Bairns and Lassies, Race Report from Gary.

Many Thanks to all the racers and supporters (Parents) that made the trip South for the Bairns and Lassies race on Hillend on Sunday.

As Graeme has mentioned, this is the toughest plastic piste in GB to ski and race on. Bearing in mind we had 5 racers in the Bairns category and 2 of them had never even skied on it before they did amazingly well. Two clean runs from Daisy Cowie and a top ten finish.

All in there were almost 170 racers registered on Sunday. The vast majority (131) were from LSRA, so our guys faced tough competition from the locals who all train on the slope weekly.

All Gordon Skiers managed to attend a training session on Saturday where we had a refresher on how to get the best grip on a plastic slope, followed by skiing gates and breaking down how to clear a gate. This was well received and I definitely saw improvements in all of the racers on Saturday evening, all ready to get in the start gate on Sunday morning.

It was a very early start for the Children's category on Sunday morning. Bib collection was 7 am, with first course inspection at 7:30. An unusually fast course was set for the Children's race with a left foot turn on the first gate. This is normally reserved for the second course set, but the decision was made to run both races on the same gate set.

Mention to Andrew Simpson, for coming sooooo very close to breaking the elusive 30 second barrier. It's a big ask to race a Hillend race in under 30s, but Andrew had a sterling performance and managed 30.8 s. I'm sure he'll break the 30s next time.

We also managed to break into the medals in the girl's under 14 category. Beth Whatford was pushed into Silver position by only 0.4 of a second. Beth had quite a skite at the third gate in her first run, but finished well and managed a very impressive second run.

The timings are cumulative over 2 runs, so you can see how close and exciting the racing is.

All in we had a great weekend, with the racing being the highlight. If you haven't tried it yet, please think about joining us. We have great fun. Not just the kids the adults managed to have a wee social too with a lovely meal together on the Saturday evening.

The racers were very well supported on Sunday, so thanks to Andrew Campbell. Andrew is an ex-Gordon Skier, who was a very active member and is now a fully qualified BASI instructor. I'm sure Andrew would also endorse ski racing as I'm sure it made his traverse through his BASI qualification a far simpler process.

Andrew's younger brother (still a Gordon's Skier and racer) was also there to assist with race support. Iain was a great asset on Sunday, as lots of the kids have raced against him so know him well. Iain is also working his way through his instructor qualifications and I'm sure he will also pass with flying colours.

I'm hoping these 2 turn up for the club Christmas Races and put the other coaches through their paces.

Thanks Again and I'll see you all on Sunday for the regular Alford training.

Gary W

For photos of the individual skiers please see our Gordon Skiers Racing Facebook page.

Results

http://www.britski.org/14lsra3res.pdf