Pre-season training is now well underway having been in the Alps for over a month now. Starting in Saas Fee, I spent just over two weeks training with the leading Eurotest and race training provider, JJC Training. Organised and run by current Eurotest openers Craig Robinson and James Bennett, they have the perfect set-up in the pretty little town of Saas Fee, situated in the high Valais region of Switzerland. Not only are Craig and James great coaches, they both have strong racing backgrounds, having been on the GB development squad.
Following Saas, I started to make my way back across the border and into France. Stopping off briefly in Chamonix to wash some thermals it was not long before I was back on the road and heading to Alpe D’Huez to commence with the next stage of my pre-season training with team captain Andrew Clarke.
Arriving in Alpe D’Huez to find green hills was not a good start but we made the most of the warm weather and sun by taking a three hour hike up the mountain for a ‘quick’ ski down the 200m stretch of snow sitting high up on the mountain at an altitude of 2800m. Continuing on, we hit the gym hard at the Palais de Sport working on building a strong core and maintaining our CV endurance.
Another tough session
With sore muscles we decided to throw the towel in and hit the road, this time we were heading to Tignes and our arrival couldn’t have been better timed. Arriving to 90cm of fresh snow we avoided the crowds and headed straight up to Val D’Isere to meet fellow team member Anna Morrissey and family. That afternoon Andrew and I went back down the mountain to stay at the ideally located Chalet Melezes. Sipping tea and eating cake we watched as the snow fell outside by the metre! The next morning we decided to give the race skis a rest and borrow some of the chalet’s Scott test skis to make the most of the powder. Riding on a pair of this year’s Scott Missions, I was super impressed by the stability and versatility of the ski.
Staying on in Val D’Isere for a further three days, we later found out they had more snowfall during the 72 hours we were there than the whole of last season!
Happy Jack!
Heading back to Alpe D’Huez for our final week we welcomed fellow teammate Ian Roberts and Army telemarker Tigs Chohan and enjoyed a cheese fondue:
During our last week in Alpe D’Huez, the Army’s Royal Artillery regiment arrived in town to start there preparation for the Army Championships in January ahead of the Inter Services in Meribel later in the season. With them came gates and racing, for which I am very grateful to Captain James and Colonel Jonathan for letting me train in their gates on my telemark skis.
After a great four weeks pre-season training I have finally returned to my base for the season, Argentiere – France. Here I plan to spend Christmas with family and squeeze in some quality training with Seb Mansart and the French National Team before heading over to Rauris, Austria for the British Telemark Championships.
