Twin Peaks 2017 Report

Last weekend a team of Gordon Skiers travelled South to race in the Annual Twin Peaks Event.

As the name suggests, the race takes place on 2 separate hills.  Saturday’s races took place on the Tillicoultry Artificial slope at Firpark and the Sunday races took place on the legendary Hillend artificial slope, at the Midlothian Snowsports Centre.

Firpark

As with all points races, the skiers must complete 2 separate courses, set by different course setters. Course 1 was a great warm up to racing with a fast Slalom. This is also great for the spectators.

Course 2 was set by Olympian Alain Baxter, which certainly threw up more of a challenge to skiers. Of the top 6 Males, only 2 managed to finish which is indicative of the level of difficulty.

Saturday’s race was part of the GBR series, so racers from all over the UK had travelled to take part, resulting in some very competitive races and a low points penalty.  Gordon’s had 11 racers taking part. 1 x U18, 7 x Bairns and 3 U14’s.

We were off to an impressive start with almost all of the Bairns racers completing both runs.  Young Michael McIntosh raced very well, in his first race, taking 14’th place in his age category.  Seasoned Racer Daisy Cowie was showing the younger Gordon’s girls the way with an impressive top 10 finish, in age category.

The U14 boys weren’t quite so lucky with a couple of the boys not managing to complete both runs. However, Nathan was showing the other clubs that we have talented racers in the NE, taking 7’th place, in age category, for Gordons.

We only had one entry, Beth Whatford, in the U18 category. Beth had a very strong performance in the second run to take first place for Gordon Skiers.  Well done Beth

Hillend

Racing at Hillend is always a challenge for the non-locals. There’s a huge advantage to training on the (almost) biggest artificial slope in Europe. Our skiers always surprise me and do very well, with most Gordon Skiers only managing to attend 2 races there a year. We did make it onto the hill for a short training session on the Saturday evening, following the Firpark, race.

The race start at Hillend is very steep and worth a look if you’ve never been to the top. Well done to all of our U14’s and above for competing and competing there.  We had 8 racers taking part on Sunday. 4 x Bairns, 3 x U14’s and 1 x U18.

Once again the racers must compete on 2 courses. This time the Bairns had their very own slope to race on, with the best 2, out of 3, runs counting to their final time.

Michael MacIntosh, once again, should his talent by skiing into 14’th place. Racing has really brought Michael’s skiing on, so well done to him.  Solid performances from the U14 boys with Nathan Smith skiing well into the top 10, in 8’th place, with Ben Whatford being just outside in 12’th place.

Another impressive podium for Beth Whatford at Hillend, this time taking the Silver Medal.

The next races are the British Series and Scottish Indoor Championships at Braehead. Entries have now closed for these races.   If you are thinking of entering a race and feel a little unsure. Why not speak to one of our experienced coaches, or speak to some of the racers and their parents. I’m sure they’ll be able to put you more at ease.