Edinburgh Uni report from BUSC Champs
April 14th, 2010The British University Snow Sports Championships (BUSC), the highlight of the snowsports calendar, took place on 27th March- 3rd April this year and did not disappoint! Once again 2500 students took over the resort of Alp D’Huez for a fully packed week of competitions and partying. The weather was variable with a few days with poor visibility and some snowing, however it was worth it leaving the last two days with glorious sun and powder. Due to this, a few of the competitions were rearranged, but when they took place the air was filled with team spirit!
Edinburgh took out 209 students to the event, the 3rd biggest in the UK, which meant we had a great presence in the resort, both on the slope and in the bars! The Edinburgh race and freestyle teams proved highly successful with James Filsell picking up the prize for first and second place in the mens Super Giant slalom and skier cross respectively. Sam Filsell ranked first and second on the podium for snowboarding in parallel and giant slalom. As for the freestyle, Charlotte Clarke took 1st place for the female ski halfpipe as well as 3rd place in Big Air. Omar Bakhaty also achieved 3rd place in male Big Air. Gig Kingsford, who organises the Edinburgh contingency of BUSC, won a BUSC “OBE”, as well as the overall award for “Excellence and dedication to the Championships” so massive congratulations to him for all his efforts!
The BUSC team put on 3 epic nights including the opening ceremony, competitors Ball and Final night party, all of which had maximum attendance and where great nights, creating one of the most successful BUSC events of all time!
Alltracks has been delighted to sponsor Edinburgh Uni over the last season and if you are on a gap year or career break, or looking to kick start a career in snowsports, check out the ALLTRACKS site ski instructor courses and snowboard instructor courses
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Alltracks Sponsored Athlete – Max Hardy’s report from Chamonix
January 17th, 2010What an exciting year 2010 is going to be for ski cross. Next month, leading athletes from around the world will descend upon the Canadian city of Vancouver with one thing on their minds – gold. And for many of the hardened veterans taking part in the first-ever Olympic ski cross event, like the USA’s Daron Rahlves and the Czech Republic’s Tomas Kraus, aching limbs and creaking knees will be brushed aside for one last shot at sporting immortality. But not if Switzerland’s Michael Schmidt has anything to say about it – the 24-year-old has exploded from relative anonymity in the races leading up to the Games, and now sits atop the leaderboard in the FIS World Cup standings going into next month’s race. It’s going to be an exciting one for sure, and I’m sure you’ll all be glued to your TV screens (as I will!).
GBR’s Ed Cozzi battles it out in qualification at the FIS Ski
Cross World Cup at Sankt Johann in Tirol, Austria Meanwhile, slightly further down the world ranking ladder, things have
been hectic. Off-season training went very well, and I’m hugely indebted to the University of York Annual Fund and York Sport for their support for this season – between them they’ve provided gym facilities whilst I was in Yorkshire from October to December, and some much-needed financial assistance to help fund my racing. I’ve also taken on a role within Snowsport GB (the national governing body of British skiing and snowboarding) as the Media and Public Relations Officer for British Ski Cross (www.gbskicross.co.uk), and it’s been great to get stuck in at the administrative level of the sport to try and develop the support our athletes receive. We held a hugely successful fundraiser evening at London Oxford Airport in October in partnership with tour operator Erna Low (www.ernalow.co.uk), raising some £500 for the team on the night, which has been a great help in eating into the accommodation costs of the British World Cup Team.
Max and British Ski Cross Commercial Officer Ben Corbey at the London Oxford Airport fundraiser evening.
In mid-December, after tying degree matters up in York, I headed out to Val D’Isere to spend a week with my family and to adjust to my setup for the season. I’m running the same Rossignol skis as last year, but I’ve made some changes to my boots with the help of James Choularton at Outdoor Traders in Abbingdon (www.outdoortradersuk.com) and it needed some getting used to! The skiing was great in Val and I got a chance to play around on my new freeride skis – Rossignol S5’s – which are a great ride, even on the groomers, which is an uncommon characteristic for a wider ski built with powder in mind.
With some of the cobwebs blown away, Boxing Day meant it was then time to head to Les Houches, a small (but perfectly formed) ski hill near Chamonix to report for duty at the British Ski Academy (www.britskiacad.org.uk) where I’m now based for most of the season. The logic behind working at the Academy this year is to improve the technical elements of my skiing, namely through training endless Giant Slalom gates, in the hope that I can transfer these skills back into ski cross at the end of the season and beyond. It’s going well so far, and now that January is in full flow we’re settling into the hard work which is great. From here on out, it’s all elbow grease and hard graft – I’ve got a lot to learn! I’ll check back in soon and let you all know how it goes, Max.
p.s. Awesome powder day on 31st December to see out 2009. Check out this shot of coach Luke Hadley dropping a nice little cliff. There were some great pillow lines that day, too…
The Times Ski Article on ALLTRACKS
January 7th, 2010Check out The Times article on the ALLTRACKS 4 week ski & snowboard course in Whistler by Toby Symington.
The Times – Alltracks 4 week ski & snowboard course
Toby hit Whistler during the biggest November on record – over 6 metres of snow fell so the conditions were great for his arrival. He spent 4 weeks with Alltracks, gaining his CSIA Level 1, Canadian Avalanche Association AST 1 and enjoyed the fantastic conditions at North America’s biggest resort.
If you’re keen for for info on any of the Alltracks course or would like one of our brochures, please get in touch here:
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Alltracks Sponsored Edinburgh Uni Scottish Comp Results
December 22nd, 2009EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY SUDS & BUDS report:
On the weekend of 6th-7th November, Mid Lothian Ski Centre at Hillend was brimming with skiers and boarders representing their Uni in the Scottish Universities Dryslope Competition. There we the likes of Edinburgh, Napier, Aberdeen, Dundee and Strathclyde.
The Competition kicked off on Saturday morning with racing events where Edinburgh University dominated with Dave Harrison winning the men’s GS and individual slalom, Nicola Oglivie coming 3rd in the women’s GS and the individual slalom. Holly Aird won the women’s board GS as well as the woman’s dual slalom. Strong performances from the race teams were also given with the First ski race team winning the dual slalom and the board dual slalom team coming in 3rd place.
The second half on the day was dominated by the freestyle events: slopestyle and big air. The standards of these events are ever increasing and the competition this year was no exception. Once more Edinburgh showed their capability with Mark Ratnage and Michas Jablonski earning a place in the finals both the Big Air and slopestyle. As for the female skiers, Charlotte Clarke dominated earning 1st place in both freestyle events.
These results lead to the Edinburgh teams been awarded 1st place overall in the Scottish Universities Championships, closely followed by Napier in 2nd and Glasgow in 3rd.
The following weekend of 13-14th saw Edinburgh overrun with 1500 students from Universities all over the UK! The weekend of British Universities Dryslope championships are always an exciting weekend and a chance to see the talent from all over Britain! This year was no exception!
Despite the tough competition, Edinburgh’s boarder dual team put in a strong performance and were rewarded by earning a place in the quarterfinals. On the ski side, a brilliant performance was shown by James Filsell, Ross Bannon and Dave Harrison all qualifying in the top 30. As far as the female racers go Laura Swayne made it through to the second round, but failed to complete her second run.
Onto the freestyle events, which luckily for some were held in the afternoon, the Friday saw the slopestyle event. The competition was higher than ever and despite efforts only Charlotte Clarke managed to gain a place in the finals and came an impressive second on the podium overall.
After a heavy night in City nightclub socialising with all the other unis, we all took back to the dry slope on Saturday morning. Dave Harrison once again gave a brilliant performance in the slalom earning second place. The dual slalom team showed a great effort, with the First team having a superb round to finish third.
In the afternoon the crowd congregated around the kicker where there were raving DJs and plenty of red bull to go around, the big air kicked off. Charlotte Clarke again earned a place in the finals and eventually finished off 3rd on the podium.
EUSSC is proud that Edinburgh is the host of these two great events and once again showed that we have fantastic talent within our club! Bring on BUISC and BUSC!
Check out ski instructor courses and snowboard instructor courses for ideal ski & snowbaord training post university.
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Whistler – Snowiest November on record
November 21st, 2009Whistler has now received over 418cm this month, making it the snowiest November on record. It just keeps coming!
“This is an unprecedented start to the season,” says Anton Horvath, Whistler Mountain weather forecaster. “The excitement of locals and guests alike is palpable, and the timing of this record breaking event happening this year as we prepare to be a host venue for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, is just icing on the cake. Whistler Blackcomb is well known for the copious amount of snow it receives on an annual basis. The fact that we’re only 87cm (34 inches) from reaching the half way point of our annual average snowfall, shows how incredible the start of this season really is.” The annual average snowfall at Whistler Blackcomb is just over 10 metres or 33 feet
The first Alltracks course of the season starts on the 25th and the skiers and snowboarders on that course are definitely in for some powder.
For more information on the Alltracks ski instructor courses or snowboard instructor courses check out the website, or please contact us directly.
Tags: Tags: career break, career break ski instructor course, gap year, gap year ski instructor courses, ski camps., ski courses, ski improvement course, snowboard camps, Snowboard Courses, snowboard instructor courses, whistler ski instructor course, whistler snow report, whistler snowboard camp
Posted in: Alltracks News, Ski Courses, Snowboard Courses
TGR re:SESSION Ski Movie Whistler Premiere
October 1st, 2009The Whistler Premiere of re:SESSION, the latest offering from TGR, hits Whistler tomorrow night at Millenium Place. As always, some of the best ski and snowboard talent will be on show at the world’s top ski destinations. Showcasing the talent of Sage Cattabriga-Alosa, Seth Morrison, Tanner Hall, Rachael Burks and many more – the TGR hits Alanga, Italy’s off piste mecca, enjoying the best season in years as well as British Columbia, Canada and awe inspiring descents in Alaska.
Whistler Premiere – 2nd October 2009 – Millenium Place – Whistler
Tags: Tags: re:session, ski camps., ski courses, Snowboard Courses, tgr, whistler movie premiere
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It’s Snowing in Whistler – Yee Ya!
September 30th, 2009Last night, Whistler got it’s first proper snowfall of the season. It’s time to get excited. Keep up to date with the snow as it arrives by signing up to Whistler Blackcomb’s snow report.
With the 4 week ski & snowboard instructor courses starting in under two months time, we’re stoked to see the snow so early! Let’s hope it keeps coming and we get a solid base down through October and November.
