BIOGRAPHY

National Teams: Scottish Ski Team, British Junior Team

First Race: SSC Bairns Race at Cairngorm

Top Results 2009/10:

Junior 1 Slalom Champion, British Land Championships.

Junior 1 Giant Slalom Champion, British Land Championships.

Junior 1 Super-G Champion, British Land Championships.

U-18 and Junior 1 Super Combined Champion, British Land Championships.

3rd Overall Junior, British Land Junior Championships

1st Overall Junior 1, British Land Junior Championships

My main highlight from this season has been being awarded the Kirsteen McGibbon memorial award which has been such an honour, something which I had never expected.

UPDATE DATED 27 AUGUST 2011

Dear LSC,

I started my training for the season in Tignes with the Scottish Team, and this was the first chance that I had been able to use my new Salomon Skis, and after a great 2 weeks of hard training, I am glad to say that many improvements were made, especially to my GS. Due to this, my hopes were high when travelling out to Geilo in Norway about 2 weeks later and with a good start to the GS, I felt as if I had set decent a platform to work on for the rest of the season, however, the Super-G’s in Hemsedal later on in the week did not go to plan and pirouetting out of a Super-G race heading for the trees was probably not the best omen.

After Norway in November, I took a few weeks away from skiing and focussed on school work before the Christmas holidays. However as soon as school finished, I got back on a flight to Oslo, and headed to Lillihammer to  compete in two slalom races in the nearby Hafjell. The next 2 weeks were spent in Oppdal with the Scottish Team with some great training to set us up for 6 races at the beginning of January, some of which were run by the Snowsports Scotland, and provided great points for the rest of the season. The highlight of the races would be the first of the Norwegian Slaloms where I scored my best slalom result of the season, against tough competition, breaking in amongst the top 15 which was a great improvement on the previous year.

On returning from Norway, I spent a while at home, travelling up to cairngorm to train with the Scottish Team on weekends and during half term where we managed to get a number of days training slalom and even GS. Furthermore, again this year, there were another two FIS races held in Scotland at Cairngorm Mountain, which proved to be successful, and a surreal experience.

Also, for the first time this year, I attended the British Schoolgirls races in Flaine with my sister and Hope Whitelaw as the Strathallan Ski Team. We were all very excited to be representing the school at such a large event, especially for the first time. I am glad to report that we all had a great time, and came away with a number of trophies. On behalf of us all, I would like to thank the LSC for the fantastic organisation of the event.

At the beginning of March I took a few weeks off of school, and drove out to Les Houches with the team, and we spent 2 weeks training and racing, to prepare for the British in Meribel. Training went well, and with great effort from the coaches and even with temperamental snow conditions, we made the most of what we had.

The next stop for the season was Meribel for the British Championships, I wasn’t expecting much this year, so I was absolutely delighted with a third place in the Junior Downhill, and a second in the Junior Slalom. The Scottish Championships in Courcheval also went well, and I became Scottish Junior and Ladies Champion, as well as scoring my best ever GS results.

All in all, I had a good season, with final results that brought me closer to my goals. Even though I didn’t spend as much time abroad as I would have liked, luckily with the Scottish Team we made the most of what we had up at Cairngorm and Nevis Range and kept the skiing going throughout the season. Therefore, thanks must go out to everyone on the Scottish Team , and all those that have supported me this season, especially LSC and Salomon. I am already looking forward to next season, and I will be in Tignes in October with the Scottish Team , and until then, besides being in my final year at school, I am working hard on my fitness to make the most of the season up ahead as part of both the Scottish and British Team with whom I am hoping to spend my training and racing time.    

2010 UPDATE

I have been very lucky throughout my short career so far to have been given a number of great opportunities to represent my country. I have been to the World Schools Championships three times, representing Scotland, and in 2008, we had the great experience of standing in second place on the podium. Whilst with the children’s ski team I represented Great Britain at Topolino and in Andorra at Trofeu Borrufa where I won the slalom and was awarded my weight in lollies, which I am sure is part of every child’s dream. I was also over the moon to be selected to represent Great Britain in Poland for the European Youth Olympics in 2009.

My goals for next season are to keep on improving my FIS points and my technique, whilst also staying on at school to gain my A-levels. Currently and throughout the summer, I am working on my fitness, whilst also enjoying getting back to playing hockey and netball, taking part in a Sports Leadership course along with working at Gordonstoun Summer School.