Just home from a great week in Bormio for the 2013 English Alpine Championships. Whilst in resort I provided on-site commentary and then voice-over for the two videos below. A fantastic event for a sport which is much in need of further support.
Hope you enjoy the videos!
I’ve had the pleasure of spending 2 season in Whistler, I’ve skied there more than anywhere else and if I was asked to pick my favourite ski resort or name what I think is the best ski resort then the answer will always be Whistler.
Waking up to this every morning! Not bad at all..
Perhaps one of the reasons I love this place is because I got to wake up to this view every morning, pretty spectacular, whatever the weather!
I love both the hills, rarely would I ski both in the same day but sadly when I was there peak to peak hadn’t been built yet. Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb mountain both have unique feels about them. Personally I prefer Whistler, mostly because of Flute bowl, Harmony and Peak. I’d often be found early in the morning on the GS boards hitting peak to creek or circling Garbanzo Express riding Raven onto Ptarmigan or Upper Dave Murray onto Bear Paw. I love these tree lined groomers with their natural terrain features and they way they seemed to blend naturally and work with the characteristics of the mountain. My opinion on Blackcomb is that some of the groomers just feel a little bit man-made. My favourite place on Blackcomb is Spanky’s Ladder and then into the bowls. Sure it got tracked out quick but the snow just always felt awesome in there!
I’m strangely fond of the weather in Whistler, it reminds me of Scotland. I remember December 2005 when it just seemed to rain the whole month and on Christmas day just when there was grass showing at the bottom of Emerald Chair, that rain turned to snow. I don’t think it stopped until February. You just have to put up with the weather in Whistler. If you like endless sunshine then it’s probably not for you, I like weather! It makes skiing more interesting and reminds you that you are in the mountains! The quantity of snow Whistler gets is impressive, it’s not the champagne power you might find elsewhere but boy is there a lot of it. Both mountains can get tracked out pretty quickly but due to their size combined with a little bit of local knowledge then you can always find that untracked descent.
This was a pretty common look on a chairlift!
Why do I prefer these mountains to anywhere else? Maybe because I’m a bit lazy and like the accessibility they provide, maybe it’s because I know where to go and when on each of the mountains to get perfect conditions or maybe it’s just the atmosphere up there!
Off the hill things are pretty good as well. I won’t name all the bars and clubs but I particularly enjoyed Longhorn’s on a Sunday (call me a tourist or punter if you like, I don’t care!) but Tapleys and Brandy’s at the Keg were my two favourites for grabbing a beer and watching some hockey.
This was a pretty common scene!
So, the mountains are great, the village is awesome and it’s full of pretty cool people. Yeah, it’s expensive and it gets busy. There are bigger mountains in Europe and there are places with better weather or more powder but I’ve yet to be anywhere that just ticks so many boxes. Whistler Blackcomb does it for me. I’d love to go back sometime soon!
http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com
This past season I had the honour of being asked to coach the British Team at the 2012 World Junior Freestyle Ski Championships in Valmalenco, Italy. Just like it used to be, I was in charge of the ski cross contingent which for this event consisted of one skier, Marek Behnke. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Marek on and off for a few seasons now and as a ski cross athlete he has really progressed in the past 18 months despite limited training time.
Marek managed to get an extra week away from uni so we headed to Sweden and Norway with Craig Robinson and Pam Thorburn. I think a Dutchman might also have also been in the van somewhere….
The Europa Cup series in Sweden and Norway was designed to blow away the cobwebs, we were focussing on process, not on outcome and by the time we arrived in Valmalenco, Italy for World Juniors (after a journey involving planes, ferries, vans and later a train for me) we were ready to go.
Team GB were proudly supported by TASS for this event (http://www.tass.gov.uk) which meant we had a Chef de Mission, Deputy Chef de Mission and a Team Physiotherapist. The support TASS has provided to freestyle skiing over the past few seasons has been invaluable and we are really seeing a great impact from their support into the performances on the snow.
One of the great things about these championships was that it brought all the freestyle events together in one resort. Whilst ski cross, half pipe, slopestyle, moguls and aerials are all part of freestyle, we virtually never get to meet our freestyle teammates so it was excellent to all be under one roof in the team hotel and to be very well looked after.
Onto the hill!
The week before the champs, the FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup Finals had taken place in Valmalenco so we had the benefit of their track! What a track it was, long, fast and with lots of airtime! Check out this great video of the race!
So with the cobwebs blown away in Scandinavia, we went into the race with one objective. Top 32. Ski Cross races have two distinct parts, qualification and then heats. Only the fastest 32 skiers make it through to the 4×4 action and this is where all the athletes want to be. I’m always wary of setting a target, especially when you don’t know the quality of the field before we get to the race but we wanted to be in the real action so top 32 was set. Sadly though, we lost the official training day as the weather gods remembered it was still winter and the sun disappeared and about a foot of snow decided to fall meaning we couldn’t accurately detail the quality of opposition.
No worry’s though, back to the wax room, re-focus and prepare to do everything on the one day. This meant 2 training runs, 1 qualification run and if we achieve our target, HEATS!
A perfect day for ski cross racing!
Come race day the weather had improved as you can see from the video and we were left with perfect race conditions! After a two solid enough training runs it was time for qualification. With Marek starting near the back of the field in bib 42 the task was simple. GET IN THERE. Marek skied the best run of his season to finish in 28th place but with 10 skiers to go this meant the most nervous wait of our careers for both athlete and coach. When the final skier crossed the line we started counting back, checking times and waiting…….
The announcer then read out the list of qualified athletes from 1st down to 32nd. By the time they got to 31 we were very nervous. Our count backs suggested either 32nd or 33rd and then they read out “in 32nd, Marek Behnke, Great Britain” and I have to admit I let out a bit of a scream! Marek was under the most pressure of his career and he delivered when it mattered, super proud. This meant we had to get re-waxing and ready for the finals! Qualifying in 32nd does however mean you will have the fastest skier from qualification in your heat and that you are racing in the first heat, the one everyone is watching.
Sadly, Marek didn’t progress through the heat but that’s ski cross sometimes and at least we were in the finals and had a chance. Although disappointed not to progress, we set a target and achieved it. There were quite a few quality skiers who missed out on the top 32 so all in all it was a good days work.
It was a great few days in Italy, topped off with a fun opening ceremony (which took place after our event…) during which I ended up on stage representing Team GB, a proud moment for me!
All in all a great event, fantastic to have a world juniors in central Europe and to have all the disciplines in one place at the same time! Let’s hope we see this again next season!
One final picture which I think shows ski cross in all it’s glory!
Please check out the following web links! Much of what is going on in Freestyle skiing in GB wouldn’t be possible without the support of TASS. The support is much appreciated!
Thanks to everyone who made it a great championships! All the Team GB HQ Staff, athletes, coaches, local organisers and FIS for making it happen! One final mention has to go to all of Marek’s family and “supporters club” who all travelled out to support him at the race and provided us with transport to Italy. The support of friends and family at these events makes a real difference to the athletes!
Over a year has passed since one of the greatest experiences of my life; being a part of Team GB at the 2011 Winter Universiade in Erzurum Turkey. I had meant to write about the event during my time in Turkey or at least during the week after but one thing led to another and I never got round to it.
As ski cross was one of the last events of the games, we were the last of Team GB to arrive. This meant we missed the opening ceremony and some of our teammates had already left the village and headed back to the UK. Despite this we still spent a whole week in the village so managed to soak up the atmosphere and spirit of the event.
Our transport out to Erzurum is worth a mention! The journey consisted of 3 flights, a 7am Heathrow departure, a 5 hour layover in Istanbul, a quick hop to Ankara followed by 2 hours up to Erzurum. We had the pleasure of circling above Erzurum whilst snow was cleared from the runway and to this day I’m sure I felt the plane slide sideways for a second only for the pilot to apply some opposite lock and steer us to safety. Oh, this happened at 2am so all in all a long day!
Welcome to Turkey!
A bit about village life
The accreditation is your lifeline! Without it there was no access to anything and more importantly there was no food. Thankfully we remained “with accreditation for the whole time” and therefore remained well fed. Food is a good place to start! It can be best described as a school dining hall and the pupils are for every country in the world (not quite but 58 nations were represented, 1880 athletes and 849 officials) so it was quite busy! Food was on hand 18 hours a day and it was quite a random affair. Everyone was happy to share table space and it was great to meet so many people from different countries and competing and coaching in different sports.
I found being in the village quite relaxing. I was able to do my job easier than normal as I knew we had waxing facilities, storage facilities, everything was safe, transfers were taken care of and we had food whenever we wanted! I was able to coach and I think being in this environment allowed me to really focus on my job on the hill.
Team GB HQ
The Hill
We were racing on Palandoken Mountain, about a 30 minute bus ride away from the athlete’s village. The shuttle buses were a bit of a lottery but generally if you stood in the one place someone would pick you up and you’d end up at the hill. Palandoken was a strange experience, it was ruddy cold and there was snow but it had ALL fallen in the previous week so the only skiing was on the race course and one warm-up piste. This meant we were finding stones everywhere, including on the track!
I ended up as connection coach which meant I had to set the course! (I think I was voted in by the Netherlands) This was quite a challenge, especially as we had to slow the racers down, re-set a whole section after what I found on day 1 on the hill and avoid all the stones. We got there though thanks to the input of some more experienced athletes.
Being up on the hill took us back to our ski cross environment. At the village there are so many athletes from different sports around and because everyone is dressed in team clothing you forget what it is you do! But back on the hill it was all ski cross and that was what we were there to do.
We benefitted from an extra training day and because of the small field our skiers were able to get ample runs on course. In the end both GB athletes qualified for finals and got to race heats; number 1 objective achieved.
Heats took place the next day but sadly for GB both guys didn’t progress. That’s ski cross at times, you give it your all, fly to the edge of Europe, train hard, race hard but it can be over in a split second. It’s what makes ski cross so awesome, it’s what makes many sports so awesome.
The Track!
Final thoughts
For me it was great to be able to talk and share experiences with other coaches and athletes. You realise we are all in the same boat and we can learn much from each other in sport. I particularly enjoyed my trips to the Curling venue and watching a few ends with the Scottish Team coach has opened my eyes to what I already thought was a quality sport.
Another highlight was the ice hockey! We scored some tickets for Canada v Russia (split loyalties for me) and it was a great experience. I loved being surrounded by different sports, it was a huge motivator for me and again, a massive learning experience.
The whole ethos of the event is about friendship and sharing. If you buy into that then you will look back on it with fond memories. It was a great experience for me, eased in to the multi-sport environment which will help me should I ever be fortunate to go to another but if it wasn’t for the two athletes I had out with me I wouldn’t have had the experience. Martin and Max represented their country with pride and they were both a pleasure to work with in Erzurum.
Not 24 hours after landing back at Heathrow I’d driven through France to VT with two new athletes for a Europa Cup and crammed ourselves into a tiny apartment before ending up sitting eating a pizza miles away from Turkey, with a familiar Dutchman looking forward to a new race. The only question was who was paying for the pizza?
Max, Coach Ian and Martin outside our block
A few people have asked why I’m even bothering writing this. Well, it’s proving to be a useful reflective exercise and I hope it’s useful for any other sports administrators/managers. I have lots of ideas floating around my head, many of which are on paper but this has helped collate them and might actually be good in the long-term for the sport.
The first post seemed to piss a few people off as well, this one might do the same.
Instead of a long winded discussion about what will benefit the sport I will focus on two things; Programmes and Resources.
In order for the sport to progress there needs to be programmes. This seems simple enough but is clearly lost on some people. Programmes need coaches and the the coaches aren’t there because of lack of resources.
Before talking in about resources (money) lets look at a programme structure. There is an argument (based on some desktop research carried out by myself) that GB should focus only on elite, by this I mean world cup, athletes. Once an athlete of suitable standard has retired from alpine or wants a change then they could be supported in ski cross. Essentially then GB would be supporting a very small programme for elite ski cross athletes and not focus on developing younger athletes. This is an easy case to make and there is data to back it up. It would work in the short term but there is no long term focus on the sport.
I prefer a second option which is to create a pathway to develop athletes in ski cross from entry level to world cup. This is the more expensive and resource heavy option but in my opinion is better for long term of the sport and for British skiers. This approach can only work through careful management and partnerships. It requires home nations working together with GB, working in close collaboration with alpine programmes, academies and clubs. As I said in part 1 alpine teams exposing athletes to a bit of ski cross acts as talent id but the next question is where to place athletes who decide they want to go for it in ski cross. A single integrated ski cross programme run by the home nations with GB support to develop athletes at FIS and Europa Cup level would provide this platform. I have the evidence to support this approach. This approach is more expensive but I’ll come on to that.
So if there is some cross working, one programme rather than competing programmes which will never exist due to costs and athlete numbers then we might be able to do something. This programme can then feed into a world cup programme. The key to this is it can pick up athletes who are identified and give them training and competition support as well as providing a vehicle for athletes who want to try out the sport on a trial basis.
So how do we resource this? Well….GB has had fantastic support though TASS (talented athlete scholarship scheme). If support continues there then there is some financial help to pay coaches as well as performance services for selected athletes. Athletes will have to contribute financially, this is the world we live in but if there is one programme then those finances go to the one place and can build a stronger programme. There isn’t the number of athletes or level of finances out there right now for Scotland, England and GB to all separately fund programmes but by working together there might be a way to get 10-12 athletes together to build something.
Perhaps this one programme might also attract a bit of sponsorship. Everyone races for GBR, not England, Scotland or Wales…maybe I’ll avoid that issue for now!
The main stumbling block right now is coaching. Coaches have to be paid. Without coaches there are no programmes. We can have managers all over the place but what exactly will they be managing?
Work together-build a central pathway through one combined home nation/gb programme-get athletes and funding in the one place-we can resource a programme.
I’ll shut up now.
I was a lucky man. I’ve skied quite a few hills and here they all are along with a brief comment about each. Whilst to some this will appear like a huge list but I’ll be honest with you; many of these places I only skied for a few hours on the one run (the life of a ski coach/pack horse). Any ski racers out there will have skied about 20x this list but be nice and let me have my fun!
So here is my list! It’s not really in any order. I tried to do it alphabetically but then I gave up as I forgot where I’d been. This is just a bit of fun so if you live in one of these places then don’t take offence. Even the worst place I’ve ever skied (Puy St Vincent closely followed by Flaine) is still awesome. It’s just at the lower end of awesome.
ANDORRA
Soldeu – If you like cruising around then this isn’t a bad shout, might get boring after a while.
Pas de la Casa – Good for a lads break but similar to its neighbour Soldeu and not as cheap as people think.
AUSTRIA
Lienz – Great town, has two decent hills with some hidden descents, not well known by Brits. I like it.
Innerkrems – Standard Austrian. This is code for I really can’t remember much other than one stupidly steep black run.
Pitztal – Great off-piste (with a guide) but with many villages spread along the valley, choose your accommodation wisely.
Solden – Party town, glacier, huge vertical. TICK.
Kaunertal – Great drive up with plenty of road gap potential. Flat glacier.
Moltaler – Full of ski teams in the office season. Good pitch for training. Coffee and a bowl of pasta is well priced at the top.
Sillian – Shhh. This hidden place is awesome. Don’t tell anyone, I love it.
St Johann – Reasonable McDonalds. Standard Austrian.
Niederau – Fun place, I got heavily drunk here and didn’t do much skiing. I’d like to go back.
Obertauren – AWESOME! Can ski on runs facing in all directions and very snow sure.
St Lambrecht – It snowed lots when I was here and I got my butt kicked racing in the Hungarian FIS Uni Champs here in 03. That is all.
Reiteralm – Do you like ski racing? Go here.
Ramsau am Dachstein – Can’t remember.
BULGARIA
Pamporovo – First ever foreign ski trip. Bloody cold and there was a burger van run by scousers at the side of one of the pistes.
CANADA
Whister Blackcomb – Best place on earth. The only people who don’t think so haven’t skied there. Needs a separate blog.
Mt Seymour – Close to Vancouver city centre. Slow lifts but great night skiing so close to the city is great.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Spindleuv Myln – One of the few places left in Europe where I can afford a beer. Friendly people and quite quirky.
Horni Miseky – Erm, seemed small. I left and went to Prague to crash a stag do.
FRANCE
Tignes – Best in France for me. Seasonaires are actually a laugh here, it’s snow sure and TC’s bar is very welcoming. They offered me food before “I had to leave”.
Val d’Isere – I don’t like it that much. Don’t know why but I just don’t.
Alpe d’Huez – Quality place for a big resort. Sports centre is great. I lost some epic table tennis matches here. Made to feel very welcome when here for races.
Les Deux Alpes – Loads of runs but annoyingly far from Grenoble. Even worse if you don’t fly to Grenoble.
Le Sauze – Do you like Poma’s? Then go here. I like it. It’s small, friendly and doesn’t break the bank. Stay in Barcelonette down the valley which is a quirky little town with mexican influences.
Flaine – Avoid at all costs.
Les Contamines – Awesome, empty pistes and great views.
La Touissuire – Very cool. One of those places the French keep to themselves which makes it cost effective.
Megeve – Decent enough McDonalds now its been refurbished.
Meribel – Had many a bad time here but it is an annoyingly good ski resort.
Val Thorens – I shouldn’t like it but I do. It just works. The terrain is awesome and the nightlife is worryingly effective.
Courchavel – You need a credit check done if you want to ski here. Only go if you speak Russian and have your own jet.
La Tania – Quaint with some nice trees…
Puy St Vincent – Hell. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
Saint Lary Solan – I think I had lunch with the mayor. Great place, few too many poma’s but for something other than the alps then it’s worth a go.
GERMANY
Grasgehren – Snowed loads here. If you can find it then let me know.
Sudelfeld – Proper club field. Love it. Great people and the gasthof where I stayed had an endless supply of boiled eggs. The must have kept chickens.
ITALY
Bormio – I should like it but I don’t. Probably as things always go wrong when I’m there. That and being made to feel very unwelcome at a Europa Cup. I never went back. Neither did the Europa Cup.
Innichen/San Candido – Lovely town, awesome people. Coldest place on the planet and that is a fact. They brought the coaches as sandwich on race day. This went down very well.
Cervina – Only really skied in from Zermatt for lunch. It still counts right?
SPAIN
Sierra Nevada – Love it. Surprisingly expensive and lots of beginners but at least they don’t get out of bed till lunch time. Village feels like a half assed Whistler which is a very good thing.
This was used in a bond film
SWITZERLAND
Davos – I don’t get it. Good Ice-Hockey team though.
Zweisimmen – Local skiing for local people.
Nendaz – One of my many homes in the alps. Great town but annoying lack of lifts and a pain to get to the bigger hills from here.
Grindelwald – I learned to ski here. I know every bump on Firstbahn. I love it.
Wengen – Feels like a small and not as good Zermatt but its a great town and has some awesome skiing.
Murren – Small and perfectly formed.
Zermatt – Strangely, I prefer it in the summer time but you must, I repeat must ski here.
Saas Fee – I like it but it seems to be full of “cool people” so I don’t fit in. Good training in the off-season but needs some lift upgrades.
Leysin – Spent a weekend here. Had no idea where it was until I got there. I challenge you to find a better view of Lac Leman.
Verbier – I don’t get it. I can’t afford it. This doesn’t bother me in the slightest.
Laax – Seriously kids. Buy some clothes that fit. Amidst all the jibs and grabs is actually a very expansive ski area which is worth a visit.
Disentis – No idea. Honestly can’t remember a thing about this place.
Lenzerhiede – See above.
Siviez – Hidden above Nendaz, this place is where I relax best. Perhaps due to good company and good cheese from Anne and Marcel in Cafe les Bergers. The best thing about Siviez is you can get up Mont Fort quicker than the folk from Verbier. The downside is the number of Belgian buses.
NORWAY
Olso, Tryvann – Oslo is on my list of cities where I could make my home. Tryvann is one of the reasons why. Close to the city centre and offers great fun and a great atmosphere. Just save up before you go!
USA
Mt Baker – It’s got bite! If I could ski one hill for the rest of my life, this would be it.
Skiing in AMERICA
TURKEY
Palandoken – Stunning view, ruddy cold.
The view from Palandoken
SCOTLAND
Glenshee – Scotland’s 3 valleys? This place is good.
Nevis Range – Some of the best lift served decents in Europe here. I’m not lying.
Scotland!
Cairngorm Mountain – This is where skiing was invented. Of that I am convinced. It’s cool but they need to stop removing lifts.
So there is my list. I think i’ve missed a few out and hopefully i’ll add some new places soon. It is a constant embarrassment to myself that I still haven’t skied at Glencoe. I live 90 minutes away from an awesome hill and I haven’t skied there. I will in 2012! Who wants to join me??
I was lucky enough to be involved with the GB Ski Cross Team since late 2007. Before Ski Cross (BSC) I was another cog in the alpine wheel working with entry-level FIS athletes, Uni Racers and trainee instructors. I love the sport of ski racing, I wanted to be an alpine racing coach but always felt that I wouldn’t get that chance in GB as according to lots of people in the sport, if you were a crap racer (As I most certainly was!) then you can’t coach. This attitude within ski racing in GB is one of its many problems, people won’t admit to thinking that but it’s there, trust me! Anyway, that is maybe for another blog. I, however, did my training as a coach in Canada. I was judged not on how I got down a hill as a spotty 17-year-old who had virtually no training time but on how I performed as a coach. This gave me the confidence to believe I could coach and I could make it my career.
Fast forward four years and I’ve now coached at World Cup, European Cup, set the course at the World Uni Games (the good one, not the bad one we found on that first inspection!) , commentated on my sport on live TV, built ski cross courses, gained a master’s degree in Sports Coaching, had the company of some of the finest minds in British sport and now I have a new job in performance sport.
Ok, so that was a bit of an ego massage so I’ll move on quickly. The point is, I took a gamble in a new sport, tried to do my best for it and the athletes if it wasn’t for ski cross then I wouldn’t be where I am now.
So on to the point of this blog. How does GB move forward in the sport of ski cross? How do we get British racers into the medal zone and how can we sustain that level of performance for the next generation of ski cross athletes?
I’ll break this down under some headings.
Performer base
If you look at the numbers of active ski cross racers in GB you’d be right in thinking it seems very low. GB currently has 9 registered FIS racers in Ski Cross. This is very low compared to alpine racers in GB but if you consider the notion that every one of these alpine racers could also compete in ski cross then it’s not as low as you might think. Take into account all the kids who play on the ski cross tracks dotted around the alps and you widen the base further. Finally, we shouldn’t forget the 60 or so skiers who turned up at the Scottish Snowcross champs at Glenshee last March and actually we don’t just have 9 racers. If we take all the alpine racers then we are sitting on nearer 900. The challenge is getting them into the sport!
Talent Identification
For the record, I’m a fan of alpine racing. I want GB to be up there; I want to see British racers rocking on the world cup but let’s be honest. It’s tough, really tough. I struggle to think of a tougher sport to crack for a Brit than alpine racing. Now, is ski cross easier? It’s far from easy, it’s getting harder with each season but my personal opinion is that it offers a greater chance of success for British ski racers than the traditional alpine disciplines.
One of the simplest ways to get expose more alpine racers into ski cross would be to get our home nation and gb junior teams to race some ski cross as well as alpine. Why not say to these racers “Ok, you made the team, you will have to race ski cross as well.” I can imagine this won’t go down well in some camps. Fine, give an opt out of parents are worried about it being dangerous. The benefits of this are simple. We can see who has the aptitude for ski cross early, it doesn’t cost much, it gets loads more athletes into the sport and coaches can see who would perhaps be better suited in ski cross and guide them in that direction early allowing more alpine resources to be focussed on those athletes who stand a chance of progressing in alpine.
Ski Cross camps would also work. Why not have an open trial? Get some fast guys to come and set some times and lets open it up and see who is out there. This isn’t a cheap option and would be best suited to the younger age groups but would allow the NGB to sell the sport to more athletes at a younger age. The most important part here is that it provides the start of a pathway in ski cross. Without this, there will continue to be a hit and miss approach! We could look to run ski cross races at alpine events. Simple fun courses for the mini’s, k1/k2 and why not run a FIS ski cross next around the alpine events? No doubt the calendar would need tweaked but it can be done. I hear of people complaining about skiers having too many races in a short space of time so we need to be careful with the scheduling but surely everyone can give a little to make this happen.
In short, if we can increase the competitive opportunities, we can increase the number of athletes and we can show that ski cross does offer a credible alternative to alpine racing.
Coaching
This is where it gets tough. Part of the reason there is currently no pathway in place is down to a number of factors. One of which is a very small pool of ski cross coaches. In order to coach there needs to be athletes, in order for athletes there needs to be coaches. Catch 22. This is where it requires investment. The NGB needs to take a lead on this and employ a coach, they don’t have to be British! Sure, this isn’t cheap and the ££ need to be found for it but with this person in place there is a resource who can be used to help develop new coaches and build on the coach education in the sport. This step is vital. Without it, coaches will continue to operate on a self-employed basis and this doesn’t encourage sharing as why would you give up your knowledge to someone who might then take work away?
There is some research and models in place now for coach education in ski cross (that blog might come later) so it’s not the shot in the dark it was 4 years ago.
So…
1. Employ a national team coach
2. Develop a coach education system
3. Work with alpine race coaches to help build ski cross elements into alpine programmes.
I’m aware this is getting quite long so thanks for staying with me! I’ll build on this later in the week where I will add some depth the talent ID, propose a ski cross pathway and discuss the resources needed to build the sport in GB.
I’m not saying all my suggestions are correct but I hope the open some discussion. Many of you might ask why some of these things aren’t already in place. The truth is much of this is work in progress, nothing new is being suggested but perhaps by raising some of these things to the surface the pace of progress can be increased.
I’d like to finish “part 1″ by offering my thanks to every single athlete I’ve worked with, without athletes we have nothing. It was athletes who blazed the trail in this sport and I was lucky enough to be part of that. I hope its athletes who continue to lead the development (with a bit of help) of this awesome sport!
This weekend seen the first two rounds of the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup kick off in the beautiful village of Innichen/San Candido in the Sud Tirol regional of Italy. The resort lies just a few kilometres away from the Austria border and this being the Sud Tirol, everything is in German and French (hence the name!).
One thing I’ve learned about Innichen is it is cold. Very cold. Possibly one of the coldest races I’ve ever worked at but the beautiful scenery and friendly welcome I experienced here in 09 made the cold bearable, just!
So what of the racing and this 2011/12 Ski Cross Season. It’s my first year not being a part of the GB team and whilst I miss it, I will be following things closely and wishing all the athletes the best of success for the season. With this being one of those seasons without a World Championships or Olympic Games; World Cup is everything so the hunt for the overall trophy will be more hotly contested than ever before.
Coming into the season, it’s obvious that the powerhouse ski cross nations will be tough to beat. Canada, Austria, Switzerland, Germany and France continue to lead the way in terms of athletes, coaching and resources. For the smaller nations, things just get harder and harder. One thing that perhaps wasn’t expected was just who would top the podium on the men’s side for race one. Brady Leman, in his first World Cup since January 2010 stormed to victory, his first ever victory in any FIS ski cross race. Egor Korotkov from the Russian team, a solid if not spectacular performer in the 2010/11 season finished in 2nd place, the second podium of his career after a 3rd place finish in Les Contamines in January 2011. Dave Duncan from Canada rounded off the podium and a great day for Canada with 3rd place.
On the ladies side, things got even better for Canada. 2011 World Champion Kelsey Serwa (Canada) took 1st place and looks like she will be hard to beat this season, Sanna Luedi (Switzerland) in her first race since March 2010 will be delighted with her 2nd place and with her back on the world cup, this Swiss team has just got even stronger! Marielle Thompson (Canada) finished in 3rd place to earn the 19 year old’s first ever world cup podium. With 1st and 3rd in both the men’s and women’s races, Canada will be delighted with the start to the season.
The great thing about the Innichen race is it’s a double header. This gives the teams and racers a chance to get right back into world cup action after a long break and gives those racers who didn’t qualify in race 1 a chance to make amends in race 2!
In race 2 it was a return to the top step of the podium for Austrian Ski Cross superstar Andreas Matt. Matt, who took an astonishing 10 podiums in 2010/11 including 4 wins plus a 3rd place at the 2011 world championships would have been disappointed to start the season with an 8th place but returned to top form in race 2 to show the ski cross world he is still the man to beat these days in ski cross. A career weekend for Russian Egor Korotkov seen him again take second place. Korotkov is now showing that the investment in Russian ski cross in the lead up to Sochi 2014 is starting to pay off and if he can keep this form going who would bet against him getting a medal on home snow in 2014. The Russian team has a good depth of talent coming through on the Europa Cup tour and they are on track to become one of the strongest ski cross nations in the future. Alex Fiva (Switzerland) took 3rd place, his 2nd career podium after taking 2nd place in race 2 in Innichen in 2010. After an injury lay off towards the end of last season, Fiva is another racer hoping to make a place on the podium his own in 2011/12.
Kelsey Serwa rounded off a perfect weekend for herself and team Canada taking victory again in race 2 followed again by Sanna Luedi of Switzerland and Katrin Mueller of Switzerland. A great set of results for Canada and Switzerland but expect the German and French teams to have something to say when the tour moves to St Johann in January 2012. With the St Johann night race track having a reputation as one of the steepest and slickest on tour, the technical specialists will be looking to land places on the podium. The race isn’t always popular with races used to the fast flowing, big featured ski cross courses but with those ever valuable world cup points on offer, don’t expect to see anyone holding back in St Johann.
Keep up to date on all things Freestyle and Ski Cross here http://www.fisfreestyle.com/. A great site to get to know the athletes a little better and to see some action from each of the races.
Well……I meant to do some more writing and upload some podcast’s but real life got in the way, as it will continue to for the next month (its thesis time..).
I did, however, get the chance to head to the beautiful Swiss resort of Saas Fee at the end of July for week of coaching with JJC Training. JJC offer Eurotest (timed GS race for ski instructors aiming for the ISTD qualification, the highest BASI award) training for BASI instructors looking to perfect their racing skills and pass the Eurotest.
JJC is run by two of the finest coaches and skiers in the UK, James Bennett and Craig Robinson. With their wealth of experience in teaching, coaching and competition (alpine and ski cross) their clients are in excellent hands. As well as Eurotest training, JJC also offer ski cross training camps which is where I came in. As Craig is currently recovering from a injury sustained in a world cup ski cross event in December, 201o I was delighted to be asked to assist on their most recent camp.
Despite having to fight the weather gods during the week we managed quality training on and off the snow. JJC focus on every aspect of performance, leaving no stone unturned in helping skiers reaching their goals. I was impressed with the level of detail and knowledge both Craig and James showed on and off the hill with a huge emphasis on what went on off the hill. For me it is the off-snow work which can really make or break a camp.
Having been coaching alone in ski cross for sometime, it was fantastic to be around other coaches and this improved my knowledge massively. I was brought up to date in a few areas and was pleased to see that I was well on track in other areas. I learned a massive amount as a coach, assisting James on the hill and its certainly helped guide where I need to go from here as a ski coach and the areas I personally need to improve on.
So…that was just a few quick words on JJC Training. I had a great time, I learned loads, the athletes had a great time and they all took big strides forward, on and off the snow. If you need to do Eurotest training or want to improve your personal performance in and out of the gates then I would highly recommend them!
I’ll leave this post by saying thanks to the boys at JJC for having me and I hope I get to work with them again in the future.
I’ve recently been considering expertise in coaching in relation to sports like my own (ski cross) which as yet don’t have any formal coach education systems.
Schempp and McCullick in Lyle and Cushion 2010 state that there is no substitute for experience when it comes to developing expertise in coaching. The challenge for myself as a ski cross coach is “where does the expertise come from?” Many coaches, including myself, have experience in the sport although the sport has changed significantly over the past few years. Ski cross coaching in my experience comes from doing the job. This does result in inexperienced ski cross coaches finding themselves coaching at a high level due to experience they have in alpine racing.
Schempp and McCullick 2010 go on to state that many coaches ignore the lessons offered by their experience but in ski cross this might be a good thing as many coaches just don’t have the experience in the sport. I questioned my own experience in the sport and how this relates to my coaching. Having competed in the sport, albeit in a different era, I had some experience to fall back on however in a one month block of training the athletes would complete more runs on a ski cross course than I had completed in my life. Whilst this meant I had limited experience as a competitor, I did mean that I had been through the process of ski cross competition which was invaluable in my early days as a ski cross coach.
I drew heavily upon my alpine racing experience as an athlete and as a coach in terms of planning and structuring the training and competition phase. I used the experience of ski cross athletes to help with the planning and training activities and I would say that much of my experience now as a coach draws heavily upon the past experience of my athletes. The first season of competition was a learning experience as I learned that the schedule of ski cross races placed many unexpected challenges on the athletes which led to changes in the program for my second season as a coach. In a new and ever developing sport it is important to be very open minded, use your own experience, learn from the experience of others (athletes and coaches) and to be prepared for the sport to change direction suddenly.
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