Noel Baxter's Blog

Problem with my new blog

2011-05-16T12:46:00.002Z

For some reason if you follow the link to my new blog it doesn't work, however if you copy and paste the link into the address bar it works.

http://noelbaxter-britishskiracer.blogspot.com/

New Blog page

2011-05-13T20:58:00.003Z

I have set up a new blog page at http://noelbaxter-britishskiracer.blogspot.com

That will be my new blog and I will get the link from www.noelbaxter.co.uk changed so it takes you to the new blog, where I will be able to add a few new features to keep it interesting because with the set up I have now I dont seem to be able to make any changes to the layout and content, probably because it was set up sooooooo long ago.

Knee update

2011-04-19T16:51:00.003Z

Seen Mr Finlayson in Inverness today. Wans't the news I was hoping for to be honest. His opinion is that the knee is not going straight enough yet so he wants me to work on that for another couple of weeks to ensure the best situation for making a solid ACL reconstruction which will have the best possible range of movement in the long term. I fully understand his reasoning behind it, I am at the stage where I just want to get on with things though and get better but he is looking at the long term and I am sure I will be grateful of that in years to come.

So I'm back on the physio, I'm alot more mobile now though, I dont need the crutches, just need to be careful on un even ground and changing direction.

Here is a diagram I found on the internet of a knee structure, the Anterior Cruciate Ligament is clearly shown.

Season cut short by knee injury

2011-03-28T09:38:00.003Z

I'm back home in Aviemore now and on my way to see Mr Finlayson in Inverness today to determine the extent of the knee injury I picked up racing at the Slovenian nationals GS on Friday. The first examination by the doctors in Slovenia indicated a torn lateral ligament and meniscus damage however I was in a lot of pain at the time, the meniscus checks were so painful that the doc in Slovenia couldn't carry them out normally but he said that can be because the injury was so recent. I guess Mr Finlayson will make a call on how to proceed today.

It was a strange way to pick up the injury, it was just a turn where I got a bit pushed out position, thrown up slightly and pitched forward with my upper body, I tried to lay over the turn but my ski kind of caught a bump as I was increasing the pressure and my knee went backwards and to the side, the noise and pain was horrible. I'm gutted to be honest and pretty down beat, injury is a part of ski racing unfortunately, however I've managed to go the last 3 years without picking up anything major. Once I see the doc today I'll have a better idea of how to move forward. I'm guessing I'll have to get an MRI scan to know the exact details of the damage and if I'll need surgery.

Here's a few pics from the days before I hurt my knee.

Spring racing...... A ski room with a view.

Kranjska Gora

Welcome to Slovenia

Wurzen Pass from Austria to Slovenia

Europa cup finals Formigal, Spain.

2011-03-16T23:08:00.003Z

The forecast turned out to be right it was raining in Formigal but up on the race piste it was kinda snowing. First run was tough and bumpy but it held up surprisingly well or it might just have been that I skied well, I managed to put a good solid run together and I sat in 6th after the 1st run. On the second run because they had used so much salt to keep the track as hard as possible they just moved a few of the gates but essentially kept the same course, unfortunately for me I couldn't put down another great performance like my first run and after getting late in the the line and grinding it out to the finish line I dropped back to 13th. Disappointed, but it was a great breakthrough for me to ski into 6th on the 1st run because the guys in this race have skied alot of excellent results in the world cup this year and it confirmed to me that I can still ski well in the rough, rutted and softer conditions.

So I was only in Formigal for less than 24hrs before hitting the road again. Now I will be taking a break for a week or so because alot of races have been cancelled due to the warm wet weather. After that I'll hopefully get some more training in before racing the German and Austrian national champs at the end of March.

25th Win!!!!

2011-03-14T20:16:00.007Z

There wasn't much for me to write about last week in Kranjska Gora unfortunately, I missed the top 30 in the world cup by around 0.95sec with and pretty big mistake and I straddled on the 2nd run of the Europa cup race after a mistake meant I missed the top 30 flip by 0.08sec. To be honest I was really down about the 2 races and felt things just weren't going my way and didnt want to write a negative whineing post about my hard luck.

Today I got back on track and won a FIS race in Chamonix!!! I stopped off for a few days on the monster drive to Spain for the European cup finals and caught up with the Scottish team who've based themselves there in the lead up to the British champs, a big thanks to Ross Gardner for letting me stay at the apartment it's always great to catch up with folk from home and get some Scottish banter......... and at least we could suffer together watching another of Scotland's glorious rugby defeats, we really were as good as the English in that match though!!!!!

The race went well for me and was encouraging to ski well in the soft snow conditions which I have been struggling to adapt to this year. I had a healthy 0.62 lead after the first run which I managed to hold onto and finish 0.72 ahead of 2nd. I scored 13.84 which is not quite a FIS result but I knew I'd have to win by alot to make a result so I'm happy!!

Stopped off at a hotel in Montpellier at the moment en route to Formigal in the Pyrenees, I really hope the forecast is wrong because right now it says heavy rain....... We'll see. Just checked the webcams at Cairngorm and seen the huge dump of snow they've had...... Awesome news which will give everyone back home a boost for the end of the season....... I hope there's some left when I get back in April!!!

PODIUM!!!

Scottish team lads, Euan Ryan, Cammy Gunn & Scott Mcwhirter

View of Mt Blanc from the apartment balcony......... No baaad!

Aiguille di Midi from Les Houches

Mt Blanc from Les Houches

On a random note....... 3 of my favorite things in France.

Orangina, Pain au Chocolat and Yop. Had them all today........... Good day!!!!

Training in Zell am See

2011-03-02T12:32:00.003Z

Found a nice little mountain hut in the trees, good Apres ski spot.

Not a bad view from the office

Working on getting better!!!

Spring is here!!!

2011-03-02T12:17:00.003Z

A quick update for the last 2 weeks since my last post.

World champs were just not for me this year, the snow conditions and pistes were really tough!!! Normally that is good for me but it wasn't to be this time I guess. In the GS I was not too bothered because it was not really a personal goal for me to do well in that event. I was well up for the SL but unfortunately I was out on the 6th gate, my goal was to ski a PB (top 15) so I knew I would have to put everything on the line with my start no 47, guess I just risked too much!!! Hard to take (thats probably why I didn't post till now) but I need to move on.

I took a break for 5 days and tried not to think about skiing at all. Now I'm back training at our base in Zell am See with perfect conditions although I'm struggling to find my form each session, some days have been good so its not disappeared. Next up is the world cup SL in Kranjska Gora then the next day a europa cup on the same piste. I've had many good results there so I hope I can up my game again for these races. Following that I'm off to Croatia for a europa cup then some more training before the huge drive (about 2000 miles!!) down to Spain for the european cup finals in Formigal.

Noel Baxter Race and training runs 02/11

2011-02-15T20:45:00.000Z

Noel Baxter Feb 2011 from Noel Baxter on Vimeo.

Mt Pora EC GS-SL

2011-02-14T08:01:00.004Z

Mt Pora didnt really go as I had hoped. In GS my number is so high (81) so just making the 2nd run (top 60) was decent, the hill is not too challenging so any mistake is magnified in the finish time, I ended up finishing 44th, which is not where I want to be but looking at the technical side I'm happy with the way I'm improving in GS and with a few tweaks here and there, also less mistakes I reckon I'll be able to make a big improvement. The SL my 'main event' I was coming off the back of a decent FIS race series so felt quite confident, however it didnt go so well. I've been watching alot of video to figure out how to improve and get consistant fast runs, because when I nail a run I'm up there with the top guys, but I have way to many 'off' runs. I decided to ski with a more relaxed, loose approach because when I rip a run it looks so easy and loose, however that approach really didnt work for me in Mt Pora and it looked like I sorta forgot to put my foot on the gas and attack. I'm a bit in limbo with trying to find the perfect balance of aggression but not being to harsh on my skis. I always look at ski racing like a constant learning curve as the sport is moving on continuously, you cant stand still and do the same things or you'll end up getting left behind. I finished 26th in the SL which is not a disaster but I have shown recently I have much better in me!!!

Trained today in Hintereith, it's pretty soft, wet and warm all over the alps right now and it looks like continuing till the SL in Garmisch on Sunday so I'd better get used to skiing in the ruts and bumps!!!

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Bad Wiessee

2011-02-07T17:42:00.003Z

Start hut, Bad Wiessee..... Oldschool......

Looking out of the Start hut.

Podium!!!!!! Of course you win beer in Germany!!!!!

1st Phillip Schmid (GER) 2nd Noelie Baxter (GBR) 3rd Urs Imboden (MDV) 4th Adam Zampa (SVK) 5th Patrick Jazbec (SLO)

5 races, 5 days, 3 countries.

2011-02-07T17:36:00.000Z

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Kitzbuhel- Schladming- Seiseralm- Soll- Bad Weissee

2011-02-07T16:59:00.002Z

Apologies for the lack of posts recently I was pretty knackered after the races in Kitz and Schladming so I took a break and relaxed for 5 days. I was really disapponted not to pull of a good result in the 2 big world cups, I felt a bit sluggish in both races I think the programme in the lead up was a bit hectic. After regaining some motivation I got back into to training and put my GS skis on for the first time in about 2 months, I skied well too!!!! So I'm gonna try to get more GS races in for the rest of the season.

We went down to Seiseralm, Italy for a couple of FIS GS's, the hill was not suited to my skiing (flat with alot of gliding) however I held my own and got some respectable results considering the time I've had on GS skis this season. From there we moved directly to Soll, Austria for a FIS SL, the field was tough with the full Canadian world champs team and some top Austrians competing, I skied a decent first run but crossed my tips close to the finish, I managed to stay in the course though with some acrobatic recovery skills. My second run in Soll was one of my best this season, a flowing clean run where things just clicked. I ended up in 5th with a smile on my face but still thinking what if I could put 2 of those runs together??? No time to dwell on it, next we jumped in the van to Bad Weissee, Germany for another couple of FIS SL races, the field was not as high standard as Soll but if I won I could score a result. I like that situation because it makes me ski on the limit with a 'win or bust' mentality. 1st day didn't go to plan I had big problems on the first run, then let rip on the second run but crashed out close to the finish however from watching the video I knew I was ripping. Today I attacked the first run and had a few 'moments' but most importantly I was fast and took the lead after the first run. The second run was quite a tough set and very bumpy with the ruts from the previous races, I skied solid but my mistakes were costly and I slipped to second place by 0.07 of a second!!!! Gutted!!! Happy I am skiing fast with mistakes though, that helps my mental approach, to feel comfortable with pushing my limits. 5 races, in 5 days, in 3 countries, sunny everyday hard snow everyday......... great road trip!!!

Day off tomorrow then on my way to the next European cups in the lead up to the World Champs.

Westendorf

2011-01-21T09:51:00.002Z

This is such an awesome race!!! Known as the warm up for Kitzbuhel, it always takes place on the Thursday night before Kitzbuhel weekend so it attracts the top Slalom skiers from the World Cup, this year there were 15 of the top 30 world ranked racers at the start. The last 2 winners of the Kitzbuhel slalom have won this race before going on to win on the Sunday 20km along the valley in 'the Buhel'. This year the winner was Mitja Valencic, if any of you are gambling folk, he will be a big outsider for Sunday.

I was well up for this race as the steep, icy hill and turny course set was ideal for me to rip!!!! I left the start hut like a madman................... and straddled the 2nd gate!!!! OOPS!!! I'd rather do it here than in the World cup I guess. I can't even remember the last time I straddled, even in training!!!!

On my way to Oberjoch (GER) now for an EC SL. It was there I got my best EC result last year so I'll be looking for a repeat performance this year to set me up for the big WC races in Kitz and Schladming on Sun and Tue.

Cheers

13th place Europa Cup SL, Zuoz, Switzerland.

2011-01-19T20:16:00.002Z

Got 13th today. 1st run was really tricky course set and alot of people did not finish. I battled on down into 15th on the run however I was miles out on the leader Nolan Kasper who had killed it and let by well over a second. My second run was a big improvement and from the middle down I put alot of great turns together.

Not quite pulling out my best skiing for the races at the moment so I hope that will come for the big events coming up.

Kirchberg pic

2011-01-17T12:42:00.004Z

Here's a pic of the race yesterday........ Looks like I mean business :)

Thanks to Mitch Gunn for the pic!!!

Trained in Hintereit today which was tough, Tristan set a really difficult course with alot of rythym changes, I think any course will feel easy after that!!!! Those skis I worked for hours on yesterday broke on the 3rd run!!!! So that's £400 for 2 and a half runs......... OUCH!!! Didn't like them much anyway..........

Looking forward to relaxing the rest of the day and morning tomorrow before heading to Zuoz.

Cheers

7th place Europa Cup SL Kirchberg.

2011-01-16T20:39:00.002Z

Got 7th today in Kirchberg which is a solid result. Was sitting in 7th after the 1st run so was hoping to break into the top 5. Didnt ski my best today by a long way but to ski far from my best and still get 7th is encouraging!!! This result will give me a good number in the upcoming EC races when all the world cup guys will be around. A young French guy called Alexis Pinturault convincingly won both the SL and GS in Kirchberg, you will definitely be hearing more of his name in the future!!! Congrats also to Dave Ryding, he claimed 17th spot which is a step in the right direction for his season and great to have a team mate doing well with me!!! Pretty tired after along day of driving from Zell am See racing driving back to Zell then spending a few hours preparing a new model of skis which I will try tomorrow (on the lift at 0730).

Big week coming up for me now. I head to Zuoz in Switzerland on Tue for EC SL, then back to Westendorf for the traditional night SL Kitzbuhel warm up event (normally about 3000 people there), I then head to Oberjoch Germany to squeeze in another EC SL before heading back for 'the big 2' Kitzbuhel and Schladming!!!!! This is my favourite week of the year!!!!! Just hope the weather gets a bit colder. Here are a few images of what's to come.

Schladming......... The night race!!!

Kitzbuhel

Adelboden

2011-01-10T13:56:00.005Z

Didnt go to plan in Adelboden unfortunately. I have never seen ruts so big in the World cup, on the steep section they were like bath tubs. Out of the gate I got into a great rythym for about 15-20 gates but already there I got thrown out out the course, I managed to move quick enough to get around the gates, from then on I risked everything and eventually went out in the 'really steep' part coming towards the finish. Tough to take after travelling all over Europe for the last 2 races but I am still confident.

Together with the coaches, Tristan and Mike we made the decision I will race the Europa cup in Kirchberg next week rather than the World cup in Wengen because the weather forecast is not so good this week and I will have a good start number due to all the top guys being in Wengen. So a great chance for a good EC result.

Back training in Austria again this week but its also pretty crap weather here too. Not a good forecast ........RAIN!!

Zagreb to Adelboden

2011-01-08T17:59:00.003Z

Raced the world cup SL in Zagreb for the first time on Thursday. Unfortunately for us starting at the back it got really warm and windy which meant the track got pretty rutted up, I battled on down making a mistake just before the 25 gates of flat section so right there I knew any chance of making the 2nd run was gone but I was determined to ski a good bottom section, I skied solid but it was a huge challenge to be fast through those bumps and ruts. The Croatian fans at this race are incredible I started after Natko Zrcic-Din and the noise was awesome!!!

After a 9 hour drive I am now in Adelboden preparing for the next world cup tomorrow, again the foehn wind is blowing from the south which just turns all the snow to slush, so it will be a bumpy ride, skied well in training today, loose, charging but solid. Great GS race here today with the top 20 separated by less then 1 second!!!

Thanks to Belen Simari for these great pictures.

Pass Thurn

2011-01-03T19:25:00.002Z

Here are a few nice pics I took after training in Pass Thurn near Kitzbuhel last week............. Not such a bad place to be eh!!??

Ice skating on the pond at Rothiemurchus on Christmas day

2011-01-03T19:22:00.000Z

Sailing into Amsterdam.

2011-01-03T19:18:00.002Z

Got the boat from Newcastle to Amsterdam on the drive to Austria, definitely was a bit of a party boat but I was on a long trip....... driving alone so just got some sleep in my cabin.

Podium. Petzen, Austria

2011-01-03T16:25:00.005Z

Got 2nd today in a FIS race in the build up to my next World cup in Zagreb on the 6th January. 1st run I skied quite well but I felt I took it a bit easy in the section where I fell yesterday, which perhaps cost me the lead on the first run. I was really ripping in the race yesterday but crashed 4 gates from the finish, so wanted to put that right today. Sitting 2nd after the 1st run only 0.18 behind I felt confident I could win so really attacked the 2nd course, however I didnt really find a rythym in the gates, was fighting to find the right line and getting pushed out of position alot. In the end I have to be happy with the scoring 11.06 FIS points which will hopefully improve my ranking by about 20 places. Staying here in Petzen for 1 more day of training on the water injected slope with the Slovenian team tomorrow which will be perfect preparation for Zagreb on Thursday........ The Austrians are coming here too so it must be good :)

Hope you all have great new year and that my year continues to improve like this!!!!!!

Cheers

2010-12-19T22:09:00.000Z

Some runs from December 2010 from Noel Baxter on Vimeo.

Obereggen, Pozza and Madonna

2010-12-19T15:50:00.003Z

Tough races!!!! Bad Luck!!! Some good skiing, some bad skiing!!! Frustrated, Angry, Disappointed, Tired all at once, bit of a cold, Frostbite on my toe.......... Time for my Christmas break....... Been on the road since the start of November (Scotland to Austria, to Finland, to Switzerland, to Norway, to Sweden, back to Norway, back to Austria, back to Switzerland, to France, to Italy, back to Austria)......... and now waiting for my flight home which was cancelled because of the snow in Scotland.

After finding great form in the lead up to these races the harsh world of ski racing crept up on me and even though I skied well I was out on 2 first runs in a row, in Obereggen I hit a gate on my boot which kind of tripped me up and I was down before I knew what was going on, in Pozza I straddled a gate which can happen especially with my style of skiing a very tight line. After that I didnt attack as much in Madonna and made some mistakes because of that however it was the not attacking that I didnt like, I hate when my mind blocks me like that and I'm determined not to let that happen in the new year. The scenery and the food at these 3 races was incredible even if my skiing was not!!! ;)

Tristan..... A good coach........ Dodgy photographer ;)

2010-12-14T09:46:00.001Z

Guadalupe with the trophy!!!

2010-12-14T09:43:00.002Z

1st time I had seen Guadalupe for a while and I won too!.......... Good day!!!!

24th win of my career!!!

2010-12-14T09:12:00.003Z

Check this list out.

Got my 24th career win in all categories at Montgenevre to tie with the likes of Alain Baxter, Jean- Claude Killy, Kristian Ghedina and my good friend Magnus Andersson....... these stats are always good for a bit of banter between us racers.

Competitor	Nation	Podiums	Last Podium
STENMARK Ingemar	SWE	93	19-02-1989
TICHY Michael	CAN	84	28-02-2010
SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier	ARG	83	15-09-2010
MILLER Bode	USA	73	21-02-2010
RAICH Benjamin	AUT	65	11-12-2009
GEORGIEV Stefan	BUL	64	28-03-2010
MAIER Hermann	AUT	64	30-11-2008
AAMODT Kjetil Andre	NOR	57	18-02-2006
TOMBA Alberto	ITA	55	15-03-1998
KANG Min Heuk	KOR	54	09-12-2009
FILISCHKIN Andrej	RUS	53	22-12-2005
SVINDAL Aksel L.	NOR	52	10-09-2010
BRAUER Jonathon	AUS	52	06-03-2009
FEINESTAM Alexander	SWE	52	17-03-2007
KROPF Peter	AUT	50	26-03-2009
VACEK Ludvik	CZE	49	22-02-2009
BJOERGVINSSON Bjoergvin	ISL	49	09-04-2010
KUDO Masami	JPN	49	17-12-2004
HAYER Stanley	CAN	48	29-10-2002
ZURBRIGGEN Pirmin	SUI	48	10-03-1990
BANK Ondrej	CZE	47	26-03-2010
GIRARDELLI Marc	LUX	47	19-02-1996
EBERHARTER Stephan	AUT	46	06-03-2004
DIMITRIADIS Vassilis	GRE	45	10-04-2009
KOSTELIC Ivica	CRO	45	20-03-2010
PAVLOVCIC Uros	SLO	45	30-03-2005
LEINO Jukka	FIN	42	12-12-2010
DYKSTERHOUSE Brandon	USA	42	24-08-2007
PALANDER Kalle	FIN	41	16-12-2007
HUR Seung Wook	KOR	41	31-08-2004
KALWA Michal	POL	41	20-03-2009
IKUTA Yasuhiro	JPN	40	18-04-2010
NICKERSON Warner C	USA	39	02-09-2010
SATS Konstantin	RUS	39	08-03-2010
WALCHHOFER Michael	AUT	37	27-11-2010
KROISLEITNER Martin	AUT	37	04-04-2006
GIRARDI Walter	ITA	37	17-02-2009
CHESTAKOV Pavel	RUS	36	07-04-2007
SAIONI Christophe	FRA	36	28-03-2008
ZAHROBSKY Petr	CZE	36	22-03-2010
MATT Mario	AUT	35	01-12-2010
MYHRER Andre	SWE	35	23-04-2010
CUCHE Didier	SUI	35	18-03-2010
KOSIR Jure	SLO	35	18-12-2005
STUTZ Paul	CAN	34	18-03-2010
MALUS Miha	SLO	34	12-04-2009
VRABLIK Martin	CZE	34	02-04-2008
VONN Thomas	USA	33	13-04-2004
PUCKETT P Casey	USA	33	14-01-2006
HEIMSCHILD Ivan	SVK	33	19-03-2008
PUCKETT Christopher	USA	33	08-04-2002
RAHLVES Daron	USA	33	26-03-2006
JAERBYN Patrik	SWE	33	25-03-2007
JUNG Dong-Hyun	KOR	33	26-01-2010
VON GRUENIGEN Michael	SUI	33	01-03-2003
ANDERSSON Anders	SWE	32	10-04-1998
SCHLOPY Erik	USA	32	19-08-2008
HOLZKNECHT Norbert	AUT	32	03-03-2007
KARLSEN Truls Ove	NOR	32	05-04-2009
KOBLAR Jernej	SLO	32	29-03-2003
RAINER Niklas	SWE	31	02-12-2010
ALBRECHT Kilian	AUT	31	20-08-2009
POPOTNIG Juergen	AUT	31	11-03-2006
COCHRAN James	USA	31	07-02-2010
TICHY Martin	CAN	31	23-01-2006
REICHELT Hannes	AUT	30	23-03-2009
THOENI Gustavo	ITA	30	16-01-1977
KJUS Lasse	NOR	30	17-03-2005
MINAGAWA Kentaro	JPN	30	11-03-2009
GUFLER Michael	ITA	30	30-01-2009
PRANGER Manfred	AUT	29	21-03-2009
MAHRE Phil	USA	29	19-02-1984
HELL Wolfgang	ITA	29	20-03-2010
VIELE David	USA	29	15-02-2001
KLAMMER Franz	AUT	29	21-01-1984
HERBST Reinfried	AUT	29	12-02-2010
OLSSON Hans	SWE	29	21-04-2010
FIALA Jakub	USA	28	24-01-2006
NORDH Fredrik	SWE	28	16-03-2010
GRANDI Thomas	CAN	28	31-01-2008
BERGAMELLI Thomas	ITA	28	05-12-2010
PLASCHY Didier	SUI	28	15-03-2006
PERKO Rok	SLO	27	27-08-2010
BJORNSSON Kristinn	ISL	27	02-04-2000
WALL Bradley	AUS	27	03-04-2006
KOGLER Stefan	GER	26	15-03-2008
DONALDSON David	CAN	26	22-08-2010
NYBERG Fredrik	SWE	26	28-08-2006
ZINSLI Andrea	SUI	26	17-03-2001
SOLBAKKEN Bjarne	NOR	26	10-04-2005
HUME Scott	CAN	26	23-03-2010
GRUENENFELDER Tobias	SUI	25	28-11-2010
VIDAL Jean-Pierre	FRA	25	22-01-2006
MULLER Peter	SUI	25	09-12-1988
BIGGS Patrick	CAN	25	17-08-2010
DALCIN Pierre-Emmanuel	FRA	25	01-04-2008
IMBODEN Urs	SUI	25	21-03-2009
SCHOENFELDER Rainer	AUT	25	28-03-2008
SYKORA Thomas	AUT	25	26-01-1998
KJAEMPERUD Jarl Rune	NOR	25	09-03-2003
GUAY Erik	CAN	25	23-03-2010
SIMOND Francois	FRA	25	11-12-2001
PAULSEN Lasse	NOR	25	26-01-2003
UOTILA Sami	FIN	24	05-08-2006
BAXTER Alain	GBR	24	06-04-2008
ANDERSSON Magnus	SWE	24	28-02-2010
FURUSETH Ole Christian	NOR	24	07-04-2000
THALER Patrick	ITA	24	16-03-2007
ROY Jean-Philippe	CAN	24	05-02-2009
PLONER Alexander	ITA	24	14-04-2009
KILLY Jean-Claude	FRA	24	29-03-1968
PASTORE Marco	ITA	24	11-03-2007
GOMEZ Victor	AND	24	21-03-2002
HIRASAWA Gaku	JPN	24	26-02-2002
KNIGHT Chip	USA	24	05-04-2006
BOURGEAT Pierrick	FRA	24	01-02-2009
BAXTER Noel	GBR	24	13-12-2010
GHEDINA Kristian	ITA	24	03-09-2004
HOLMER Eric	USA	24	11-03-2007
LIGETY Ted	USA	24	11-12-2010
KUCERA John	CAN	23	23-03-2009

Winner in Montgenevre!!!!

2010-12-14T08:53:00.003Z

Won a FIS SL in Montgenevre yesterday I was the best points in the race so its always nice to confirm that by winning. Both runs were really solid, if a couple of guys had finished the second run the points would have been alot lower, but a win is a win, good for my confidence coming into these next 3 EC races Obereggen, Pozza di Fassa and Madonna di Campiglio which are notoriously the toughest EC races of the year with pretty much the whole World cup field starting....... Bring it on!!!!

Davos FIS and Val d Isere World Cup

2010-12-12T21:01:00.003Z

Did a couple of Fis slaloms in Davos on my way to Val d Isere this week, the races were a really high standard with the the likes of Herbst (world no 1) Gini, Matt and Schoenfelder (all world cup winners) racing. The weather was pretty shocking, on the 1st day I had a big crash on the 2nd run and only 16 racers finished from 116 starters!!!! Brutal!!! 2nd day I drew no 1 and wanted to take full advantage of it, I skied pretty solid and finished 4th but my runs were a bit scrappy with some costly mistakes however it was encouraging to keep up with the pace of those top racers.

Val d Isere was as awesome as always. Each time I go there I like the place more. The face d bellevarde was as tough as ever, its such a huge mental challenge to push out of that start gate and actually attack that slope. I was fully pumped up and gave it my best shot!!! The top section was chopped up and loads of guys were struggling big time, I probably held back a bit much up top and thats what cost me my place in the 2nd run, when I found my rythym I put some great turns together and finished in 38th only 0.46sec from 30th place, not too bad from start no 67 but not good enough to take any world cup points home with me :)

Here are my split times from the 1st run...... definitely lost it up top.

67 BAXTER Noel

Rossignol

GBR Run1: Int1: 20.04 (52) 1.68

I1−I2: 16.79 (40)

Int2: 36.83 (45) 2.34

I2−Fin: 17.24 (20)

Fin: 54.07 (38) 2.63

A race of 2 halves, EC SL Are.

2010-12-02T14:44:00.003Z

A decent start to the European Cup Slalom tour today, first run I skied from bib no 30 into 13th with a run which was solid but not my best, unfortunately I fell backwards on the second run to finish 21st. Seems to be a good reflection of how things have been in training lately alot of time I am fast but I have these occasional moments of slackness where I look like a different skier and thats what happened on the second run today.

Marc Gini won the race today which was great for the Swiss team, yesterday the race was cancelled because the Swiss coaches had a horrific crash leaving the hotel, 2 coaches were seriously injured today one is in a coma and the other has serious internal bleeding. All the best to them it was definitely the right descision to cancel the race yesterday.

Heading to Oslo tonight to catch a flight down to Munich. Then have a few days off before training in Austria to get ready for Val D'Isere World Cup on the 12th.

Heard its dumping snow back home, AWESOME news I really hope we get another top season there make Aviemore such an amazing place to be when its like that!!!

Here's a pic of Are its a cool place to be, as long as its not too cold!!!!

Seeya

Getting into the Xmas spirit!!!

2010-11-30T17:18:00.003Z

Hill skiing today in Are before the 2 European cup SL's thought I get into the festive spirit and go for the Santa Claus look :)

Trysil was great training on a rock hard icy piste, unfortunately things didnt work out for me in the GS races where I found it hard going when it got a bit chopped up. If anything it annoyed me enough to get fired up for the next races!!!! Even though it doesnt feel like it at the time I know it is a good thing to keep skiing GS.......... still sucks getting my ass kicked though!!!!!

Hoping for better results here in Sweden.

Cheers

Perfect conditons for SL training

2010-11-30T17:13:00.000Z

Road got a bit icy at times

2010-11-30T17:10:00.001Z

Road Trippin through Norway on the way to Are, Sweden

2010-11-30T17:08:00.000Z

Ski room in Trysil

2010-11-30T17:05:00.000Z

Where the magic happens :)

Are, Sweden

2010-11-30T16:53:00.001Z

View Larger Map

Not much exciting stuff in Zinal but the scenery is pretty Awesome!!

2010-11-21T11:54:00.003Z

Good old Ski Team Vans!!!!

2010-11-21T11:54:00.001Z

TIGER!!!!

2010-11-21T11:53:00.000Z

My Gran loves these wee Trolls

2010-11-21T11:52:00.000Z

Aksel Svindals House???

2010-11-21T11:51:00.000Z

Lasse Kjus's house???

2010-11-21T11:50:00.000Z

Zinal to Oslo

2010-11-21T11:31:00.004Z

Trip to Zinal was ok, figured out how to ski decent GS again which was a bit of a suprise, new boots have done the trick I reckon. Went out in the Slalom which was disapointing but was going well before I went out so all good practise for the more important races to come.

I left Zinal on Friday straight after the race and was making my way to Zurich when the start of my bad luck hit, the gear box went on our team van and I had to get across 3 lanes of busy traffic to the hard shoulder OOF!!!! Scarey!!! So we were stuck there for about 4 hours and I didnt get into Zurich till pretty late. The next morning I managed to miss my flight by a matter of seconds after waiting a full hour in the boarding pass queue, passport control queue then the security queue....... they really have a shit system at Zurich airport!!! So I had to by a new flight to London City and get to Gatwick a fast as possible to catch my original connecting flight...... stressfull and expensive!!!!!

I made it and I'm having a relaxing day checking out the sights of Oslo today, I've been here before but it was always dark..... pretty sweet place actually, kinda what you would expect, good shops, cool buildings, Hot Chicks!!!

Heading to Trysil now for some training before the opening European cup GS and SL's.

Seeya

Levi

2010-11-15T08:35:00.003Z

Didnt go exactly to plan up here in Levi. I was really disappointed after my run especially because I have been on good form recently in training. I had a mistake on the tricky top section that had caught out alot of the top names and in the steep I was laying over some sweet turns before going out at the bottom of the pitch, I know the steep sections are normally my strong point, the snow was pretty grippy which was a bit differnet than we had trained, normally I prefer the rock hard ice. It's the first race, so got the whole season to put it right. I'm off to Zinal Switzerland now for a few days for some FIS races before heading up to Scandinavia again for the opening Europa cup races.

Last Day of October

2010-10-31T11:29:00.004Z

Had a busy time over the past month or so since returning from NZ I spent alot of time setting up my golf event which again was a great success along with my headsponsor sweepstake, which if I'm honest wasnt as successful as I'd hoped, I think because people didnt really grasp what it was all about however I'm very grateful to all who entered the winner in the end was Andy Freshwater, when I called Andy to let him know, he was in the hospital waiting for his son Jasper James Freshwater to arrive into the world........ A lucky day for Andy!!

I spent a couple of weeks in Pitztal during October which was a great camp, I'm quite relieved that the British team is getting sorted out and it was alot of fun to train with the guys again.

After the golf day last week I had a few days to get back to normal and prepare for my final fitness test of the off season, in general it was ok, I wasnt as good as I wanted to be on my bike test for endurance but I made up for that by doing a PB in my Overhead Squat test 117.5kg!!!! I'm in good shape now Physically, Mentally, Technically and on the Equipment side so I'm pumped to get stuck into the races. My first race will be the world cup SL at Levi..... Bring it on!!! Heading to Austria this week for the final prep the heading to Finland on the 10th.

Cheers

Golf Day Flyer

2010-09-12T22:02:00.000Z

Oz 2010

2010-08-25T00:47:00.008Z

Arrived to NZ yesterday after 5 weeks in Australia coaching and skiing with the Scottish team..... loads of fun but hard work. Did alot of freeskiing with the guys, a few days in the course and loads of fitness work after being on the hill so I feel strong and ready for these training weeks in NZ, at the end of the Oz trip we had a few days being tourists in Melbourne which was fun after all the hard work. Looking forward to focusing on skiing for the next while and I will do a few races as well, main focus now is to get some solid training in and get myself into top shape for the winter. Here are a few pics from my trip to Australia.

The Alpine Way

There's alot of cool stuff like this in Melbourne

Bells beach

Thredbo

The troops at Thredbo

Melbourne

AFL match at the MCG

Flying into Queenstown, New Zealand

Summertime

2010-07-11T10:27:00.002Z

Had a BBQ a wee while back and the Mickels dropped by on their way up north in this awesome car....... check it out!!! It some kind of Morgan 100 years special edition...... probably the coolest car I ever seen!!!

Sport First Cover

2010-06-19T17:41:00.003Z

This is the magazine of the Scottish Institute of Sport. The Institute takes care of my fitness programmes and physio support. I was down at Stirling Uni last week for some fitness tests, the tests went reasonably well, a little better than where I was at the start of last summer which is encouraging because I had a longer break at the end of the winter this year. The tests enable us to be more accurate with our training loads to ensure we get the most out of our short off season because when we start our on snow training it is a huge challenge to keep the fitness levels up when skiing uses up so much energy and time. I have another month till I head to Australia and I can feel big improvements already so I'm sure I can get into probably my best ever shape this summer, the aim is then to train cleverly and make sure I take that top shape right into the winter.

Later

Mag Cover Racer Ready

2010-06-19T17:36:00.001Z

Had a couple of good shots on magazine covers this winter.

Catch up

2010-06-06T14:37:00.004Z

Bit of a while since my last post so I'll write about some of the stuff I was up to at the end of the season.

To finish off the Europa cup season I went to the SL's in Platak, Croatia where I narrowly missed the top 30....... again!!! Then went to Kranjska Gora for the finals where I finished 23rd after missing the topp 30 on the 1st run because of a few mistakes on my run. At Kranjska Gora Joery and me made a last minute plan to head to the east of Turkey for some races where there was some decent prize money up for grabs. I was skiing well in Turkey but only managed to pick up one second place after leading in the 1st run, in the other SL I was 4th after being 2nd on the 1st run frustrating especially with the prize money but the weather was pretty shocking so the condition were far from ideal. It was a fun trip and great to see somewhere new and off the beaten track of the ski racing circuit.

The warm weather across Europe at the end of the season made it awkward to find good races and I spent a lot of time hanging around waiting for the weather to change while races were cancelled and moved around.

Eventually we ended up at the British champs in Meribel where the weather was slightly better I raced in the Super-G but didnt ski so well, however I made up for that in the SL where I won and scored 14 a second FIS point result for the season. My last race of the season was in Les Arcs where I finished 3rd in a French FIS race and won the 2nd run against some of the French world cup guys........ so I headed home happy on the 4th of April to enjoy the amazing snow in Scotland and got in some great days of free skiing and back country action.

At the end of April I managed to get a holiday on the beach with my daughter which was well overdue!!!! It was great to finally get some beach time after a long cold winter, I only spent 4 days at home then I was off to the beach again this time in Cyprus for my step brothers wedding. On getting home I then had only a few days to prepare myself for the Etap Caledonia bike event in Pitlochry, I managed to hang on with the leading group for about 45 miles but then got dropped on the Schehallion climb and battled my way around the rest of the course to finish in around 80th place. Congratulations to Dave Ryding who did an amazing job coming in 2nd place narrowly missing out in the sprint finish.

As I write I am at home in Aviemore getting myself in good physical shape and figuring out how to make the coming season work with even less support than last year......... a tough challenge but one I am gonna make happen. I have made the decision to focus on SL for next year as I feel at this stage of my career that is the event where I have the best opportunity to make a big breakthrough in world cup racing. So its back to fitness for now then I plan to head down to Australia and New Zealand for the summer from the end of July.

Cheers

16th Monte Pora Europa Cup

2010-02-20T10:10:00.003Z

Decent result yesterday in Monte Pora Italy. They had to cancel the GS the day before because of too much fog and it was snowing alot however as always we raced in SL whatever the weather!! Over the 2 days there was close to 1 meter of new wet snow which made for a rough bumpy ride in the SL, I had start number 24 and skied into 15th place on the 1st run which was respectable, this is a tough postion for the second run in these conditions though because you need to make up time on the leaders but wont have the advantage of a smooth piste like the early numbers. I fought my way down the 2nd run and ended up 16th. I will take that after the tough season to date but my goals are definitely to be getting into the top 10 in Europa cups with my improved start number. Taking a couple of days off now which seems to good timing as it is snowing/raining everywhere at the moment. Gonna do some speed and combined races over the next couple of weeks so looking forward to letting my skis go straight for a while.

5th Place Europa Cup, Oberjoch, GER.

2010-02-12T20:08:00.004Z

Just look at the results today and you will understand how big this result is!! Reinfried Herbst the favourite for gold in Vancouver, has won 4 World Cups THIS SEASON!! About 10 in his career, I beat him by half a second on the 2nd run and won the run. I went from bib 59 to finish 5th, there were 5 guys in this race who have won World Cups (also 7 guys from the current top 15 in the world). I could go on but I'll just say it was a great day for me!!! 1 more thing to say is that my coach Tristan Glasse-Davies set the course for the 2nd run, his 1st ever set in Europa Cup....... Good work Tristan!!!

www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/610.html?sector=AL&raceid=58324

Podium Oberjoch

1st Reinfried Herbst AUT, 2nd Marc Gini SUI, 3rd Felix Neureuther GER, 4th Tim Jitloff USA, 5th Noelie Baxter GBR.

Joery Van Rooij

2010-02-05T21:50:00.003Z

My team mate from the Netherlands.......... and opponent at Fifa 2010 on the Wii, we have some epic battles...... 50% of the time I win most of the time.......kinda??? Ha!!

5th place FIS race Soll, Austria

2010-02-05T21:43:00.003Z

1st Neureuther (GER), 2nd Dreier (AUT), 3rd Omminger (AUT), 4th Digruber(AUT), 5th Noelie Baxter (GBR).

Decent race for me today in Soll, had a good 2nd run where I made up time on the leaders after the 1st run (even Neureuther.....Hahnenkahm winner 2010!!!). He was the clear winner by around 0.90sec, I was 0.37 behind 2nd place. Some GS training tomorrow then off to Meribel for EC slalom.

Schladming Night Race crowd shot......55,000 people in total!!!

2010-02-02T19:25:00.001Z

Schladming Night Race......Awesome!!!!

2010-02-02T19:23:00.002Z

Suprisingly big mountains in Bulgaria

2010-02-02T19:21:00.000Z

Bansko EC

2010-02-02T19:18:00.001Z

Lenggries

2010-02-02T19:11:00.003Z

Had a FIS race at Lenggries in Germany, they seriously haven't updated anything on the mountain since the World Cup I reckon.

No Olympics for me :(

2010-02-02T19:05:00.003Z

As you may have heard I wasn't selected to the Olympic team which sucks!! I have been busy over the past couple of weeks going through the whole appeals process and so on, it has only made it harder to accept when I have just gotten myself into some great form.

Below is a link to an article in the Herald which explains more about my situation

http://www.heraldscotland.com:80/sport/other-sports-news/noel-baxter-is-adamant-olympic-shambles-will-not-spell-end-of-his-career-1.1001928

Cheers for now

Boston Airport

2010-01-08T01:45:00.004Z

In Boston Logan airport right now waiting for my flight back to Heathrow...... no baggage charges YEEESSSSS!!! Of course the flight has been delayed though, due to there being more than 1cm of snow in London.

Todays GS got cancelled after the 1st run because of the wind, the right descision but frustrating because I was gonna run 6th on the 2nd run so a great chance to make up time on the leaders with a fresh track. So I jumped straight in the car and drove (within the speed limits) to get here in time. Yesterdays race was not bad for me in GS even though I made big mistakes on both runs I managed to score a small result (23 points) I had start number 32 and moved up to 19th nothing spectacular but solid. I know I am capable of alot better in GS and can definitley say I am making steady improvements and in sections I'm skiing great.

Gonna stay over at my good mate Dave's in London tomorrow, he's a rower these days so haven't seen much of him lately, then I'll head out to Austria the next day to get into some training for a week or so before my next series of races in Lenggries, Germany and Kirchberg, Austria.

Cheers

Tough couple of days in Sunday River

2010-01-05T22:26:00.005Z

Raced 2 Nor-Am Slaloms in Sunday River the last couple of days which didn't really work out as planned. The 1st day the coach got the start numbers mixed up and I skied with the wrong number, I had a decent run and was lying in 4th but got disqualified........sucks!!! In the 2nd race I was determined to make up for it, I skied great in warm up but got too nervous and tight for the race which I am really mad at myself for!!! I just didn't let my skis run enough, was holding on to the turn too long and ended up finishing 8th about 2 secs behind the winner Peter Brenna from Norway. These were 2 huge chances for me to score good but I am just going to have to put them behind me and focus on the races to come. In the next couple of days I have 2 GS Nor-Ams, these will also be good races but my goal for coming here was definitely to move into the top 100 in SL (Olympic Qualailfication) so its a real downer that it turned out like this, I will be charging as hard as I can but I don't think I have much chance to score results that will get me to the Olympics in GS.

End of a great day at Cairngorm

2010-01-03T14:31:00.002Z

Hiking for some tree skiing.......in Scoltand!!

2010-01-03T14:27:00.001Z

Season till now

2010-01-03T13:54:00.003Z

Been useless at updating the blog this year folks but I'll get on it from now on.

The season started off in pretty hectic style, I flew out the morning after my golf fundraiser event which went really well raising enough cash for me too get to the races I need to go to. Looking back it was too hectic as I trained 5 days, travelled up to Levi for the opening World Cup then jumped straight on the plane to Wittenburg for the indoor EC slalom, I really didnt ski well in these 2 races which knocked my confidence after training so well in the previous weeks. I had a few days training in Austria and some FIS races in Davos which were also pretty average and ended November feeling pretty frustrated . I took the decision to head over to Canada for the NorAm races at Panorama these races went alot better for me I skied alot better in the GS races especially the 2nd one where I unfortunately crashed but was encouraged by the my skiing, in the SL's I finished 3rd and 4th scoring a 16 which helps me a little there was also a combined where I finished 8th even with a huge mistake in the SuperG run.

From Panorama I headed to Nakiska for a FIS series 2GS & 2SL where there were a few good guys racing I definitely upped my game in those races but unfortunately the races didnt work out well for point I won 1 GS and 1 SL and got 2nd in the other SL.

I headed home for Xmas to catch up with my family and friends, which was alot of fun!! After Xmas I got 3 days of skiing in on Cairngorm which was sweet I even skied to Glenmore through the trees with a few mates......never done that before!!! I really didnt want to leave home because it was so cool just going skiing with my friends and hanging out when its a proper winter back home, I was gutted to miss out on whats now being called the 'Aviemore winter classic hockey match' on the pond behind the tennis club the boys didn't even let 20cm of overnight snow stop them and cleared the whole pond......good work boys!!!

So, I have a proper front tooth now, got that sorted on the way out to Sunday River. I am here to race in the next series of NorAms 2GS and 2SL over the next 4 days where the plan is to rip a couple of results down that will put me into the top 100 and make a move forward in GS too, going by my pre Xmas form I should be in good shape and I will also be starting in the top 7 which will also help. Seems to be dumping snow wherever I go at the moment there was about 10-15cm of fresh overnight here.

Cheers

October Camp

2009-10-24T13:14:00.002Z

Just finished my 2 week training camp which went well, we spent 3 days at the indoor hall in Wittenburg which went really well we were skiing 2 sessions each day and got some quality training done on the solid ice, I skied well and was consistently putting down fast runs!!

We then headed down to Hintertux and trained 3 days GS in tough bumpy conditions had a few good runs but found the going pretty tough in the rough conditions after so much new snow. We did a days free skiing when the bad weather came in and made the decision to move to Reiteralm for our last days of training it was alot of work to pack the stuff up and move for 1 day but it was definately worth it as we got an awesome day of SL and GS.

In Chelmsford now getting my tooth fixed on monday then heading home to get the golf day organised, it's all coming together well with loads of great prizes up for grabs.

October 09

2009-10-11T22:23:00.002Z

Getting ready to fly out to Austria tomorrow for a 2 week training camp on the glaciers, it's been a busy few weeks at home with organising the fundraiser event, training hard on my fitness, fitness tests, catching up with friends and I'm back playing hockey again for Moray Tornadoes. Played my 1st game for a few years last night against Kircaldy and it went pretty well I got 2 goals. Although we ended up losing 4-3 it was a fun game to play in, we were pushing hard for the equaliser in the last couple of minutes and I hit the cross bar which made for a tense finish.

I am asking people to pay for the golf in advance as the numbers have got much higher than I anticipated if you could either send a cheque to 26 Grampian View or contact me by email to arrange the payment that would be much appreciated.

Cheers for now

Golf Event

2009-10-05T18:52:00.002Z

Here is the flyer for the golf event it's not so good quality on this page but if you double click on the image it opens in another window in much better quality.

NZ review

2009-09-17T05:28:00.002Z

I finished my trip off in NZ with a series of races in Mt Hutt 2x SC, 2xSG, 1xGS & 2xSL. The series went pretty well with my best results coming in the SC's and SL's I finished 3rd and 1st in the SC's which was enough to win the ANC tour title. In the SL's I skied well scoring a 17 my best points result of late finishing 3rd half a second out. A big positive point for me was improving on the way I skied in the rutted conditions, for most of the trip I skied really well in SL when the piste was hard and icy but struggled in the ruts, I seemed to make a breakthrough at Hutt so that is encouraging to feel that the work I'm puting in is paying off. It's been a long trip home via Austria and England I'm now looking forward to getting stuck into some fitness training and catching up with my mates at home for a few weeks.

Cheers

Noel GS Cardrona

2009-09-02T06:50:00.002Z

A good day of training for me at Cardrona on the ice. This is a new piste built this year.

Winter Games NZ

2009-09-02T06:37:00.004Z

Finished 7th in the slalom on Sunday in the pouring rain!! It was a pretty strong field with 4 guys from the top 15 in the world starting. I had no40 so it was always gonna be tough to make an impressing with that number considering the conditions. I skied 2 decent runs but didnt really light it up I found it hard to charge at the course in the rough conditions, however my skiing is coming together and the technical points I'm working on are putting me in a good position. Felix Nueruether skied awesomely and won the race by 1.6 sec!!!!! ahead of Mattias Hargin.

Here's a nice shot heading up to Coronet Peak on one of the nice days.......there have been some honest!!!

Wanaka and Queenstown

2009-08-26T21:21:00.003Z

Having a day off today the weather was stormy this morning but it seems to be clearing a bit now. I've decided to skip the GS at the NZ Winter Games initially so I could do some more training but I've got a bit of a cold so I want to shake that off by the Slalom which is this Sunday. I've been skiing well in Slalom recently and all the technical stuff I've been working on seems to be having a good effect. I had some top runs in the FIS Slaloms last week but unfortunatly I straddled in the 1st race, in the 2nd race I was lying in 3rd only 0.30 behind but I had some big mistakes, I stayed in the course to finish but was too far behind to have a good result.

Wanaka has been a great place to live and train, I've also spent a few days over in Queenstown where I stayed at a friends house, what a view to have from you're living room eh??!!

I'll update with my result from the NZ Winter Games Slalom at the weekend.

Lake Wanaka

2009-08-11T02:40:00.002Z

New Zealand

2009-08-11T02:13:00.004Z

In New Zealand now living in Wanaka and training at Cardrona. The weather's not been perfect so far however I've managed to get some decent training in and the guys at the mountain have been working hard to make a good icy piste for training.

New Zealand is pretty spectacular I spent a few days hanging out at a friends place in a town called Little River on the Banks Peninsula not far from Christchurch, it was so nice there by the sea perfect for a few relaxing days before getting into hard training here in the mountains I even went horse riding..... haven't done that in years!! Plan is to train some more for the next week or so before doing a few races at Coronet Peak and Mt Hutt.

I'm living in a house with a group of snowboarders which has been fun, we went for a walk to check out some scenery on our day off I'll post some pics.

Oh yeh!!!! I had a bit of a disaster on my way here. I lost my passport and broke my temporary tooth, I also got charged €1000 for excess baggage, nightmare or what???? All good now though, well I'm still toothless and have no passport but I'm gradually sorting it out.

Cheers for now.

Etape Caledonia

2009-05-13T20:57:00.002Z

In Aviemore again after a few weeks away, firstly training up on the Kitzsteinhorn glacier which was ok, not great for training because it was snowing alot however we got alot of free skiing in and technical drills. I headed down to Italy for 5 days of holidays before driving my car home. I made a stop in England to see a dentist OUCH!!! and I've gotta go back for more!!! Next was a stop in Stirling for our first fitness test of the year which was interesting because we have made a few changes in the approach to the fitness regime, right now I'm trying to get the miles in on my bike because as a team we are taking part in the Etape Caledonia this weekend. We are doing all we can to raise some money for the Macmillan Cancer Support charity so please follow this link below and donate however much you can.

http://www.justgiving.com/snowsportgb

Cheers

Noel

I reckon I can still make it!!!

2009-04-16T16:23:00.001Z

Super-G Crash

2009-04-16T16:23:00.000Z

End of the Season

2009-04-16T14:20:00.003Z

In Aviemore now enjoying a short spell at home for the 1st time since Xmas. Really enjoying being home!!!

For a report on the British champs you can check out this link to my local paper 'The Strathy' for a good report on all that went on at the there, not the best week for me really with a huge crash, my coach & service man getting laid off and hardest of all for me watching Alain say his final farewell to racing. I know that its the right time for him to move on but it really brought back everything he has been through......... and I have been right next to him most of the way. Its left a big hole in my ski life and I realise now more than ever how much he as helped me.

http://www.strathspey-herald.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/4084/Hopes_are_dashed_by_heavy_fall.html

It was a difficult season where with the exception of the World champs 17th, I didn't really get the results I was targeting. Reflecting on my performances, I just couldn't put it all together for the race runs, I had a couple of blistering runs 1 at the Slovenian champs where I crashed at the 2nd last gate but still had the 2nd time on that run against about 6 guys who are ranked in the top 50, also towards the end of March I had another really fast run in a fis race at Maribor where I won the 2nd run. In the only Europa cup I started I was well on the way to the top 20 only to crash 10 gates from home after skiing onto 27th from start no 58!! My opinion is that I just need to ski on the limit at all times and with that I will become more used to it, the reason I found it hard this year was coming back from injury it takes time to fully believe you can make those kind of turns. Going forward I am very happy to be fully fit and excited about the full summer of training ahead and have a clear plan of what I need to work on.

I on my way to Kaprun already this weekend for our first summer training camp, following that I will be back in Aviemore to get stuck into my fitness programme, on the 17th May I will be taking part in the Etape Caledonia bike event with a group from the ski team.

Enjoy the Spring weather!!

GER/SLO National Champs & Crystal Ski Challenge

2009-03-22T17:52:00.002Z

Been on the road a bit lately. Raced in the Slovenian champs slalom where I kind of had a race of 2 halves as the football saying goes, on the 1st run I just couldn't get into my rhythm and as a result skied slow, I was annoyed with myself and challenged myself to up my game on the 2nd run which I did........ and skied probably the best run of my season even crashing at the 2nd last gate I still managed to have the 2nd fastest runtime beating alot of top World Cup skiers only Natko Zrncic-Din from Croatia was faster on the run and he has won runs on the World Cup this year. That made my day a bit more respectable and helped raise my confidence to know that I can pull out a stormer like that if I get it right.

I headed straight off to the Crystal Ski Challenge to meet up with Sir Steve and the rest of the crew, had a great fun day in Mayerhofen with them as always getting a chance to see how the regulars had improved and having a blast around the mountain with an enthusiastic great crowd of people. We also had a GS race which is always the big event of the week, well done to all the prize winners.... not only the fastest get prizes!!!

Jumped in my car again and headed to the German champs at Oberjoch. I skied solid and finished 7th but was too far behind the the equal winners Urs Imboden and Filip Trejbal to make points. I damaged my races skis so I hope they will hold up for the next races.

Back in Maribor now, I will stay here for this week and race in the Slovenian champs DH,SG and SC I haven't planned many speed races this year so I am really looking forward to this week to have a good blast on the longer skis.

Bye for now

Noel

March 17th

2009-03-17T15:15:00.003Z

The races in Italy didn't really go so well the weather was terrible!!!! In GS I didn't ski well then the slalom's were cancelled so I went back down to Slovenia where the forecast was ok and did some training with Mitja Dragsic one of the top Slovenians which was pretty good measuring up against him each run, in training I skied well and my times were really close with Mitja, I managed to beat him on a couple of runs but in general he was between 0.10-0.20 in front which is encouraging for me.

I travelled to Crans Montana in Switzerland for the European cup final event it was in fact my only EC start of the year!! The snow was extremely soft..... there was 60cm of snowfall 2 days before my race then it got really warm. I had number 57 so the challenge was to make the top 30 for the second run and get the early start number....... I managed to ski into 28th however I crashed on the second run in contrast to Kranjska though I was going well and charging!!!

I'm back in Slovenia now to race in the national champs slalom, today I had a FIS slalom which I didn't finish, I am skiing well so I just need to let rip.

I'll keep you up dated.

Noel

Pokal Vitranc Kranjska Gora

2009-03-01T21:52:00.003Z

Raced in the World Cup slalom in Kranjska Gora today. The conditions were some of the best I've seen for racing with the piste holding up perfectly for the high numbers. Unfortunately I didn't take full advantage of it and fell coming onto the last steep section, on the upper part I was skiing ok but not attacking enough. It's hard for me to say why really and also very frustrating, skiing can be alot about getting on a roll so to speak and so far this year my results are lacking so perhaps its the pressure of knowing I have to do something. My feeling is that I can put a good run down but I do not have the consistency as was demonstrated in my previous races.

I was quite disappointed after the race because such good chances for high numbers don't often come like this one, if I had attacked more and gone out at least I could say I gave it a good shot.

I really need to just let go of all the thoughts in my head and just ski as hard and fast as I can without any consequences running through my mind. I find it a difficult balance to attack the course but not become too stiff.

I'm heading to Italy tomorrow where I will meet up with the others guys from the team for some FIS races (SL & GS).

Maribor

2009-02-24T09:54:00.002Z

In Maribor this week for a couple of days off and some training with the Slovenian team before the next world cup race in Kranjska Gora at the weekend. I skied in a FIS race at Skofja Loka 2 days ago where my form was mixed again with a poor 1st run but strong 2nd run. I used different skis for each run because I haven't had a chance to test them, however with the difference in runs I have made my mind up which one I will ski on in the race on sunday.

Sl Val d'isere

2009-02-24T09:47:00.002Z

Good shot of the crowd, I heard it was 30,000 with a high percentage of Brits as you would expect in Val d'Isere............ as close to a home race as I will get probably. Thanks for the support, there were even British course workers!!

Sl Val d'isere

2009-02-24T09:46:00.000Z

Sl Val d'isere

2009-02-20T20:20:00.004Z

GS Val d'isere

2009-02-20T20:15:00.001Z

The GS in Val d isere is a whole new level of difficulty compared to anything I have skied and that includes Adelboden!!!

Our new suits are cool though eh!!

World Champs

2009-02-20T19:59:00.002Z

Apologies for the delay in updates since the World champs.

17th in the slalom was a good result on the toughest piste I have ever skied. Been racing a couple of FIS slaloms in Austria over the past 2 days where I finished 2nd and 3rd, I have definitely found some form recently in slalom so I will be traveling around to some races over the next week or so to improve my ranking which has slipped away after my series of injuries. I will post a few pics from the world champs

Noel

Lofer, Austria

2009-02-02T16:42:00.003Z

In Lofer at the Olympic training centre now where I will train for the next couple of days.

Over the last 10 days or so since my last post, I have taken a trip down to Cortina in Italy to visit Guadalupe for a few days off, after the coaches decided that I wouldn't ski in Kitzbuhel. Then I headed over Slovenia for some training however there was so much snow on the 1st day, the only option was to go powder skiing....... tough life eh!! The next day I got some slalom training with Ivica Kostelic which was pretty cool to be training with the overall world cup leader!! On my best run I was 0.70 behind so that is quite encouraging. I tried to do some training before my race in Crna but again it was too soft and I couldn't imagine how it would be possible to race the next day. Somehow they managed to hold a race as you can imagine it was REALLY soft I finished 4th after a poor 1st run lying in 10th I skied well through the bumps and clawed my way back up to 4th only 0.20sec behind the winner Anze Mrjavla a Europa cup skier from the Slovenian team. The 2nd race was the opposite After the 1st run I was leading by 0.30sec and managed to throw it away with a mistake on the long flat section where I just couldn't get my speed back in the end I finished 4th again.

Up next after 2 days of training is 2 FIS slaloms in Soll about 40mins from here, after that we will train some more here before making our way to Val D'isere for the World Champs. I was informed last week that I will race in the GS and SL there. No Combined this year because I just don't have enough speed training under my belt.

Bye for now

Night Slalom

2009-01-23T09:32:00.000Z

Westendorf Night Slalom

2009-01-23T09:25:00.001Z

Westendorf

2009-01-23T08:52:00.003Z

Raced in Westendorf night slalom last night which is known as the warm-up for the Hahnenkahm weekend in Kitzbuhel. The atmosphere is always great at this event!

Its really steep out of the start there, I didn't find my rythym and I made a mistake on the 1st section, after that I found my feet and skied some great turns and managed to ski into 26th from start number 38. Obviosly I was disappointed about making the mistake on top but overall I was happy with the way I skied from that point on. On the 2nd run I had a good opportunity to put down a great run in front of the big crowd but I just didnt get going and take full advantage of it and I skied an average 2nd run to eventually finish 22nd.

The race was won by Bernard Vajdic from Slovenia with Julien Lizeroux from France in 2nd and Mike Janyk from Canada in 3rd.

I will sit with the coaches later today and discuss where I will go from here.

Zagreb

2009-01-20T18:59:00.002Z

Raced slalom in Zagreb today, the weather took a turn for the worse in the previous days so the snow was really soft and wet however the course worker did an excellent job in making the piste raceable. After the 1st run I was lying in 2nd place only 0.15 sec behind after making a substantial mistake on the lower section, so I was confident going into the 2nd run but I knew it was going to be a bumpy ride. As expected the course got pretty chopped up but I battled my way down with quite a big mistake and even better recovery on the flat to take another victory by only 0.11 sec, this was a good step forward for me as the field was stronger than in the previous races.

I have another slalom here tomorrow and its going to be raining so I hope all those years training in Scotland will stand me in good stead!!! After the race I will make my way to Austria picking my mum up on the way as she is coming out to watch a couple of races....... and take my trophies home!!!

Bye for now

Noel

1st Day in Kranjska...another win!!

2009-01-17T19:50:00.002Z

Had another win today which is great!!

1st run I was lying in 3rd having made a couple of mistakes, in the 2nd run the course was really rutted up but I charged at it and skied well, skiing the best time of the run to win the race.

Nice to win 2 on the trot even though they are lower level races I have some tougher races planned next week with a chance to get back onto the world cup after that if I perform well. Another GS tomorrow so I'll head off and get rested for that.

Noel

Kope FIS Races

2009-01-13T19:54:00.002Z

Had a couple of confidence building results in Kope over the last couple of days.

1st day we had 2 SG races in 1 day, in the 1st race I finished 2nd behind an in form young Austrian Johannes Unterbeger (it was his 3rd win on the trot!!) I was fairly happy with that considering it was my first SG in 18 months. In the 2nd race I finished 8th. I made a few silly mistake pretty much because I was pushing it to much, trying to cut the line and ski much more aggressively however on this SG track you need to ski with feeling and let the skis run.

In the combined I was the top ranked skier with only 1 racer who was close to my ranking. I won the race fairly convincingly after a long day on the hill the slalom was really bumpy on the top section, I skied ok on the top section then from the middle down I really found my rhythm and skied some great turns which is really encouraging for me as I am now skiing on the different model of skis which are much better in the courses which are set tight.

Day off tomorrow then a couple of days training GS before a couple of FIS GS races in Kranjska Gora where I have skied many of my best results in Europa cup Slalom so I hope it will be kind to me in GS.

See ya

Noel

Slovenia

2009-01-10T17:58:00.002Z

Apologies for the lack of updates over the past months or so its been due to lack of internet and my computer playing up a bit. However I'm back!!

Been based in Slovenia since coming out after my Xmas break, I've been training mostly in Petzen which is in Austria but we live right next to the border. I also had a couple of FIS races there last week which didn't go as well as I had hoped I finished 9th in the first one then straddled in the 2nd race. The field was really strong with Ivica Kostelic using the race as a warm up for the Zagreb world cup, however even though he had won the previous world cup he could only manage 3rd!!! Lars Mhyre won the race just before heading down to Zagreb and skiing from start no 70 to 8th!!! Pretty impressive!!

The BARSC championships were also down in Petzen so there were loads of Brits around which was great to catch up with some old mates.... all of whom are now coaches.... makes me feel old. I foreran the SuperG which was fun.

I've been doing alot of training this week and working on tweaking my equipment a bit to better suit me, I've been trying to get the new model of slalom skis from Rossignol but haven't had much luck, all the top guys on Rossi say they are awesome so I'm desperate to get my hands on some. For the moment I have found an older model that works really well when the course is set with short distance between the gates because thats what I've been struggling alot with recently but with the new set up I reckon I have it sussed.

Got a couple of FIS SuperG's and a combined race at Kope in Slovenia its a reasonably mellow hill to get myself back into the speed events which I have really been enjoying to train this week.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Cheers

Noel

Denver Airport

2008-12-06T23:34:00.004Z

On my way back to Europe now after my first series of races since my last update I raced in 2 NorAm slaloms in Winter Park. The 1st race was again extremely tough with loads of new snow over night unfortunately I was a of the victim of the rough conditions when I crashed on the top section of the course getting spat up in the air and coming down pretty hard getting winded and a bruised leg for my troubles. The 2nd race was much better conditions however in my 1st run a was far too hesitant and skied into a lowly 26th position, I composed myself for the 2nd run and skied a very respectable run with the 3rd fastest run time giving me some consolation.

On the whole these races didn't go as I had planned however as the coaches keep reminding me I am coming back to racing after a long string of injuries, it was a good way to finish with the good run. I am getting more and more used to the race pressures with each run which is helping me get used to skiing on my limits to be as fast as possible.

I am heading for Austria now some training then I will start in some FIS and Europa cup slaloms to build my confidence more.

Reports from all over the world seem to be of big dumps of snow........yes even Scotland so get out there!!

Seeya

Noel

1st Race Loveland

2008-12-02T22:42:00.002Z

Had start number 32 starting right behind Alain. Was feeling great going into the start after my performances in training lately, however the massive ruts after the recent snowfall caught me out as I made 3 huge mistakes in my 1st run and struggled into the finish. In the 2nd run I had a bit of an all or nothing attitude, I was skiing ok on the top section dealing with the ruts much better but unfortunately I got thrown back and couldn't make the next gate.

In all a frustrating day after how I know I can ski at the moment. My approach to these races was to use them to get back into race mode but I still have high expectations of myself so I just have to take it on the chin and move on to focusing on tomorrows race on the same hill in Loveland.

Bye for now

Noel

No BBQ today

2008-12-01T01:33:00.000Z