May 2010 – Seasons Changing

Hi everyone!  Sorry for the lack of an update for some time – I have been in touch with many of you in person or over the phone but hello to those I haven’t seen!  The seasons are changing back here in New Zealand.  Read on for a quick Northern Hemisphere wrap-up including my first European podium finishes, and some changes to come.  I will be putting videos and photos on much more regularly along with ‘twitter’ updates (tweets) every few days to keep the information flowing.

END OF NH SEASON

The last update left me heading back to Europe for some spring racing post-games.  The constant theme throughout the rest of the season was challenging weather.  Hey, it’s an outdoor sport, and thus susceptible to the weather gods.  Seriously, though, I think this year we got the short end of the stick!  The first series in Tarvisio, Italy was the Europa-Cup Downhill finals.  It was the first Downhill I had skied all season due to the focus on Super-G for the games.  The track was incredibly fast with 4 enormous jumps, so it goes without saying that Ben and I were a little timid to start with.  The races provided some good experience –  I managed to knock off a few FIS points, which was good, and I found out what it feels like to fly further than 60m on skis!

Following Tarvisio we headed to a tiny resort called Kope nestled in the hills of Slovenia for the Slovenian Championships.  It’s a strange place…imagine the Canterbury Club-Fields with unmaintained roads through farmers’ land and long walks to get to the lifts, but with crazy Slovenians running the place.  Unfortunately here the gods let out their full anti-skiing anger – temperatures of almost 20 degrees C on the hill the whole week meant almost everything was cancelled.

The final stop on the tour was France for the Great British champs in Meribel and the Scottish Championships in Courchevel.  The whole series was challenging again due to weather – everything ranging from intense heat to heavy snowfall to heavy rain and fog.  However the crews did an amazing job and we were able to get most of the races away.  The highlights for me?  My first 2 podiums in Europe – 3^rd place in the GB National Champs and National Junior Champs, along with a 36 point Super-G result, my best ever in Europe.  I narrowly missed the podium in the Super-Combined Championships, finishing 4^th after a wobbly Slalom run.

The wrath of the gods didn’t quite end after these races either, but we were lucky enough to be on the last Air New Zealand flight to leave Heathrow before the Icelandic volcanic ash closed the airport for over a week!

HOME – TRAINING AND GRADUATION

It feels great to be home.  I am happy to have had the chance to catch up with many of you in person, and will no doubt continue to over the next few months.  I am in the middle of a 7 week off snow physical training programme (which could extend depending on whether the snow actually arrives in time!)  My long time supporters and mates at Browns Ski Shop have been kind enough to offer me a job for this winter, so you might just catch me behind the desk in the rentals or workshop.

In the meantime I have finally officially graduated from Otago University.  My BCom in Marketing was finished in 2008, however due to the busy schedule I was unable to find time to attend a ‘capping’ ceremony until now – check out the photo with the Chancellor!

It’s good to finally call myself a graduate, and I hope to complete the

final 3 papers required to finish my BA in Philosophy in the next year.

RACE EQUIPMENT CHANGE

I have made a change of equipment supplier for the future.  First of all I would like to sincerely thank Geoff and Rebecca from Gravity Sports NZ – the past 6 years with Volkl/Tecnica/Marker have been fantastic.  It was a very difficult decision to change, however at the top level Volkl International have indicated they are more focused on Women’s racing, which was a sign for me.

I am excited to announce that I will be skiing from now on with Atomic.  I picked up skis and boots from their factory in Austria just before coming home, and am looking forward to skiing on them when the snow arrives!  Thanks very much to Ian Bright and everyone at Brandex NZ – the importers of Atomic.  These guys have helped me make the switch and are supplying me with some other awesome gear from Skins and Swix.

SEE YOU AT CP!

I will be training this season at Coronet Peak and Pulse Fitness Queenstown all winter with the NZ Men’s Ski Team.  The team itself is changing its structure, but I have to wait until the official announcement before I give any more details.  See you on the slopes!

If anybody would like a DVD copy of the whole Olympic Super-G race I am working on one and will have it ready to send out in a few days!

Tim