Snowsport England Grand Prix Series
Round 4 - Chill Factor, Manchester
18th June, 2011
So just seven days after the previous round the Snowsport England Grand Prix Series headed north as Manchester ’s Chill Factor played host to the fourth and penultimate round of 2011.
As ever, the race piste in Britain ’s best indoor racing facility was prepared in tip top condition and would provide every racer with the opportunity to excel.
However it was a name from summer’s past that forced herself to the fore as Sega Fairweather returned to SSE’s Grand Prix racing with an awesome display of attacking ski racing. Indeed in generating angles and speed that none of her rivals could come close to matching the former Arrows & Team GB starlet opened up a near half second gap after run 1 and the proceeded to more than double her advantage on run 2.
Such was her dominance of proceedings that the rest of the ladies field were truly only ever racing for 2nd place.
Behind Fairweather the race was significantly tighter however with no less than four racers split by 0.2 seconds at the half way stage. Home slope racer Beth Widdup eventually prevailed in the overall runners up spot, the impressive young Chill Factor racer’s second run proving too good for Caroline Powell, Charlotte Gould and Megan Jenkins respectively.
In the male event proceedings were far more open than in the ladies race with the top six overall racers all finishing within one second of James Greenwood’s winning time. Granted Greenwood ’s opening run did sufficient damage to the rest of the field to create a smidgen of breathing space, but even with the quarter second gap generated Greenwood was still only one run 2 error away from missing out. Indeed whilst Greenwood ’s impeccable second run proved conclusive, with the top eight racers on run 2 separated by less than 0.3 seconds, the Aldershot racer’s run had to be to be faultless.
In the categories Kerry Turnock and Claude Farron claimed victories in the masters categories whilst Fairweather and Greenwood claimed the honours in the senior category. Caroline Powell’s 3rd overall and Eliya Beelaert-Rubin (2nd overall) claimed junior 2 honours with Beth Widdup and Max Baggio following suit in Junior 1. Megan Jenkins and Robert Poth triumphed in the older of the children’s categories with Olivia Ward and Finlay Davies winning the younger children’s event.
The final event of sees the series moving back south into Hemel’s indoor facility. Indeed with plenty still to fight for both in the overall and age categories the series sponsored by Aosta Valley, Ski Solutions, Ski Bartlett and Atomic looks set for a fantastic summer 2011 finale.
Tuesday 28 June 2011
Another Thriller in The Chiller
Snowsport England Grand Prix Series
Round 3 - Milton Keynes
12th June 2011
The Sun shone brightly, temperatures were high. Summer 2011 was most certainly upon us. However, whilst most were looking to catch a ray or three the doors at Milton Keynes Xscape were flung open and dendix made way for man-made snow as the 3rd round of Snowsport England’s Grand Prix series moved indoors.
From a spectating perspective Milton Keynes clearly isn’t the best. Being the first built of our indoor race venues, where others learned MK have had to live with and the low roof combined with a moderately lit viewing area provides an eighties nightclub feel especially when it’s jam packed with racers, parents and officials. For that reason alone the on-piste action needed to divert the attention and reassuringly round 3 of the series sponsored by Aosta Vally, Ski Solutions, Ski Bartlett and Atomic delivered quite magnificently.
The male field dominated by big strong senior racers had a land of the giants feel to proceedings as David Hatcher, Ben Clark, Elliot Simpson, James Knock, Andrew DuPlessis and James Greenwood were joined by Junior 2 racers Andrew Davies and Matt Thompson and Junior 1 six-footer Barney Lewis. A combination of strength, power and good technique were most certainly the order of the day.
In the end however it was Aldershot’s James Greenwood who prevailed. A stunning first run created a minimum 0.3 second cushion to the rest of the field and whilst runner-up Matt Thompson managed to match Greenwood’s second run time the damage had already been done.
The ladies was an equally hard fought affair as Caroline Powell’s superb 2nd run overturned Charlotte Gould’s first run lead whilst Francesca Lee’s sublime 2nd run proved enough to leapfrog Florence Bell and Megan Jenkins into overall 3rd place. What the ladies lacked in power, strength and brute force they more than made up for with precision and technique.
In the categories Kerry Turnock and Claude Farron claimed victories in the master’s categories with Jemima Barnes joining James Greenwood as senior category victors. Caroline Powell and Matt Thompson were too good for the others in Junior 2 as were Barney Lewis and Florence Bell in Junior 1. In Chi 2 Francesca Lee and Robert Poth emerged as victors whilst Megan Riley and Kristofer Bergindarson claimed the honours in the younger children’s category.
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The series stays indoors from here on in and with Manchester’s Chill Factor being the next scheduled event the racers will enjoy another hard fought scramble for Grand Prix honours. Miss it at your peril.
Round 3 - Milton Keynes
12th June 2011
The Sun shone brightly, temperatures were high. Summer 2011 was most certainly upon us. However, whilst most were looking to catch a ray or three the doors at Milton Keynes Xscape were flung open and dendix made way for man-made snow as the 3rd round of Snowsport England’s Grand Prix series moved indoors.
From a spectating perspective Milton Keynes clearly isn’t the best. Being the first built of our indoor race venues, where others learned MK have had to live with and the low roof combined with a moderately lit viewing area provides an eighties nightclub feel especially when it’s jam packed with racers, parents and officials. For that reason alone the on-piste action needed to divert the attention and reassuringly round 3 of the series sponsored by Aosta Vally, Ski Solutions, Ski Bartlett and Atomic delivered quite magnificently.
The male field dominated by big strong senior racers had a land of the giants feel to proceedings as David Hatcher, Ben Clark, Elliot Simpson, James Knock, Andrew DuPlessis and James Greenwood were joined by Junior 2 racers Andrew Davies and Matt Thompson and Junior 1 six-footer Barney Lewis. A combination of strength, power and good technique were most certainly the order of the day.
In the end however it was Aldershot’s James Greenwood who prevailed. A stunning first run created a minimum 0.3 second cushion to the rest of the field and whilst runner-up Matt Thompson managed to match Greenwood’s second run time the damage had already been done.
The ladies was an equally hard fought affair as Caroline Powell’s superb 2nd run overturned Charlotte Gould’s first run lead whilst Francesca Lee’s sublime 2nd run proved enough to leapfrog Florence Bell and Megan Jenkins into overall 3rd place. What the ladies lacked in power, strength and brute force they more than made up for with precision and technique.
In the categories Kerry Turnock and Claude Farron claimed victories in the master’s categories with Jemima Barnes joining James Greenwood as senior category victors. Caroline Powell and Matt Thompson were too good for the others in Junior 2 as were Barney Lewis and Florence Bell in Junior 1. In Chi 2 Francesca Lee and Robert Poth emerged as victors whilst Megan Riley and Kristofer Bergindarson claimed the honours in the younger children’s category.
javascript:void(0)
The series stays indoors from here on in and with Manchester’s Chill Factor being the next scheduled event the racers will enjoy another hard fought scramble for Grand Prix honours. Miss it at your peril.
Tuesday 21 June 2011
Smiles all round in Sunderland
Snowsport England Grand Prix Series
Round 2 - Sunderland
5th June 2011
Sunderland, or on the basis of numerous Grand Prix skiing weekends, perhaps Nosunderland or Winderland might be considered a more appropriate name for one of Britain’s newest cities. Indeed when the clouds congregate and precipitate or the wind, freshly chilled from buffeting the North Sea, decides to roll across the skyline and into the faces of Silksworth’s racers and officials then it can make the slopes of the series sponsor Aosta Valley feel positively Mediterranean. Only Pendle truly rivals Silksworth on a poor weather day.
But what a slope! A quartet of tiered dendix layers equally spaced with acceleration inducing drops and enough room to pose 17 or 18 extremely challenging red and blue questions. Unquestionably there are better all-round facilities than Sunderland, but when the questions asked completely revolve around the 180 metres or so between the start gate & finish bean then England’s most north easterly slope has no rival. This is the Carnoustie of dry slope ski racing.
In the ladies event a new name appeared at the top of the halfway leader board as Alex Bullock delivered what she had been suggesting she was capable of for a while and negotiated a tough first course with near surgical precision. Only Alice Hales mounted any sort of challenge to Bullock’s first time, the two ladies separated by less than 0.1 seconds but having comfortable advantage of more than half a second over the rest of the field.
As the two ladies awaited their 2nd run however a new contender entered the fray as Bullock’s Telford training mate converted an absolutely blistering run to both launch herself into overall contention and add a little extra pressure on the leaders. Indeed with Hales 2nd run leaving her a tenth of a second short of Gould’s combined effort only Bullock could deny a remarkable comeback win. And deny it she did with a cool and reassuringly unspectacular 2nd run that oozed maturity in doing enough to score a maiden overall victory without exposing herself to unnecessary risk.
In the men’s event David Hatcher stamped an immediate authority on the event, impressively dissecting Craig Ruddock’s feet moving challenge in his own inimitable style. Breathlessly and somewhat open eyed the rest of the field watched as Hatcher pushed the boundaries of what was achievable and posed questions that many of the big names were unable to answer.
Indeed as a number of the top ten ranked racers perished chasing impossibly direct lines you did have to wonder if any of them were learning anything from the mistakes of those in front of them. If they did then it clearly didn’t translate down to their boots.
Elsewhere Bromley’s Dan Curtis and Cardiff’s Andrew Davies justified their decisions to cover the length of the country in the early hours of Sunday morning for a smidgen over 27 seconds of racing with impressive challenges to Hatcher. And whilst there was little to split to three racers on run 2, Hatcher’s morning advantage proved decisive, whilst Curtis claimed 2nd and Davies 3rd.
Indeed whilst a number of the established racers had a day to forget one or two of the names from a little further down the field took the opportunity to make hay whilst the wind blew. Not least Telford racer Chris Yates who caught the eye with a blistering run 1 and then closed out an impressive display with a solid 2nd run through Lee Bennett's 18 gate maze to claim his first ever top 5 overall GP finish.
In the categories Vivien Hanson and Rob Hales proved victorious in the masters’ category with Emily Goddard joining David Hatcher in winning the senior category. Charlotte Gould and Andrew Davies collected Junior 2 winner’s prizes.
In Junior 1 Chris Yates joined Alex Bullock as category winners whilst Jordan Fellows and Emma Peters claimed the honours in chi 2, all four racers notably representing the Telford stable. Whilst in the youngest category Declan Huppach and Mille Jackson proved too good for the rest of the children 1 competitors.
The day however belonged to Alex Bullock. She’d been knocking on the door labelled big race win for a while and whilst the obvious frustration of waiting to covert promising challenge into overall victory was yet to show she stayed patient and believed in her ability. With the door ajar and opportunity teasingly inviting the Telford racer in she not only accepted the invitation but smashed the door off its hinges. More race wins will certainly follow but Silksworth’s fantastic rolling matting will always be where Bullock established herself beyond the role of contender.
The series now moves indoors for what will be a trio of hard fought events in the controlled refrigerated atmospheres of Milton Keynes, Manchester and Hemel but they will have to be very good to be as memorable as this one.
Yet again the Snowsport England series sponsored by Ski Solutions, Aosta Valley, Atomic & Ski Bartlett had delivered a wonderfully competitive event and Silksworth’s rolling track has, as it always does, provided us with two very worthy race winners. Who cares about the weather?
Round 2 - Sunderland
5th June 2011
Sunderland, or on the basis of numerous Grand Prix skiing weekends, perhaps Nosunderland or Winderland might be considered a more appropriate name for one of Britain’s newest cities. Indeed when the clouds congregate and precipitate or the wind, freshly chilled from buffeting the North Sea, decides to roll across the skyline and into the faces of Silksworth’s racers and officials then it can make the slopes of the series sponsor Aosta Valley feel positively Mediterranean. Only Pendle truly rivals Silksworth on a poor weather day.
But what a slope! A quartet of tiered dendix layers equally spaced with acceleration inducing drops and enough room to pose 17 or 18 extremely challenging red and blue questions. Unquestionably there are better all-round facilities than Sunderland, but when the questions asked completely revolve around the 180 metres or so between the start gate & finish bean then England’s most north easterly slope has no rival. This is the Carnoustie of dry slope ski racing.
In the ladies event a new name appeared at the top of the halfway leader board as Alex Bullock delivered what she had been suggesting she was capable of for a while and negotiated a tough first course with near surgical precision. Only Alice Hales mounted any sort of challenge to Bullock’s first time, the two ladies separated by less than 0.1 seconds but having comfortable advantage of more than half a second over the rest of the field.
As the two ladies awaited their 2nd run however a new contender entered the fray as Bullock’s Telford training mate converted an absolutely blistering run to both launch herself into overall contention and add a little extra pressure on the leaders. Indeed with Hales 2nd run leaving her a tenth of a second short of Gould’s combined effort only Bullock could deny a remarkable comeback win. And deny it she did with a cool and reassuringly unspectacular 2nd run that oozed maturity in doing enough to score a maiden overall victory without exposing herself to unnecessary risk.
In the men’s event David Hatcher stamped an immediate authority on the event, impressively dissecting Craig Ruddock’s feet moving challenge in his own inimitable style. Breathlessly and somewhat open eyed the rest of the field watched as Hatcher pushed the boundaries of what was achievable and posed questions that many of the big names were unable to answer.
Indeed as a number of the top ten ranked racers perished chasing impossibly direct lines you did have to wonder if any of them were learning anything from the mistakes of those in front of them. If they did then it clearly didn’t translate down to their boots.
Elsewhere Bromley’s Dan Curtis and Cardiff’s Andrew Davies justified their decisions to cover the length of the country in the early hours of Sunday morning for a smidgen over 27 seconds of racing with impressive challenges to Hatcher. And whilst there was little to split to three racers on run 2, Hatcher’s morning advantage proved decisive, whilst Curtis claimed 2nd and Davies 3rd.
Indeed whilst a number of the established racers had a day to forget one or two of the names from a little further down the field took the opportunity to make hay whilst the wind blew. Not least Telford racer Chris Yates who caught the eye with a blistering run 1 and then closed out an impressive display with a solid 2nd run through Lee Bennett's 18 gate maze to claim his first ever top 5 overall GP finish.
In the categories Vivien Hanson and Rob Hales proved victorious in the masters’ category with Emily Goddard joining David Hatcher in winning the senior category. Charlotte Gould and Andrew Davies collected Junior 2 winner’s prizes.
In Junior 1 Chris Yates joined Alex Bullock as category winners whilst Jordan Fellows and Emma Peters claimed the honours in chi 2, all four racers notably representing the Telford stable. Whilst in the youngest category Declan Huppach and Mille Jackson proved too good for the rest of the children 1 competitors.
The day however belonged to Alex Bullock. She’d been knocking on the door labelled big race win for a while and whilst the obvious frustration of waiting to covert promising challenge into overall victory was yet to show she stayed patient and believed in her ability. With the door ajar and opportunity teasingly inviting the Telford racer in she not only accepted the invitation but smashed the door off its hinges. More race wins will certainly follow but Silksworth’s fantastic rolling matting will always be where Bullock established herself beyond the role of contender.
The series now moves indoors for what will be a trio of hard fought events in the controlled refrigerated atmospheres of Milton Keynes, Manchester and Hemel but they will have to be very good to be as memorable as this one.
Yet again the Snowsport England series sponsored by Ski Solutions, Aosta Valley, Atomic & Ski Bartlett had delivered a wonderfully competitive event and Silksworth’s rolling track has, as it always does, provided us with two very worthy race winners. Who cares about the weather?
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