Val Thorens Snow Report: 15th December 2014

Last week I took a few days off to go to London for some tests on my hip as I have been having some pain recently but all the tests have come back clear and there is nothing stopping me from skiing which is great news. Once I came back from London I squeezed in some skiing on the Val Thorens race hill in preparation for the races on Monday and Tuesday.

I really like the Val Thorens race hill, it’s one of the longest Giant Slalom hills you can race on in the FIS circuit (level below EuropaCup and WorldCup) as it is up to 1 minute 20 seconds long! It starts with a long rolling flat then plunges into a steep section before finishing off on another rolly flat section. I was starting bib number 21 so I knew that meant there were some really good racers ahead of me. I had a good first run but didn’t ski the steep section as well as I wanted to so I knew I could improve in my second run.

I was sat in 19th place so I really wanted to make up some places at the finish. The second course suited me better as it was set slightly straighter and faster. In Giant Slalom they flip the top 30 for second run so I was starting 12th. The course was in perfect conditions so I really went for it and had a really good run. I had one on the top five second run times and was only one hundredth off the leader. Overall I finished 13th and 1.6 seconds off the winner. I was really happy with my skiing and was delighted that I scored a best result of 29 points, especially as it was the first race of the season.

The next day we had another Giant Slalom race but the weather had clouded in and a lot of snow was falling. The Val Thorens team still did a great job with the race piste and the race could run. I skied really well but unfortunately made a big mistake on the bottom flat and had to push back into the course. I was especially disappointed when I saw that my time was actually still quite good and that I could have done really well without the mistake! I knew it would be close to make the top 30 and waited with my fingers crossed until the last racer had crossed the line. I was sat in 30th position right until the last racer, number 105, who beat me by 4 tenths so I would be starting 31st for the second run!

It was really disappointing as I had missed out on starting first by just two hundredths of a second. However, it meant that I had nothing to lose for the second run and really went for it. I had the 17th best run time and managed to make up a few places to finish in 24th position. I was still really happy with my skiing, just annoyed that I had made a few silly mistakes. I’m really looking forward to doing more GS racing and training to try and get faster.

Overall, for the first races of the season I was really happy with how I had performed. Val Thorens snow conditions were great and nearly all the pistes are now open. The temperatures are staying really low so the snow is in great condition and lots of artificial snow has been made which means it is extra grippy and perfect for carving out sweet turns! I can’t wait for the training pistes in Meribel to open so I can train up there.

The countdown to Christmas has now begun and thankfully it now looks like the Three Valleys will be having its usual white Christmas!