Val d'Isere Snow Report: 8th January 2014

The snow didn’t stop last week! Despite Meribel informing us that the freezing level would be at the top of Saulire and we should expect rain below that height, snow started falling on the Stade in Meribel where we training! The snow was soft on top with a few hard patches underneath that made training tough as there were a lot of holes in the course. After one day of giant slalom training and a day of slalom I felt more ready for the upcoming races.

On Saturday I had a Giant Slalom race in Val d’Isere. Competition was tough as the French Europacup team were there. I felt ready for the first run and made a good start until the fifth gate where I sat back and took a bit of a long route around the gate. After such a big mistake so early in the course I didn’t fully attack the rest of the course. When I got to the finish I saw my time wasn’t even that bad! Second run was much more my kind of course as it was a lot straighter. The weather closed in and it started really snowing! However, I set off well and was having a good run until I reached the very end and got extremely late on the last gates and had to stop and push around the gate to finish… my time was not fast! I was happy with the way I had skied it was just a shame I made such silly mistakes.

The next day I headed over to Chamonix for 2 slalom races. It was great to catch up with my old team mates and coaches from the Scottish team. I was also lucky enough to get extra support at the race from Ellie Mahoney who dropped by to watch me and let me stay at hers for the night! On the first day I skied well but made the same mistake both runs just before the flat that really slowed me down for the rest of the course. I was in 20th after first run which gave me a good start for my second run. I really attacked the course and finished in 13th place. I also finished first Brit! The second day I also finished up 13th despite not having skied as well as the previous day.

I am now back in Meribel; I will be training here for a few days before two super G races in Tignes on Friday followed by a giant slalom and slalom in Les Menuires this weekend. Next week I have 6 races so I’m hoping to ski fast and score some good results!