After a four month respite from skiing, I am back on snow
and having a blast. I arrived yesterday
afternoon to lovely New Zealand where I am spending the next 4 weeks of my life
training, racing and getting ready for the next World Cup season and Olympic
Games.
Having come off the longest break of my career to date, I
was a little concerned that I might have forgotten how to ski but good news folks;
I survived today with flying colours and no crashes! Apparently ski racing is just like riding a
bike! Our camp is starting off in a place called Roundhill, which, according to
a lovely couple in the inspection line at the airport is literally a “round
hill”. It is actually quite amazing
because there are all these magnificent mountains surrounding Lake Takapo (the
village where we are staying!) yet, the ski hill was built on the “round
hill”. I must admit that it was a nice
transition, if that can even be the word, from no skiing to “we have a lot to
do in the next 4 weeks, skiing and full length slalom courses!”
I have always really enjoyed coming to train in New Zealand
over the years. There are many reasons for this but the first coming to mind
being, English, similar cultures, low elevations, towns, shopping and good
snow! The first time I ever came to New
Zealand was ten years ago when I came down with the ski team to a place called
Porter Heights. I realize now that those
where definitely the days of character building, patience training and roughing
it. We had nine to a room, one house for
the full 3 weeks, no civilization in sight and the hot tub consisted of a tub,
full of hot water, precariously perched over an open fire! This time round we are staying in beautiful
condo’s right on the lake, cooking our own meals and in an area where there is
a café and internet!
As I mentioned earlier, I was off of snow for 4 months this
year, which is the longest time I have been off snow in the last 13 years
probably. It was a break that I dearly
needed and one which I tried to capitalize on and one that I think was
absolutely necessary to get me ready for what lies ahead. I only had a few mild panic attacks on the
hill today when trying out new drills and courses which seems much more
complicated before my break!!! What I have really realized is that I am finally
fresh and ready to learn again.
Once you have been on the National Team for as long as I
have and once you reach a certain level on the World Cup, training isn’t so
much about how many runs you can do a day, it is about fine tuning and making
the most out of each run you take. I am not going to go out there and change my
technique drastically, but I am trying to eliminate some of my bad habits and
to solidify a great base from which to work from. I am looking for the hundredths of a second
that separate the winners from the non podium achievers.
This camp here in New Zealand is where we set the base and
tone for the season to come. I will be
spending 5 days here in Roundhill, and then I am heading up to Queenstown for 2
weeks and finishing off the camp in Mt. Hutt.
There will be a couple races that my team might attend while we are down
here but I am really trying to focus on the technical aspects that I need to
alter, refine and imprint.
I was so excited to be back on my skis today and although I
did suffer from a little leg burn and “slalom back”, it was well worth it! I
hope that everyone is enjoying summer and not thinking of snow flakes!
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