Cutting Edge 23-04-08
|
|
|
|
Exclusive Coverage – All of the Action… All of the Results Day 1 - The Fight for the Super G Title Day 4 - Spotlight on the Juniors Day 4 Part 2; The Senior Slalom!!! Day 5 - Super Stars of the Super Combined Day 6 - Giant Slalom Victories for Alcott and Drake |
Exclusive Coverage – All of the Action… All of the Results
Meribel played host to one of the best British Land National Ski Championships on record, and not even the poor weather on Day 2 could dampen the spirits of the supporters.
This year's British Championships offered a whole host of exciting events; the emergence of Ed Drake as a force to be reckoned with was a major talking point, as was the sixth overall championship title for Chemmy Alcott. The standard of competition proved outstanding with Louise Thomas in particular catching the eye of many with a fantastic result in the Women's Super Combined. In this edition of Cutting Edge you will find a summary of the performances from the Senior and Junior events at the 2008 British Land National Ski Championships, watch out for the next edition of Cutting Edge for the results from the Children's Championships.
Snowsport GB would like to say a big thank you to all the sponsors of the British Championships - BritishLand, Land Rover, Citizen, directski.com, Merchant Capital, Trespass and Meribel resort. Their support and that of our partners is what makes the Championships such a fantastic event.
Day 1 - The Fight for the Super G Title
The British Championships couldn’t have got of to a better start as Meribel produced perfect weather and excellent snow conditions for day one of the eight-day event.
The day witnessed a fantastic win for 22 year old Ed Drake from Kingston on Thames who won the British Men's Super G title.
Day 1 also brought the first win for Britain's leading World Cup skier, Chemmy Alcott who retained the Women’s Super G Championship title. Twenty- five year-old Chemmy set herself immediately on course for the clean sweep of all six major British titles available to her in this year’s Championships.
Sixteen year-old part time racer, Jayme Baggio from Harpenden, took a break from studying for her GCSEs to finish an exceptional 3rd in the Women’s Super G race.
British Land National Ski Championships - Super G Results:
| Men: | Women: | |
|
1st - Ed Drake, Kingston on Thames 2nd – Dougie Crawford, Glasgow 3rd – TJ Baldwin, Norwich |
1st – Chemmy Alcott, Twickenham 2nd – Pamela Thorburn, Strathaven 3rd – Jayme Baggio, Harpenden |
Day 2
After an amazing start to the Championships, the postponement of the first Downhill training runs was a bitter pill to swallow for the competitors. Milder temperatures and poor weather lead to reduced overhead visibility and the runs were called off.
However, the off piste action was still keeping spirits high, as his Royal Highness Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex was presented with a special pair of Dynastar skis to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the ski resort of Meribel.
There was also a presentation for Sir John Ritblat at the Champagne Reception in La Poste. Sir John was also presented with skis for the celebration of the 30th anniversary of BritishLand's sponsorship of the National Ski Championships.
Mark Simmers, CEO of Snowsport GB said: “It was a great evening and it was fantastic to see the Earl of Wessex and Sir John getting recognition for supporting Snowsport GB.”
It was back to the serious business of racing on Day 3 as Chemmy Alcott notched up her second title of the Championships.
She added the Women’s Downhill title to her Super G success. However it wasn’t all smiles for Chemmy who commented on her performance: "I was maybe a little less focused than I should have been today, but I came here to win and I did that."
Alcott finished 76 hundredths of a second ahead of second placed Pam Thorburn in a closely contested Downhill competition.
However, Day 3 belonged to Ed Drake, as he too added to the Super G title he won on the opening day by winning the British Men’s Downhill – an achievement he has pushed for since the beginning of his skiing career.
The race was a tight affair with Drake winning by just 13 hundredths of a second over 21 year old Europa Cup team-mate Jan Michael Kochalski who recorded his best ever British Downhill result to finish runner up.
BritishLandNational Ski Championships - Downhill Results:
|
Men: 1st - Ed Drake,Kingston on Thames 2nd -Jan-Michael Kochalski,Torphins 3rd - Peter Whelan, Uxbridge |
Women: 1st – Chemmy Alcott, Twickenham 2nd – Pamela Thorburn, Strathaven 3rd - Sophie Readman, Dunblane |
Day 4 - Spotlight on the Juniors
It was the turn of the Juniors to show their skills on the Meribel slopes as Peter Whelan took the British Junior Men's Downhill title adding to his 3rd place in the Senior Downhill. In flat light conditions on a fast, technically challenging course, 18 year old Whelan skied a time of 1.15.75 seconds which lead him to finish 1.08 seconds ahead of Thomas ‘TJ’ Baldwin, his compatriot from The British Land Alpine Ski Team who finished runner up.
The Women's Junior Downhill saw one big jump near the top of the course cause major problems for the girls. The title was eventually lifted by Swadlincote racer Sega Fairweather who finished ahead of Swiss based Liz Stevenson.
Sega Fairweather said: “It was hard in some places, but I tend to like the aggressive snow on this course."
In the Junior 1 age-group, a close battle saw Nick Robinson of the British Land Youth Alpine team prevail over team mate Harry Brown.
BritishLandNational Ski Championships - Junior Downhill Results:
|
Men: 1st -Peter Whelan, Uxbridge 2nd-Thomas Baldwin,Norwich 3rd - Sam Wyer,Gloucester |
Women: 1st - Sega Fairweather, Swadlincote 2nd - Liz Stevenson, Villars
|
Day 4 – Part 2; The Senior Slalom!!! 
The night brought an eerie glow to the Du Corbey Slalom caused by falling snow and drifting mountain mist which lead to difficult conditions for the competitors.
The challenging conditions didn’t phase young star Dave ‘the Rocket' Ryding from pulling off one of the best results of the week as he beat seven times British Slalom champion Alain Baxter to the Men’s Slalom title.
It was business as usual for Chemmy Alcott who was pushed all the way by 17 year old Jayme Baggio from Harpenden, Middlesex. The Slalom was Chemmy’s third title of the week to add to her Downhill and Super G titles.
BritishLandNational Ski Championships - Slalom Results:
|
Men: 1st - Dave Ryding, Leyland 2nd - Alain Baxter, Aviemore 3rd – Thomas Baldwin, Norwich |
Women: 1st - Chemmy Alcott, Twickenham 2nd - Jayme Baggio, Harpenden 3rd – Sophie Readman, Dunblane |
Day 5 - Super Stars of the Super Combined
The Championships saw its second triumph of youth succeeding age and experience. In the Women’s Super Combined event, 19-year-old Louise Thomas produced a marvellous display of speed and skill to upset the formbooks and take her first Super Combined title ahead of Britain's World Cup star Chemmy Alcott.
Alcott who has a string of World Cup top 30's in Super G to her credit, lead the Super G run, earning a margin of 1.18 seconds over third placed Thomas. However an error on the entry to the flatter section of the single Slalom led her to drop time in the soft, wet snow.
This was pounced upon by Thomas who went on to win by 12 hundredths of a second, breaking Alcott's clean sweep of titles after winning the Downhill, Slalom and Super G titles.
Day 5 also saw Ed Drake match Chemmy Alcott's hat trick of titles at the British Championships after he added the Men's Super Combined to his Super G and the Downhill triumphs of Sunday and Tuesday.
Drake led the Super G by more than one second and combined with the second quickest Slalom run, only four hundredths of a second slower than Dave 'the Rocket' Ryding.
Ryding, who was crowned British Slalom champion late on Tuesday evening, finished 2.31 seconds behind Drake, while Scotland's Jan Kochalski took third.
Thomas 'TJ' Baldwin won the Junior Super G title and finished best under-18 competitor in the Super Combined.
BritishLandNational Ski Championships - Super Combined Results:
|
Men: 1st – Ed Drake, Kingston on Thames 2nd – Dave Ryding, Leyland 3rd - Jan-Michael Kochalski, Torphins |
|
Women: 1st – Louise Thomas, West Horsley 2nd – Chemmy Alcott, Twickenham 3rd - Michelle Sole, Shipton on Stour |
Day 6 - Giant Slalom Victories for Alcott and Drake
On the sixth day of action, attention turned to the Giant Slalomwhere both Ed Drake and Chemmy Alcott showed as worthy champions by recording their fourth victories of the week and in doing so secured the overall British Championship Men’s and Women’s titles.
The new 2008 champions live only ten minutes apart and have been friends since children’s age-group racing. Through the summer, they often train together and this year has also seen them compete in the odd triathlon!
This was the sixth time that Chemmy has lifted the Championships top award and she was on spectacular form in her preferred discipline of the Giant Slalom flying to a 2.2 second lead over second placed Louise Thomas.
Ed Drake capped an outstanding championship for the young Kingston on Thames racer by beating friend and rival Dave Ryding to the Giant Slalom title. Drake was delighted to be crowned Men’s Overall Champion “It’s not really sunk in,” grinned Drake, “You just come here hoping to do your best but I don’t think I ever expected to win the title. I suppose I am relieved that I’ve done it”.
BritishLandNational Ski Championships - Giant Slalom Results:
|
Men: 1st – Ed Drake,Kingston on Thames 2nd – Dave Ryding, Leyland 3rd – Dougie Crawford, Glasgow |
Women: 1st – Chemmy Alcott, Twickenham 2nd – Louise Thomas,West Horsley 3rd – Sophie Readman, Dunblane |
Day 7
The British Junior Slalom took centre stage at the Championships on Day 7 and as snow conditions drastically changed, 18 year old Sam Wyer of Gloucester put in an assured and confident set of runs to win the Men’s title.
A hard overnight freeze played a huge factor in the outcome of races down on the Du Corbey arena piste, as the fast, icy conditions were the undoing of many competitors.
The difficult conditions were made clear when the first run leaders of both the Men’s and Women’s events failed to consolidate their lead on their second run. Junior Downhill Champion Peter Whelan crashed out on the steep of his second run, while second placed Freddie Clough of Chelmsford lost control a third of the way down. Wyer stepped up to put in a solid second run to win by 2.48 seconds.
In the Women’s event, Jayme Baggio built herself a lead of nearly one and a half seconds after a fluent first run attack down the girls’ icy course, but she lost control early on her second run, leaving Sophie Readman a clean run to her first British Junior Slalom title.
BritishLandNational Ski Championships -Junior Slalom Results:
|
Men: 1st – Sam Wyer,Gloucester 2nd – Freddie Clough,Chelmsford 3rd – Jai Geyer, Newton Abbot |
Women: 1st – Sophie Readman, Dunblane 2nd – Stephanie Ovenden,Cheltenham 3rd – Christy MacKinnon, Troon, Ayrshire |
Day 8 - The Junior Crowns
After crowning the Seniors Overall Champions on Day 6, it was the turn of the Juniors to battle it out for the big prize on Day 8. It was a convincing performance from 18 year old Sophie Readman that led her to hold off the challenge from Niki Sole to clinch her second discipline title of the week and therefore take the overall prize.
While she admitted to being slightly disappointed with the technical standard of her skiing throughout the week - citing tiredness at the end of a long, demanding season as a contributing factor - Sophie was positive about her future in the sport.
She commented: “It’s a good way to finish the week. To be honest I never thought about winning the overall title but it’s a good feeling, doing well across the full range of events, but to be honest it feels like just a small landmark along the way, I have way higher goals in my skiing. But it’s a nice little ego boost and will definitely do something for my confidence.”
On the men’s side of the draw another solid performance by Sam Wyer saw him finish runner up behind Harry Brown, but still take the overall title due to his Slalom win and finishing third in the Downhill.
BritishLandNational Ski Championships – Junior Giant Slalom Results:
|
Men: 1st – Harry Brown,Chateauneuf 2nd – Sam Wyer,Gloucester 3rd – Craig MacFie, Edinburgh |
Women: 1st – Sophie Readman, Dunblane 2nd – Niki Sole, Shipton on Stour 3rd - Francesca Simmonds, London |
2008 BritishLandNational Ski Championships - Overall Winners
|
Men: Ed Drake, Kingston on Thames |
Women: Chemmy Alcott, Twickenham |
|
| British Junior Champion: | ||
|
Men: Sam Wyer, Gloucester |
Women: Sophie Readman, Dunblane |
|
| British Under 18 Champion : | ||
|
Men: Thomas Baldwin,Norwich |
Women: Jayme Baggio, Harpenden |
A Land Rover Experience for All 
Meribel welcomed Land Rover as the official vehicle partner to British Alpine Ski and Snowboard Teams for the very first time and the company introduced its “Mini Terrapod” course to test the skills of the latest vehicles. Spectators were given the chance to be driven around the course by skilled instructors and the British Ski Team was set the challenge of taking on the Land Rover experience.
Chemmy Alcott, Pam Thorburn and Jan Kolchalski all showed off their drivingskills as they took the vehicles over ramps and slopes with ease. Matt Passey from Land Rover UK said: "We at Land Rover were very impressed with the team’s skills off the slopes when they clearly demonstrated our vehicle’s competence over the various obstacles."
Altitude Festival – Reaching New Heights 
Although the Senior and Junior competitions came to an end, there was
still plenty going on in Meribel. The members of the Children's teams battled it out for the titles and for the first year, the Altitude Festival 2008 came to town. The two week festival began on Saturday 5 April with some of the biggest names in stand up comedy and a host of international DJ’s, Altitude was a must for anyone looking for a good time off piste as well as on.
The festival featured comedians such as Lee Mack from the BBC’s BAFTA winning comedy the Sketch Show and the American Richard Hall who is best known for writing and appearing on the David Letterman Show.
Richard Lett, event organiser said: “It’s great that the Champs were on at the same time; we provided the entertainment for the event while Snowsport GB dealt with the serious things – like skiing”.
