Cutting Edge 14.05.08
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - The Next Generation
of British Skiers
With the dust still settling on the highly successful British
Land National Ski Championships for Seniors and Juniors, the
spotlight turned to the Children's team, whose turn it was
to show off their skills. The Championships, held early April
in Meribel, saw the emergence of two great talents, one each
in the boys and girls teams.
Mark Simmers, Chief Executive of Snowsport GB said: "It
was a fantastic Children's competition this year. The conditions
were tough at times but they all rose to the challenge, and
many of the children came out with their best results. We
have some real stars in the making and it's highly encouraging
for the sport as a whole to have talent coming up the ranks."
Day 9 - The Children's Slalom
Day 9 of the British Land National Ski Championships did not
disappoint hosting the first event of the 2008 British Land
National Children's Championships. The day witnessed excellent
wins in the Girls Slalom from Perthshire skiers Charlotte
'Charlie' Guest and Hope Whitelaw, and from Daniel Yule in
the Boys' race.
After becoming the first girl to win Britain a gold medal
in an international FIS Children's race when she won the Andorra
Slalom in February, Guest's confidence has soared and she
showed a great attack in the contrasting conditions on the
Mottaret race track. While the first course was fast, open
and grippy, the second had become rutted near the bottom and
it was not easy to stay in the course.
Guest's first run set the foundations for her title, consolidating
neatly on the second run she finished with a comfortable overall
margin of 2.37 seconds over Whitelaw, who also lifted the
Children's 1 title (Year of Birth 1995 and 1996).
"The courses really suited my skiing, fast and open.
I made a lot of mistakes, I definitely did not expect to win.
I am never usually much of a Slalom skier." Said Guest,
"I came here today not really knowing what to expect
at all. But the courses were nice and open, with lots of room
between the gates."
Day 10 - Children's Giant Slalom
 In
difficult conditions on soft Spring snow which produced some
difficult ruts on the Du Corbey race piste, Swiss based Daniel
Yule completed a title double at The British Land National
Ski Championships when he added the Children's Giant Slalom
title to the Slalom championship he won on Tuesday.
Only one run of the Giant Slalom could be completed as the
mild temperatures left the track rutted and bumpy. Yule finished
37 hundredths of a second ahead second placed Lewis John (Penicuik,
Edinburgh). In the Children's 1 age-group Max Moss (Rochester,
Kent) also made it two wins from two disciplines.
The Girls race was won by Tomasine Nilson Wrede (Cobham,
Surrey) who won overall and in the younger Children 1 age-group.
"My run was good at the top but towards the bottom it
was really slushy and I got a bit late on my line, but I am
really happy to win." smiled Nilson-Wrede, who trains
in Verbier, Switzerland. "I did not expect to do as well
as I did because I have been training more in Slalom and have
been better in that, so I am pretty happy with the way I skied
today. I did not do as well last year, but I have done a bit
more training and I am now among the oldest here. Long term
I would like to go to the Olympics and World Cups and have
skied since I was very little. I came first this year at the
BARSC (British Alpine Racing Ski Clubs) Championships but
this is the biggest title I have won yet".
Day 12 - The Final Day
With mild air temperatures again leading to a soft and a deteriorating
snowpack in Meribel, the third and final discipline of the
British Land National Ski Championships, Super G, had to be
cancelled.
A substitute one run Slalom was contested before morning
temperatures rose too high to maintain a safe race track,
leaving the British Children's overall champions to be decided
only over Slalom and Giant Slalom.
Switzerland based David Yule added the overall Boys British
Champion title to his wins in Slalom and Giant Slalom at the
Swiss championships earlier this season, while the Girls'
overall title was won by Charlie Guest (14, Perth) who races
with The British Children's Ski Team and who became the first
British skier ever to win an international FIS medal when
she won the Slalom at the Children's International Races in
Andorra.
2008/2009 British Alpine Ski Team Selection
Last week (w/b 5th May) saw the announcement of the 2008/2009
British Alpine Ski Team Selections. Snowsport GB would like
to congratulate the athletes on their selection to the British
Alpine Ski Team.
World Cup qualification for British Nordic Skiers!
The British Nordic Ski Team returned from their final races
of the season in the Finish Arctic with the best results seen
in British Nordic skiing for 14 years. A young team of 5 athletes
aged between 15 and 18 years old headed to the Arctic for
a series of 4 FIS races. Three of the team had recently competed
for Great Britain at the World Junior Championships and for
the two youngest team members these events would be their
first ever FIS races.
The Arctic weather gave great snow conditions over the 4
days racing, in a highly competitive field with many World
cup skiers who had just returned from the World Cup finals
in Bormio. The first day of competition saw a strong set of
results from Fiona Hughes (18), Callum Smith (15) and Simon
Spencer (18) finishing in 17th, 26th and 27th positions respectively.
However the team was to be stunned by the performances of
Andrew Musgrave (18) and Andrew Young (16) who finished 8th
and 17th gaining World Cup Qualifying performances.
Andrew Musgrave from Insch, Aberdeenshire has shown great
form all season, but snow conditions prevented him from gaining
the highly sought after World cup qualification standard at
the recent World Junior Championships. Finally though all
the cards fell in to place in Finland and he was able to gain
the required standard. Andrew Young from Huntly, Aberdeenshire
in his first ever FIS race just achieved the required standard,
an amazing achievement, especially considering that he suffered
a broken ankle just 2 months before the start of the season
and is only 16 years old.
The second and third days of competition saw more
Great Britain has not been represented at world cup level
in Nordic skiing since 1995 and next season will now see the
team competing on the world cup circuit as well as at the
Junior and Senior World Championships. It will also see Andrew
Young compete at the European Youth Olympics where there is
a very real chance of a top ten finish.
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