Merry Christmas

Hi guys,

Saturday I got back from a week’s training with Ben Reid out in Austria, where I got to try out my new sit ski. It was a great camp and it was very productive.  The goal for the camp was to get used to my sit ski, and decide on any adjustments that needed making to my new rig whilst also improving my performance in gates. 

We flew into Ljubljana in Slovenia and then took a coach into Austria. Arriving in resort (turracher höhe), the hotel was half way up the ski slope which led to a very exciting trip up to the hotel via a snow mobile. That kicked ass.

The first day we were out on slalom ski’s, where we ski’d down to the training run, instantly my sit ski was comfier, easier to turn and much more reactive than my old one. Which led to many MANY occasions where I was over turning and going back down the hill backwards as I had to put less into it to make it turn that I was doing previously. It was quite exciting at times. 

We got back to the hotel that night and Ben and I did a dowel test on my rig. Which basically involves sticking a broom handle underneath the centre of the ski whilst I’m sat in the sit ski to check which way I tip (forward or backwards) to check if I am using the full amount of the ski correctly. We found that although it was handling much better than my old rig, my weight was too far back. The scarver allows to very easily solve this by undoing a few bolts and moving the whole seat forward…..much easier than my old one as this one would have involved the welding tackle previously…sorry dad. 

I went out the next day and I’ve never turned a ski like that in my life, it was so aggressive and responsive. It took a lot of getting used too but my god, if that’s what it feels like to turn a ski properly I’m going to be in for some fun. That day spent most of the time, really trying to get used to new setup and not crash. This brought back a lot of bad habits but it was just because I wasn’t used to it and over the week this sorted itself out. 

Getting back to the hotel was quite fun, sit skis are pretty well designed for getting around the mountain, you have a rope with a quick release for going up T-Bars and you have a button that you can press to allow the sit ski to release from it’s suspension and be scooped up by a chair lift. The one thing it can’t do very easily is go along a rope pull. A rope pull is basically a rope that you hold onto and it drags you along the snow. This one in particular was fine for the majority of it but the dismount at the top was done on a bit of a hill, which meant that the minute I let go of the rope I would go backwards down the hill and I needed both hands on the rope to be able to pull myself (being a fat b*stard doesn’t help with this one.)  We solved this by one of the guys on the camp Tim, grabbing hold of my sit ski seat and holding the ski flat whilst I dragged us both up the hill, when we got to the top, he slowly rotated me round and stopped me going backwards whilst I could let go and steady myself again. 

Everyone on the camp was fantastic, they couldn’t do more to help, whether this involved bringing my sit ski in at night so it doesn’t freeze, picking me up when I decide I fancy eating some snow or just carrying my coffee. This made my life so much easier and a special shout out goes to Tim who was just mega. 

My favourite day of the camp was definitely when we trained giant slalom, it was fantastic getting back in the gates and I was beaming from ear to ear after every run, even the ones that didn’t go to plan. 

      

During this camp I suffered with fatigue quite badly for the first few days, I think staying at altitude affected me much more than it normally does and it took a few days to get over that. I had to duck out of the afternoon sessions due to feeling absolutely exhausted but towards the end of the week I was raring to go for both sessions. 

Anyways I’ll leave it here for now, I’m really pleased with the new kit and I can’t wait to get back on snow again. Now for a bit of R&R and enjoy Christmas with family and friends. 

Have a lovely Christmas 

Love 

Alex 

Photo Credits Alice Luetchford

Winter is coming

Hey guys,

It has been a while since my last blog but I thought I would update you on a couple of things. I have just got back from 10 days in Hintertux Austria, It was a great camp, lots of snow and I am definitely the post mountain blues.

I have been struggling with a neck injury the last few camps and thus struggled with training       and generally getting about. Although, inefficient, the way I learnt to walk means I use my neck muscles for pretty much everything I do, which when pulled, makes getting from A to B pretty difficult, but its on the mend now.

I have recently started Ballroom dancing. Absurd ? no, well I did think that a bit to begin with but bear with me. The idea was to improve my balance and my footwork whilst being able to work at a higher intensity and still have precision in my movements. Darren at Footloose dance studio in Barlborough has been great at easing me into it. I keep warning him that I will end up falling over at some point but luckily, this hasn’t happened…yet.  He has been getting me to do Cha cha, Waltz, Fox trot and a bit of rock and roll. I am really enjoying it and it has brought a different focus to my training.

At the beginning of September we spent a week in Hintertux, it was a hard camp for myself, there was very little snow(pictured right) and we spent most of the time skiing on glacier ice.  I struggled with the snow, it was like skiing on marbles, which wasn’t very fun. The skis vibrated under foot and I found it hard to relax. As the week went on I felt as I was beginning to relax to it but still struggled to keep an edge. 

I arrived back in the UK on the Sunday to stop off in Luton to commute straight into London for work on the Monday morning.  It was a strange feeling being back at sea level, Hintertux is a glacier that sits at 3250 m, and the hotel we stay at is around 1000m above sea level.  The next four days brought on the feeling that can only be described as being drunk on oxygen. I felt energised and felt like I had drank 100 espressos. I don’t think my colleagues knew what hit them when I walked in haha.

This week I started my next rotation at work for my graduate programme. I have moved into the Network function and I am working on a project to streamline the business. The first week has been a steep learning curve but I am starting to get my head round the challenge. This job is based in Chesterfield and I will only be in London 1 -2 times a fortnight. This is going to cut my costs down dramatically and help me manage my energy levels more efficiently. If I am having a ‘tired’ day I could restrict my walking to a minimum of 5 minutes a day. Which will be great for my general well being. Although, I am sad to leave London, I will miss the people and the fun I do have down there. I am excited to start this next challenge.

As I said earlier I have just got back Hintertux from another training camp. There had been a dumping of snow since the last camp in September and the glacier looked much more inviting. It is getting colder and it feels like ‘winter it coming’ (check out the below picture, even my hair froze.) I have been trying to work on rolling my skis more and pressing through the shins to get more drive. 

This is the first time I have ever enjoyed powder skiing. Having outriggers and generally limited control over my feet, powder and I have never really got on. There are too many things to get caught and I just normally end up face first in big mounds of snow (look over previous blogs for evidence.) But on this camp, I have started to see the fruits of my labour. We got on the hill early, and there was miles of untouched snow waiting for us. Feeling a little apprehensive I made my way to the meeting point, a short ski down the mountain. I made two turns and suddenly realised what all the fuss was about. I forgot everything my coach had told me to focus on and just ripped some massive turns, spraying powder everywhere. I felt like I was floating, it was a true feeling of freedom.....AWESOME !!! ....Even If I did get a little told after for not focussing on the drills....it was worth it (don't tell Dougie that.)

We have even been doing off snow drills but on skis to try and perfect the movement. This involves me stood on skis but on a mat, trying to replicate the movements I would do to ski but on dry land. This helps greatly, as we can control a lot of the conditions and get my body understanding what it needs to do much more easily.

On camp we have 3 rules to ensure to define our culture, to provide a bit of order and to show that we are respectable to each other and the other teams. 

These are:

• be punctual,
• no swearing
• carry your water bottle wherever you go (hydration is a hot topic at the moment) 

To add a bit of fun into the mix we have forfeits to do if we break one of these rules.  These can consist of 10 press ups to hill sprints to dancing in a random place for 60 seconds to singing a rendition of Singing in the rain outside (in the the rain).  These have brought a lighter side to training and help define our values and the performance side of our training.

Well, I will leave it there for now, it is 4 weeks till my next race, I am training hard :) and making the most of my new working location. I will update you when I am settled into my new job.

Much Love

Alex

x

If anyone would like to sponsor my cause please click here Or email me on alexclarke1992@outlook.com

Swiss & British Championships Part 1

Well that’s it, we have come to the end of the 15/16 season and what a season it has been. Not only personally, but for the team as a whole. We have our first ever overall World Champion (Menna Fitzpatrick and Jen Kehoe) and we have our World Super G champion (Millie Knight and Brett Wild.)  Truly, a great year for adaptive sport.

The last two weeks of the season have been awesome, the sun was shining and the snow was great. My journey started off in Stubai, Austria. The team had been out in Mellau, Austria for the Austrian national champs but due to work commitments I joined a little later.  It was my first time in Stubai. I had the delight of being transferred from Innsbruck to Stubai in a brand new Porsche, I think I will start using Four Seasons transfers a bit more often ;)

The first day of training got off to an eventful start. On the first run I managed to completely snap one of the outriggers I use to ski with, completely in half. One of the lift operators helped me ski back down with one, luckily avoiding eating any powder.  Andy Barlow a  3 track skier from the Army team, had a spare that he kindly lent me.  I was back on the slope within the hour.

We spent 4 days training in Stubai, 2 days training slalom and 2 days training Giant Slalom. The training piste was one of the steepest pitches I have ever trained on but was a very fun hill. We stayed in a B&B which meant the team all cooked together. It is a great bonding opportunity for the team and although it takes its time and requires planning, I really enjoy it.

My goals for the fortnight was to achieve more drive through the turn and to provide more direction in order to control my speed more effectively.

To do this my focus points were:

-       Higher hip position

-       Earlier turn initiation

This was the first time I have properly skied since my chiropractic treatment and I hadn’t realised how much of an impact it has had on my body. I fatigued very quickly and found that all the extra feelings and messages I am getting from releasing the nerves, has had more of an impact than I thought. I wasn’t able to ski for as long as I had used to, but the quality was to a higher standard.

Training went well and the gates were a great challenge, especially when fresh snow had fallen and dictated even more that we were on the racing line.

On the Thursday, we moved from Austria to Obersaxen in Switzerland. This was for start of the Swiss National Championship. This was the first time I have stayed in Switzerland and I was really excited to ski here.  The Friday was the Europa Cup Finals for Giant Slalom. This is the next step in Adaptive racing from the league I am currently in. We had John Dickinson-lilley with his Guide Jack Davey and Kieran Nimmo racing.  John and Jack ended up coming 5^th and Kieran came 17^th a great finish with a competitive field.

Saturday and Sunday brought the National Championships Giant Slalom and Slalom. The weather was hot and the piste seemed really nice. It was a nice gradient with a variety of different terrain and rollers. Perfect for the level I am at and meant I could let the skis run.  After the first run, I had put down my best time ever, it wasn’t perfect but I was moving more and my time definitely reflected that. The second run came round, I was exhausted, I didn’t consciously know it, but my body was showing signs of fatigue. I got to the first drop off and my body just didn’t turn with my leg going into spasm and I ended up binning it into a pile of snow.  I got to the bottom and sat down and then I realised the extent of my fatigue.  The slalom on the second day was similar, the first run wasn’t perfect but there was definite signs of improvement with a quicker time, but as the second run came round I was fatigued and an over cautious start set me up badly for the next few gates and I ended up binning it. Frustrated, but I was starting to understand the situation with my body a bit more and the need for rest.

We moved from Switzerland to Tignes France with an overnight stop in Milano, Italy.  Euan’s (the coach) tetris skill was to an all-time high (see picture of number of bags needed to squeeze in one van.)  
This was for the Start of the British Championships. This is the first time GB have held an adaptive ski race and it was great to be part of this.

TO BE CONTINUED :) 

Much love

Alex

If anyone would like to sponsor my cause please click here

Or email me on alexclarke1992@outlook.com

 

Happy New Year

Hi everyone,

 

First of all, Happy new year :)

I hope everyone had a good Christmas and New year, and is finally settled back into the normal routine. I had a great Christmas and New Year, I don’t feel like I have rested but I wouldn’t change it.  You know when you are officially a ‘grown up’ when you receive new ties and work shirts for Christmas :)

On Boxing day my parents and I flew out to Austria for 8 days in Zell am See. We then moved onto Rinn (near Innsbruck) for 2 days racing.  Zell am See is a very picturesque resort, with a huge Lake in the middle surrounded by mountains. When we got there it came apparent very quickly there was a severe lack of snow, but the resort had done very well to keep many of the runs open.

We stayed in Haus Ashling, which is owned by an Irish couple Eugene and Margaret, they brought a family feel to the hotel, which made a very relaxed atmosphere. They also had a hot tub that overlooked the mountains, which was AMAZING!!! 

The first few days of a new resort I always struggle with, I don’t know if it’s my confidence or trying to get my ski legs back, but I am always a bit tentative. My goal for the trip was to get a higher hip position and increase my endurance, allowing me to ski on more terrain, for longer. 

The third day was awesome. We ventured all over the mountain, skiing roughly 20km in a couple of hours, I even skied my first black run :) I had a lot of fun and this was probably the furthest I have ever skied in such a short amount of time. Unfortunately this ruined my back for the next few days and I struggled with pain due to tightness in the lower muscles and vertebrae’s….the hot tub came in very handy.

For our recovery programme we were lucky enough to find a spot next to Lake Zell.  We spent time with the agility cones, trying to get quicker movement through the feet and keep driving forward. We also spent quite some time jumping and hopping, I am not sure what the locals thought to a guy on crutches trying to hop, but it certainly got some interesting looks.

We had the benefit of spending New Year in this amazing place. My parents and I had a relaxed evening going out for a meal and then headed back up to Haus Ashling to watch the fireworks from the hotel with the rest of the guests. The fireworks were incredible and lasted for over an hour, it was a great start to the New Year and will be something I never forget.

My skis have taken a bit of a battering of the last year, those of you that have seen my skis will say that is a bit of an understatement. The poor snow conditions dealt the final blow, snapping off part of the edge and leaving me with very little/no grip.  I had ordered some new ones at the beginning of December but due to a number of reasons they hadn’t arrived yet.  This posed a problem for the upcoming race. I have a special attachment to keep my skis apart (a solid tether), which is actually drilled through the top of each ski, which makes borrowing skis a problem.  Justin (coach) kindly said he would let me borrow his skis. This meant I would have to use a clip on tether to keep my skis apart that was made of rope, rather than a solid fixed tether. This is something I have not skied with for quite a while. 

On the 3^rd of January we travelled to Rinn near Innsbruck to compete in two slalom races. A Day & a night slalom.  The events are put on as part of the Roll Rinn festival, which is a charity festival that raises money for children with disabilities in Austria.   The first event was the night slalom; this is the first time I have skied in night slalom. The resort is so small there was only time to practice before the course was set. I tried Justin’s skis using a tether but I did not feel comfortable on these and quickly resorted back to my old knackered skis. Although they had fewer grips, I was more confident on these. I was looking forward to the race but at the same time I had very little confidence in my equipment, which brought on some doubt in my mind. 

As the light faded, the course was illuminated by huge floodlights, signalling the start of inspection. We inspected the course, it looked good, there were 3 rollers and the snow was a bit soft, which was perfect for the equipment I was on. Feeling less doubtful, I queued up in the start gate. This is the first time I have actually un-clipped from skis in the start area and found this made me relax much easier and I was able to activate the right muscles. Shortly after the first racer dropped in, it started to snow. My number neared, so I stripped down to my cat suit and lined up in the gate, the start referee nicknamed me superman because of my second name, which made me laugh, easing the tension. I dropped in and started my run. The snow was soft and was starting to rut, turning the course into a mogul field. My run was rather sketchy to say the least but I made it down, increasing my confidence dramatically. The second run came round; the snow had hardened slightly due to the decreasing temperature but it was still snowing. I dropped in aiming to get my body position higher and really drive the ski forward, I made it down and finished in 15^th Place. I was happy :) As the last skier crossed the finish line this did not see the end of the evening The organisers had put on live bands, fashions parades and great food all in the aid of charity….it was quite a spectacle and was a great event to attend.

The second day came round, I was exhausted from getting back late the night before, but I was keen to get going. I got down the first run 15 seconds faster than my first run on the first day, I was happy. The second run I took a few pointers from our guys and let my skis run on the flatter section. I was travelling with much more speed but a quick lapse in concentration due to fatigue, meant I was extremely late coming out of a turn and I missed one of the last gates.  A bit frustrated with myself but I was happy with what I had done.

John Dickinson Lilley and his guide Jack Davey finished in 2^nd place for the Visually Impaired category and Michael Kear and Rufus Alcott finished in third place on both days. Well done to everyone and great few days.

Following on from my last post I thought I would give a bit of an update on Jeffrey Stuut. Jeff (pictured right) is now out of hospital and is on the mend, he spent some time with family over Christmas but is currently in the Papendal  National Training Centre in Veluwe.  He has been on the anti gravity running machine and is making good progress. Currently running at 60% his body weight. He is very keen to come back stronger than ever. Best wishes for him for the New Year.

So what’s next for me? I am now back at work and right in the thick of it. I am chasing down my new skis, eager to get back on the boards. My next races are in March but before then I am trying to ski as many weekends as I can. I am also seeing a Chiropractor 3 times a week to sort out my body position & posture. I had my first adjustment last Friday and feel this will make a big difference. Speak soon

Love

Alex

x

If anyone would like to sponsor my cause please click here

Or email me on alexclarke1992@outlook.com