We have just finished an eventful week in Tignes at the
British Children’s Championships. This was the culmination of a lot of hard
work this season for our racers and it was great to see the progress that has
been made. Snow conditions where awful at the start of the week. This along
with some major organisational issues meant a number of postponements and
cancellations in the scheduled programme.
On Monday the minis race had already been postponed the
night before and the children’s race changed from SG to SL. We woke up on
Monday to find a large snowfall and a whiteout meaning it was not possible for
any racing. The lifts did eventually open after a large amount of avalanche
control but conditions were not great. The minis did some training but most of
the children took a day off with a light gym session in the afternoon to
prepare for the next day.
On Tuesday the organisers went for exactly the same revised
program as the previous day with the minis race again being postponed and the
children hoping for a SL race. Conditions were far from ideal again and the
children had to walk down the course in ski boots for inspection to boot pack
it before it was salted and slipped smooth for the race. This is something that
used to be done regularly before there was access to the snow preparation
equipment we see today but it was certainly a new and tiring experience for the
children. Conditions for the race were far from ideal and the course rutted up
very badly but we did manage to get a 1 run race for both U14’s and U16’s. Due
to timing problems during the U14 race, which was not communicated to us until
later that evening, the results were declared null and void. This was hugely
frustrating for BSA trainees George Case and Reece Bell who had both won the
Male and Female races while Tom Hudson and Daisi Daniels had both finished in 3rd.
This was an incredibly disappointing outcome after some superb skiing in
incredibly challenging conditions.
On Wednesday the organisers made the decision to run a one
run U14 GS and a one run Minis GS leaving the U16s without a race. While
conditions had improved slightly since the start of the week they were still
far from ideal for racing hence the one run races. The racers battled some very
tricky conditions and fortunately we managed to complete.
The U14 GS pushed the kids to the limit with a number our
racers skiing really well but not quite making it. Daisi Daniels and George
Case skied superbly and were both within a few gates of the finish line only to
crash on the very difficult final pitch. Charles Rankin and Joe Christy both
had to be taken away in blood wagons although both thankfully where ok. This
did mean the end of Charles’s Championships which was a shame after such a
brilliant season from him. There were some great performances from BSA racers
and some big PB’s. Jonny Marshall gets a special mention for finishing 2nd 2002 born racer!
2nd Jake Doyle Boys U14 GS
3rd Euan Robertson Boys U14 GS
3rd Rebecca CHastney Girls U14 GS
5th Milly Cowell Girls U14 GS
In the Minis race they also managed to get their one run
race completed ok and while the course
deteriorated and became very tricky there was also some great skiing.
3rd Kita O’Neill Girls U10 GS
4th Sophie Stocker Girls U10 GS
1st Shona Rankin Girls U12 GS
4th Ted Slade 4th Boys U10 GS
*Shona Rankin winning the U12 GS!
On Thursday the Minis Combi was pushed back another day to
Friday, the U16’s got their GS race and the U14’s a rerun of their SL. We had
by far the best conditions of the week and both age groups managed to get 2 run
races for the first time. Both George Case and Reece Bell where winning the
first run in SL with some great skiing again but unfortunately couldn’t hold it
together on the second run. There were still some great individual performances
although without quite the success as in the previous SL. Harry Crompton gets
particular mention for a superb first run and a huge improvement on previous
performances.
4th Anna Rodgers Girls U14 SL
5th Daisi Daniels Girls U14 SL
4th Ewan Robertson Boys U14 SL
5th Jake Doyle Boys U14 SL
In the U16 GS there were some good performances from some of
our 2000 born racers with Hannah Loeffen-Gallagher in 6th and Matt
Heginbotham in 7th showing they will be in strong positions next
season when they move to the top of their age group.
Friday finally brought the long postponed Minis Combi race
and the U14/U16 SG race. The SG was a hugely technical hill and course providing a great spectacle. Warm weather caused
the snow to soften and made it a challenging ski for the later runners again.
There were some exceptional performances from a number of our trainees and it
was a great day to round off the week!
3rd Hannah Loeffen-Gallagher Girls U16 SG
6th Meghan Davis Girls U16 SG
6th David Christey Boys U16 SG
Joint 2nd Jake Doyle Boys U14 SG
Joint 2nd Tom Hudson Boys U14 SG
4th George Case Boys U14 SG
5th Ewan Robertson Boys U14 SG
2nd Daisi Daniels Girls U14 SG
*Jake Doyle and Tom Hudson Joint 2nd in the U14
SG
The Minis Combi race took place in the freestyle park on a
skier cross course and provided a great challenge for the younger racers. They
had a great time and the snow held up really well.
1st Ted Slade Boys U12 Minis Combi
4th Sophie Stocker Girls U10 Minis Combi
*Jake Doyle, Ewan Robertson, Tom Hudson, Anna Rodgers and
Rebecca Chastney winning the U14 team prize for BSA!
With the season now over for most of the racers it’s now
time to return home and enjoy a well-earned rest before knuckling down to some
serious fitness training in preparation for next season. I look forward to
seeing you all on our summer and October Glacier camps!
Scott
