Cutting Edge 14.02.08
The Best of British - A Land Rover and Snowsport
Partnership
The perfect partnership has been formed with the announcement
of the British brand, Land Rover's appointment as the Official
Vehicle Partner to Snowsport GB.
Land Rover is supporting the ski and snowboard teams by providing
a fleet of its Discovery 3 and Range Rover Sports series.
With Land Rover's ability to provide reliable and comfortable
travel, team members - including Britain's number one female
down hill skier, Chemmy Alcott - can concentrate on their
pursuit of World Cup Victory, knowing that despite often difficult
weather conditions they will make it safely to the next competition.
Through years of manufacturing, Land Rover represents a 'true
breadth of capability' across its model range. Mark Simmers,
chief executive of Snowsport GB, commented: "Control,
precision, strength and determination are what it takes to
be a high performance athlete in snowsport disciplines - therefore
the Land Rover sponsorship of the British Ski and Snowboard
teams couldn't be a better match."
Britain on Strong Form
 Britain's
top Downhill ski racer Finlay Mickel has been back in action
over the last couple of days as he comes back from injury
which had sidelined him since Christmas.
The Edinburgh skier has taken two top ten finishes at Whistler
in Canada against top local competition. Both Saturday's Downhill
and Sunday's Super G were won by Mickel's Canadian World Cup
rival John Kucera, but Mickel finished tenth to him in the
Downhill and seventh in the Super G, both times in a field
of just under 60. Mickel is focusing his training in preparation
for World Cup races at Whistler in a week's time.
Alain Baxter has had a busy three days in the Alps with three
slalom races in three days, culminating on Monday 11 February
with a sixth place at Gaal in Austria.
The weekend began at Garmisch in Germany where Baxter skied
in a World Cup slalom but failed to qualify for a second run.
On Sunday, Baxter tackled the first of the two Gaal races
but failed to finish the first run. However, on Monday he
set the third fastest time in the first run but slipped to
sixth in the second in a field of 128 skiers only 0.67s behind
winner Christian Wanninger of Germany.
Ryding Rockets to his Best Performances of the Season
 Hot
off the press, Leyland skier David Ryding has just scored
two personal bests – all in the space of 18 hours. The
21-year old has tackled two slalom races at Gaal in Austria,
the first on Sunday 10th and the second on Monday 11th February.
Starting 24th in both races in a field of nearly 130 competitors
of 17 nationalities, Ryding raced to second place last night,
just 0.54s behind winner Christian Wanninger. For the first
time in his career, Ryding scored FIS points – the standard
by which all skiers are marked – of under 20. The German
skier won the second race today (Monday) and this time Ryding
was placed fourth, again, with FIS points of under 20. He
was 0.5s quicker than the rest of the field on his second
run, only let down by a slightly slower first run
This is on the back of a fantastic result from Dave with
and excellent eighth place in the FIS slalom in Thusis, Switzerland.
Ryding who is nicknamed “the rocket” has been
skiing for 14 years having started at the tender age of six
and a half and by the time he was eight had already competed
in his first dry slope competition. He made his competitive
debut on snow at the English Championships in results.
The British Land National Ski Championships 2008
Meribel is poised for Britain's skiing elite to descend on
the fantastic and challenging slopes of the French resort,
as the British Land National Ski Championships 2008 are set
to return.
From 30 March - 6 April, Britain's best will be fighting
it out in the Downhill, Super G, Giant Slalom, Slalom and
Super Combined disciplines, eager to make an impact, as the
selectors for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver will almost
certainly be watching their performances.
The athletes are due to arrive in Meribel on 29 March, including
Britain's top skiers, Finlay Mickel, Alain Baxter and Chemmy
Alcott.
The team will take a few days to train before the races start
on 30 March. The Championship kicks off with the super G races,
followed by the Downhill on the day of 1 April and the Super
Combined on 2 April and Parallel Slalom in the evening, in
what promises to be a exciting start to the proceedings.
The Slalom and Giant Slalom are next on the bill, running
from 3 - 6 April, and will feature Britain's best ever World
Cup slalom skier Alain Baxter. Unfortunately due to an injury
suffered during a crash at the Europa Cup race in Austria,
Alain's brother and defending Champion, Noel Baxter will miss
this year's Championships.
The Juniors are also in on the action as they will compete
alongside the seniors in their own competition. And, just
when all of the drama of the Championships is thought to be
coming to a close, it's the turn of the Children's competition
to light up the crowds. The Children's competition takes place
from 8 - 11 April and will showcase the future stars of the
British team.
Profile: Mark Tilston
 Cutting
Edge talks to Mark Tilston, Head Coach for the British World
Cup Alpine ski team to find out how he makes sure the athletes
are in top form all year round.
How long have you been coaching the World Cup team and what
did you do prior to this?
I've been at Snowsport GB since 1999 coaching the Europa
Cup and Word Cup teams. I then took on the role of Performance
Director from 2003 -2006 and have been head coach since May
2006. Prior to that I did a degree in 'Applied Sports Sciences'
and was coaching part time programmes from club to Scottish
teams for four years.
Why did you become a coach?
As an athlete I started skiing late and was technically very
poor but I was very interested in the training side the sport
and wanted to become a physiologist or fitness coach. I was
then asked to coach a club and really enjoyed it and it fitted
together very well with my Sports Science degree. I then started
to realise that coaching can really make a difference. Meanwhile
I was offered a position with the Scottish Team and just before
I finished University, I was offered a job with the British
team as soon as I graduated.
Do you have a coaching style?
I'm not sure if I really have a coaching style. I try to
ensure that I do not make too many decisions for the athletes
and give them the facts and information in order to make their
own decision. I feel that it is important for athletes at
a national team level to have full responsibility for what
they do so that they have a sense of ownership and control
and can therefore really commit to it.
What is a typical training regime during the on season?
A typical training regime during the season depends on what
disciplines the athlete(s) do. If they do several disciplines
including Downhill there is very little time for training
so most of it will take place during and around the official
Downhill training runs. Athletes that ski technical disciplines
only will have more days dedicated to training and equipment
testing.
A typical training day for Downhill will be:
08.00 General warm up / basic skiing - stance and position
09.00 - 10.30 Inspection
10.30 - 11.00 Rest (eat / drink)
11.00 - 12.00 Warm up in Giant Slalom or SG. Technical and
Tactical reminders
12.00 Race start
14.00 Lunch
16.00 -17.30 Recovery and aerobic maintenance / balance and
core training
17.30 - 18.30 Physio treatment
19.00 Video review of day's skiing
What is a typical training regime during the off season?
During the off-season the training is split between physical
training, which usually involves 4-6 hours a day split between
biking or rowing / lifting weights / flexibility / core /
balance & agility and ski training which makes up around
50 - 60 days until the start of the season.
Did you have any training to become a coach?
I did my coaching qualifications in Britain (Levels 1 and
2) and Canada (Level 3) and I would consider my degree as
essential knowledge for my job.
How do you feel the World Cup team is performing this year?
I think that the level of skiing has been much better this
year however there has been some serious injuries. Andy Noble
was injured at the start of the season and has been in rehab
since then and Noel Baxter, who was looking very strong early
season after a summer hampered with injuries, crashed in an
Europa cup slalom in new year which ended his season. Finlay
got a fractured ankle in the second race of the season which
meant missing six weeks and it is taking time for him to get
up to race speed after such a long break. Alain and Chemmy
have both been healthy this season and I'm hoping we'll start
to see the results they are capable of.
Who is your sporting hero?
I wouldn't say that I have one hero - there are various people
that I admire in sports. All of our athletes, and Chris Hoy,
Lasse Kjus, Alberto Tomba, Lance Armstrong, Deborah Campagnoni,
Michael Johnson, Valentino Rossi and John McEnroe.
What is the best part of being a coach?
When you have a good relationship with an athlete and you
work together in the same direction and the athlete starts
running with it and you see them become powerful, confident,
determined and ultimately successful.
Do you have any advice to young skiers?
Work hard, play hard! Find out what you want and how to get
it. Don't let the knocks throw you off track.
British Children's Ski Team Shine with Early Success
The British Children's Ski Team has had a great start to the
international season, taking 5th place out of 19 nations,
at the Ski-Interkriterium, Czech Republic on 25-26 January.
Fourteen year old Tommy Kirton skied with determination in
a very strong field, and gained an excellent 5th place in
Slalom and the team won 10 top 15 places at the event.
Hot on the heels of the Czech Republic, members of the British
Children's Team then took part in the Trofeu Borrufa in Andorra
from 30 January - 2 February. Competing against 15 other nations,
14 year old Charlie Guest, from Perthshire, produced some
outstanding results including a gold medal in slalom, and
bronze in Giant Slalom. She is the first GBR athlete to win
gold at this event since Lorenzo Naylor won the SuperG in
2000. Ashley Hill also put in very strong performances to
take silver in Slalom and bronze in Giant Slalom.
Look Ahead...
World Cup Zargreb, Croatia, 15-17 Feb (mens and ladies), slalom
World Cup Whistler, Canada 19-24 Feb (mens and ladies), Downhill,
Super G, Super Combined (ladies only), Giant Slalom and Super
G (men only).
World Cup Kvitjell, Norway 27 Feb - 2 March (men)
World Cup Arber, Germany 1-2 March, Slalom and Giant Slalom
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