Heading into my 1st British Ski X Champs after only 2 races under my belt, I knew I had nothing to lose. I had very limited experience and tactically, I was still clueless! What the hell is a wu tang? and a butter box?! After figuring that out and after an average qualifying run, I knew I had to step it up and rip out the start. Pulling out in front, I was very aware of the girls right behind me. Thriving on the ‘mano a mano’ atmosphere, I came through to take the win. British Champ oh yeahhh! A good day in Laax, Switzerland.

Leaving straight after the race, I headed to Geneva to pick up my new coach, 1 week retired ski x racer- Yannick Enting. Arriving at Les Menuires’s ‘The Skilt’ hotel, we were completely spoiled rotten. An awesome hotel with great staff. If you are in the area- check it out!  The French Nationals were just up the road in Val Thorens. I was excited to train a new track. Starting bib number 1 for the race, I made some rookie mistakes. Still hadn’t mastered the single/double roller combos, my shins took another beating! Happy with some big improvements and good feelings, it was a great week. Did I mention it was 23 degrees?

Pam x

Start number 104 at The Brits

Hanging at the start with Liz…

Winning!!!!

Picking up my cute little rental skoda at Zurich…

The less than glamourous side of ski racing…

Starting numero uno at French Nationals…

Inspection in Val Thorens…

In the start gate…

The awesome Val T track…

My new coach Yannick- the ski x guru…

Repping ski x at the Alpine champs in Meribel with Kamakaze Scott Garvie… Watch out for this one!

Got to love some spring skiing!

There really is nothing like diving in at the deep end… And I literally leapt in there head first. Racing again after 13 months and in a new sport, my first day on the hill in Mora, Sweden was a very sharp learning curve. Having no clue which rollers to jump or even how to pull out of a start gate, I went for a tester run. Ouch! Note to self- ‘knuckling’ the jumps suck! I have been told I am now officially a ski cross racer because my shins are killing me. Oh sweet… I’ll have to stock up on shin shields then.

I felt like the new kid at school, everyone gawked at me with ‘who the hell is this chick?’ expressions. It’s weird going from a sport where you know everyone to being the newbie. With my extremely limited experience (2 runs) I raced my first Europa Cup race, It was so much fun!

Training with the boys all week made me a better skier. They are fast! The only heat training I did with some girls, I won because I came out the start expecting the speed of the guys… The girls didn’t ask me to train with them again.

The home of the over priced but über stylish ‘Voss’ water was our next destination. Ok it wasn’t the same place but it took the same name… Ironically not a voss bottle to be seen the whole duration of our stay. Weird. My 2nd race I finished in 17th. I had been having a serious war with some rollers on that course (I even kneed myself in the face on them), did I double, or try take as a single? Uhhh double of course! On my attempt at this I kept landing on the uphill of the second roller- yep I slammed into it hard, thus the shin bang. It was a pretty costly error as I lost all my speed on one feature. Happy with my start to the sport, I left satisfied that I will be back, and I will be better!

One thing I feel I should mention is how I felt over there, I was strong (strong enough to hit the knuckle of the jumps each run without my legs buckling) and I was fit, I always felt ok at the bottom of each run… Raring to go for another. My trainer Jonathan White deserves a massive heads up for that. Thanks for pushing me so hard Joffy!

I also have to say a big thanks to the boys on my trip. Coach Ian Findlay, Craig Robinson, Marek Behnke and Jannick Enting were extremely patient with me… I asked so many questions the whole time, I think they were questioning if I had ever been in a ski race before. Constant encouragement and a lot of good times, made for an epic trip… and I won’t even get started on the German dance music.

You can imagine with it being a year since I was last on snow, I was like a ‘kid in a candy store’ excited. The trip to Alpe D’Huez and Montegenvre was organised by Zenith Holidays. There were 2 guys from ‘Heat’ magazine and ‘Heat World’, Dan and Stef. The boarders. Usually when you go on trips like this, you worry what the other people are going to be like… well these two were some of the funniest, talented guys I have ever met. Both completely different yet so similar, you would be lucky to get on a trip with these jokesters.

Anna is a gorgeous pint sized tv presenter featured on many shows like ‘Daybreak’ and ‘Nickelodean’ and also writes for ‘Ok’ mag and ‘Digital spy’. With her partner Mike being a cameraman, you could say they are pretty well suited. Lovely, genuine people, they complement each other perfectly. Mike by the way films everything from ‘Britain and Irelands next top model’ to ‘A league of there own’ (my personal favourite) and is THE camera man to know.

Jamie from ‘Fox Vincent Media’ is the guy who organised the whole trip. A PR marketing genius who has the most amazing hook ups. He knows everyone! He HATES losing, so he understands perfectly my career and is helping me loads with trying to get back to winning again!

Everything from the fun and very competent chalet staff, having to struggle with my diet of no wheat, gluten, or dairy to the owner Katie herself, was amazing. Great job Zenith!

I just want to say a massive thank you to you guys for helping me through my tough diet, training and 1st week back on skis. I couldn’t think of a better bunch to have been there. Also to all my friends, thanks for the continued support.

On to the vid…

Pam x