Winter Park Take 2

I'm pleased to be back in Colorado, where I first tried monoskiing nearly two years ago. The team flew out at the beginning of December and trained in Breckenridge for a week, getting accustomed to the conditions and altitude - the resort's at 3000m - before the NorAm races at Copper Mountain and Winter Park. There was a good turn out with teams from America, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and of course Great Britain.

Well done to the GB team, winning three silver medals. I had a frustrating start to the season, falling but managing to complete the slalom and GS races at Copper. I hoped for a bit more success in Winter Park and managed a 4th in the GS but was disappointed with my time.

Conditions for the Super G were challengingly soft and I pushed it beyond the limits and crashed, breaking a ski. The second race was cancelled due to unsafe conditions.

I am now training in Winter Park, working hard on technique, especially body position, movement and timing to work the ski. Skiing gates daily is a great way to learn about tactics (race line, reading the course and much more) and I can already see considerable improvements from daily video analysis with the coaches.

The sun's finally come out after a cold and snowy December, where I've enjoyed two great powder days and some Mary Jane mogul training, which is great for balance training as one has to be very light on the outriggers.

With this intense training I should be well prepared to attack the races in the beginning of February. Happy New Year to all, my resolution is to ski faster!