 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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excellent!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I was there for that... the conditions were not best. An excellent result i would say, considering.
Suprised no one else has commented, as the quality of the field was good.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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spud, Dave is continuing where he left off last season. He has worked hard on fitness through the summer and is really concentrating on just slalom now.
Great result keep it up Dave! Hopefully the speed guys (TJ & Dougie) will get some great early season results in the Nor-Am's (DH & SG) in Nov.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Well done to Dave, great result 
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Ed Drake is back on the Speed program this season too, with WC points and EC podium in the past he may be the one to watch out for in speed!
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jjc james, Ed must be doing his own Speed programme as he is no longer in the GB team and is not out training in Chile with them at the moment.
It will be interesting to see how he does this season after taking last season off. He won't get any WC starts either and will start at the very back of the EC races (if can enter them) as his FIS points have gone so high. Good luck to him though!
Dave has no more races in the Southern Hemisphere now. So his next will be in Europe somewhere sometime in November.
The GB speed team (TJ & Dougie) will probably be racing at the Lake Louise DH & SG, and then the Beaver Creek DH & SG plus a load of Nor-Am cup races.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Well as he's coming back from injury WC is a bit pointless since theres only been big FIS points scored and no notable results from going to them (other than the WC points Ed scored in the combined).
EC wise he's the only current GB male with any top 15 results (speed) so to not let him enter once he has his form back would be stupid on whoever makes that decisions part. How long it takes him to find that form is the question. Hopefully he does and they can all start to work together again.
Good to see their all now training with proper teams with decent set ups, could make that whole side of things very competitive, which should produce some good results!
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jjc james, Pity BSS are not funding the Speed team programme though. TJ & Dougie have had to set it up and are paying for it all themselves. BSS only paying coaches for the Tech teams, including the Girls, who are all juniors.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Plugboy, What sort of costs does it need for an Athlete to compete competively on the EC and WC circuits as a Brit?
I find it incredible and fortunate for our Brits that other Nations allow them to train with them?
How many other Sports would do that?
Do our Athletes have to pay those other Nations for the priveledge?
When you say TJ and Dougie had to 'set it up' and actually pay for it themselves, what does that actually entail?
Contacting other Nations and finding their coaches to train with?
Sorry for all the questions, but i'm seriously interested.
I find it so sad that our Nation can't support our Athletes representing us properly.
After all...it was the Brits who invented Ski Racing. Surely we should be embracing that?
Correct me if i'm wrong, but i get the impression the Ski Racing percie has become rather unfashionable amongst Brits.
I see more embracing the parks and half pipes. Dare I say Skier Cross and Boarder Cross will become the no.1 Winter Sport?
Would be interested in peoples views....
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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spud, The cost for TJ's & Dougie's coach and the teams expenses for the season is around £45-50K.
On top of that are their own personal expenses, accom, travel, food, lift passes, insurance, FIS licence etc of around £20k.
That is cutting it right down to the bare bones too. That will not include any ski tech, Physio etc. they will probably be the only nation racing World Cup without a tech.
It is not costing anything for them to link up with the USA team as their coach will also be helping out with their team on the hill.
They had to hire their coach (same one from last season) arrange all the transport, get the team van fixed and ready for use. Get contracts drawn up, collect all the equipment from the factory and sort out shipping to North & South America, etc etc etc. And of coursse try to raise that sort of funding to pay for everything.
As I said, BSS has decided NOT to fund the GB Men's Speed team Coach (DH & SG) because they do not have enough sponsorship to fund every part of the team. However they are funding the coach for the Junior girls Tech team (GS & Slalom) called the FIS/Europa Cup team, despite them being totally unproven on the International scene. None have even competed at the World Junior champs.
BSS's policy to improve GB Alpine skiing is to concentrate on the Tech teams.
If you look at the competative side of GB skiing, there are still far higher numbers competing in Alpine than any other snowsport, whether on dryslope or snow.
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Thanks for the comprehensive answers mate.
It seems to me that your lad and Dougie are at a real disadvantage compared to all the other nations.
When you say, they don't have a Ski Tech...they have to service their own skis and work out what the best set up is depending on conditions?
Having to sort out all the logistics as well...
When other nations are resting or Training harder 'our' lads are having to work on other issues.
I would suggest it would be good to let our Madia know this...to get it 'out their'.
Letting the vieweing British public know this on the likes of 'Ski Sunday' would enlighten them on how much the Brits are at a disadvantage.
How Proactive are the BSS at getting extra sponsership?
On a side note... it crossed my mind the other day... that we have various documentaries on Action Sports and similar Adventure activities. I've yet to hear or see one about the life of a skier on the world cup tour. There would be so much to cover and visually it would be stunning for even non skiers to watch.
Any documentary producers out there should consider it... I feel they're missing a trick.
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You know it makes sense.
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Plugboy, I was interested to see from the below comments the set up the USA have in Chile... 12 coaches!!! 
Hope you're lad and Dougie are able to take advantage....  
Quote....Taken from Ski Racing...
The resort at Portillo, Chile is happy to have the US Ski Team's entire men's World Cup group ripping up their mountain.
“They pretty much gave us the keys,” said head men's coach Sasha Rearick between the third on-snow session of the day and the start of the afternoon's dryland workouts. “Portillo actually closed to the general public last Saturday, but they are staying open just for us as a training area. We're being spoiled. We train where ever we want, when ever we want with what ever lift we want.”
This is no small endeavor. With 15 athletes, a dozen or so coaches and trainers, a couple of doctors and a physical therapist or two the squad represents incentive to stay open. While Portillo had planned to shut down Sept. 22 the snow depth was unusually slight, yet conditions for the camp have been remarkably good.
“There definitely wasn't a lot of snow when we arrived,” says Rearick, “but fortunately for us we actually had really cold weather the first week we were here. It did snow just a little bit, a few centimeters, and what snow we had stayed, so we got a little lucky on that side.”
“What (snow) we have had has been hard,” said Ted Ligety, a top three finisher in the World Cup's giant slalom standings in each of the last five season. “The weather had been good so far as well, so it's been fairly good. Things are going well.”
Portillo is 102 miles from Santiago and there is not a whole lot in between which has helped keep the crew focused on their skiing.
“It's a long way to anywhere,” Ligety reports, “so we pretty much just hang out here with a lot of skiing. It is the first time I've ever seen the lake fully thawed, so I did do a little kayaking.”
Kayaking or lounging in the pool is not what any of this crew is in town for though and frankly they've been pretty busy.
There are slalom and full length GS courses set up and a speed track that's currently running about 50 or 45 seconds long and allowing some good speed work.
A couple members of the downhill team (Marco Sullivan and Steven Nyman) have been in South America since a earlier camp at LaParva, though the entire group has been at Portillo since Sept. 14. “The speed guys have done a bunch of glide turn work, aerodynamics, ski testing and are focused on the pure foundation of downhill,” said Rearick. “We've been working on the transition between positions of the ski. Last year we worked on making the tough turns on injection (water injected snow).”
There has also been the matter of getting to know one another as the coaching staff, particularly on the speed side, has changed considerably with Austrian guru Andi Evers and former US racer TJ Lanning heading the squad.
“The coaching staff is working together well,” said Rearick. “They've done a fantastic job of keeping it going in a positive direction. Andi and TJ have developed a real nice working relationship and the athletes are really excited about it.”
The newest hire joined the group in mid-camp as Scott Veenis has been brought on to lend his help. Rearick referred to him as “The ever positive Scottie Veenis.”
In Portillo the speed guys have mostly been running GS and super G but the schedule is changing. As Rearick says, “and now a couple of weeks on downhill up on the plateau.”
The tech team, too, has been focused on glide turns and super G work, but there has been some easier slalom sets ups for a few of the guys just coming out of rehab from injury. “Michael Ankeny, Will Gregorak and David Chodounsky are running easy slaloms with Mike Day.
"The GS guys, primarily Ted and (Tim) Jitloff, (Thomas) Biesemeyer and Robby Kelley have been going at it and everybody is jumping in for some speed work,” Rearick said. “We have some more to do, but we're making forward steps in a good direction.”
Also on hand has been Bode Miller working closely with his new tech rep, Chris Krause, formerly the tuner for four-time Cup downhill champ Didier Cuche.
“Bode's been looking for a balance in his tuck,” Rearick said. “It's more glide turns than Bode has probably done in 10 years of prep period work.”
The burning question all summer has been how to adapt to the newly mandated ski dimensions, particularly in GS where the changes are most drastic.
“I got a good jump on it and I've had great skis from Head,” says Ligety. “It takes a lot of work and time, but I'm happy with where I am right now. I think softer snow is really where the new skis will make a bigger difference. It is basically impossible to ski cleanly on (them) when it's soft, so hopefully we'll see a concerted effort to prepare the slopes well, inject them, use the proper amount of salt and prepare the courses well... otherwise it could be difficult next year.”
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Plugboy wrote: |
BSS's policy to improve GB Alpine skiing is to concentrate on the Tech teams.
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If this really is their policy, it seems a mistake - although of course I am speaking as a former downhiller myself.
Statistically, our success has mainly come in the speed events.
Of the 19 top-10 World Cup performances by British ski-racers since 1980, 11 were in downhill and 3 were in combined events (containing a speed component).
Only 5 were in technical disciplines.
Hopefully TJ and Dougie (and Ed, if he returns to racing) will soon achieve results in the speed events that will force themselves back into the reckoning. Best of luck to them.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Martin Bell, bumped into Ed this weekend at Hemel and he said he was still in physio for the ankle injury.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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skimottaret, Yes I spoke to Ed at the All England Champs at Norfolk a few weeks ago. He is still doing Physio and hopes to be training with a Swedish team, don't know which one though.
Martin Bell, Totally agree with you Martin. Please have a talk to your old mate Konrad to try to persuade him to change their minds! He is part of the Alpine Committee that made the decision.
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FAQ
