Back on Snow – Colorado Nov 2018

Posted on November 17, 2018 by Adam Barwood

After a much needed and enjoyable break from the ski slopes, time has flown by and it’s back to the Northern Hemisphere! Big shout out to Skeggs Foundation for their amazing support over the years – to all you Otago athletes out there, go and have a look at the funding support on their website!

And for all those Dirty Jobs – go ask the dirty Boys at Just Dig It Thanks Blowie! Appreciate the support, always great to catch up with you and Todd.

Before leaving New Zealand I had a quick trip to Snow Planet in Auckland for a Ski Racing Clinic. Thanks John Harman for organizing the morning and to all the athletes who came along. Great to have Ben Griffin, Alpine Performance Queenstown passing on important skills and information.

Many thanks to the Wanaka Ski & Snowsports Club for your funding support and all the wonderful volunteers and parents who work so hard to make such successful race events happen!

Perfect conditions at Copper Mountain, Colorado

Looking forward to the coming months and without the support of so many people it would be incredibly difficult – thank you one and all! Tineke and Hamish Edwards, Ski Racing NZ Charitable Trust, your support and passion for our team has been amazing; thanks to everyone who is a part of the journey! The Team has just arrived in Colorado for the start of the Northern Hemisphere after a last minute change of plan. Not a lot of snow in Europe for good training conditions where we were to be based so we have just started our first training block at Copper Mountain. Excellent conditions, even if somewhat cold at -22°C and some very early morning starts to fit in with all the athletes out on the slopes.

USA – Beaver Creek December 2017

Posted on December 8, 2017 by Adam Barwood

Time has flown with November gone and December well and truly started. The training at Copper Mountain and Vail continued with some excellent progression in my giant slalom with speed increasing. In no time at all the NorAm races were done and dusted, unfortunately with not the results I was aiming for. Fresh snow the night before the first races didn’t help and I had 2 x DNF for the GS races. With just two days of slalom training before the NorAm SL race, I was quite pleased with how I went in the second run but not so much overall. Had a day trip to Denver and Boulder for a bit of much needed down time and then concentrated on more training getting ready for the Birds of Prey World Cup giant slalom at Beaver Creek on the 3rd December.

Day off, Boulder

thanks Pete

The atmosphere at Beaver Creek was amazing, perfect weather and good slope conditions, started bib 51. Felt a bit slow out of the gate but had some good times lower down, unfortunately missing top 30 qualifying by 0.64 second. A little time to hang out and watch second run before the mad rush to pack and head to the airport for our flight to Europe. Thank you to all the volunteers, athletes, race officials, parents, mountains – all involved in these amazing races.

WC GS Beaver Creek

World Cup GS course

Fans – not much snow

Finish

Young fans

Leaving USA

We are now in France heading for our first taste of training at Val d’Isere where the next world cup giant slalom race will be.

Quiet moment at Lake Annecy, France

Europe October 2017

Posted on November 5, 2017 by Adam Barwood

We arrived to a very spring looking Europe with a lot of green! First race of the season on our programme listed as World Cup GS, Sölden Austria. Training got under way and we got time on the race piste which was invaluable. Starts with a bit of a flatter section then most of the course goes to a pitch around 65 degrees then flattens out again at the finish. As described on the official Sölden website: – the superb slope features a different shape every year. It’s easy to explain: the race track is built on glacier ice which moves permanently. Especially in its lower part, the slope has become steeper and steeper over the last years – as if a 65% gradient wasn’t enough!

We also trained on the piste beside the race area (called The Icebox – with good reason!) and got some more great training. The World Cup race was cancelled due to blizzard conditions so we packed up and got ready to head on to Colorado for the next training block. Was great to pick up some new skis from HEAD as well.

Soelden training

Soelden with Willis

Blizzard conditions race day at Soelden

After a few delays with flights (mechanical problems, re-routing) we finally arrived into Denver start of November on to home base for the next month in Dillon. Training has started at Copper Mountain and it’s incredibly tiring at the moment getting into the new time zone as well as coping with the high altitude (approx 12,300ft – 3,750m)

Big thank you to Skeggs Foundation for their funding support, always appreciated! Now we will concentrate on the next training block before the NorAm races at Copper Mountain and Vail followed by the World Cup at Beaver Creek.

Farewell NZ – Hello NH!

Posted on October 18, 2017 by Adam Barwood

Final round-up to the season came with the Snow Sports Awards at Wanaka where I picked up the Alpine Athlete of the Year award and my coach Nils Coberger picked up the Coach of the Year. (below with Corey Peters Adaptive Athlete of the year)

Coach of the year

Alpine Athlete of the Year

Award Winners

The last couple of weeks of my brief taste of summer at home went far too quickly but managed to get in some quality strength and conditioning sessions with Ben Griffin and the team. Also had time for the odd bike ride and a few Pilates sessions. One Studio organized a really interesting session for us at the Auckland University wind tunnel where we worked on finding our best tuck positions.

Seven Mile

Wilson Bay

Wind Tunnel

We headed over to Europe a little earlier this year as we get ready to start training on the World Cup piste at Sölden, Austria and arrived into Munich on the 16th October to a pleasant 20º C blue skies and looking very green! It will take a few days to get used to the time zone but after that long series of flights we were pretty exhausted. We then made our way south of Innsbruck, Austria towards our base for the next couple of weeks where we will be training before the first World Cup at the famous Sölden!

Many thanks again to all my sponsors, supporters, friends and family. It is going to be a big season and I’ll do my best to keep you up to date.

one studio

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Adam Barwood

one – if you are after any form of alpine ski clothing gear, whether it be for training or performing in a race, one of the best places to go is one studio!! Dave, Jen and team make the best gear I have ever had the privilege to wear.Clothing is custom made to be a perfect fit for me with lots of body measurements, and then in any colour or design that my imagination allows or I can use one of their layouts. They also make the best gear out there for coaches so my coaches are always comfortable up on the hill no matter what the conditions! Get in touch and update your race gear!

February 2017, Europe

Posted on March 7, 2017 by Adam Barwood

February has been a busy month with racing World Ski Championships in St Moritz and World Cup in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. It has been a mixed bag of results, highs and lows and some very challenging conditions with snow and weather. A number of races have been cancelled with the lack of snow and the weather has been particularly warm. The World Ski Champs in St Moritz were a great experience with a large field of high calibre athletes. The team was based just outside of St Moritz at Hotel Edelweiss, Sils Maria. Our first race was the Super G and the lighting really made things tough! Very fun course though with 5 built up jumps. I was skiing well on the top half but came into a turn offline and lost all my speed.

St Moritz race hill

Fans

In the Start

Super G

On Course

Approaching finish

Adam & Willis

We headed back to our base in Austria for a couple of days training before the GS race on the 17th where I started bib 48 having qualified in top 50. I was really happy with the second run of GS which put me into 31st.(28th on the run) just need to do that first run now! Lighting got really flat for the second run with snow falling heavily.

Finish Area

Course Inspection, St Moritz

2nd run Inspection

1st run GS

Storm coming 2nd run

Finished 31

We had to qualify for the slalom with a race at Zuoz on the day before the WSC race where I finished 4th, then had to attend prize giving at Kulm Plaza that evening for the top 6 finishers. A massive crowd who were also gathering for the prize giving of the Women’s slalom followed by bib drawer for the men’s slalom created an amazing atmosphere. The sun came out for the last couple of days in St Moritz and the track was perfect for slalom. Unfortunately I went inside on the steep which wasn’t great, but think the skiing was going well. It’s nice to see how much closer I am than at Beaver Creek World Champs!

Slalom at Zuoz

Prize Giving

Kulm Plaza

Slalom

Start gate

Course maintenance

After St Moritz we had some races at Leogang, Austria and Golte, Slovenia with races cancelled at both due to poor snow conditions. Super warm some days and raining others meant the snow conditions were difficult so I struggled putting those two runs together again.

Kranjska Gora race hill

Going well

Not so well

Thanks Oli – Work Room

GS Course

Green light after heavy rain

On course

From Golte, we headed to Kranjska Gora, Slovenia for World Cup races in a stacked field. Bib 65 for GS and 71 slalom with soft wet snow meant the conditions were pretty rough with it raining heavily the night before the slalom race.

Fans in all shapes…

Thanks Cool Hard Hats

Autograph time!

Thanks Oli

with Tanja Frei-Pieren

Live music!

Time now for a day off before we continue on with some FIS races in the region, weather and snow permitting!

European season underway!

Posted on January 12, 2017 by Adam Barwood

Welcome to Adelboden

Adelboden

WC Adelboden

After a very enjoyable, although brief taste of summer in Queenstown it was time for the very long set of flights back to Europe where we hit the ground running. Off to the HEAD factory for some new gear before making our way to Adelboden for the first World Cup race of our season.

GS Course

Course Inspection

Adelboden is said to be the toughest hill in the world cup circuit with steep (60° pitch) and terrain – it was certainly very testing. Fresh snow overnight with fog and snowing on the day of the giant slalom made for even more difficult conditions. Many athletes had riming on goggles which makes it even more testing. Started bib 65, unfortunately I didn’t make it to the finish line.

Slalom finish fog

Course prep

The slalom day was similar conditions, again bib 65 but I fell inside so was a DNF. It was great to catch up with some coaches from over the years; Tanja and Pascal who live and work in Adelboden and Yannick Bellon from Morgin, Switzerland, also Kyboi Wyssen – all from around ten years and more ago!

with Tanja & Pascal

Yannick Bellon

From Adelboden we headed on to Davos, Switzerland for a couple of Europa Cup giant slalom races, feeling pretty exhausted. While I had some good skiing, I made too many mistakes so wasn’t happy. Plenty of fresh snow. On the move again from Davos straight after the race with part of the journey including driving onto a train, on our way to home base near Saalfelden, Austria ready for a Europa Cup slalom at Zell am See the following day .

Drive onto train

In Davos

I felt I had some pretty good skiing and was really pleased to be able to take advantage of the yellow bib for a 32 start instead of 76. Unfortunately missed the top 30 flip by 0.6 sec.

Zell am See

Back to base where we are now busy packing ready to head to the airport on our way to Korea which is going to be a new experience in many ways.

Training At Copper Mountain

Posted on November 17, 2016 by Adam Barwood

Training is now well under way in Colorado and we have had some excellent conditions in spite of the lack of snow and training space. We arrived 4th November into Dillon, CO and did out best getting into the new time zone and altitude by starting on snow the following day. With so many teams going for the limited spots, we have had many early morning starts with the 6.00am – 9.00am time slot being a regular. The snow conditions have been first class and the weather perfect – no good for fresh snow and a little warm, but great for training. Luckily it has been cold enough for snow making.

Picked up some new skis for the season so have been getting used to the stiffer model and so far pretty happy with their performance.

It is quite different seeing the mountain on the chairlift ride up than the usual winter scenery but on the upper slopes conditions are producing plenty of good runs for working on improving technique.

Thanks Blowie and Just Dig It for your support – awesome!

early season

Posted on July 28, 2016 by Adam Barwood

It has been a little while since my last post, however it has taken some time for the snow to be sufficient for some training to begin. Much of my time has been spent on strength and conditioning as well as a short back to snow camp at Mt Hutt in June. We have had a couple of S & C Camps with Ben Griffin in Queenstown and Methven with some testing to see our progress from last year, as well as where we are on a National level. Pleased to say progress on last year has been good with some personal bests achieved.

Coronet Peak View

The last couple of months have been much warmer than usual and much less snowfall. The training at Mt Hutt went well although the snow cover was a bit lean in places. Back in Queenstown our on-snow start was delayed due to lack of snow but we have since managed some free skiing drills on the main runs at Coronet Peak which was a bit of a challenge with the school holidays in full swing. The last few days we have been doing more drills and started on stubbie training at the Remarkables ski field. Little bit further to travel but conditions have been OK – snow is a little soft and dry but it is good to be back on skis.

Remarkables

We had about a foot of snow last night so hopefully it will be enough to get Rocky Gully up and running for some serious training!

February 2016 Europe.

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Adam Barwood

Hinterstoder, February 2016

February has been a challenging month with the warmer conditions and lack of snow being a bit of a problem. After finishing a couple of World Cup giant slalom events at Hinterstoder, Austria we have just returned to our base for a bit of training before our next races. The first day at Hinterstoder stayed cold and the weeks of hill preparation meant the course held out really well until the end of the field, although a little bumpy even for the top 15. By the final day of giant slalom the temperature had warmed considerably and while some of the salting had worked there were quite a few sections that didn’t so were rough and difficult to ski. The GS hill in Hinterstoder is a tough one. The top, right out of the start, breaks over a huge, rounded knoll into a very steep, rough pitch. The first fifteen gates on the steep were particularly icy. As the hill flattens, there is a road crossing and more terrain, both large and small. While it never gets steep again, it keeps coming at the skier with varying terrain features. Then a small pitch into the finish as widens to reveal the crowd.

World Cup GS, Hinterstoder

I had a loaded ski going off the jump as well and landed closer to the outside gate than the inside, so was pleased to make it (a number of athletes didn’t). Gained a lot of confidence from an extremely icy, challenging World Cup at Hinterstoder. Unfortunately some mistakes to eliminate but looking forward to the next world cup races.

Course inspection, Hinterstoder

Prior to the WC GS races, I took the train to Imst-Pitztal where I stayed with aussie athlete Alec Scott and travelled to a couple of night slaloms in Schwende Horne, Switzerland. Team mate Willis and coach Nils stayed behind in Austria for some races in Saalbach. I was pretty gutted after straddling in the first run day one as the course looked pretty sweet and all the work done, including salting/watering had it pretty solid. Day two saw too many mistakes in the first run but I was happy with my final run at Schwende. Also got in some good training runs at Pitztal

Night slalom, Schwende Horne

Also went to some races in Lenzerheide and Hochficht for giant slalom but struggled with the soft flat conditions. We travelled a few times to other races only to have them cancel due to poor snow conditions – check out the race course surrounds of Maribor, Slovenia looking more like Spring – our slalom race here was cancelled. Our World Cup gs race at Garmisch, Germany was also cancelled.

Maribor, Slovenia

Bit of a breather for a couple of days with a little time off and some more training before we start March out with our last World Cup races in Kranjska Gora!

Adam Barwood

Check out what I am up to, where in the World my skis take me.

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