - Giant Slalom Victories for Alcott and Drake
On the sixth day of action, attention turned to the Giant
Slalom where both Ed Drake and Chemmy Alcott showed as worthy
champions by recording their fourth victories of the week
and in doing so secured the overall British Championship Men's
and Women's titles.
The new 2008 champions live only ten minutes apart and have
been friends since children's age-group racing. Through the
summer, they often train together and this year has also seen
them compete in the odd triathlon!
This was the sixth time that Chemmy has lifted the Championships
top award and she was on spectacular form in her preferred
discipline of the Giant Slalom flying to a 2.2 second lead
over second placed Louise Thomas.
Days 7 and 8
The British Junior Slalom took centre stage at the Championships
on Day 7 and as snow conditions drastically changed, 18 year
old Sam Wyer of Gloucester put in an assured and confident
set of runs to win the Men's title.
A hard overnight freeze played a huge factor in the outcome
of races down on the Du Corbey arena piste, as the fast, icy
conditions were the undoing of many competitors.
The difficult conditions were made clear when the first run
leaders of both the Men's and Women's events failed to consolidate
their lead on their second run. Junior Downhill Champion Peter
Whelan crashed out on the steep of his second run, while second
placed Freddie Clough of Chelmsford lost control a third of
the way down. Wyer stepped up to put in a solid second run
to win by 2.48 seconds.
After crowning the Seniors Overall Champions on Day 6, it
was the turn of the Juniors to battle it out for the big prize
on Day 8. It was a convincing performance from 18 year old
Sophie Readman that led her to hold off the challenge from
Michelle Sole to clinch her second discipline title of the
week and therefore take the overall prize.
While she admitted to being slightly disappointed with the
technical standard of her skiing throughout the week - citing
tiredness at the end of a long, demanding season as a contributing
factor - Sophie was positive about her future in the sport.
She commented: "It's a good way to finish the week.
To be honest I never thought about winning the overall title
but it's a good feeling, doing well across the full range
of events, but to be honest it feels like just a small landmark
along the way, I have way higher goals in my skiing. But it's
a nice little ego boost and will definitely do something for
my confidence."
A Land Rover Experience for All
Meribel welcomed Land Rover as the official vehicle partner
to British Alpine Ski and Snowboard Teams for the very first
time and the company introduced its "Mini Terrapod"
course to test the skills of the latest vehicles. Spectators
were given the chance to be driven around the course by skilled
instructors and the British Ski Team was set the challenge
of taking on the Land Rover experience.
Chemmy Alcott, Pam Thorburn and Jan Kolchalski all showed
off their driving
skills as they took the vehicles over ramps and slopes with
ease. Matt Passey from Land Rover UK said: "We at Land
Rover were very impressed with the team's skills off the slopes
when they clearly demonstrated our vehicle's competence over
the various obstacles."
Altitude Festival - Reaching New Heights
Although the Senior and Junior competitions came to an end,
there was
still plenty going on in Meribel. The members of the Children's
teams battled it out for the titles and for the first year,
the Altitude Festival 2008 came to town. The two week festival
began on Saturday 5 April with some of the biggest names in
stand up comedy and a host of international DJ's, Altitude
was a must for anyone looking for a good time off piste as
well as on.
The festival featured comedians such as Lee Mack from the
BBC's BAFTA winning comedy the Sketch Show and the American
Richard Hall who is best known for writing and appearing on
the David Letterman Show.
Richard Lett, event organiser said: "It's great that
the Champs were on at the same time; we provided the entertainment
for the event while Snowsport GB dealt with the serious things
- like skiing".
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