The last week spent in Megeve involved a lot of fog, fondues, champagne and snow!! I had a great time with one good slalom race, where I was skiing to my points, which has boosted my confidence for the upcoming races in Les Gets this weekend. Its forecast to be super cold...

... not quite sure I can handle -40*C windchill!!!! I'm currently in Les Carroz, where it hasn't stopped snowing, and i'm taking a few days off to rest before I ski some pow =)


Unfortunately my camera is broken!!! And so my blog posts have been fairly boring recently! But hopefully I'll have it fixed by next week when I travel to Bormio for the English Championships.

Following four races in Villard de Lans I came back to Meribel with Celine for 5 days training in preparation for two GS races at St. Gervais this past weekend (21st&22nd). These were however cancelled because yet again we experienced a huge dump of snow on the friday!!! MORE RACES CANCELLED!!!! Alternatively, instead of travelling to the races on friday afternoon, we stayed in Meribel to watch the ESF slalom race where ESF instructors from many resorts competed. I reversed roles with Fred and became his coach - it really tested my analytical ability and we had some great fun despite it not being a good performance on his behalf.


I then travelled to Megeve where I took the weekend off to relax and recuperate. Yesterday we trained GS in fairly soft snow and this morning we trained Super G. I've never actually trained Super G (as its difficult in terms of safety to organise) and I've only ever raced this discipline a couple of times having always felt nervous, awkward and unsure what to do! Throughout the few runs we took this morning I felt much progression as I lost my negative attitude towards speed and surprisingly had a lot of fun!! Tomorrow is another day of Super G training (weather permitting) before two SG races to be held on thursday and a GS friday in Megeve. I will then race two SL's on saturday and sunday in Combloux before heading to Les Carroz to visit my parents.

I headed out to Meribel on January 2nd with my parents and best friends family. The weather wasn't ideal for skiing with a huge storm blowing in across the Alps; we experienced non stop snow and poor visibility. Unfortunately this meant my races this weekend in Les Menuires were cancelled! Despite this I had an awesome week, with almost 1.5 metres of fresh snowfall, resulting in lots of powder skiing and hot chocolate stops.

Below: Immy and I with a blown down tree outside our apartment. 

Skiing the following day with Immy and India.. wish I had some proper powder skis!

My sister Hannah and I skiing in Les Menuires

This morning I trained GS in Meribel, followed by an afternoon skiing with my schoolfriend Livvy who's out in Val Thorens with her Uni. I'm training again tomorrow and then travelling to Villard de Lans for 4 races. 

The final 4 days in Canada

On December19th I did not finish my second run of the GS race. The snow conditions were very soft following the previous days snowfall, and on approximately the fifth gate I was in the back seat and lost control over my skis, there was not much I could do to recover and so that was the end of that day. I had my final GS race on the 20^th and skied averagely; my FIS points will lower as a result but not significantly.

The following two days we competed in slalom, the part of the trip I had been most looking forward to. There was a very strong field with the best-pointed girl sub 20 (my current points are 101). I started bib 31 both days and on the 21^st I had a relaxed first run failing to make the top 30 flip which was a disappointment. I was extremely determined to ski better and more aggressively on my second run which would have paid off, however I made a huge error and stayed in by the skin of my teeth – I'd say I lost about 3-4 seconds. It was very frustrating and in hindsight a second run similar to my first would have lead to a point score for me.  On the 22^nd I straddled a vertically towards the end of the pitch on my first run and headed to the airport upset, exhausted and more than ready to come home. Overall I have to say the trip was an extremely fun experience despite little time to really explore Canada! It also taught me that in the lead up to events, I need to take longer breaks as I was truly tired out both physically and mentally. I also established that the pressure of races tends to lead to a poor first run and better second run and this is something I need to address.

Days 2-5

On December 14th & 15th we trained slalom. I was fairly happy with my skiing making me more eager for the upcoming races towards the end of this week. Below is a photo from thursdays training; it is evident that I can get tighter on the gates, taking a more direct line which is currently my main objective. After training we drove about one hour to Banff for some christmas shopping!

 On the 16th we trained an extremely turny GS course which I have to say was difficult but I was pleased that I managed to train consistently and maintain my form despite the course deteriorating and rutting up. The following day I drew bib 14 for the first of these 6 races in Nakiska. Unfortunately I skied passively on the first run and over turned the top section - leading to a poor time approximately 5 seconds off the leader. I started my second run 5th and skied much better. I was more dynamic and aggressive and it showed as I was 2 seconds behind the winning time. However due to my bad first run I finished 20th overall which I'm not thrilled about. I took the experience of the second run through to Sunday 18th but the race was cancelled due to too much snow. We slipped the course about 6 times and the snow was simply too thick creating a danger hazard so they decided not to run the race. Instead I enjoyed a morning of powder skiing and an afternoon of hockey in the icy carpark! Tomorrow is yet another GS race and I am determined to score. 

Above Evie Jojo and I at the top of the race course

Canada Day 1

On sunday December 11th, I travelled with Fred from his house near Albertville, to Geneva. I stayed the night with Celine and ate at an incredible Italian Restaurant 'Luigia'. The next morning we flew to London Heathrow where we connected onto our flight to Calgary. The journey was fairly long but we eventually arrived at the Delta Lodge in Kananaskis by 11pm local time. Today we slept until nine o'clock before heading to the slopes to train Slalom. The snow conditions are great and the scenery is incredible!! We didn't train gates but instead worked on technical drills and just generally became familiar with the mountain and race runs. This afternoon we hit the gym to work on leg strength and core along with some cardio. I've had an awesome day and look forward to training a slalom course tomorrow! 

  

Being the third day of December it makes me realise just how quickly time has passed. Firstly Christmas is only 22 days away, and this morning I ate the third chocolate from the advent calendar my mum posted out to me.

On Thursday and Friday I competed in two FIS GS races in Tignes. Being the first of the season I was mentally unprepared and unnecessarily nervous. This poor mental attitude coupled with icy conditions lead to a significant underperformance on my part. On the first day beginning 57^th I completed my first run with much disappointment; I went on to ski my second run and I simply gave up four gates onto the pitch and DNF’d. I’m sure with a more fighting spirit I could have completed but I was just not in the right mindset. However I came back determined on Friday with bib no 46, yet still I skied far to statically with lacking outside edge pressure. The foggy and windy conditions didn’t help much and overall I have to say that this result does not reflect my current training standard and is therefore very frustrating for me! Obviously I know I can ski much better and I will not let this result deter any further progress, which I know I am more than capable of.

This week I am resting and living with my coach Fred down near Albertville. It’s nice to take my mind off skiing and give my body some recuperation time, along with necessary fitness training. On Sunday 11th I am travelling to Geneva for the night before departing the following day to Canada. Myself, Jojo Carew, Evie Kock, Celine Przedborski and our coaches Christoph and Fred will be flying into Calgary and skiing at Nakiska. Here we will compete in four GS’s and two slaloms following four days training.  It is a great opportunity in terms of both skiing and also from a cultural viewpoint!