Closing Remarks

Wow what a week! Nine races in six days took some organising and skill and to say they ran very smoothly would not be an exaggeration. It was nice to hear praise for the organisation from our Italian hosts during prize giving and the Mayor only had positive praise for the athletes in the resort.

The warm and friendly welcome and cooperation from Bormio makes these events a pleasure and I’m sure the many clubs who attend must enjoy being able to train and set courses without too much trouble. Bormio itself is a lively town with several bars for those off hill moments and the variety of skiing on offer should keep most parents occupied in between races. The café at the top has a view to savour over morning coffee complete with a picture of our very own Chemmy Allcott.

The beginning of the week saw clear blue skies and bullet proof pistes, perfect for the National Junior Championships. Conditions did change for the FIS races later in the week with some serious amount of slipping required for the final slalom. However I’m sure the children enjoyed their day off with some quality powder time. The National Junior Championships and FIS Races enjoyed a wide International field and a decent amount of GBR results in the top flight. Harriet Steggles from Ambition in particular kept the flag flying with four top fifteen places including a podium third place, a name for the future.

The children’s Slalom and Giant Slalom changed to a new hill with a real party atmosphere at the bottom. Our race commentator did at times have a bit of a battle over the microphone to compete with the Rossignol announcer, but we think she had him beat. The hill worked well and it was a bonus for the children to have a quick turn around and warm up on the same slope. The honours in the age groups changed hands with each event, but there were two names which kept securing first place results.

Rebecca Brown seems to have inherited the same skiing genes as her older brother and claimed overall victory in both the slalom and giant slalom, with some outstanding skiing and Robert Poth from Slalom Plus went one better and did the clean sweep in all three disciplines in the Child 1 age group. The leading club was Ambition and many thanks must go to Paul and Mark for all their help.

The minis enjoyed the luxury of racing two different hills, which can only broaden their racing experience and in the girls the Alicja Krahelski from BSA was unstoppable in both races. As for the boys Nathan Breese from Telford raced to victory in the first GS and Finlay Davies from Impulse claimed gold in the second event.

So with prize giving wrapped up and the trophies all off to their new homes it was time for the long journey home. The snow was coming down thick fast meaning the drive would be painfully slow and our chains manage to dislodge themselves four times as we crawled over the mountain passes, but the English Champs had proved to be a success. A big thank you should go to the organisers, volunteers, racers, coaches and parents for all their hard work and dedication. We all go to make this crazy sport what it is and you can bet most of us will be back again next year. Tim can that include me please, I may still have my heart in snowboarding, but I did enjoy my time with you ski racers. Thanks everyone and all the best for the British!