Block 1
We kicked off our maiden season in December 2022 at our home resort and team base in Bormio, Northern Italy. Bormio and the surrounding resorts, Oga, Santa Caterina, and Livigno 3000m, offered fantastic training opportunities. While our base at Hotel La Val accommodated our team of 14 athletes and 6 staff, our training schedule, and our educational programme.
We were immediately greeted with freezing temperatures, as low as -27°, giving us a great surface to train on – also a great excuse for the occasional hot chocolate pitstop! The first couple of days saw us enjoy technical free-skiing, stripping back any habits, and implementing elements required on the course. We looked at the fundamentals of racing, including platform, stance, balance, and upper body purpose. From there, we took the technical practices into drills and ultimately, race courses. We focused this effort on the pistes of Canalino and Stella Alpina while training slalom and giant slalom. Following this, we did timed runs in both disciplines.
As a new team, we’re not only bringing our combined skills to the academy, we’re creating our traditions! First up, is the APR Friday night quiz. This went down a treat, especially the baby pictures round, which included the athletes and coaches. Then, it was time to drive from Bormio to Milan and fly the athletes home in time for Christmas! We drove the vans up to Munich the day after in preparation for the start of block 2.
Block 2
Flying into Munich where the coaches and vans awaited us, we then had a lineup of 19 athletes! From Munich, we headed southeast to Hinterriet, Austria, for the Ambition Champs where we were met with different weather than what we had left in Bormio. The lack of snow didn’t halt us from skiing the area, all 200km+ of it, on the first day.
We were fortunate that in the 6 days leading up to the races, we had 5 days of training on the Hinterreit race piste. This is a very challenging hill, demonstrated by some of the world’s best that were training alongside us, including Henrik Kristoffersen and Ramon Zenheuzen. Our accommodation was just a 3-minute drive from the race piste and included, twin rooms, classrooms, a large ski room, a running track, and football pitches. It was the perfect setup for a race team! Even if Bill and Miller left their cotton bottoms outside overnight and they froze solid!
We were in town for 4 races, made up of 2 slalom and 2 giant slalom races all taking place in Hinterreit. Over New Year, we had athletes racing in categories from U10-U16 and APR came away with a successful haul of results across the board.
SL
Lily Flitton 1st
Esme Whitehead 2nd
Alice Bond 2nd
Brodie Hodge 4th
Holly Tutt 5th
GS
Lily Flitton 2nd
Esme Whitehead 2nd
Alice Bond 4th
Holly Tutt 4th
Charlie Saunders 5th
Paige Spence 6th
We are very proud of the team, for not only the results achieved, but the way they conducted themselves both on and off the hill in our first-ever race series as a new team.
Block 3
We returned home to Bormio for block 3 of our Alpine Winter Programme, consisting of two and a half weeks of training ahead of the Welsh Champs. Before skiing commenced, we had a birthday to celebrate – Zac Brunner’s 16th! And what better birthday gift than starting our official educational programme…
The programme was led by Ceri Wilson for the 2022/23 winter season with support from Marnie Probert. During the first 10 days of block 3 we had athletes complete their GCSE mocks at the base which were, of course, held in exam conditions, invigilated by Andrew Buchan – who is a teacher of 35 years, and mine and Scott’s dad! We were delighted to see the results the athletes obtained whilst balancing their skiing and academic studies.
Ceri and Marnie continued to spearhead the educational programme for the remaining athletes. On pastoral care, Jess Presslie sat down with athletes to find out what was going well and what we could improve on, ensuring all needs and concerns were addressed. On the hill, we slowed things down after a busy race block with each athlete working on their own goals.
Block 3 came to a close with the Welsh Champs, taking place in Champery. I can safely say that standing at the prize giving on Friday evening, I was speechless at the number of times APR was mentioned on the podium! We could not have been more proud.
GS
Cillean Morrison 4th
Charlie Wilberforce-Marsh 4th
Amber Fraser 5th
Holly Tutt 1st
Alice Bond 1st
Martha Newell 4th
Zac Brunner 4th
SL
Alice Bond 1st
Holly Tutt 2nd
Cillean Morrison 3rd
Amber Fraser 4th
Charlie Wilberforce-Marsh 5th
Martha Newell 5th
Then, we headed back to base for a change-over day on Saturday the 28th – saying goodbye to those leaving us after block 3 and hello to those athletes joining us for block 4. Although, many of our athletes continued training and racing from one location to another.
Block 4
Being back at our base in Bormio over block 4 allowed more consistency in our approach to coaching and the educational programme. Which was hugely beneficial in keeping our athletes on track as they trained to compete in the English Champs here.
Over our 2 weeks of training, we visited both Bormio and Oga, preparing as well as we possibly could ahead of the champs. I think the favourite lunch spot of the season was in the restaurant in the woods in Oga, where they bring you what seems like 40kg of pasta… and let me tell you, we ate it all!
We skied super-g down Stelvio in Bormio a couple of times, both with the local teams and on our own, which was absolutely brilliant. As we entered the week of the English Champs, there were definitely a few nerves around but more importantly, athletes were raring to go. One of the most prominent moments from the season, that will stay with me forever, was seeing the sea of team APR jackets at the opening parade for the English Champs. Everyone had an item of team kit on and filled us with such pride.
With over 380 athletes entering during the week, we knew the races were going to be competitive, but as per the New Year races and the Welsh Champs, we pulled through and put APR on the map.
GS
Lily Flitton 1st
Anna Chan 1st
Luca Steven 1st
Alice Bond 3rd
SL
Lily Flitton 1st
Anna Chan 1st
Alice Bond 1st
Parallel GS
Lily Flitton 1st
Anna Chan 2nd
We were absolutely thrilled with our athletes’ performance and conduct, and delighted to officiate Hotel La Val, Bormio as our base for winter 2023/24.
Block 5
Before competing at the British Champs in Tignes, we trained in Andorra. Now, I would love to say we had inside knowledge before making our decision to head south but we didn’t. We just so happened to train where the World Cup Finals were taking place!
Having our athletes watch the World Cups guys up close was invaluable. We trained through the mornings and watched the finals afterward, an experience that I am sure will stay with them for a very long time!
We trained in the Pas de La Casa region of the Grandvalira, offering varying difficulties from the Tubs piste to the FIS Estadi piste which has previously held various National Championships. On occasion, we were training next to the Andorran National Team which proved just how good the training piste and surface were. A quick turnaround on the lifts allowed us to get a high volume of time on snow in the mornings.
Over the final week, the snow volume and quality deteriorated and we saw it beneficial to salt. I think my cardio system would disagree after putting down over 150kg of salt on the track each morning! But, it did mean that we could train longer and on a better surface, so it was absolutely worth it. After that, it was time to pack everything up and make the journey north to Tignes for the final week of the season!
Block 6
The British Champs is always a strange one. We’re excited to be racing in the national champs, but sad that the end of the season is near. The week prior was a complete washout with over 80cm of snow and GBS only being able to run 4 races instead of 16. However, we brought the Andorran weather with us and had a week of blue skies and hard snow – minus the last day.
Training is always tricky in Tignes due to the high demand, but we managed to get a good amount in on the piste adjacent to the race hill. James Hannan and Mark Blyth were on-hand to coach which was fantastic. As coaches, we are always looking to integrate new approaches, develop existing theories, and pick up little bits here and there. So, it was great to have them along. Even when Tom grazed his thumb (I use the term graze lightly – but it will wind him up) we were able to operate fully and run the programme as planned. A little update on that front, Tom is fine and should be back to full action in 4/5 weeks. The field in Tignes is always challenging, as any National Champs should be, but again, APR athletes from across all age categories stepped up.
SL
Lily Flitton 1st
GS
Lily Flitton 1st
Holly Tutt 5th
Combi
Lily Flitton 2nd
Cillean Morrison 2nd
That was a wrap on the 2022/23 winter season. Athletes flew out of Geneva with Jess and James or were taken home with their parents. Scott took the kit van and headed north, Tom and Marnie headed northeast to Munich to drop a van off, and I headed southwest to Barcelona to drop another off.
What a season it was! Year One, Out.
I can’t believe it’s the end of APR’S first year already. It feels like last week we were designing the team kit and planning blocks! There are a lot of people I have to thank for making our first year such a success, from rocking up to the car parks each morning with the music blasting and kids smiling, to seeing athletes achieve results they maybe saw out of sight.
Firstly, our athletes, we couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to represent APR in its inaugural season and beyond. Constantly looking to get better, smiling, and laughing along the way! It’s why all of the staff do this job. From Bormio to Tignes, it was awesome to work with everyone throughout the entire programme, and long may that continue. You will forever be the class of 2022/23!
Secondly, the parents of those athletes. We thank you for your support throughout the season. There are a lot of moving parts and logistics involved in ski teams, let alone one in its first year. I owe a lot to you all for helping us run the programme and supporting the athletes the best we could. I was continuously offered help with logistics and planning which I am extremely grateful for. We felt we did a good job this year but we are always looking to get better so we welcome all feedback, please.
I think a lot of credit has to go to the girls, Jess, Marnie, and Ceri. Often I am the one seen to be running the programme when in fact it’s the girls who are doing the hard work behind the scenes – and not even off the hill. Jess has worked relentlessly with Marnie and Ceri to ensure athletes’ welfare, safeguarding, and educational standards were upheld at all times. Fulfilling their roles with a smile on their face and the athletes’ best intentions at heart. Their work is reflected directly in the relationships and rapport they have built up with each athlete, which is evident for everyone to see! I am massively proud of the work they have done over the season to ensure our values and standards took up space.
I guess some credit has to go to Scott, Tom, and James as well… I’m only kidding – a lot of credit! Often found in the ski room late at night or on the hill early morning, the guys make sure our operation is as well prepared as possible. There are many cogs that must turn in sync to run a successful ski team, and all of those aforementioned – athletes, parents, and staff – are key components in that.
That’s all from me, for now! I am in Canada for the Whistler Cup International Race this week before returning to the UK for a couple of days off. Then it’s straight into the summer programme!
Stay tuned for our 2023/24 pre-season programme coming shortly.
Regards
Fraser