The Season Finale

16 April 2007

After 60 programmes this winter of which 14 were snowboard, 14 Nordic and 33 Alpine, our final stop of the grueling winter was the British Land National Championships in Meribel, France.

To say the Channel 4 ski team was cream-crackered was an understatement! Having been on the road from October 2006 we had travelled to over 25 different winter resorts, covering North America, Scandinavia and of course central Europe.

Personally, I was particularly worried that the last stop of our mammoth tour would be a slight anti-climax. From the World Cup Finals, producing the most exciting finish of the season Alpine Skiing has ever seen, to the British Championships in France. However how wrong was I to be!

Our aim in Meribel was to sign off the season with our established stars from the tour and introduce some of the exciting young talent making rapid headway up the Worlds rankings. Like the World Cup tour, the British Land National Championships covers Downhill, Super G, Giant Slalom and Slalom and a Combined event for both men and women.

The women’s events were dominated by Chemmy Alcott coming off the back of an amazing season bringing her World ranking below 30 in Downhill, Super Giant Slalom and Giant Slalom. The British No.1 became the first British woman to qualify for the World Cup Finals and the first ever British Skier in the Giant Slalom Finals.

Chemmy herself admitted that after such a tough season the National Championships is a hard event for her. Keeping focused and holding her form with everything to lose and not a lot to win can have a negative effect on any athlete. However this turned out not to be the case! With two World Cup top 10s this season to her name, Chemmy demonstrated calm, skill and sensational skiing by taking every British title up for grabs - all 5 of them - setting another record as the UK's most successful skier in the National Championships of all time! Chemmy needed a small van to take all the silver trophies home and was genuinely delighted to have claimed top position in Downhill, Super G, GS, Slalom and Combined.

Tough courses, fast, frozen end of season snow and the same track as the men’s downhill made for terrific and demanding women’s racing. However, there was no question that Chemmy Alcott continues to develop as a formidable athlete on the World Cup tour and I strongly believe that podiums and victories will come her way on the 2008 tour.

In the men’s races new names made their mark and each and every one of the competitions had the crowds cheering with anticipation. The speed races were strongly contested, with World Cup star Finlay Mickel the man they all wanted to beat. Finlay’s season personal best came in December 2006 with a superb 13th position in the Val Gardena World Cup but he just missed out on the World Cup finals. The other high note for Finlay this season was the birth of his son, Jenson.

Finlay won the opening event of the men’s competition but in the Downhill he was chased and nearly beaten by one of our exciting new prospects, Douglas Crawford, from Glasgow. Dougie took second position in the first speed event, just under three quarters of a second behind Finlay and one tenth of a second quicker than British No.2 Noel Baxter who claimed 3rd position.

This gave the young Scot Crawford even more hope, confidence and courage going into the second men’s event of the Championships. However, Dougie was yellow flagged a third of the way down the Super G course and sent back to the top due to the crash of a young French racer just before. This is all part of the learning experience of ski racing and Crawford turned a potential nightmare into a positive. When taking to the course for the second time he put down a blistering run, so good in fact that he thrashed pre-race favourite Mickel and World Cup Skier Noel Baxter to take the British title in great style.

Runner-up Andy Noble went on to claim the Giant Slalom title showing both the Baxter brothers and Finlay he’s some very promising talent just a short time away from World Cup competition.

I was really impressed with Dougie Crawford, confident for his years without being cocky or arrogant. A great technician with a love for speed and his promising results as a junior already being proven in the senior ranks, I believe this is a young man we will see a lot of next season.

The men’s slalom was a family affair and a great duel between older brother Alain Baxter and the younger Noel. Rumours had been abundant prior to the Championships that Alain may retire but fortunately it was not the case and Alain will be racing another season, hopefully seasons.

The first of the two runs narrowly went to younger brother Noel and he just managed to hold off Alain after the second.. The big story was that Olympic silver medalist, Joel Chenal of France, could only manage third, making for a special day for the brothers and a well deserved title for Noel.

Overall, it was a week of fantastic racing in Meribel with great organisation on and off the pistes. Pascale Blanc of Meribel created a near perfect race hill in warming temperatures and his team worked relentlessly to secure a good event.

As for the Channel 4 ski team we also plan to be back again next year, bigger and better with more high speed ski racing stories, features and gossip! From all of us on the Channel 4 ski team enjoy the summer and see you in the autumn when the skiing begins again.

At long last Lenzerheide

5 April 2007

After nearly six months on the road, 72 men’s and women’s competitions, 10 different countries and thousands of air miles, the Channel 4 ski team finally came to the end of our high speed, big crashes downhill ski tour in Lenzerheide Switzerland.

A select few qualify (top 25 in the World rankings) and they battle out the last of the races of the season for the individual discipline awards and the prized of them all, the Overall title.

Lenzerheide also hosted the finals in 2005, and in 2007 they created a magical finale to the season. Over twenty thousand fans packed the grandstand every day creating a festival atmosphere. The weather was glorious all week though the rising temperatures created problems with the race slope.

The only criticism of the event was the accommodation or lack of it to be precise. It’s tough when ski racers, journalists and even fans are forced to stay up to 45 minutes away from the town or race arena which takes away a lot of the atmosphere and fun!

Lenzerheide is not a regular or favourite resort of the Brits or British tour operators and is one of my least favourite towns on the tour. However if, like us, you have no choice then are a few hidden gems but you will have to be quick.

The two fancy hotels in town (full of VIPs at the finals) are the Schweizerhof and the Lenzerhorn. Both boast excellent spas, plush décor and rooms, with the Schweizerhof having the best restaurant of the two and possibly the best in town. Late night drinks and beautiful people are taken care of in the Hotel Kurhaus bar, which has good live music and the party action keeps on going until very late into the night.

All of the above are very average, very expensive and dare I say a little too Swiss. However when we changed hotels for the third time due to a lack of beds we discovered a hidden gem we had never in dreamed of finding in Lenzerheide. The 3 star Hotel La Palanca, which can be found opposite the chair lift looked just like any Alpine hotel should. It has old wooden chalet style doors, windows and tables outside. Inside friendly young attentive staff, large rooms beautifully decorated with Swiss rustic charm and lovely balconies overlooking the mountains.

To our astonishment it got better with a beautiful restaurant, excellent food and wine. It seemed like all our Lenzerheide problems, sulks and winges had been solved in one hit! After dinner we were all so pleased that a nightcap was in order and this is where we met the very glamorous owner Gabriela Vitali. Her bar was full of friendly locals and the hilarious barman insisted on handing round free drinks. The walls were decorated with pictures of the owners as children. The local wines were flowing and just as we were feeling at home came the blow.

I explained to Gabriela our problems with Lenzerheide, the race organizers and why until we found her hotel we were struggling to find decent, reasonably priced accommodation. I explained that British skiers would love her hotel and her! We were touched that everyone spoke to us in English and genuinely seemed to care

“One problem” Says Gabriela, “Your British friends are welcome but they need to be quick”

“Quick?” I said, “We would like to book now for the 2009 finals!”

Gabriela looked at me and frowned “Well we have one small problem, we have sold the hotel.”

To be honest I was not that surprised as it’s such a beautiful building “let me know the new owners” I replied.

“Unfortunately the building will be flattened in April and turned into modern apartments by summer.”

In less than 5 minutes my Lenzerheide dream had been shattered and we were back to square one!

Fortunately the racing was awesome, the course as fast and exhilarating as ever and the final results were nothing like we expected.

Going into the finals it was the Austrian love birds who were leading the World Cup Standings. Long time partners Benni Raich (defending Champion) and Marlies Schild (8 slalom victories this season) were both the bookies favourites to wrap up the most coveted and important titles of the season. Indeed, before arriving in Switzerland Marlies had already won the Slalom title allowing her to concentrate on the last speed event and take the overall.

In the speed events, Schild took personal bests in Downhill and Super G, taking a valuable 140 point score to extend her lead over Nicole Hosp, Goetschl and Mancuso. The Downhill and Super G individual discipline titles had already been won by Renate Goetschl. So with two races to go Schild’s odd with the bookings were shortened and only her team mate Hosp could stop her.

Ski racing is a fascinating sport and with the pressure mounting, the final two races in the women’s World Cup tour took a turn and twist no one predicted. The penultimate race of the tour for the girls was the Slalom and tour leader and golden girl Marlies Schild had already wrapped up the Slalom title, with an amazing seven wins in eight slalom competitions during a season where she was clearly a step ahead of the rest of the World.

In fact with the Overall title in her grasp her main focus for the last slalom of the season was to achieve an eighth win and the accolade of equaling the record of the great 5 times Olympic Gold medallist Janica Kostelic of Croatia.

On another perfect blue sky and sun shine day the women’s slalom began with the usual early inspection and the first run with the pre race favourites starting early. The shock also came early, with for the first time in five months Marlies Schild looked nervous, stiff and uncharacteristically her timing seemed off. In what was usually an effortless dance for Schild became hard, off balance and led to the inevitable crash! A silence in the crowd and a smile from the bookies as the odds on favourite for the Overall title had, just 48 hours before the end if the tour, left the door wide open for Nicole Hosp.

Team mates are key but ski racing is an individual sport and Hosp was not about to let her golden opportunity get away. Whilst most of us remained in shock, Hosp focused and skied the two runs of slalom with brilliance to take the win and 100 points. In a massive turnaround she took the lead back from Schild and opened a 30-point lead in the Overall standings.

All of sudden we were going into the last women’s race of the tour with the women’s Overall title going to the wire - and it was the Giant Slalom was where it would be decided. Hosp needed to win again and this time Schild needed third place or below to take the title. The script played out perfectly to Nicky Hosp’s advantage as she won both runs of the Giant Slalom comfortably and Schild, still shocked from her costly errors 24 hours earlier, could only manage 6th position handing the title to her fellow Austrian.

After 35 races in 18 different winter resorts it was the final 48 hours that decided a mesmorising Women’s World Cup tour with Nicole Hosp crowned champion for 2007.

The other pleasing point for us was Chemmy Alcott. The first ever British women to qualify for the World Cup Finals put in an exceptional performance in Giant Slalom to cap a superb World Cup campaign. Chemmy finished 15th scoring points and finishing the tour Overall ranked 32nd in the World, but 27th in downhill, 33rd in Super G, 21st in Giant Slalom and 13th in Super Combined. Chemmy is developing as a superb all rounder and I firmly believe next season she will be a force to be reckoned with.

If the Women’s World Cup finals were dramatic then the men’s were a true cliffhanger. Again the Overall was decided in the very last race of the season. The dual was between defending Champion Benni Raich of Austria and the man he beat last season to runner up spot Norway’s, Aksel Lund Svindal.

After 32 races from 36, going in to the finals Benni had an advantage of 103 points from Svindal but with Lenzerheide hosting the final four events of the tour, which meant there was 400 points left on the table. Now in normal World Cup races you score 100 points for a win down to 1 point for 30th position but in the World Cup Finals you only score points from 1st to 15th position due to the limited field of entrants (top 25 in the World Only).

The first race was the Downhill and the individual title had already been wrapped up by the ever consistent Didier Cuche. Cuche became the first Swiss skier to claim the Downhill title in 14 years.

With 25,000 fans packing the grandstands to salute Cuche, the pressure and spotlight was off Svindal, who took his chance in true style by winning the 11th and final downhill by just under a second and with Benni Raich down in 13th position narrowing the Overall title chase to just 23 points. Like his girlfriend, Marlies Schild, Benni was under pressure from an athlete finishing the season with 100% confidence.

Day two and race two was the Super G competition, which was a discipline where Aksel had achieved better results than Benni throughout the season. The individual Super G title went to Bode Miller, himself a former Overall Champion in the 2005 season. However Miller’s celebrations were dwarfed by the Overall chase with Svindal putting in another sensational performance to take the win. However Benni Raich also put in an amazing performance to take 2nd position, which meant he narrowly held onto his lead with only two races left to go. Now the margin between Benni Raich of Austria and Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway was a remarkable 3 points, with two races and two hundred points left to be collected.

Then on the penultimate race day Benni Raich made the same mistake as his girlfriend and crashed out of the Giant Slalom on the first of the two runs. Aksel took full advantage of the situation by winning his third straight victory of the finals.

The mistake not only cost Raich the individual Giant Slalom title he won last season, but it also allowed Svindal to take the lead in the Overall standings by 97 points going into the final race of the season after 35 races.

The final day of the season arrived and it was clear to defending Champion, Benni Raich that he must win the last race of the season and Aksel must crash out or finish outside the top 15 and the points. Raich went about business in his trademark cool professional style and easily won the first run.

Svindal and the ski media all know that slalom is his least favourite discipline, the Achilles’ heel in the Vikings attacking style. However instinct, determination and a little luck put Aksel into 12th position after the first run and on track for the title.

The last run over a five-month tour to decide the title made for an electric atmosphere and everyone watched in amazement at Svindal’s second run as he finished safely across the finish line. With each racer that followed the crowds attention was completely focused on the scoreboard. A mistake by Marcus Larrson, who was ahead of Aksel on the first and now behind on the second, meant that Aksel was guaranteed 15th position and technically, no matter what Raich did, Aksel had won the Overall title for 2007.

Benni Raich the consummate professional won the second run and took the individual Slalom title whilst gracefully accepting that defeat in the chase for the most coveted of World Cub globes, the Overall.

A truly remarkable finale to the season down to the last run of the season for both men and women. Congratulations to Aksel Lund Svindal and Nicole Hosp for some amazing final performances and congratulations to the International Ski Federation for another thrilling and entertaining World Cup tour.

As for me well I’m off to Meribel for the British Land National Championships, and my article from there will be here next week. Happy Easter and Happy Skiing... there is still lots of snow out there!

Lost in Lillehammer

15 March 2007

The penultimate stop on the World Cup Tour took the Channel 4 ski team to Lillehammer and the neighbouring resort of Kvitfjell for the men’s Supercombined, Downhill, and Super G action. We are reaching the business end of the season with points frantically calculated at every event and titles being divided as the finals draw ever nearer.

Lillehammer has a great history, hosting one of the most successful winter Olympics of all time in 1994 and has been host to an array of international winter sports events ever since. Fifty kilometres North of Lillehammer, Kvitfjell is a resort developing fast and improving every season the World Cup tour travels there. It boasts some lovely hotels half way up the mountain for superb ski in ski out access and the runs are both challenging and beautiful at the same time.

However if you don’t mind driving, my tip is to stay in Lillehammer itself and take yourself to the neighbouring resorts of Hajfell and of course Kvitfell. Lillehammer has a beautiful main drag or street with cool bars, coffee shops and restaurants and trendy boutiques. Its hip Norwegian cool meeting traditional Scandinavian architecture and design and it really works.

If your budget will allow, stay at the SAS Radisson at the top of town within walking distance to the buzzing nightlife yet having its own club, sports bar, spa, and Olympic memorabilia everywhere. Friendly staff, stylish rooms, and a homely feel make this the perfect location to explore or discover Norway’s premier winter destination. As well as skiing check out the ski jump arena, ice rinks, Olympic museum, lake fishing and cross country trails. The food is great with specialities like Elk, Beaver, Reindeer, and Otter! However this is the trip to cut down on the booze. As wine and alcohol are taxed heavily by the government they are very, very, very expensive!

For the Channel 4 ski team, lost luggage - or ski equipment to be precise - is something we are used to being a hazard of the job. However in Lillehammer, losing boots and skis has taught both Pat (the cameraman) and I a lesson I want to avoid in future. A lot of skiers rent equipment to save on luggage and sometimes extra costs. However, renting ski boots for the first time in 10 years was to become a disaster and nearly fatal for both Pat and I. With all the lost luggage forms filled out and our on course inspection needing to be done the next day, the visit to the rental shop was painful and urgent. Like any Norwegians, the staff were polite, friendly and helpful, even offering to sharpen the edges of the unsuitable skies we had no choice but to rent. The horrifying part came when the boots were tried on!

I know the season may be nearly over but these boots were uncomfortable beyond belief, soft then hard, painful and baggy. How could people ski in these?! The cameraman had by now tried several pairs in search of comfort without success and we both started to curse our airline. However the true test came the following morning when filming on a steep, icy, World Cup downhill course, host to the 1994 Winter Olympic downhill and boasting speeds over 80 mph and jumps over 60 metres.

At the top of the course we both knew we were wrongly dressed, equipped and running scared. My ski boots were agony and too small, Pat’s too big and sloppy. But we had no choice, it had to be skied. Links or pieces to camera had been rehearsed and it was time to go. Pat’s concern was the £20,000 digital TV camera, my concern was not looking like losers crashing our way down the course inspection in front of the world’s elite and media. Nervous slips, slow steep sections, careful jumps and steady links to the camera. Fortunately no crashes, camera in one piece and a jubilant Pat Bell having skied a classic world cup downhill course on antique equipment and agonising boots.

The final section must have made us look like beginners but laughing at the same time! Lesson learned, I cannot stress enough, the importance of good ski boots, comfortable, properly fitted and hoping you become a better skier. How people ski in rentals and how many holidays have been ruined beggars belief. We have great ski shops, boot fitters and choice of product in the UK so take a tip, if the budget allows, BUY don’t rent!

The racing in Kvitfjell was far more entertaining than in previous years as the titles started to be taken prior to the finals. Aksel Lund Svindal won the individual super combined trophy on Friday. His first crystal globe of a potential three and that’s yet another award to go with his two gold’s from the World Championships in Are. He now battles it out with Benni Raich for the overall and GS tour titles.

On Saturday, Switzerland’s Didier Cuche took his finest win in 9 previous races to wrap up the downhill title. Fourth position four times, consistency being his stamp from November to March, one of the nicest guys in ski racing became the first Swiss racer since 1993 to claim the downhill crown.

Sunday should have been Miller time, not in the pub but on the piste, as Bode had the title within his grasp, but a disappointing 7th position meant it goes to the last race of the season at the finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

And that’s where we go to bring the season to a close, not my favourite resort in the World so hopefully I will not lose my luggage, rent boots and find some Swiss delight!!

The Overall Tour Title will be decided next week and part 1 of the story will be on Channel at 8am... see you there!

Best value on the World Cup Tour

9 March 2007

Slovenia might not sound the most glamorous of World Cup stops but it still manages to provide everything the coachs, racers and journalists love and begin to sorely need after 4 months on the road!

Kranjska Gora is Slovenia’s premier winter resort, has good skiing and snowboarding for all abilities and hotels and pensions up to 4* standard offering everything from casinos, bars, culture and heritage, fine dining to pizza and cracking après ski.

Kranjska Gora has been hosting World Cup races since 1968 with most of the greats from our sport naming the Podkoren piste as one of the toughest on the tour. The winners' rota over the years reads like the who’s who of wintersport featuring Stenmark, Marhre and of course Alberta Tomba who holds the record of 5 wins in Kranjska Gora.

Coming into the 2007 World Cup races the battle of the Giant Slalom and Overall World Cup tour was well and truly on fire. The stars to follow this year were Benni Raich looking for his third successive Giant Slalom win and also the chance to draw level with Alberta’s long standing record. His main rival is the newly crowned pin-up of the men’s tour - Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal - had a twenty point advantage over Benni in the GS standings and a 73 point advantage in the Overall World Cup. Whilst brimming with confidence after winning 2 gold medals at the recent World Championships, playing in the back of Aksel’s mind was the fact that he had never placed better than 15th on the historical piste in Slovenia and Benni Raich the defending World Champion was not about to let his title slip without fighting it to the wire.

So the scene was set for a thrilling weekend in Kranjska Gora with both the penultimate Giant Slalom and Slalom races of the season being contested and 200 valuable points up for grabs in the technical race events before the World Cup finals.

But before the racing begins just about everybody on the tour loves to enjoy the Slovenian hospitality and incredible value. I am sure you will agree key ingredients to any ski holiday are hotels, lift passes, food and wine and in all of these areas Kranjska Gora works out 30 to 50% cheaper than the neighbouring Austrian or Italian resorts.

If you should ever holiday there please follow my recommendations as I first ski raced in Kranjska Gora in 1986, have been reporting there for television since 1992 and for me the resort still has all of the charm and magic ingredients I first fell in love with 21 years ago.

There are swankier and there are cheaper hotels in Slovenia than I am going to recommend but the Hotel Kotnik in the old part of town for me still remains the favourite. When the smoking in restaurants and bars is banned in 2007 this recommendation will be perfect. The restaurant in this hotel serves excellent meat and fish along with locally made wines and digestives to compliment the meal. To put this into perspective the Channel 4 crew of five ate starters, mains, desserts and coffees, 1 litre of white and 1 litre of red house wine, a few beers washed down with local free liquor and the bill came to a total of £68 which equates to just under £14 per head. All this in one of the top restaurants in the resort... Gordon Ramsey eat your heart out!

However for me the jewel in the crown and the star find not only in Slovenia but also the rest of the World Cup tour is the Pizzeria adjacent to the Kotnik hotel which puts American or Italian, wood fired or delivered, thin crust or thick crust pizzas to shame. Head to this venue on a World Cup weekend and you could be sharing tables with Bode Miller or Herman Maier, with the Chief of Race or most of the other officials. The atmosphere is bordering on chaos and the wait for a table can often be lengthy but the record still stands to be counted, pizzas for four and enough beer so you stop counting and you always get change from a £20 note.

Having saved a small fortune on beer and wine over the Kranjska Gora weekend this Sunday World Cup Skiing on 4 comes from Kvitfjell Norway which not so proudly has the most expensive wine and beer on the World Cup Circuit. However with only 7 races before the season is over we will gladly forfeit the pizza and beer for some of the closet fought ski racing we have seen all season.

This Sunday at 8am Channel 4 viewers can see Didier Cuche wrap up the downhill title and Aksel Lund Svindal take back the lead from Benni Raich in the chase for the Overall World Cup crystal globes

One thing I can guarantee the Channel 4 ski team will come away a little lighter in both wallet and girth than we did in Kranjska Gora last weekend!

World Cup Ski Racing Resumes Bavarian Style!

1 March 2007

After a three week break in Sweden for the World Championships, the Audi FIS World Cup tour resumed in Garmsich-Partenkirchen, Germany for round eight and nine of the eleven stop tour. After freezing in Sweden the tour was welcomed by spring like weather conditions of up to 16 degrees celsius.

Garmisch is a classic downhill track with a beautiful historic city and boasts some of the finest après ski on the tour. The town itself hosted the 1936 Winter Olympics under the dark shadow of Adolf Hitler even though Britain did win gold in the ice hockey believe it or not!

Originally two separate towns Garmsich-Partenkirchen was brought together for the Games in 1936. After the second world was the USA built a huge army base on the outskirts of town contributing to the diverse and interesting factors to this wonderful resort.

Its sporting heritage has continued since those games with numerous international figure skating events, the 4 Hills ski jumping tournament and the 20th World Alpine Ski Championships secured its future as a major winter sports destination. The skiing itself in Garmisch is truly beautiful and the Zugspitze mountain and tree lined pistes make it a paradise for skiers and boarders of all standards.

The Garmisch side of town is big and international and full of designer shops alongside traditional Bavarian pubs, restaurants and night life. However for me every visit to Garmisch must be accompanied with a visit to the old Partenkirchen part of the town and the 187 year old Gastrof Fraundorfer. Bavarian food, beer, hospitality at its finest and a meal I look forward to every season.

Tradition is the name of the game with Barbara Fraundorfer running her World famous restaurant with a relaxed welcoming ease. All staff naturally are dressed in traditional national dress with lederhosen for men and dresses with boobs pushed up and out for women. Traditional yodeling, thigh slapping, singing and swaying with your beer is like the Munich beer festival except for one thing... Gashof Fraunforfer has food to match the Ramseys, and Blancs of the world.

Sausages from Munich (white) sausages from Vienna (brown) sausages, sausages, sausages all washed down with more unpoppbah music and beer. In between each course shots were drank, but not of tequila, no this is Bavaria! The Shots were beer shots with cream on top! Sounds disgusting but tastes delicious. Main course and more home made local specialties of Bavarian rolled beef and even vegetarian options to keep the producer happy.

I could go on for paragraphs but this is one you must savour. Forget the past or the boring German clichés Garmsich-Partenkirchen has the lot. Traditional and modern, pizza hut for kids, fine dining for mum and dad, Peaches nightclub for teenagers and superb skiing for all levels... Oh I nearly forgot the ski racing!

Warm weather, soft snow and a long tough track do not all mix well together in ski racing. The first of the two downhills had to start later than normal and meant slushy snow at 70 mph... not ideal! The early numbers had the best conditions, the late numbers the worst. To us journalists we knew an upset was on the cards as the rule book says the top 30 must ski in reverse order so the pre race favourites had the toughest conditions to deal with.

Ski racing is all about taking your chances on the day and I was so pleased to see Andrej Jerman take Slovenia’s first World Cup downhill victory since the tour began in 1966. Austrian Hans Grugger took second place which was good to see as he was not selected to represent his country in the recent World’s in Are, Sweden and the super cool Canadian, Eric Guay, took third.

Twenty four hours later they were at it again for downhill number two or round nine of the tour. Starting the race at 11.30 am made a big difference to the snow conditions and all the sports enthusiasts were on tender hooks after a racer protest the night before over the top 30 reverse rule.

The high drama came as Michael Walchhofer crashed into the safety netting at 70 mph on a corner that carries his name after two identical crashes in the same spot in 2003 and 2004. In the finish area Michael was clearly dazed and concussed and was taken to hospital in an ambulance with great concern.

It also meant Michael would miss the second downhill in Garmsich Partenkirchen and the defending downhill champions third successive tour title were over. A very sad day for his fans and for one of the nicest guys on the World Cup tour.

With only two more downhill competitions to follow the final speed event in Garmisch the pressure on the athletes was huge and the atmosphere electric. A brilliant high point scoring weekend for Eric Guay of Canada, the pin up boy of the tour, took top position after finishing third in race one and jumping from tenth to fifth in the seasons standings.

It was so good to see Andrej Jerman shut up his critics by coming second proving his win 24 hours earlier was not a lucky early start advantage. The Swiss veteran Didier Cuche took an all important 60 point score for third spot to extend his lead at the top of the downhill standings. The look of relief on his face was truly amazing and the Swiss star heads to Norway for the next downhill of the tour.

As for me well I’m off to Kranjska Gora in Slovenia for a Giant Slalom and Slalom ski race but stay tuned to our show and next weeks article. Kranjska Gora is a hidden gem and one of the best value ski resorts in the world. Picture this 80p a pint, dinner for 4 with change from £35 and two bed apartments for £40 Sounds amazing and it is!

Cortina glitz and glamour on the Women’s World Cup Tour

23 January 2007

I am happy to report that the Channel 4 ski team joined the women’s World Cup tour in Cortina D’Ampezzo last weekend.

This is one of the biggest stops on the women’s downhill circuit often called the women’s Kitzbühel and it attracts the biggest crowds, best prize money and classic Italian glamour from start to finish.

For me Cortina is one of my favourite resorts about an hour and half drive from Venice perched high up in the Italian Dolomites. It's one of Italy’s most swanky resorts whilst also packing in some of the most scenic ski runs you will find in Europe.

The Channel 4 ski team headed for the Hotel de la Poste in downtown Cortina which is right in the heart of the main town and the perfect location for the Italian past-time of people watching. The hotel itself comes out of the old school of fancy 4 star accommodation and by today’s boutique style it is a little dated. But it is this slightly out of date 80s feel that gives this hotel all it’s character and with an excellent half board rate the restaurant at dinner time was the highlight of the hotel.

But it is not just the hotel where the 80s rule supreme... the designer shops that line the main street create an unbelievable buzz and posing sessions every day after dinner. This is something I recommend that everyone tries to witness - men in full length fur coats, walking alongside women dressed from head to toe in Versace walking little dogs that proudly wear Gucci coats looking just as outrageous as their owners!

On a romantic note, if you are planning the ultimate Valentines weekend, a marriage proposal or you are really in the dog house Cortina also boasts a reputation for being the most romantic resort in the dolomites and alps.

Follow my guide and love will definitely be in the air...

1. Fly London to Venice

2. Stay in water front hotel in Venice for one night

3. Hire Lotus Sports car in Venice (pretend that your James Bond!) and drive to Cortina

4. Dinner in the Michelin starred Tivoli restaurant

5. Horse drawn sleigh back to your hotel whilst gazing at the stars

If you aren’t out the doghouse by then, stop off at the Gucci and Bvlgari store on the way back!

So we've had the fur coats, designer boutiques, swanky hotels, beautiful people, and oh yes... ski racing... I knew there was something else I had to mention.

Ski racing interviews with the Americans are a real pleasure, these athletes look and sound like Cameron Diaz but also ski at 90 miles per hour. The American team with an average age of 22 is enjoying a record breaking season and the confidence, camaraderie and smiles of jubilation are at an all time high.

The first race on the Friday before the big downhill was the women’s Super Giant Slalom combining the high speed Downhill with the Giant Slalom. Acting just like the name of her main sponsor “Rippit” Julia Mancuso recorded her third win of the season and put the Austrian favourite Renate Gotschl right back into third position thus setting the challenge for the weekend ahead.

A quiet Friday night for the Channel 4 ski team and the world's best ski racers, bar a fashion victim or two, however the big downhill morning dawned with awful weather conditions and a very precarious downhill track.

Whilst British hopes were firmly pinned on Chemmy Alcott with a huge entourage of sponsors, family and friends in Cortina, the British number one seemed to be lacking in confidence in her technique on this classic downhill course and finished in a disappointing 28th position. Two years ago this would have been a good result for the 24 year old but after two seasons of rapid improvement both Chemmy and her fans alike expect top 10s these days and the British Number one's Cortina result was a little disappointing.

The Channel 4 ski team in the commentary box consisted of myself and the former World No.2 Kristina Koznick and we both knew the race was developing into another Austrian v USA downhill battle.

With a relatively unknown French skier, Marie Marchand-Arvier, leading we knew it was time for the race to heat. Kristina's voice reached an octave of excitement that I’ve never heard before as Mancuso left the gate in search of double Victoria in Cortina.

In what can only be described as worsening conditions the 22 year old who now lives on the beaches of Hawaii clearly demonstrated that her Olympic gold in Turin 2006 was no one hit wonder and she clearly is a force to be reckoned with. Skiing like a racer 10 years older than her age Mancuso easily took top position with two racers left to challenge...

With Kristina doing cartwheels in the commentary box, the crowd outside fell silent and looked to the top of the slope once again. It was now the turn of the 31 year old Austrian veteran Renate Gotschl, 4 times the World Cup downhill champion in an amazing career which until today had brought her 41 World Cup victories and the most staggering of statistics - 9 of those wins had come here in Cortina on the Olympia piste.

To say they breed them tough in Austria is an understatement. The Austrian women’s team are like catwalk models off the slopes and prop forwards on the slopes. Renate put in a blistering performance crossing the line comfortably ahead of Mancuso to race right into the downhill ski racing record books once again.

From the biggest race of the women’s tour to the biggest race of the whole season - the Channel 4 ski team packed up the Audi and headed up to the fastest and most feared of all the downhills. This famous course is coupled with the wildest and craziest après ski we will see all year long... yes you guessed it this weekend we are in Kitzbühel and hangover permitting I will have a full back stage report for you next week.

Adelboden

10 January 2007

Our first race of 2007 also took us to the first Swiss event of the season which I have been looking forward to for some time.

Adelboden plays host to a giant slalom and slalom competition and is the most quintessential Swiss winter sport destination but it is also a World Cup piste with a sting in the tail!

The town itself is full of chocolate box chalets, a beautiful 17th century church in the central square and has all the traditional Swiss delights from chocolate to cheese and cuckoo clocks to beautiful mountains.

Our first taste of Swiss hospitality was the Friday night before the main races where, courtesy of Logines (the official World Cup timing sponsor), all of the World Cup journalists and TV production crews were treated to the most beautiful mountain top dinner high up in the mountains above the village.

It had been a long working day for the Channel 4 ski team with no time for lunch or even a snack! By the time we boarded the 7.45pm cable car we were all desperate to get to dinner! After a couple of drinks and the usual sponsor introduction speakers, finally we were at the table. Much to my delight the first Swiss event of the season was also my first cheese fondue of the tour!

Now the cheese fondue is a specialty that the Swiss take very seriously - if Gordon Ramsey was from the Swiss Alps, his cheese fondue signature dish would take centre stage in most of his shows. Such was our hunger, we intended to take this particular fondue very seriously indeed. Bowl after bowl of melted hot cheese was brought to our table with the most perfect Swiss hospitality.

Apparently the secret to over-indulging in cheese fondue is to drink white wine not red wine. Copious amounts of bread and cheese can easily congeal in your stomach and leave you feeling bloated and uncomfortable! However, we were reliably informed that if you stick the rules and guidelines of fondue eating you won’t suffer any bloating effects - and as the guidelines involved drinking white wine it didn’t seem too difficult a task! I happily stuck with the white throughout the evening which was flowing just as freely as the cheese and bread.

On waking the next morning with a classic dry mouth and bloated stomach I was beginning to question the white wine theory, but the commentary box and the giant slalom beckoned. Coffee and fruit for breakfast normally does everything you need it to do but for some reason today was not the day! So it was with a heavy stomach that I set out for the long days work ahead.

The most exciting thing about the Adelboden World Cup races is the severity of the piste. It is steep and treacherous from the moment you leave the starting gate and the final 300 meters of the course provide the races with one the steepest closing sections you are ever likely to witness. However, the racers love it as the closing section has them dropping into a finish arena that packs 20,000 Swiss ski race fans and creates one of the best atmospheres on the world cup circuit.

Day two of the competition saw one of the biggest upsets of the season, although sadly not my stomach which was still blocked with fondue! Mark Berthod, a 22 year old from St Moritz skied brilliantly in the first run from a start number of 60 to finish in 26th position, guaranteeing qualification for the 2nd leg.

Not even the most optimistic of Swiss ski race fans would of predicted that Berthod would go from 26th to 1st position on the second leg and win the fourth slalom of the season in amazing style. He becomes the first Swiss slalom winner since 1999. The resulting atmosphere was like a cup final with Swiss ski race fans working themselves into a frenzy, celebrating well into the early hours of Monday morning!

It was hard for me to keep a straight face during the closing interviews though. After waiting an hour I finally got my moment and first interview with the unknown ski racer: “You must be delighted” was my question and the standard response of “I can’t believe it's finally come true” was nothing unusual. The young Swiss racer was clearly shaken by the amount of press attention and with only a slim grasp of English at his disposal I decided to go easy on him with a simple second question in the hope of a more expansive answer. “How will you celebrate this victory” I asked. “With a big cheese fondue with my family at home” came the reply! I could sense both the cameraman and producer wincing at the thought!

The Channel 4 ski team now heads to Wengen for the Lauberhorn Classic downhill this weekend and we also drop in on the World Snowboarding world championships in Arosa in the Swiss Alps where we will be hoping for fresh snow, great ski racing, red wine and no cheese!

Val Gardena

18 December 2006

From Father Christmas in the Artic Circle, Canadian Mountains in Alberta and Cowboys in Colorado boy oh boy is it good to be back in Europe. Back in Europe with snow, back in Europe with sunshine and back in Europe for the first classic downhill of the season.

Val Gardena, Italy is one of my favourite resorts on the World Cup circuit and it really does have everything a winter sport destination should have to offer. Nestling in the magnificent Italian Dolomites, where the mountains seems to be rounded and subtle, rather than jagged and severe like the neighbouring Alps, Val Gardena also boasts the best of Italy and Austria as well as its own unique language, culture and style. Your quick history lesson tells us that before the war this area was part of Austria which lead to Tyrolean tradition, then after the war it became part of Italy which brought all the yummy Italian food. However before all this the enchanting area developed its own language called Ladin which is still part of the compulsory curriculum of all of the valley schools.

The Val Gardena and Sellaronda area has a fantastic cross section of food, wine and hospitality drawing influences from Austria, Italy and Switzerland to create a gastronomic delight. Add to this over 510 km of ski runs, 205 ski lifts in the Sellaronda and the possibility of a Dolomite super ski pass taking you to over 1220 km of ski runs and 450 lifts then you have no problem whatsoever burning off all the delightful food you have eaten the night before!

We discovered a new hotel this year - the Hotel Interski - where I believe I discovered the secret to eternal life and everlasting youth! The owner of the Hotel is Albert Demetz, a 72 year old former Italian ski racer and ski instructor. Albert skis every day, rock climbs and still manages to run his hotel which was our comfortable home for the week of the Val Gardena races. Fit, in shape and looking half his age is an understatement and on our second night in the hotel I finally plucked up the courage to ask him his age and a little bit of the history of the hotel. Like so many of the winter ski resort inhabitants his life stories consist of ski competitions, mountain climbing adventures and building family hotels on inherited land.

His tales were heart warming but after our second drink at the bar and confirmation of his 72 years of age I broached the million dollar question! Was it vitamins... no! Vegetables... not really. Dedicated personal trainer... never heard of them! Maybe a secret recipe from his grandma that only mountain people have heard of... an old wives tail! Mr Demetz had one and only one reason for his youthful looks and his ability to still carve his skis like Bode Miller and it was music to the ears of everyone in the bar. The simple answer lay in a small glass of a clear liquid. This, said Mr Demetz, would be the secret to Nick Fellows presenting World Cup skiing on 4 in his early 70s - Grappa!

Most Italians swear that one of these firewaters every night as a digestive is the secret to ever lasting skiing and hopefully you recognised I was looking a little more youthful on last week's show after my drop of grappa, although hopefully not slurring my words!

Safety is always the issue in downhill skiing and with most of the snow on the Val Gardena track being made by snow cannons it makes for an incredibly fast and very bumpy downhill course. Normally at this time of the season the heavy snow fall fills in a lot of the undulations and rolls in the slope but this year it was not the case and after the two practice runs every athlete was clear that this was to be the toughest and most dangerous race of the season so far.

As part of our commitment to safety I was delighted to see our cameraman Pat Bell accept a safety helmet which gave him much more confidence when inspecting the downhill courses. Thus he joined the rest of the European camera crews in adopting the new regulations of wearing a safety helmet when working on the downhill courses.

The two days of practice prior to the downhill saw one skier come to the fore, Switzerland’s Didier Cuche, a former butcher by trade who in the pre-race warm up had no problems tackling the Saslong course.

24 hours before the downhill a Super Giant Slalom was hosted a third of the way down the downhill track, which gave Bode Miller the opportunity to silence his critics and claim his second World Cup victory of the season with a magnificent demonstration of error free skiing at 60 mph.

Of course the big story about Bode is his ongoing battle with the American Ski Federation regarding his motor home which he used to stay in when on the European leg of the World Cup tour. For some bizarre reason US Ski Team bosses banned Bode from sleeping on his bus but to be honest as long as he keeps winning I’m really not sure anyone cares whether he is in the bus or in a hotel! His demonstration in the Super G was like a coordinated dance from start to finish and an emphatic victory for the American number one.

Third position in the Super G went to Canadian Jon Kucera, the most unlikely and relatively unheard of racer this season. Kucera leads the Super G standings and if he can win the next round of the tour next week in Austria, he could potentially wrap up the Super G title before the New Year. Channel 4 has an exclusive interview with Jon Kucera in our Boxing day programme so be sure to join us to find out more about the smallest, lightest and potentially youngest World Cup winner.

And so onto the big day and the third downhill of the season, I was delighted to have the Head Coach, Mark Tilston in the commentary box, sounding more like Taggart with his Glaswegian accent than a ski commentator! After his run we were also joined by Finlay Mickel. It was so good to have these experts in the commentary box and so good to watch the smile on Finlay’s face get wider and wider and wider as the race unfolded and the British Number 1 was to record his first point score of the season with a brilliant 13th position.

Another fantastic win for team USA with Steve Nyman recording the first World Cup victory of his career and taking full advantage of having the service man of the former great Kristian Ghedina who of course won four times before on the Val Gardena course. Steve is another ski racer that comes right out of the modelling school of ski racing, 6ft 4 inches tall, chiselled good looks and perfect teeth but in Val Gardena he let his skis do the talking with a run full of danger and commitment from start to finish and a just winner for round three of the tour.

Pre-race favourite Didier Cuche had to settle for second position and the Austrian veteran Fritz 'the Cat' Strobl took third spot for an Austrian team now desperate for victories. As for me, with another Grappa in hand, it was a brilliant weekend for British skiing. Chemmy Alcott came 7th in the Super Combined competition in Reiteralm and Finlay’s 13th in the downhill here in Val Gardena puts the British ski team right back on track and I truly believe there are better results to come from both of these athletes in next week's races and in the New Year.

From Italy we head to Hinterstoder in Austria and our Boxing Day special, and as we fill our ski bags with bottles of Grappa it's an easy guess what we will be putting on our Christmas puddings next week! Until the New Year and my next report from Adelboden in Switzerland on behalf of all the Channel 4 ski team Merry Christmas and a Grappa filled New Year!

It Doesn't Get Much Tougher Than This!

Dear fans and readers, my apologies for the delay in writing this article however the ski racing season is experiencing one of the most difficult and testing starts the sport has witnessed for over a decade.

Let me take you back to our first programme three weeks ago which was supposed to be the opening Giant Slalom for both the men and women in Solden, Austria.

This early event is incredibly important to all the international ski teams - after five months of non-stop solid training it is finally the chance to see where you lie within the World rankings and establish yourself as a ski racer against the big guns of the previous season. Athlete programmes are clearly tailored to this early event, coaches fully prepared, equipment servicemen eager to get there new skis and new waxes into the public eye.

As always the Channel 4 ski team arrived nice and early in Solden only to be greeted with the most ferocious rain storm, which at the time we thought high up on the reconback glacier at almost 3,000 metres would be turning to snow and creating a winter wonderland for the opening race of the season.

24 hours of relentless rain soon turned into 48 hours and none of the mountain tops appeared to be going white, much to the despair of the local Austrian organisers. By the time the storm had stopped and it had been confirmed that not one snowflake had fallen on top of the mountain, the organisers had no choice but to abandon the first races of the season.

However, the Channel 4 ski team at least saw a positive - it gave us the opportunity to create a season review from the year before and a preview of the season ahead, even if we had to film all the links with our new reporter Kristina Koznick in soft slushy snow more associated with skiing in April rather than November. Hopefully you appreciated the results?!

For Kristina, cameraman Pat Bell and myself it was quite a shock to find there was only three hours of light per day and as the temperatures plummeted to -12 C we were surprised to be told this was the mildest days that Levi had experienced in November for over a decade!

The good news was that the snow conditions, race organization and atmosphere were all spot on and amidst a lot of pressure, nerves and tension the World Cup tour finally got started.

For me it was great to have Kristin, a World former No.2, alongside me in the commentary box, although if the truth be known she was desperate to get out there and race rather than talk about it! Kristina is a natural commentator, great fun and as someone who retired from the circuit less than a year ago, the in-depth information she brings to the microphone is most inspirational and informative.

What about the races I hear you say! Well it was a ski competition for the romantics amongst you with Marlies Schild taking top position in the women’s competition and her boyfriend Benni Raich taking top spot 24 hours later in the men’s event. It is a bit like Posh and Becks both scoring goals for England except sadly this week it was double whammy for Austria!

The toughest thing about Finland is that the delicious local speciality of 'Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer stew' tends to make you a little guilty as Christmas draws nearer. I still haven’t plucked up the courage to tell my kids. I guess I won’t be receiving many gifts from Santa this year!

There is no question Levi is a unique, friendly and truly exceptional winter sport experience. The organizers did a brilliant job and I am already looking forward to trying one of the elves next year!

For those of you who have not travelled to Alberta, the winters here can make Levi look like Marbella and England like the Sahara dessert, as we were welcomed with temperatures down to -29C and a wind chill that makes the brass monkey jokes seriously unfunny!

The warming thing about Lake Louise is that our special guest Ken Read, current boss of the Canadian Ski team and former Crazy Canuck and World Cup Champion, has to try really hard to keep his commentary on non Canadian athletes as unbiased as possible!

The first downhill was almost a fairy tale come true for the Canadians with the early starter and local hero Manni Osbourne Paradis putting in an unbelievable performance to hold onto the lead until racer 26 took to the track. Season veteran, and at 35 years of age, I mean veteran, Marco Buechel of Lichtenstein took the grin of the Mounties faces beating Paradis into first position with a brilliant display of accurate, error free downhill skiing. Peter Fill took 3rd position for Italy. Nevertheless, a Canadian taking runner-up position brought Ken Read to tears in the commentary box!

From the start of the second speed event, the Super Giant Slalom, I was ready with the Kleenex tissues as the Canadian fairy tale turned into a Hollywood script. Jean Kucera, another one of Ken’s young hopefuls, won the first Super G of the season in front of an ecstatic Canadian crowd. For the world ski community it was now clear that team Canada was once again a force to be reckoned with.

There were disappointing performances from the Austrian team and of course Bode Miller but to be honest it was difficult to stay warm in a heated commentary box never mind rocketing down the mountain at 90 miles per hour and with every part of your body susceptible to frost bite. No wonder the Canadians had the home team advantage as racing at -30C takes much more than sheer commitment.

I couldn’t wait to get on the Calgary Denver flight and head up to Beaver Creek, Colorado as we were told they were expecting -10C which from a Canadian point of view sounded like the Caribbean!

To bring us up-to-date, the last stop on the tour was in Beaver Creek, Colorado, one of my favourite venues on the World Cup circuit for a multitude of reasons. One is the price of a room the size of a shoe box in France, you can rent a condominium which bigger than my home back in England! And in the local supermarket and liquor store, the conversion rate of 2 dollars to the pound makes food and wine ridiculously cheap. Plus with everything coming in super size you can understand why obesity is a slight problem in the USA!

Beaver Creek represents everything we Brits love, quality at a great price, friendliness without having to try too hard, hospitality on tap and ski runs as smooth and soft as the carpet in your living room. I cannot recommend this resort enough for any holidaymakers out there and clearly the world's best skiers feel the same as the whole atmosphere lifts and for the first time this season the World Cup tour and its characters come alive.

With four races in four days it is a very tough schedule but Beaver Creek this year saw some of the most established names raise their game as well as one or two youngsters break through. First up the Super Combined where the first run of downhill and second run of slalom looks to find the best all rounder. I was delighted to see this opening event go to my great friend and avid English soccer fan, Aksel Lun Svindal of Norway. I promised him a Chelsea football shirt with his name on the back if he won a race this season so be sure to tune in to future programmes to see it presented to him.

However the biggest story of the Beaver Creek races was American Bode Miller raising his game after a disappointing 29th position in the opening downhill a week ago in Lake Louise. His first position on the Birds of Prey course in front of the 5,000 strong American crowd threw them into an absolute frenzy. Bode, who was second last year and the winner the year before was truly outstanding and with new skis and new sponsors made it clear to the critics that you can never write the bad boy of skiing off. Bode who is often criticized for his wild lifestyle off the slopes is still the most exciting skier on the World Cup tour and I truly believe this will not be his only victory this season.

The Giant Slalom went to Blardone of Italy and the Slalom to Andre Myhrer of Sweden but the true winners in Beaver Creek were the spectacular weather conditions, the magnificent organization - a truly memorable experience after such a tough start to the season.

Whilst we were all enjoying the great weather, great races and the effects of the British pound in North America the sad news of yet more snow troubles in Europe reached the Channel 4 ski team. Unfortunately the first European downhill in Val d’Isere for the men has been cancelled due to lack of snow and the same in St Moritz for the women’s World Cup tour.

The week in Beaver Creek now seems an age ago as we find ourselves, along with the worlds best races, praying to the gods for snow and for the millionenth time this year telling ourselves that global warming does not exist! The stark reality is that it seems that winter is a little later than normal in Europe and there will be more scheduling changes and the tour will be getting tougher and tougher.

Find out more about Nick Fellows in About the Team