British Disabled Ski Team

The racing arm of Disability Snowsport UK "The Skiers & Boarders Charity"
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BDST Season 2009/10

 

IPC World Cup Race - Abtenau, Austria (11th - 15th Jan, 2010)
 
Rose unable to capitalise on his form in the first two slalom races...
 
The first races of this second world cup competition did not prove fruitful for Rose who could only achieve 15th in the first slalom race (which was won by Germany's Martin Braxenthaler) and record a DNF after his first run in the second race (won by Austria's Juergen Egle, Braxenthaler having succombed to the same fate as Rose on his first run). There was some comfort to be taken from his first slalom race however for after a poor first run which left him in 20th he again proved his capability by finishing his second run in 6th place. This however was too much an ask to pull him into a top 10 finish.
 
Giant Slalom sees Rose record a DNF in both races...
 
With Germany's Braxenthaler currently the man to beat in the hot contested sit-category Rose was unable to complete the course for a finish on both occasions recording a DNF during both his second runs leaving the German to pick-up his latest gold in the the first of the GS technical races and Korean Sang Min Han in the second. 
 
Final Slalom see Rose just outside the top10 with eleventh place...
 
For Super Combined races, unfortunately, the Super G element was cancelled which meant no Super Combined could be recorded however the associated slalom race did take place with Rose finally recording a very respectable result just outside the top 10 with an eleventh place on a difficult course that took its toll on many of his associates.The race was convincingly won by Austia's Juergen Egle who led in both runs.
 
The paralympic venue of Sestriere, Italy becomes the next World Cup and final test before selection of the British athletes for Vancouver and runs from 20th - 23rd January.

IPC World Cup Race - RollRinn, Austria (7th - 10th Jan, 2010)
 
Rose's hopes of a medal dashed in the Giant slalom...
 

The first races in Europe after the Christmas break see athletes Docker, Rose and Farr, converging on Rinn in the Austrian Tirol for the first World Cup races of the season. These races concentrate on the technical aspects of alpine with both Giant Slalom and Slalom. 

 

In particularly icy conditions, only Rose competed for the Brits in the the Giant Slalom race on Friday, which was won by Martin Braxenthaler of Germany followed by close adversary Christopher Devlin-Young from the USA. Unfortunately Rose who was sitting in 8th place after his first run was unable to finish his second run falling at the second to last gate to record a DNF. Coach Jane Stevens     was particularly pleased with the way he attacked the course being only 2 seconds off the leaders after the first run.

 

Some of Rose's best ever Slalom skiing nearly gets him on the podium...

 

In the second day of slalom races Rose nearly pulled off the dream result. Second out of the start gate and attacking the course at the very beginning Rose crossed the finish in excellent form but then had to endure waiting on the rest of the field to complete the course. Pleasantly suprised to find that the world best slalom skiers bar one (Martin Braxenthaler) all came down the hill slower. Rose was in 2nd place only half a second behind the worlds best. Run 2 was a steep dificult first six gates and Sean miss timed his turn into the fourth gate, which had cut up badly after some 70 skiers having run it before him. Sliding sideways to a stop every effort had to be made to push himself onward. Throwing caution to the wind and nothing to loose he produced some of his best ever slalom skiing crossing the line knowing he had raced well. Whilst medal prospects had been dashed he was pleasantly suprised to find that he was sitting in 4th and subsequently dropped to 5th as the last racer (Braxenthaler) crossed the line for the win. A performance to be very proud of and one which would have been readily accepted last season but this time, the hunger is there for even more.

 

Docker who did not take part in these races is training well and heads over with the rest of the sqaud including a confident and race harden Rose to Abtenau.

 

BDST is certainly turning some heads on the circuit this season as we head into the Paralympic straight.

 


 

IPC NorAm Cup Race - Park City, Utah (1st -3rd Jan, 2010) - POSTPONED (Revised dates TBA)

 

Whilst most of the men remain in Europe for the World Cup, Skeels-Piggins heads off to join the rest of the squad in the US for the NorAm Huntsman Cup in Park City, Utah.

 


IPC European Cup Race - Kuhtai, Austria (17th - 19th Dec, 2009)
 
Rose continues his form with Bronze in the Slalom in Kuhtai...
 
Sitting Category 

SL

GS SL(2) 
Sean Rose    

 4th

 4th 3rd
Tim Farr

14th

 20th16th
Talan Skeels-Piggins

DNF

15thDNF
Russell Docker

18th

18thDNF
 
The team travelled the short distance from Pitztal to Kuhtai for their second series of races in the European cup. There was another good finish from Rose in the slalom just missing out on his fourth podium in four races with a fourth. He was beaten by the two German athletes Braxenthaler (1st), Nolte (2nd) and the Japanese racer Suzuki (3rd) Weather conditions were very cold with temperature on the mountain dipping to a freezing -30F in the wind. Both Farr and Docker completed the course but unfortunately Skeels-piggins was unable to capitalise on his great season start having a fall on the second run and dropping out of contention.
 
In the Giant Slalom all the men produced accomplished races with Rose again being denied that podium finishing a consistent 4th only 400th's out of a podium placing just behind Le Meur of France (1st), Han from Korea (2nd) and Loussalez also from France (3rd). Skeels-Piggins picked up the baton to beat his fellow GB team mates with a good 15th place and beginning to show a step change in his racing this season.
 
In the Mens Slalom 2, Rose finally claimed his first medal of these Kuhtai races with a Bronze in the slalom coming from 7th position after his first run into third just behind Braxenthaler (1st) and Nolte (2nd). Farr suffered a fall but managed to get himself up and through the finish but unfortunately the two remaining athletes crashed out of the race recording DNF's.
 
 IPC NorAm Cup Race - Winter Park, USA (17th - 18th Dec, 2009)
 
Turney achieves respectable 4th in the Super Combined...
 
Whilst Rose delivered in Kuhtai, Anna Turney continued with a good performance in Winter Park with a 4th in the Super Combined which consists of combining points from both a Super G and slalom race and requires an all round expertise in both technical and speed. However her SUper G run was not enough to gain her a medal in thie standalone element of the race where she finished 6th 
 
 


IPC NorAm Cup Race - Copper Mountain, USA (14th - 15th Dec, 2009)
 
Turney ensures the ladies deliver with silver and bronze in the USA...
 
Following shortly behind the success of the men's European races in Pitztal,  the women from the BDST have concentrated on attacking the competition across the atlantic in Copper Mountain, Colorado for their first season's races. Excellent results from Anna Turney saw her like Rose achieve a podium silver in her first races of the season in the slalom and delivered a further great result with a 3rd in the Giant Slalom behind a strong US contingent of Stephens and Victor, Alana Nichols having ben disqualified from third having missed gate 21 on her second run. Our first VI competitor Kelly Gallagher, who delivered exceptional results in the New Zealand Winter Games over the summer, continued with her newly found passion for the sport producing a further great performance.
 
They now move across to Winter Park for the IPC NorAm races from 17th - 18th December.
  


IPC European Cup Race - Pitztal, Austria (10th - 13th Dec, 2009)

 

Strong showing by Brits in the first races of the season with a hat-trick of medals for Rose...

 

Sitting Category 

GS

GS2 

SG 

Sean Rose

 2nd

 3rd

 3rd

Tim Farr

8th

 9th

 24th

Talan Skeels-Piggins

12th

7th 

DNF 

Russell Docker

DNF

16th 

14th 

Mick Brennan20th N/A N/A
Standing Category   
Martin Hewitt

16th

 N/A

 N/A

 

The first IPC Alpine Skiing event of the winter season took place in Pitztal, Austria, with strong performances evident from the British squad.

 

A total of 103 athletes took part in the Giant Slalom, an IPC Alpine Skiing Level Race, on Wednesday as a preamble to the European Cup Races due later in the week and already the GB men are delivering with a fantastic silver from Britain's No1 adaptive racer Sean Rose.

 

In close contention with veteran Paralympic Gold Medal Winner, Martin Braxenthaler, Rose was just edged into second place having beaten the German on his second run.

 

Other great performances came from both Tim Farr who achieved a top 10 finishing the race in 8th place with Tala Skeels-Piggins close behind in 12th. Two members of the Development squad, who are also members of the Combined Services Disabled Ski Team, Mick Brennan and Martin Hewitt also put in sterling performances in the open entry GS race. 

 

The first IPC Alpine Skiing European Cup race (GS1) was unfortunately cancelled due to conditions but Saturdays second GS race saw GB achieve three more top 10s including Rose delivering a further podium Bronze to add to his silver from Wednesday's GS. With role reversals, Skeels-Piigins grabbed a magnificent 7th whilst Farr, only 900th's of a second behind, was again consistent in the strong competition with a 9th.

 

In the speed event of Super G Rose again capitalised on his start of season form with a further bronze to add to his existing silver and bronze in the technical events. Docker also more comfortable with the speed events delivered a well deserved 14th with Farr coming over the line in 24th.

 

An excellent first outing for the team and very useful points towards their Vancouver 2010 qualification. 

 

 


Atomic supports BDST with raffle prize towards calendar...

 

Atomic kindly donated a pair of skis to go towards a raffle prize in support of the team's new 2010 calendar available at the Metro Ski and Board Show this year. The lucky winner was Ms Janet Cope - congratulations! 

 

The Team are looking to send 7 athletes to the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver and are preparing hard to ensure a big impact for GB.  The athletes are largely self-funded, with the biggest fundraiser this year to helping them reach their goals being the 2010 British Disabled Ski Team calendar.  This contains avariety of incredible glossy photos giving you an insight into the world of disabled ski racing.


The team have returned from a successful summer competition with the Winter Games in New Zealand and shortly head-off for their first races of the season in both Europe and the United States. They start off the season in Pitztal, Austria, competing against some of the best in the world at the Europe.  2010 begins with the first of the World Cup races, before athletes are united for final training and competition over in the US, leading up to the Paralympics in Vancouver, March 2010.


All that training costs a lot of money!  The calendar costs just £6 + P&P.  Your purchase will directly contribute to the team’s success.


Thank you!

 

To purchase your personal copy please complete a "contact us" email to Administration on the DisabilitySnowsport website by following the attached link or call 01479 861272 

 

If you would like to make an additional donation to the team, please go to www.justgiving.co.uk/britishdisabledskiteam2010

  


 

Hintertux Training Camp kicks off the teams most important season to date...

Pictures: Copyright © Sally Lee Duffy

The Start of another season is upon us, with the fresh snow comes the buzz from the excitement of being back in the mountains and starting to train and the anticipation of races and the forthcoming season.

 

This year is a big one with the 2010 Winter Paralympics, Vancouver, in March (12th-22nd) A few of the team have a little work to do to guarantee their selection on the 23rd Jan but everybody is putting in the hard graft to make sure that we send out strongest and largest team.

 

With this in mind the majority of the team drove out to Hintertux a week early to get in some free skiing and work on the basics so they were ready to go for the team camp. Some fresh powder gave them plenty to play in before the hard work began.

 

 The camp consisted of two weeks of solid training on and off snow. With all the support staff that will hopefully oil a successful Paralympic campaign. A big thank you to The team management and support staff who made the camp run so smoothly, especially the much in use team physio Laura from puresportmed, and a big thumbs up to her stand in Emma from Pilates Art Physiotherapy.

 

The New team ski tech also made a massive difference for the athletes both on and off the snow. With his expertise working on making the guys skis go faster and giving them the time to rest up properly to concentrate on training.

 

"The two weeks were a massive success and I think I can safely say that I have never felt quite this excited at the start of a season. Everybody is skiing well not just in GS but in Slalom. Everybody is pushing each other to improve and go faster and it is clear how much a difference the summer training in New Zealand has made and the hard work everybody has made on their fitness. Its going to be a big season (as they always are!!) and there is still a lot of work to do to make sure everybody is peaking at the Paralympics." said Tim Farr 

 

The trip had being going so smoothly with even the weather and snow conditions being kind to us for the majority of the camp (which isn’t often the case in Tux!) Unfortunately there was one incident, with Jane Sowerby the current leading British Lady having a bad fall and getting a hairline fracture to her collar bone. This is likely to put her out for a month but hopefully she will make a speedy recovery and be back training and competing just after Christmas and be back on track for the Paralympics.

 

The team have now gone their separate ways Jane has sadly had to go home to rest. While Anna Turney and Kelly Gallagher with her guide Claire Robb have gone to take on The United States, Leaving the boys Sean Rose, Russell Docker, Talan Skeels-Piggins and Tim Farr to head to the first Europa cups on the 11th-13th Dec. As well as the returning Joe Willoughby after a year off.

 

Its a big year but we have done everything to prepare ourselves and with everybody skiing well its now time to see what happens bring it on!!

 

 


 

John Lewis Trafford kindly supports the BDST with the provision of essential Camcorder Equipment

 

The recording of athlete performance both in training and at races is an essential part of the ongoing review by both coaches and individuals within the team. The BDST are most grateful to John Lewis Trafford for the provision of new equipment to support the team in their quest for Paralympic success in Vancouver 2010.

 "John Lewis Trafford are delighted to support the Disability Snowsport UK Ski Team with this gift. We wish you every success with your training"

 


 

United Staes, UK and Canadian Anti-doping Authorities team up on Global Drug Reference Site in support of clean athletes 

 

Please find attached a press release announcing the launch of the Global Drug Reference Online at www.globaldro.co.uk.  This the replacement service for the Drug Information Database that has been out of use since January of this year and allows users to search medication against the Prohibited List.

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

Latest 2009 UK Anti-Doping requirements signed up to by the BDST/DSUK are available via the Rules, Regulations & Ins page on this site.

 

Please circulate the website www.globaldro.co.uk widely amongst all athletes and support staff

 


 

Skiers aim for Vancouver
 
Check out the BBC pictorial feature as GB ski team prepare for the 2010 Winter Paralympics - Click here 
 
 
 
  

 

 


 

 

 

WINTERGAMESNZ - Giant Slalom and Slalom deliver results for GB

 

In a briliiant start to her racing career Kelly Gallagher, GB's first female VI (Visually Impaired) racer in the B3 category and member of the BDST Adult Development Squad, achieved her first Gold in the ladies Giant Slalom moving from second after her first run to improve her time by over 4 seconds and claim victory - well done Kelly - we look forward to seeing your undoubted progress in the seasons ahead.

 

Meanwhile in the womens sit category 'A' Squad racers Anna Turney and Jane Sowerby both brushed the cobwebbs of the summer away with two excellent results - Silver and Bronze respectively in two closely matched times, the race being won by USA's Alana NIcholls.

 

For the men, it was Tim Farr who tried to squeeze into a podium narrowly missing out to finish 4th in what will be seen as an excellent start for someone who suffered an unfair period of injury last season. Only 6 seconds off the veteran racer and winner Martin Braxenthaler, surely a sign of things to come. Talan Skeels-Piggins also put up a sterling performance climbing to 7th only a second behind Tim.

 

Holding up the flag for the new BDST development team members in the mens standing category were Sam Hallam (10th) and Martin Hewitt (12th), both also members of the Combined Services Disabled Ski Team with whom we have a close working relationship and a future source of aspiring adaptive racers.

 

In the Slalom, no success for the ladies, however Tim Farr found an extra few hundreths's to put himself on the podium with a well deserved 3rd place - that man Braxenthaler showing why he is paralympic champion achieving his second win of the games. A member of our Youth Development Squad 14 year old Ben Sneesby showed everyone that he will be a force to contend with in the future by finishing the slalom in 7th place and experiencing the competition alongside his British team mates and championship racers from Germany, USA, Japan - a fantastic experience.

 

The BDST party now pack-up to return home after what has been a very beneficial training and racing opportunity. This puts us in a great position to capitalise on the early seasons races on the Northern Hemisphere circuit as we countdown to Vancouver 2010.

 

Results:

 

Athlete

Super G

Giant Slalom 

Slalom

Kelly Gallagher

(VI)

 

 

Cancelled

 

1st

 

 DNF - 2ndRun

Anna Turney

(Sitting-Women)

 

 

Cancelled

 2nd

 

 DSQ - 1st Run

Jane Sowerby

(Sitting Women)

 

 

Cancelled 

 3rd

 

 DNF - 1st Run

Tim Farr

(Sitting -Men)

 

 

Cancelled

 4th

 

3rd

Talan Skeels-Piggins

(Sitting - Men)

 

 

Cancelled 

 7th

 

 DNF - 1st Run

Mick Brennan 

(Sitting - Men)

 

 

Cancelled 

 11th

 

DNS - 1st Run

Ben Sneesby

(Sitting - Men)

 

 

Cancelled

 DSQ - 2nd  Run

 

7th

Sam Hallam

(Standing - Men)

 

 

Cancelled

 

 10th

 

7th

Martin Hewitt

(Standing - Men)

 

 

Cancelled

 

 12th

 

8th

 

 

 

 

 

 

WINTERGAMESNZ - High winds cancel the Super G for our adaptive skiers...

 

While the able bodied Super G was completed successfully the adaptive skiers were not so fortunate and their race had to be cancelled due to the high winds which affected the erection of safety netting.

 

"It was most disappointing for all the athletes both from overseas and from New Zealand who were looking forward to racing on the same course as the able bodied racers for the first time. But you can't control Mother Nature," said Libby Blakeley, Adaptive Snowsports Manager, Snowsports New Zealand. "We are now looking forward to the Winter Games giant slalom on Friday (August 28) and the slalom on Saturday (August 29) which are both being held at Coronet Peak."NZ Winter Games- High winds cancel the Super G

 

 
 
 
The squad are well settled into their training camp in Mt Hutt, New Zealand. Jane Stevens talked to NZSki.com.
 
Sean Rose issued a short "Snow Report" - don't give up the day job Sean!
 

"Hope you’re well.

 

Skiing in New Zealand at the moment, training with the rest of the Team.

 

Had a few down days due to high winds, so was asked to try another line of work – Snow reporter?

 

In true Weather forecast summarising, it never happened at all like it looks in the video?

 

We got soaked through to the skin up there in the rain today and had more bad viz and windy days as well."
 
 
Everyone is waiting for the excitment of the Winter Games NZ which run from 21 - 30 Aug
 
In detail...

Alpine Skiing (Able body and Adaptive)

 

 


BDST Squad Selection released for 2009/10 season

 

Following a succesfull season debrief and ParalymicGB Winter Camp in loughborough over the weekend of 25th/26th April, we are delighted to announce athlete selection for both the "A" and "B" squads of the British Disabled Ski Team. 
 
Congratulations to all for achieving the levels set to represent BDST and GBR at future IPCAS events and respective team categories.