Sunday, November 17, 2013

Whistler Opening Day

Yes I was one of the keen people who went up for the early opening of Whistler! I wasn't one of the super eager ones who queued overnight though!!! Although only 5 lifts were open it was a good day on the whole and was useful to get my ski legs back.





Meanwhile, Max was coaching here

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Someone say CANADA?

I know I kept this quiet but I am spending this next season in Whistler BC!! I only arrived a few days ago but I am already amazed at how gorgeous this country is! I will be working as a kids ski instructor with Whistler Blackcomb Snow School and doing some training and hopefully some competitions after christmas!

Max has started his second year at university and is hoping to get out to quite a few races across Europe as well as visiting his big sis!

7 months packed into these bags
Vancouver at 4am (jetlag)

Saying goodbye to blurry Vancouver

The view from my bedroom



2010 Winter Olympic Games rings

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Claire now runs...

If you know me then you know that I have never really liked running over 800m (I used to win this every year at sport day). So it will be a bit of a shock to find out that I actually quite like running now and I did the race for life earlier this month!! I completed it as part of a team and we managed to raise over £700 which is amazing!!! (http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/dynamitewolfsquadron if you still fancy sponsoring us...).

Now that I have the running bug I aim to do a 10k next year, a tough mudder either the same year or the year after and to then build up to a half marathon and then a marathon (if you don't know what a tough mudder is I suggest you look at this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh5HdPM_QuE).



Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Arosa and end of season Update

Max and myself just got back from Arosa and I would love to say that our last race of the season went perfectly but alas I cannot.

First of all I brought an European adaptor instead of a Swiss one, so on Friday evening, with 5% battery on my phone, we had a mad dash around the shops that were closing trying to find a solution, which thankfully we did 5 minutes before the last shop closed! Max then went and ate bambi the same evening, this wouldn't have been so bad if we hadn't have seen loads of deer on the way up the mountain!

Saturday was even worse. We woke up to realise that the GoPro was dead after filming our journey to Arosa and Max had forgotten to bring the cable to charge it, so unfortunately there will not be a video from these races unless you are interested in the journey from Zurich airport to Arosa?? If you remember, I injured my toes in Sweden last month (a common ski cross injury with your toes banging on the front of the ski boot when going over rollers and jumps). Apparently this injury had not fully healed, despite the nurse telling me that I had done nothing at all and they were just a bit swollen. So when taking my boots off after a long day of skiing on a course that was nothing but massive rollers and jumps I was created with a bloody sock (NICE!). I knew straight away, although I didn't admit it until the evening, that I would not be able to race the next day. Apart from that, we both enjoyed the race that day, although we may not have done as well as we wanted, we both came away from it feeling more confident given it was definitely the hardest, most technical, jam packed course we have skied so far. It was also very sunny and Max got an impressive goggle tan just from that one day!

Sunday actually went okay, I couldn't fit my foot into my ski boot so I had to walk up the hill. The weather was also very different from the day before, with low visibility and a little bit of snow. This meant that the snow was a lot harder, making it even more important that you had enough speed to clear the jumps and not to knuckle them. The hard snow seemed to take it's toll on Max as for the last 2 days he has been unable to move his back without being in pain but he finished the race nonetheless.

After dreading every time we fly anywhere that Max's skis will be too heavy (with just one pair of skis, boots, poles and a jacket his ski bag weighs 25kg), the little Swiss man at the bulky luggage area said these exact words (even before they had been weighed!). Thankfully, after his supervisor came over and we opened up his ski bag to show them just how empty it was she allowed it to go through being only 2kg overweight. The alternative was for Max to wear his ski boots on to the plane...

So that is the end of our season! We both managed to score valuable FIS points in our first season, which given we only got 3 FIS races in we are pretty chuffed! Although we both wish we could be doing The Brits and other races (although Max might still go out to the Swedish National Championships, so his season may not quite be over), we both have to concentrate on university. I have my last 3 exams of my Law degree coming up very soon and Max still has several projects to complete before his first year at university is over! Wish us luck!

We would also like to say a MASSIVE GIANT THANK YOU to our sponsors and supporters without them none of this season would have been possible, so THANK YOU!

 Keep your eyes peeled for our end of season edit including never before seen footage from Stubai (as I still haven't gotten it off of Max!) and the journey to Arosa!






Tuesday, February 12, 2013

VIDEO FROM VERBIER

So my day has consisted of editing footage from Verbier a couple of weekends ago. I do apologise for the fact that you sometimes actually cannot see much but that is what the weather was like that weekend and why the races were cancelled!

Enjoy :)


Monday, February 11, 2013

Mora has more snow!

This weekend saw us travelling to Mora, Sweden for two FIS ski cross races, which thankfully were not cancelled!! Although it was extremely cold with some fresh snow and low visibility the races went ahead as planned. We travelled with 3 other British FIS racers to this event and as a whole it went okay! Both Max and myself scored our first FIS points over the weekend so we are both pleased!

Unfortunately Max has "temporarily misplaced" the GoPro, so there won't be a video; however I am currently editing the Verbier video from last weekend and in the meantime here are some photos from Mora.



View from the top of the piste

Smile for the camera Max

Max and Alex taking off from Oslo airport

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Cancelled due to too much snow

Yep both races ended up getting cancelled due to the bad weather and too much snowfall for them to prepare the course. It is a massive shame but we have managed to get used to our new skis.

Due to them being cancelled we took the decision to come home 2 days early. This has saved us money and gives us all some more time to do work before we head off to Mora, Sweden on Thursday!

Despite the lack of visibility, we did manage to get some footage from the couple of days, so I will put a quick edit up of that soon.

Sunbathing

Admiring the view



Lake Geneva

Burger King King

Friday, February 1, 2013

Still snowing here...

The snow didn't take a break at all today!!! Although there was loads of fresh powder, there wasn't any light to be able to see it in! Every time we come to Verbier we have horrible weather, but apparently others have said that the sun does shine here sometimes.

The races are still scheduled for Sunday and besides the weather they were putting up the safety netting today so that is promising!

Snow Stig?

Evidence that our dad does get to ski sometimes...

Face plant

Model?

Tired and cold

The day took it's toll on Max...

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Postponed due to too much snow!!

We are currently in Switzerland for our first FIS and Swiss Cup races of the season to find out that the FIS race is now being held the same day as the Swiss Cup as there has been too much snow...

The plus of this is that we get an extra day training, especially as we both have new skis... the downside is that we only get one race instead of two.  Given that none of us checked the snow conditions before we flew out, it could be a lot worse and there being very little snow!!

We will keep you updated on how we get on!

Fair enough... 
Lake Geneva