Hintertux (x2)

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.