Cutting Edge 30.05.08
The Cutting Edge Season Review - World Cup Team
In this edition, Cutting Edge reviews what has at times been
a challenging 07/08 season for the British Alpine Ski Team
with hectic travel schedules, multiple injuries and stiff
competition, and what the stars of British Skiing have achieved
this season!
 Chemmy
Alcott
In another busy season, Chemmy had a relatively slow start
but in typical Alcott style, was finding great form towards
the end of the season; winning the French, Croatian and British
titles.
The best of Chemmy's early results came in Maribor, Slovenia,
where she came close to equaling her best ever World Cup GS
result, finishing 16th after the two runs
Alain Baxter
It has been a mixed season of results for Alain, achieving
some good results on the Europa Cup tour but struggling with
results at World Cup level due to a poor staring spot - forcing
him into an all or nothing situation when racing.
The season started in November with Alain finishing 6th at
the Europa Cup event in Landgraaf, Holland missing out on
the top three by only by 0.27 seconds. This was followed by
at 18th place at Obereggan, Italy and then 12th in S. Vigilio
di Marebbe, Italy in a competitive field in December.
Noel Baxter, Finlay Mickel, Andy Noble
Noel Baxter
For Noel, it's been a frustrating season starting and finishing
it with injuries. After badly braking his arm in October,
he started his first race back, complete with plaster cast,
in December in Colorado finishing an encouraging 15th place
in the Nor-Am Slalom event.
Finlay Mickel
Finlay Mickel has had a difficult season blighted by injury
and illness. In November he was diagnosed with a mild form
of pneumonia which affected his racing and training before
and while recovering.
Andy Noble
Unfortunately for Andy his season was over before he got to
show the world what he is capable of. After struggling with
bone bruising he was advised to come home to rest and see
a specialist, and after several months with no skiing, operations,
injections and a lot of physio he has finally been allowed
to ski again! Hopefully for Andy this will be the start of
very successful summer training in preparation for next season!
Europa Cup Team - Ed Drake
Ed has had a fantastic season, returning to action in January
after recovering from a persistent hip in injury to compete
at his first ever Europa Cup race in Hinterstuder, Austria,
and finishing 51st - this was just the beginning!
He continued his Europa Cup campaign the way he started with
numerous top results across all disciplines, including 23rd
in the Downhill at Bansko, Bulgaria, beating his best previous
Europa Cup Downhill result by nearly 30 places, this gave
him his lowest ever Europa Cup Downhill FIS points (in skiing
the lower the FIS points, the better the result).
Dave Ryding
It was a coming-of-age season for Dave Ryding this year as
for the first time in his career; Ryding scored under 20 FIS
points at the races in Gaal, Austria. This is a fantastic
achievement as the higher the standard of the race the lower
the FIS points. Starting 24th in a field of nearly 130 competitors
of 17 nationalities, Ryding raced to 2nd place, just 0.54s
behind winner Christian Wanninger. In the second race Ryding
was placed 4th, 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.
Dougie Crawford, Jan Kochalski, Pam Thorburn
Dougie Crawford
Dougie Crawford's season started with a bang when he placed
14th in the Super G in Chile, and scoring his best FIS points
of career.
He followed this up with great performances finishing 10th
place overall in the Super Combined in Davos, Switzerland,
and continued to improve throughout the season finishing 8th
in the Downhill at the Slovenian National Championships in
Kope
Jan Kochalski
In a season which has been interrupted by injury Jan, like
his fellow team mates, has had his best season to date. His
season started well with a number of good results, the highlight
being a 12th place finish at the Giant Slalom in Filzmoos,
Austria in December. Unfortunately, his run was not allowed
to continue until the end of February due to injury, but Jan
was quick to find his form upon his return
Pam Thorburn
Pam Thorburn really hit the slopes hard and fast this season
scoring a string of personal bests along the way. In the Citizens'
Super G at Haus im Ennstal, Austria she finished an impressive
8th and 11th out of the 80 competitors, scoring at the time
her best Giant Slalom FIS points of the season.
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