What does the 0 in 05.00hrs stand for?

There’s nothing like a decent Sunday morning lie in. However, for those who crawled out of bed at a time that should be illegal on a Sunday morning, this was nothing like a decent lie in. Indeed by 5.15am the car was loaded, breakfast had been attempted and a catsuit had been filled by a half asleep racer whom probably didn’t realise that 5 o’clock happened twice in one day. Yes, indeed my son, the 0 in 05.00 hrs stands for "O my God it's early."

At 6.30 we were circumnavigating the Starship Chill Factore, a futuristic building illuminated with blue and white lights that wouldn’t have looked out of place in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Indeed I felt a bit like Fallon Colby as I made my way towards the entrance doors.

However, even from the outside I had serious reservations about the apparent 100 metre slope with. Perhaps it was more Tardis than mothership.

Inside, it was clear that the 100m claim was a bit of a red herring. Sure, the bottom 50 metres or so probably were that wide but given the main and nursery pistes are separated by a humungous toboggan/luge feature the possibility of covering the entire width (should you ever be daft enough to try) is roughly about nil.

The main piste itself spans around 40 metres in width and is a similar length to Britain’s three Xscape slopes, as is the gradient. This is where the similarity ends however. With each development the snowmaking at Xscape improves and this trend has continued at Chill Factore. Even though the snow was nowhere near the management’s desired depth and it is yet to be fully packed down the skiers only had good words to say about the quality of surface. A white carpet of distinction.

For spectators the early start bought a few teething issues. With coffee facilities not opening until 8am and main piste viewing courtesy of a mall window (no seats) due to the main bar being closed there was a distinct need of the calming benefits of caffeine early on. These however are only teething issues. Give the site a month or so and I’d anticipate that they’ll have these issues sorted out.

The can be no question that Chill Factore is a magnificent facility that can only help to improve the quality of British ski racing. The more facilities that we get like this in the UK the better. And, whilst there’s a fair chance that Chill Factore won’t turn our National team into competition that frightens the life out of the Austrians just yet, if it takes us one step closer to consigning those video clips of Konrad Bartelski in Val Gardena to history then that alone will be progress.



The Starship Chill Factore


Fresh Tracks anyone?


100 Metres? Well it is here


Telford Training Time


Lift passes at the ready

You Don't Want To Leave Your Car There Mate

Saturday 10th November
Midland Ski Club Race
Ackers, Birmingham

There I was, a-digging this hole
A hole in the ground, so big and sort of round it was
There was I, digging it deep
It was flat at the bottom and the sides were steep
When along, comes this bloke in a bowler which he lifted and scratched his head
Well we looked down the hole, poor demented soul and he said
“Well it looks like we’ll have to cancel the race tomorrow”

OK, so good old Bernie Cribbins didn’t quite craft the last line but at two o’clock on Friday afternoon the Ackers complex was ringed by police security tape and more off limits than a newspaper interview with Elton John’s toupee maker. As we all know, ski racing is a mighty serious sport but when compared to mystery 30 feet holes exposing main gas lines those newly serviced razor sharp carvers do tend to have to take a back seat.

Then, just as the last phone call informing entrants that the race had been cancelled had been completed, the police pulled out, the cordon removed, Ackers re-opened and the race was back on. All the organisers had to do was re-contact the 70 or so people they’d just spoken to.

For those who’ve never been Ackers is based in the Small Heath area of Brum. And if you thought that Birmingham itself was a rather grey, unwelcoming place, then you’d be right but Small Heath takes grey and unwelcoming to an altogether different level. Black & White TV was made for this neck of the woods, indeed being blunt about it Small Heath, in nightclub parlance, is a Grade A “five to twoer”. So as you drive down the lengthy speed bump riddled track it is a pleasant surprise to find a fully functional outdoor pursuit and activity centre at the end of it. A genuine light at the end of the tunnel, a beacon that all Midlands local authorities should look at, envy and aspire to.

On the slope Telford again produced a fine turn out with all but Charlotte Gould competing in the mini or children’s categories. In the SuperMini categories William Lucas stamped his authority in the competition from the word go with a fine effort of 13.17, a time none of his competitors could get anywhere near to although Harry Dovey gave it his best shot recovering from a run 1 dnf to claim 4th in category.

In the Mini Girls Claire Ainswoth made it a 2007 WMSA hat-trick by claiming victory here to go with wins at Telford & Stoke. Emma Taylor also claimed a magnificent 3rd place in category overcoming racers considerably older and more experienced into the bargain and Rachael Ratledge claimed a promising 6th place despite a 2nd run dsq.

In the Mini boy category Telford provided complete domination with Jordan Fellows finishing his plastic mini career with a win, followed home by Kirran Singh Khalsa in 2nd, Nathan Breese in 3rd & Daniel Taylor in 4th. Joshua Ainsworth’s highly creditable 12th place should also be taken in the context that he was racing children considerably older and more experienced and this was a fine result for a 1999 child in a hugely competitive category.

With no girls in the Chi 1 category the stage was set for Oliver Dovey to make a mark in the boys category, which he did in fine style recovering from a small 1st run deficit with a fantastic 2nd run to claim another impressive victory.

With Chi 2 girls being a bit of a hot bed of Telford racers hopes were high and Claire Brown ensured that they were not unplaced demolishing both the course and her opposition with a super first run time of 10.24, Charlotte Shrimpton placed in 3rd place with the ever improving George Gould right on her coat tails in 4th. In the Boys Marco Furio continued his fine progression placing 3rd in fiercely fought category.

In the Jn1 girls Charlotte Gould celebrated her progression under 100 BARTS points taking 2nd with another stirling performance and the honour of being the fastest Telford racer of the day.

Performance of the day however has to go to Emma Taylor. As a December 1999 born child her task of making the podium amongst a group of racers significantly older and more experienced appeared to be verging on the impossible but two super 13 odd second runs proved that this is a girl determined not to live in the shadow of her big brother. Well done Emma.

Tis Lovely For You Boyo

Welsh Championships
Pontypool
8th & 9th September

With all roads leading to the English Rivera, or Wales as some of the local prefer to call it, half a dozen of Telford’s finest assembled on Saturday morning in the car park at Pont-y-pwl and hiked their required equipment up an already well beaten track.

Were we in for sunshine, showers, wind or fog? None of us could be sure, certainly the weather took a couple of hours to decide and after offering us a taste of what we'll see in the Alps this winter with a chilly wind it eventually settled for blue skies and a cracking afternoon in the sunshine.

All I had to do now was drag my not so aerodynamic frame up that bloody plastic hill another four times this weekend. My knee ached just from the thought of it. When you get to the top the view is truly breath taking – well it would be if I had any breath left at this point. Usually I find myself devouring air at the summit like a steam train blasting along the Severn Valley Railway, panting like a rottweiler who’d been left out in the mid day sun and sweating like a smuggler who’s been asked to open the back of his Transit. More Noel Edmonds than Edmund Hillary I’m afraid.

On the hill the racing was a fierce as ever. In the minis on Saturday Jordan Fellows followed up his success from the previous weekend by posting the two fastest times of the day in category to make it a National Championship double. Partner in crime, Nathan Breese, again enhanced his burgeoning reputation claiming a number of notable scalps to score another impressive 3rd place overall.

In the girls Charlotte Gould posted an excellent 4th in category and career high of 13th overall, Charlotte Shrimpton claimed 21st overall and 6th in category with Claire (Lara Croft) Brown recovering from a first round meeting with the Dendix with a cracking 2nd run to place 9th in category and sister Ellen claimed an excellent 4th in category with two solid runs. Mixed news for our other two girls however as Abby Clifford’s 2nd run dnf ended any hopes she had of a podium challenge and I’m delighted to report that Georgina Gould straddled, yes straddled! – must be her new racing line - on run 2.

In the boys Jake Williams suffered a truly unlucky dnf after taking a face full of pole mid way down run 1 as a slalom gate on the steep bounced back up, smashed him in the mouth and split his lip (which of course as a Shrew**ury fan was nothing less than deserved). Ashley Breese again led the Telford charge claiming another top 15 overall position and ending up shaved into a category 2nd and Joe Humfress produced another brace of solid runs to post a super 4th in category.

On the Sunday Emma Taylor added her name to this season’s podium roll of honour claiming 2nd place in the mini girls. Jordan finished his plastic mini career disappointed in 2nd place, looking to go out with a bang it never really happened and mistakes on either run left him well short of the winning post. Better news came in the slightly smaller frames of Nathan Breese and Daniel Taylor, the pocket rocket claiming another well deserved 5th place and Dan-the-Man claiming another impressive 8th position in only his 3rd national outing. With much of the field moving into the realms of children 1 next summer watch out for these boys.

Sunday’s girls race saw Abby Clifford leading the Telford charge with 6th overall and 2nd in category. Charlotte Gould added a spectacular 2nd run to a solid 1st time to finish 18th overall (7th in category) building upon Saturday’s fine performance to make up a splendid weekend. Claire Brown posted 21st overall (5th in category), Charlotte Shrimpton claiming 28th overall (10th in category) and two spots in front of Georgina Gould with Ellen Brown producing a brace of consistent times for 5th in category

In the boys, Ashley Breese flew solo with the injury enforced absence of Jake and again impressed claiming 1st place in category and a fine 24th overall.

Testing Courses? Why Aye Man.

All England Championships
Sunderland
1st & 2nd September

With a successful race camp at Rossendale behind them hopes were high of Team Telford success as the All England Championships took place in the most North Eastern part of the country. Silksworth Sports Complex, Sunderland is yet another indictment on the sporting facilities in and around the Midlands area. Yet another quality facility boasting a tennis centre of excellence, a floodlit athletics track, two full sized astro-turf sports pitches, a skate park and angling lake. Community facilities that should leave the councils of Walsall, Sandwell and Wol*****pton hanging their heads in shame as they peruse their pathetically bare cupboards.

Friday night training saw Benn Hall set a brutal course to prepare on and you could see the confidence of racers, parents and trainers drain by the minute as one by one the racers flew out in all directions like Boeings leaving Heathrow. Jordan in particular had a nightmare, taking most of the evening to convert anything into something that resembled a run. Those who put a bit of thought into it however coped well and subsequently proved that it could be skied.

Those who went to bed of Friday thinking that Benn had set them a difficult challenge must have felt like they’d fallen out of bed on Saturday with a pair of brutal championship courses that truly would test everyone’s mettle. This was our national championships and the course setters were clearly out to remind the racers of this. One mistake on either course was going to be fatal - skis in bag time, game over, back in the car, end of story.

And so it proved for the Telford boys. Joe Humfress perished six gates into run 1 and Ashley Breese followed suit on run 2. Forced to go a bit gung-ho after an indifferent morning run Ash’s all or nothing strategy was the correct one even though he ended on the wrong side of the equation.

In the Girls, all four Telford racers survived the day and therefore profited with substantial leaps between their respective start number and finishing position. Charlotte Gould jumped 10 places to finish 12th in Jun1, and in Chi 2 Charlotte Shrimpton came home in 9th with George Gould following her home in 11th, the latter two jumping 15 & 22 places respectively. However, the honour of Telford racer of the day however goes to Abby Clifford, who claimed a fantastic win in the Jun2 category and overall 3rd place in the female race.

The following morning saw the older racers make way for their ankle biting counterparts courtesy of the All England Minis shoot out. Two runs down the same, if slightly less tricky course. Sadly the location appeared to have put a number of racers and parents off so a small(ish) but quality field took to the slope. In the Girls, Megan Jenkins, as expected, found herself in a class of her own. From a Telford point of view Emma Taylor made her second national racing start, successfully negotiated both courses and posted a super 5th place.

In the boys the predicted head to head battle between Rocket Robert Poth and Jordan Fellows never really happened. With Jordan drawn first to go in the boys race a hush descended on the hill, well it did until his idiot old man screamed “CCCCOOOOMMMMEEE OOONNN” as he blasted out of the gate, almost taking the starter and back up timer off their seats in fright. 15.99 seconds later he had laid down the challenge. Others tried but it wasn’t until Rocket Robert climbed into his skis that Jordan’s time looked in danger. Sadly, Robert came out at the tricky gate after the hairpin and though he hiked back up his challenge was over. Half an hour later the race was completed, Jordan’s safe second run was sufficient for the win he so desperately craved and Rocket Rob had claimed the fasted time of the race with a cracking 2nd run.

In another mixed day for Telford, Daniel Taylor again impressed posting two good runs to claim a super 9th place, an excellent performance for a lad with so little experience and fine reward for a summer of hard work and development. However this was contradicted somewhat by an unlucky DNF for Nathan Breese, who looked set for a competitive time until finding the back hairpin gate wrapping itself around him and taking him down to matting level. His time will come however.

As for the team event, well I’m sorry, but I have to confess that after Jordan’s win it all felt a bit like after the Lord Mayor’s show. Team Telford put in a much better showing than last year with Ashley noteably claiming the scalp of one or two more experienced racers and Abby producing the best start I've ever seen in a duals race. Charlotte Shrimton proved a reliable 3rd leg and Charlie Gould's last leg overhauling of Sharks A was truly exhilarating. However, our more experienced opponents outgunned us this time and an early exit awaited. This almost managed to keep us dry but a monsoon between rounds 4 & 5 meant that even our exit after the league stages, in equal 4th, didn’t quite save us from this summer’s now customary drenching.

Abby, takes the win in Jun 2

Jordan follows suit in the minis

"I went a week without Stella and you get the trophy?"

No Crisps, No Rubbish and in Bed By Eight!

Telford Training Camp
Rossendale
27th - 30th August

“You’ll be doing fitness work and ski prep in the mornings and skiing hard in the afternoons. There will be no crisps, no rubbish, no fizzy pop, be in bed by 8pm and NO Stella Artios for the adults” I don’t know about the racers but I was frozen to the spot, riddled with fear like a rabbit staring into headlights. Sweat began to appear on my brow. Blimey, even as a spectator this week was going to be tough.

True to the coaches word it was a tough week. Each morning bought a varied programme of fitness work. From sprinting to agility and balance all areas were covered. Wednesday’s fitness test highlighted those who had been following their fitness programmes and those who preferred a morning dabble on their Playstation to press ups and Thursday’s Cooper Test truly tested the stamina of our athletes already weary legs.

With the matting at Rossendale in its current state it was important for the racers edges to be sharp. Richard’s demo on ski servicing was welcomed by novices and experts alike and by the end of the week all of the racers had managed to prep their own skis at least twice. However, I doubt that I was the only one who could feel the pain growing in my wallet as Mr Breese dragged gadget and gizmo after gadget and gizmo out of his tardis-esque tool box.

And so to the skiing. A relatively young bunch even by our recent standards took to the slope, joined for one day by the comparative elder stateswoman that is Abby Clifford. All worked extremely hard and all seemed to enjoy the week. Blessedly crashed were few and far between and with the exception of an Ashley Breese special – does he do anything by half? – a Daniel Taylor Wednesday hat trick of excursions onto the matting and Charlotte Shrimpton’s close encounter with the netting most our the racers managed to hold onto a vertical stance. In fact the only break of the whole week was that of our day visitor Robert Poth’s Leki pole.

This isn’t to say that the bottom of the slope spectators went without the usual array of crashes. Quite why parents feel the need to book their children slope time and expect them to cruise down like our racers without an ounce of instruction is utterly beyond me. Oh how I felt for the little chap whose dad kept pointing at Nathan, suggesting that his lad should “watch how he stops” and then stood there as the newcomer launched himself down the slope and straight into the safety net time and again, hitting the net so fast and hard that he was in danger of turning himself into chips! Predictably this eventually led to an explosion of tears of frustration, an early exit from the slope quite possible never to return.

Perhaps we are spoiled by the quality of coaching we get at Telford, or the organisation of school holiday ski schools. Perhaps I am just being harsh, but every day there were too many kids on the slope and out of control, despite the fact they have two very good and safer nursery slopes.

Performance of the week is a hard one. Each and every athlete gave the week their all. Joe Humfress can be well pleased with his improvement as can Daniel Taylor. Quite how such little legs coped with the demands of Mr Breese I’ll never know and his early week promotion into the race group was fine reward for a magnificent effort.

Of Alan’s group, well all should be delighted and proud of their efforts. Emma Taylor & Rachael Ratledge improved beyond recognition as did Emily, Adam & Kirran. However man of the week has to go to Marco Furio. As a relative newcomer to skiing generally and racing in particular the Man from Milan (via Shrewsbury) has taken to this ski racing lark like his coach took to Stella Artios. His line was great, as was his posture, angulation and determination to improve. It may take him a while to settle into the demands of Chi 2 racing next year but unlike his slalom times he is on the way up. Well done Marco.

Also, a word of thanks to the coaches. As usual, the Right Honourable Sir Alan Ashfield was in prime form, cajoling every single ounce of talent out of his group whilst keeping a close eye on those in the race group. As I’ve already noted the improvement in this group was staggering. Richard Breese, was well Richard Breese, thoughtfully developing a programme of drills and courses that kept the racers on their toes for all four days and improved every one of their techniques. The fact he has sacrificed so much of his own time to developing this group and executed so many training days this summer should not go un-noticed. We are very lucky.

Thoughts now switch to the All England Championships. Can we sneak a podium or two this weekend? Well, if they convert hard work and talent into a brace of runs over the weekend then they have a chance. Fingers, toes, arms, legs and eyes will be all be crossed. Well done everyone, do your best.

British Indoor Championships

British Indoor Championships
Xscape Castleford
19th August

And so, after the longest ski racing day in the history of longest ski racing days, Castleford held the final event of the six race programme, the glamorously entitled British Indoor Championships. As is the norm with the indoor series the acceptance list was again bursting at the seams as the countries active ski-dome and mountain racers took on the very keenest of the Dendix brigade.

In the minis Nathan Breese looked on course to spring a bit of a shock as he flew down the top section of run 1. Sadly, a missed gate three quarters of the way down, eliminated him from the competition but not before he had sent out warning signals to everyone who intends to compete with him next year. My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen consider yourself well and truly warned, this boy is the real deal.

Jordan Fellows followed up the previous day’s good form with another brace of promising runs to claim a richly deserved 2nd place. One mistake on the top section of run one left him with too much to do on run 2 and despite a super run on the second course he had to settle for being runner up.

In the male category Ashley Breese led the chasing pack in chi 1 by the thickness of a cigarette paper going into the second course and despite a pretty decent and fault free second run he also found himself collecting the runners up prize, shaved out of the winners circle by 0.05 seconds.

Joe Humfress again had to contend with a high number start time and subsequently the ruts left by the earlier athletes destroyed any chances he had of a clean run. Despite this he should be extremely pleased after posting two solid runs that will see him moving forward through the field next spring.

Man of the weekend? Well to be fair it could have been any one of the four. Nathan would have stolen it but for that one missed gate and had Ashley have held onto win on Sunday I'd have gone with him. Joe Humfress produced the best form I've seen from him so far at a race but for once I'm going to give it to Jordan for stringing together a complete weekend of future promise. I must be going soft in my old age but well done sunshine.

It's Norris's Lad

Xscape Series Race 5
Xscape Castleford
18th Auugust

So after a much needed summer recess the summer ski racing season resumed with Xscape Castleford hosting a weekend double header with the climax of the popular Indoor Race Series followed by a Sunday shoot out under the banner of the British Indoor Championships.

Rest assured that Castleford was much more prepared for the descent of the summer ski circus that Glasgow ever was. No problems with seating, no being banned from the bar area just for considering bringing a flask into the area, no RoboSecurityGuard patrolling the doors like a lioness protecting her cubs and a pre-prepared storage area for skis. It’s amazing how much smoother things go with a bit of thought and pre planning. Cas, however, doesn’t have the viewing balcony that makes Glasgow so much more viewer friendly (and I use the word friendly advisably) but in allowing bar access there was just about enough window space to make viewing possible if a little awkward.

Also added to this awkwardness was the intermittent sound system in the back room that kind of informed us that “on co se was N th n Bre e fr m Telf d who fi t run t me wa eighte n poin se en s x sec nds and h s bett r d that w th sixt n po t fo r th ee.” Undaunted however the commentator, whose sense of humour always manages to stay drier than my feet ever do, reminded us for the ninth and tenth times this summer that “Norris’s lad – Scott McWhirter was on course” A great line, granted, but even Only Fools and Horses doesn’t get repeated quite as often. In addition, given that he is without doubt the best MC is the business I’m now demanding a new, fresher line for next time round.

On the snow itself the action was as fierce as usual. In the minis Jordan Fellows finally contrived to convert a bit of plastic form onto the white stuff and managed to metaphorically sneak in at the far post, stealing a win with a faultless second run. Credit has to go to both Jordan and his coaches for this result but I must also note my gratitude to Graham Beck for installing that en-suite shed at the bottom of the course, thus reminding the boy of his fate should he turn in another shocker. In the junior mini category Nathan Breese again looked the class act of the field scorching to the best two times of the day to score another victory and claim the series crown.

In the boys Ashley Breese regained form with a superb brace of runs and blasted to a cracking 24th overall and 1st place in chi 1 by the best part of a second. Oh, how I’ve missed that cheeky, knowing grin. His face at the bottom betrayed his ice man exterior, he knew he’d finally put it all together and the last time I saw that level of ruthlessness is someone’s eyes he was checking a bag for food in Glasgow. Darth Breese indeed. In the ever competitive world of chi 2 Joseph Humfress overcame the inevitable rear end of the field ruts to claim a creditable 20th place with a brace of solid runs that should provide him with the belief to progress.

Then came the much vaunted triple slalom event. After being severely reprimanded by my team for just calling them plain old Telford I dragged my extremely tired and cold body out into the fridge for one more time – Heaven knows how they felt! Sadly, progress wasn’t to be and an early exit awaited them, although not before Jordan had turned a relatively comfortable win into a bit of a bum cruncher by taking a face full of snow three gates from home. With Graham Beck’s shed echoing to the sound of “in you go lad” and the door slamming shut behind him the birthday boy leapt back up like a salmon racing home up the River Dee, hiked up to the missed gate in a flash and sheepishly cruised the last three gates not once daring to make eye contact with the wooden building on his left hand side. You lucky, lucky boy.

Stoke Round 4

Stoke Race Series - Round 4

More to follow.......