The Ladies' Ski Club

SSBX Cancelled

Due to unseasonably warm temperatures and a subsequent lack of snow, the Premier Oil Scottish Skier and Boarder Cross Championships has been cancelled for 2012.

Aberdeen Snowsports Club would like to thank all sponsors, competitors and supporters of the event for their assistance and hope to welcome everyone back on board for next year’s event. The proposed date for the 2013 Championships is 2nd & 3rd March; details will be posted on the Club website as they become available www.aberdeensnowsportsclub.org/Competitions

DHO Manager Vacancy

The DHO are currently looking for a new manager for Wengen, Switzerland to take effect as of December 2012. The salary is negotiable and there is a one bedroom apartment included to the successful applicant free of charge. Please contact Sarah at www.downhillonly.com for further information.

Nik Zoricic - RIP

It has been a tough season for me with results not going my way after a strong pre-season, but it doesn’t get any tougher than seeing one of your ski cross family tragically killed in an accident in the first of two scheduled Ski Cross World Cups in Grindelwald, Switzerland. I was in the race finish area on Saturday 10th March and saw Nik’s crash... It was awful and so distressing. The staff at the race and the hospital did everything they could to save Nik, but tragically his injury’s took his life. I left Grindelwald shortly after hearing the news of Nik’s passing as it was too distressing for me to stay. The race was abandoned and the final race on the Sunday was cancelled. In it’s place on the Sunday, a number of the ski cross family and Nik’s team mates skied down the course in jeans (Nik’s first ski cross race was in jeans!) and laid flowers where he crashed. I saw it on TV... It was beautiful, heart breaking and a fitting mark of respect for Nik.

On reflection, Nik’s accident may have been preventable, but as ski cross racers we inspect the courses at every race and have training runs. I enjoy the excitement of Ski Cross racing and appreciate the risks. When Nik came over the last jump of the course he didn’t appear to have done anything wrong other than go wide to try and overtake and unfortunately there wasn’t a landing spot... none of us thought there was any danger on the last jump when we did the course inspection. All I hope is that we learn from this tragic accident and improve the safety at ski cross races. I’m sure Nik would want us to continue racing and push the boundaries of our exciting sport!

For now my thoughts and prayers are with Nik’s family and the Canadian Ski Team. Nik, you will be sorely missed... RIP.

Also, lets not forget Australian, Brooke Dunleavy who crashed heavily in a Europa Cup race in Sweden this weekend just gone and is in intensive care... my thoughts are also with Brooke and her family.

Stay safe and continue to enjoy your skiing!

Em

Well done Ladies' at the AICC

Joanna Milner Percy did the club proud once again by captaining an excellent LSC team at the 5th AICC event which was held in Gstaad on the weekend 8th – 11th March. The LSC team finished in 4th place. Team members were Janine Erdal nee Conner, Marguerite Nice, Elaine Davis nee Kent, and Caroline Brown nee Gough Cooper.

Other club members skiing under the Kandahar banner were Paula Boyagais (2nd), Edwina Palmer, Anna Griffin, Anna Silvia Dooley and Joanna.

The 6th AICC will take place in Zermatt.

National Skiathon 2011 – 11th, 12th and 20th June 2011

Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to take part in Disability Snowsport UK’s National Skiathon 2012 – The Olympic & Paralympic Challenge, a unique event now in its fourth year. All your team has to do is ski or board your local ski slope together with skiing celebrities, the British Disabled Ski team and some of the UK’s top freestylers and help raise money for skiers with disabilities.

The event was really successful in 2011 with participants making a huge fundraising effort and bringing in a fantastic amount of just over £27,000. This makes a massive difference to people living with disability who want to experience the thrill & excitement of the slopes just like everyone else. We’ve set our sights even higher this year with a fundraising target of £35,000 and we need your help to do this.

Teams of 6 are invited to take on the challenge of skiing 2012 runs in 6 hours taking place at 6 indoor Ski Slopes across the country. So get involved at your nearest slope! The twist this year ……..…the more money you raise before end of May 2012 reduces the number of runs you have to complete. See table below for details:

Participating slopes include:

• SnowDome, Tamworth – 11th June
• SNO!zone Braehead – 11th June
• SNO!zone Castleford – 11th june
• SNO!zone Milton Keynes – 11th june
• The Snow Centre, Hemel Hempstead – 12th June
• Chill Factore Manchester – 20th June

Entry fee- £66 per team
Minimum Sponsorship required - £666 per team

What will you receive in Return? You will receive entry to the slope, support from us in undertaking the challenge & fundraising, as well as an event t-shirt and goody bag. There will be fun and frolics on the slope and prizes for the team who raise the most sponsorship money. There will be opportunities for teams to win runs using their mental agility and general knowledge as well as physically so you don’t have to be a world class skier!

We had some great celebrities taking part last year including Steve Redgrave OBE, Graham Bell, Craig Phillips (TV presenter and Big Brother star) and Eddie the Eagle Edwards. The British Disabled Ski Team and The Combined Services Disabled Ski Team also entered.

Limited spaces are available so entries are on a first come first served basis so don’t delay, get your place today! For further details please contact us on 01479 851 272 or email fundraising@disabilitysnowsport.org.uk

If for some reason you can’t take part in the Skiathon 2012 please help us by spreading the word to your friends, family and work colleagues!

War and Piste

Going skiing? Then take War and Piste!

It tells the tale of Poppy Connors who, between jobs, decides for embark to the Austrian Alps for the ski season and work as a ski rep.

It chronologically highlights the season's hilarious ups and downs of Poppy and her alpine friends and their adventures on and off the piste. Anyone who has spent winters in the mountains will have witnessed the fall and rise (quite literally!) of a many chalet girl (and boy!) and there are several sections we can all relate to, even if you have never done a season.

A much recommended and fun read.

War and Piste is published by Traudl Publishing and is available on www.amazon.com

1st Winter Youth Olympic Games

Rachelle Rogers

In January 2012, I had the honour of representing Team GB in the first Winter Youth Olympic Games (WYOG), which were held in Innsbruck, Austria. No one really knew what to expect, as these were the inaugural WYOG, and I had no idea what it was going to be like either. The organising committee and the IOC worked really hard to host a spectacular event, which involved the people of Innsbruck as much as it involved the athletes competing.

It was a keystone in the writing of Olympic history, as it was not just the first WYOG, it also showed the introduction of new events. These included ; women's ski jumping, ski halfpipe and snowboard slopestyle. The Games also featured innovative new formats such as the mixed country doubles competition in curling; the mixed sport event cross-country/biathlon; mixed gender luge and ice hockey skills challenge.

I literally had the time of my life in the fourteen days I was there. Starting off with the official Team GB meeting at the Sofitel in Gatwick, where we had kit fitting, and ending with the Closing Ceremony on the 22nd January. I met so many new people, who I will hopefully stay in contact with and maybe even see them at future Olympic events – fingers crossed!

Although I was training or racing in Patcherkofel almost every day, I did manage to involve myself in the Cultural and Educational Program (CEP). The CEP is one of the main distinctions between the Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games. The idea is to educate young people about sporting issues, different cultures and learn new life skills. I went to several displays, including those of the World Anti-Doping Agency, the International Olympic Academy and the IOC's Safe Sport stand. To encourage athletes to take part in the CEP, there was the Athlete's Challenge, which provided an opportunity to win Innsbruck sunglasses, waterbottle and headphones. To win these items, you had to collect points by participating in various CEP workshops and going to the stands to learn about organisations related to sport.

The WYOG also gave athletes a chance to meet the Athlete Role Models, a group of successful athletes from all over the world, as well as the Youth Olympic Ambassadors, these are athletes currently at the top of their sports. I was really fortunate to attend a Q&A session with Lindsey Vonn. I learnt a lot from this session and really enjoyed it, I couldn't stop smiling thoughout it because I just couldn't believe Lindsey Vonn was sitting, talking right in front of me! So cool!

One similarity between the Youth and Olympic Games is the concept of an Olympic Village. All the athletes and some NOC staff stayed in the village. I thought this was a really great touch to the Games because you got a real feel of Olympic spirit and experienced what it was like 'behind the scenes' at an Olympic event. Being in the village, catching the buses with athletes from all over the world also provided the perfect opportunity for pin badge exchanging and YOGGING. The idea behind pin badge trading is to try and collect badges from other countries in exchange for one of your own. And YOGGING, is something very unique to Innsbruck – let me explain! All the athletes were given USB keys called YOGGERs, by inserting it into your computer and creating an online profile, you could then use the USB to 'touch and glow' with another YOGGER, by doing this, your facebook/Skype/Twitter account information is exchanged with that of the other athlete.

I really enjoyed the Opening and Closing ceremonies as well. Walking into the stadium at the Opening Ceremony and just seeing the massive crowd cheering, with flashes from cameras and music playing, it is an image I won't forget for a long time./p>

On the snow ; my first event was Super G, being my weakest discipline, I wasn't expecting much, I just wanted to get down in one piece! The race was running smoothly and I had bib 25. But then there was a stop start because one poor girl had had a big crash. I tried not to let this get to me, although it did sit in the back of my mind and brought on some nerves. So out the start I went, and although I got my line wrong sometimes and didn't attack enough, I got down in 18th position. My final result, once everyone had gone down, was 24th, so top 25 isn't bad at all for my worst discipline. Oh and I forgot to mention, the day before, I was clumsy enough to leave my ski boots on one of the buses back to the village and so Mike Hay, the deputy chef de mission, very kindly drove to Zell to pick up my spare boots.

The following day was the Super Combined, and yes, I got my boots back. So with bib 26 and the sun shining, I was feeling much more positive than the previous day. I attacked the Super G course much more than the previous day, but sadly came to a double gate with too much speed and the wrong line, resulting in a DNF.

Next up for me was the GS, and having skied quite well in the build up to it, I was feeling quite confident, maybe overly confident, at the top of the first run I set off down the course with an extremely positive attitude. I made a lot of mistakes and I wasn't always on the fastest line, which creates a great time loss by the time you come into the flatter sections and I ended up 34th on the run. I was pretty disappointed with that because it meant I just missed out on the top 30 flip who go first in the second run. That meant I had to push quite hard in my second run and I missed a gate about two thirds of the way down, but these things happen. It's ski racing for you, if you come out, you come out.

Finally, the slalom. Up until the day of the slalom, the weather had been fantastic, but low and behold, for the slalom it rained and snowed with wind blowing the precipitation left, right and centre! Having taken Lindsey's approach to race day, I was in the start gate entirely focused, the most focused I have been in a very long time. Having got through the most tricky parts of the course, which saw so many of my fellow competitors come out, sadly in the last 10 gates or so, IDNFed. The feeling of defeat that came upon me brought tears to my eyes, the sudden change in emotion was overwhelming, and then finding out that my split time was about 1 to 2 seconds off the lead just made me feel even more annoyed.

Nonetheless, although I didn't achieve the results I had hoped for, overall, the Youth Olympics has been a really great experience and I won't forget it for as long as I live. I know now that I must learn to perform under pressure. I've also learnt so much from the culture and education programme and from just talking to other people from other countries. I've learnt what it's like being at an Olympic event and being an athlete, because on TV you only see the performances and the ceremonies, now I know what it's like behind the scenes. My future ambition is to one day compete in the senior Olympic Games.
Photo courtesy Racer Ready

LSC and Inferno

Jane Fawkes the Bulletin Editor has just returned from Switzerland where she represented the LSC in the Inferno races, here is here brief report:

Just back from Inferno week : wonderful & exhausting as ever. At the last minute the start had to be moved to Almendhubel, because it was too windy to run the Schilthorn cablecar, but the race did go to Lauterbrunnen, so the distance was reduced to 10kms instead of 15 kms. Winning time of 10'40 which averaged almost 60 kph - Racer number 1602 won the race so had to negotiate plenty of ruts & mud at the bottom! Happened to see him at the Winteregg climb but he just glided to the top - without so much as a push or skate he was over the top and round the corner, while everyone else was trudging laboriously up.

AICC 2012 News

For a third year Joanna-Milner Percy has agreed to be the LSC Team Manager and has secured a team entry place for the club to compete in the AICC (Amateur Inter Club Championships) races which this year are being hosted by The Eagles Ski Club and will take place in Gstaad on the weekend of 8/11th March

Three racers for the Ladies Ski Club team have been announced, these being Marguerite Nice. Elaine Kent and Caroline Brown will be joined by an as yet to be confirmed a 4th member.