I spent the beginnings of both the months of
September and October in Hintertux, Austria with the British Parasnowsport
Development Squad, focussing mainly on Giant Slalom (GS). Unfortunately on the
first camp, I wasn’t very well, and on the three days I did manage to ski, it
wasn’t a massive success - the main lesson I learnt on this camp was that
trying to force the body to do high intensity exercise when unwell is not a
good idea, especially if you already have problems with fatigue. Luckily the
camp a month later was much better, and I managed to make some good progress in
both my general skiing skill level, and in GS race courses.
Prior to this camp (the successful one - the earlier camp I have chosen to pretend didn’t happen) we had made a number of
adjustments to my sit ski in order to maximise performance on snow. A strap was
added to the backrest allowing it to be fixed in place to enable me to lean
forward into a turn without falling into my knees (as my core function has
deteriorated significantly). This worked
very well and makes it much easier to put pressure on the tip of the ski when
needed. The other main change we made was adding extra padding to the seat
itself and the backrest, as I appear to have shrunk since I got the rig two
years ago! This has been useful as it brings the sides of my rig into contact
with my body, which makes it much more responsive to the movements I make, so I
can be more precise when skiing and generally have better control.
Throughout the block of training there was a
lot of experimentation on different lines to take through the course to
determine the best outcome. In addition to this I was also working on ways to
maintain speed even on flatter terrain by skiing closer to the gates and
getting the transition between turns smoother. By the end of the camp these
were improving, although there is always room for improvement.
Over the course of the ten-day camp, I
managed fairly well on the crash front…
Until the last run on the last day, I was
heading in slightly early due to fatigue, and my body went into spasm, throwing
me onto my head with a few rolls before I came to a stop. I was fine - I
escaped with only a mildly battered face, unfortunately the same cannot be said
for one of my outriggers, I managed to snap the ski part of it off completely.
This effectively rendered me trapped at the top of a rather steep and icy
slope! Fortunately one of my coaches was able to bucket me down (ski for me by
holding on to the back of the rig and skiing behind - not an easy job) safely
to the bottom.
My skiing has improved quite a lot over the
summer and pre-race season camps, and I am looking forward to putting it to the
test in the races over the coming months. Events will kick off in Landgraaf in
early November where I will be re-classified (as my condition is progressive)
and take part in my first races of the season.
