Day 5 - Family and friends get to relax with athletes at ParalympicsGB hosted event...
With no athletes taking part in todays GS for standing category, the opportunity was taken to host an afternoon of relaxation and chat hosted by ParalympicsGB for the fantastic support being provided by family and friends of the athletes here in Whistler.
BPA Chairman, Tim Reddish expressed his gratitude for the support given to the athletes who 
had joined a very unique club. It provided a rare opportunity outside the controlled environment of the games for athletes, support staff, family and friends alike to meet and greet each other as part of this wider paralympic family.
Special appearances from Steve Napier who was one of only two athletes selected for Salt Lake 2002 the other Russell Docker still a member of the British quad and here in Whistler for his third games.
Liz Nicholl from UK sport also had an opportunity to chat with the athletes and congratulate those that had done so well so far and wish luck to those with additional races still to run.
Day 4 - Vancouver rain makes conditions difficult but Gallagher pulls off a brilliant 4th in the Giant Slalom...
The weather returned to its most unpleasant again as athletes prepared for their second set of races of the games. This time would see all seven athletes (plus VI guide Claire Robb) putting their skills to the test in the Giant Slalom. Similar to the slalom and run over two seperate courses on the same day but with slightly wider and longer technical gates, the scene was set.
Attacking the course from the outset Gallagher and Robb again showed their perfromance in this technical race against the strong paralympic field. In soaking conditions with fog and rain rolling in and out of the mountain course the pairing managed to get themselves in a similar position to that they had acheved in their first slalom run. With all hatches battoned down for the second race they achieved the second fastest split times of the day rocketing them to the top of the leader board but with still a number of experienced racers to follow. Nail biting to the end it was not to be with this GB and NI pairing just being nudged out of medal contention at the very end of the days races. Understandably, however, the whole team was in fantastic mood for what was a magnificent 4th. Some very proud parents hugged their daughter.
For the womens sit, with course deteriorating all the time both Turney and Sowerby dug deep and ensured they made it down the first run of the difficult course. Unfortuneately, Sowerby was deemed to have made a rolling start in her quest to get her race started and was subsequently DSQ and disappointingly was unable to commence her second run. For Turney, she hit some of the worst weather of the day disappearing in the fog and mist and loosing some of her coordination in the white-out conditions crashing out on the course. However determined to get down she eventually appeared at the finish to cheers from the soaking crowd for her sheer determination.
For the men Rose was again the pathfinder for the Brits - A crash in front of Rose further down the course had him being "yellow flagged" as he set off at a blistering pace to make amends for the slalom. In some situations this may have been to a racers advantage, but with the weather and course continuing to deteriorate the 30 mins or so it took Rose to get back to the start and slotted in for a re-run, conditions had moved against him. Whilst he attacked as best he could, the course had slowed considerably which left him, after his first run, in a similar position to that experienced earlier in the week. Both Farr and Skeels-Piggins who ran shortly after Rose in their first run had to also suffer the terrible conditions but managed to get down. Docker on the otherhand could not cope with the additional demands and with too much speed into one of the technical gates crashed out on his first run. The second run for the men was difficult to observe from the grandstand and even the large screen footage was obliterated for most of the time, but Rose let rip throwing caution to the wind - another 8th was unacceptable - even though the weather and other course events had conspired against him. Appearing out of the mist on the last section of the course he had more speed than most. So nearly home he lost control at the secon
d to last gate crashing in spectacular style and almost coming through the finish on his side. It was not Sean's day. Both Tim and Talan had great second runs pulling themselves through the field to finish 15th and 16th respectively only for Farr to be subsequently DSQ for starting his run before the timer - the waiting, cold and the weather causing some simple mistakes to be made.
Weather is set to improve later in the week when the downhill is due to take place. For the women todays races concluded their paralympics race programme.Only Rose and Docker are eligible for Downhill on Thursday, Skeels-Piggins, Docker and Rose for the Super G on Friday and our all round World Cup and revious Paralympian racer Sean Rose will be flying the flag for GB in the final and rearranged Super Combined (Super G + Slalom) races on Sunday.
Well done to the girls Kelly, Claire, Anna, Jane and Tim for a fantastic display, great results and venture into their first paralympics games with real potential for greater things to come as we move towards Sochi 2014.
Day 3 - A rest day for the GB athletes but our technical support helps New Zealand to a Gold...
With all the GB athletes in either a sitting or VI category, Monday saw the team taking a well deserved rest day after the exertions and previous days great slalom results. However, the work did not stop their for the behind the scenes crew who put in very long hours to ensure equipment is appropriately race prepared for the athletes. Up at the crack of dawn and often the last to leave the race camp at the end of the day they work tirelessly to ensure equipment is ready and waiting for the next races. 
GB has a close affiliation with New Zealand, in fact the team Head Coach, Jane Stevens, is a kiwi and we have been only to pleased to provide help and support to their team. Our technicians worked with the kiwi eam to prep the winning skies of Adam Hall who put in a brilliant show in the mens standing category. Falling on his second run but still managing to get up and complete the course having enough in hand to just retain the fastest time finishing on the podium in Gold.
The opportunity was taken to attend the medal ceremony for Hall given GB had contributed to this success which goes to show one of the many aspects required to create a successful performance support environment for the athletes.
Day 2 - The alpine athletes of Paralympics TeamGB produce great results in slalom...
Gallagher and Robb - 6th (Womens VI)
Turney - 6th (Womens sitting)
Rose - 8th (Mens sitting)
Following the previous days postponement of the downhill, organisers had to make the difficult decision on whether to opt for a further speed event on the Sunday (Super G) or go for the technical events which are less weather critical asthey start further down the hill and do not have the increased risk of the high speed races where visiblity is paramount. Given the unpredictable weather battering this West coast of Canada they erred on the side of caution and decided to go with the first of the technial races - the slalom - which would dictate a rearranged programme for the week with speed events now commencing with the Downhill on Thursday 18th.
In the event weather on the Sunday had improved and firstof the team to go was Northern Ireland's Kelly Galagher and her guide Claire Robb in the womens visually impaired category. Kelly, a B3 classified athlete, has only been on the BDST team for less than two years but was already showing potential following her results in the New Zealand winter games last summer. With a start position of 13th they produced a good solid start to their paralympic career pulling themselves into a very respectable 8th place after the first run. The second run, on a redesigned course, had the pair being more agressive and saw them setting the benchmark for British skiing achieving an impresive 6th in their category. Winners were Sabine Gasteiger (Austria), silver - Viviane Forest (Canada) and bronze - Jessica Gallagher (Australia) - no relation!
Next to go in the womens sit category was Anna Turney, who too produced two excellent runs moving from her start position of 13th to also deliver a magnificent first day result giving GB its second 6th place of the day. The gold went to Claudia Loesch from Austria, with Stephani Victor from the USA in silver and Koniko Obinata taking bronze medal position.
For the men, Sean Rose was the first of the Brits to attack the course. Unfortunately, Rose admitted afterwards that he
had given the course on the first run a bit too much respect which left him in a difficult but still very respectable position of 15th out of the 47 starters. He vowed to make amends in the second run and was true to his words. With a blstering performance of technichal skiing he ripped through the field and held a podium position for much of the remaning race to finally be pushed into 8th but again a magnificent display for TeamGB. Tim Farr and Talan Skeel-Piggins also both had great races Tim, whilst further down the rankings pulled off a similar spurt to Rose moving from 28th after his first run to get his top 20 place at 20th. Skeels-Piggins also dug deep in an event where his disability and balance makes it very difficult to master produced a very respectable finish in 31st. Gold was taken by veteran paralympian Martin Braxenthaler (Germany), Josh Dueck (Canada) silver and bronze to Philip Bonadimann from Australia.
Unfortunately, the day was not any more favourbale to the remaining team members, Jane Sowerby and Russell Docker who both had difficulties at the top of the icy track and failed to finish their first runs recording DNF.
However, overall a truly remarkable first day with excellent results beginning to show how far the GB team has come since Turin with a number of these racers only just entering into the realms of elite performance sport.
Day 1 - Bad weather forces postponement of Downhill...
Foggy conditions and impacts from the previous few days of poor weather left organisors with no alternative than to postpone todays (Saturday) downhill races.
Athletes had been up early at 5:30am to get onto the course to both inspect and for standups, to undertake their required practice run. This ment a delayed start to the races which when the time came at about 11:30am weather had begun to close in. The start was delayed a number of
times over the next 4 hours but eventually organisors were forced to postpone. Spectators remained in good spirits for a packed house in the stands and key family support was seen in large numbers from both the Docker and Rose families who were both due to race today
Given concern over weather conditions into Sunday, the decision has been taken to alter the programme and proceed with the technical event of slalom rather than the speed event of super-G which like the downhill requires a start further up the mountain with wider gate positions making poor visibility again a real safety issue for athletes. This is less of an issue for the shorter and slower technical events.
The slalom should see both male and female athletes from the GB being able to get their race programme underway - fingers crossed!
Skeels-Piggins stars in a Vancouver 2010 podcast covering Alpine Skiing...
To obtain a greater insight into the sport of alpine skiing, the various categories it covers and the athletes who take part, watch and listen to the following podcast which includes numerous appearances from one of Britains own athletes at these Xth Paralympic Winter Games games - Talan Skeels-Piggins.
Click here - Alpine Skiing (Paralympic)
Countdown to the first races in Vancouver...
With the alpine athletes and support staff for Paralympics TeamGB safely ensconced in the athletes village the first races will soon be upon us. Opportunity has been taken in the final training week before the games to engage fully with the paralympic spirit and ideals.
The whole alpine squad turned out for the raising of the paralympic flag and the nations Union Jack and were treated to a display of the local Canadian and Whstler tradition inlcuding a chance to cuddle up with "Sumi" the mascot for the Vancouver 2010 games. Whistler itself formed the backdrop for part of the Paralympic torch relay and the team made a point of getting out with the public to fly the flag for GB to great applause and admiration.
Full supporting detail of the Alpine events are covered within the official Vancouver 2010 paralympic website which can be accessed by clicking here
Sean Rose and Russell Docker represent GB in the downhill races on Saturday 13th March which kick off a week of hard racing in all the Alpine disciplines and take place within the Whistler venue of Creekside.
The race classifications to look out for during the course of the week for GB will be Men and Women sitting categories together with Visually Impaired although the wider race spectacle will include the standing athletes and is not to be missed.
After Aspen results GB sits 14th in World Cup Nations standings...
Following some excellent results by Rose and Docker in the final World Cup races of the season, Great Britain climbed up a further two places in the Nation's rankings to 14th. With only two contributing world cup athletes this season, this has been a magnificent achievement.
Individually, Rose has confirmed his status as one of the worlds top adaptive racers achieving overall World Cup 3rd in the points standing for Downhill and 11th across the total combined world cup point standings.
Congratulations to Sean, Russell and the rest of the GB squad (Talan, Tim, Jane, Anna and Kelly plus guide Claire) as we enter the greatest and most successful period of British Adaptive skiing in many years - Good Luck to all seven members of the Alpine squad and their GB colleagues within the curling team of Paralympics TeamGB for Vancouver.
ParalympicSportTV provides comprehensive coverage of the forthcoming Games...
More than 150 hours of the Vancouver Paralympics will be broadcasted on ParalympicSport.TV! Clickthe attached link for details
ParalympicSport. TV