Chemmy’s crashI’ve just been checking out all the UK news reports on Chemmy Alcott’s awful crash at Lake Louise, and can’t help thinking it’s sad that it’s only when her season (and maybe career) is over that the wider media gets interested
She has been a great ambassador for British ski racing – maybe one day if we can get more racers like her or Ed Drake, I will finally escape Eddie the Eagle’s name being brought up when I mention I’m British at ski events!
I actually attended the men’s world cup ski event at Lake Louise last weekend, for a feature I’m writing for a future edition of Fall Line Skiing & Snowboarding about how more British ski fans should think about watching these very exciting events in person.
Some of my hosts were ex-ski racers and they told me how ski equipment has become so sophisticated now that it can stand up to forces and speeds that, just maybe, the human body can’t cope with.
In a press conference last Saturday after the downhill event, second-place racer Aksel Lund Svindal spoke about his concern with the iciness of the course, saying that he believes alpine skiing should be a snowsport, and if you add water into snow when it is minus 30 degrees in the mountains, it only serves to turn the course into an ice rink. He did add that the terrain features on the course were well crafted.
The next day, the only sole Brit at the men’s event, Ed Drake, crashed out early in the Super G course after getting his arm stuck in a gate. Later in the event, a German skier, Andeas Strodl, had to be airlifted off the course after crashing and tearing leg ligaments.
Alcott has told media that she doesn’t blame the icy course for her crash, but last year’s world champion Lindsey Vonn has criticized the course builders’ decision to add water to an already-icy course.
Is it time to rethink some of the ways the courses are built, in light of modern equipment?
On a happier note, back in Fernie, the ski hill was the first resort in Canada to open its entire mountain after receiving 255 cm of snow already this year. This has compacted down into a great base of 104 cm (so there’s no danger of early season rock-skiing) and we’ve had 65 cm of snow in the last seven days alone!
Take a deep breath, ignore the exchange rate and book your flight to the Rockies – you can’t find powder like this in Bulgaria.
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Posted by Rebecca Edwards - Mon, 13/12/2010 - 12:09pm
I’ve just been checking out all the UK news reports on Chemmy Alcott’s awful crash at Lake Louise, and can’t help thinking it’s sad that it’s only when her season (and maybe career) is over that the wider media gets interested
She has been a great ambassador for British ski racing – maybe one day if we can get more racers like her or Ed Drake, I will finally escape Eddie the Eagle’s name being brought up when I mention I’m British at ski events!
I actually attended the men’s world cup ski event at Lake Louise last weekend, for a feature I’m writing for a future edition of Fall Line Skiing & Snowboarding about how more British ski fans should think about watching these very exciting events in person.
Some of my hosts were ex-ski racers and they told me how ski equipment has become so sophisticated now that it can stand up to forces and speeds that, just maybe, the human body can’t cope with.
In a press conference last Saturday after the downhill event, second-place racer Aksel Lund Svindal spoke about his concern with the iciness of the course, saying that he believes alpine skiing should be a snowsport, and if you add water into snow when it is minus 30 degrees in the mountains, it only serves to turn the course into an ice rink. He did add that the terrain features on the course were well crafted.
The next day, the only sole Brit at the men’s event, Ed Drake, crashed out early in the Super G course after getting his arm stuck in a gate. Later in the event, a German skier, Andeas Strodl, had to be airlifted off the course after crashing and tearing leg ligaments.
Alcott has told media that she doesn’t blame the icy course for her crash, but last year’s world champion Lindsey Vonn has criticized the course builders’ decision to add water to an already-icy course.
Is it time to rethink some of the ways the courses are built, in light of modern equipment?
On a happier note, back in Fernie, the ski hill was the first resort in Canada to open its entire mountain after receiving 255 cm of snow already this year. This has compacted down into a great base of 104 cm (so there’s no danger of early season rock-skiing) and we’ve had 65 cm of snow in the last seven days alone!
Take a deep breath, ignore the exchange rate and book your flight to the Rockies – you can’t find powder like this in Bulgaria.