Tag Archives: community trust of southland

Season Done

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After a long Northern Hemisphere season and feeling exhausted, I’ve had a much needed break and it’s time to update and get ready for the new season!

Kranjska Gora World Cup

Moving on from my last post, after the Olympics we headed back to Europe to continue on the World Cup giant slalom circuit.  My energy levels were hitting rock bottom and I got sick after leaving Korea.  Spent four days in bed prior to the next WC race at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia and almost didn’t race.  Conserved my energy in the warm up and was then surprised how well I did in some tough conditions with fresh snow leading up to the race.  Starting bib 50 I moved up to 35 just 0.8 seconds off making top 30.  On arriving back to our Austrian base, I managed to find a doctor working on Sunday and picked up some antibiotics for what turned out to be strep throat.    From Europe we headed over to Canada to race in the NorAm finals but with no NorAm points, flat terrain and more fresh snow I was frustrated to not perform so well.  After the NorAms in Kimberley, BC I headed on to Red Mountain BC for the Canadian Nationals, Willis headed south to Sun Valley and coach headed home back to New Zealand.

Canada

Canadian Nationals, Giant Slalom

Frustratingly we had another foot of fresh snow the night before the races but at least there was a little more gradient on the mountain and I picked up a podium spot for the giant slalom, unfortunately without much slalom training the slalom races could have gone better.

After the Canadian Nationals it was finally time for some down time so a couple of days after arriving back home in New Zealand I hopped over the ditch to Australia for the last  of summer warmth to recharge.  Had an amazing time just relaxing and exploring beaches along the eastern coast before it was time to head home and start back into my dryland programme.

Fraser Island, Australia

Not all dryland happens in the gym, having some fun on the bike

Along the Arrow River

The Northern Hemisphere season was again filled with amazing experiences, along with ups and downs, all of it made possible with help from my Team, generous sponsors, supporters, friends and family, not to mention Fans! Thank you one and all for your ongoing support.

Team Edwards, Snowvision Foundation, One Studio, NZSki, Sotheby’s International, Browns Ski Shop, Wanaka Ski & Snowsports Club, Skeggs Foundation, Community Trust of Southland, Just Dig It, ZoiBri Trust, Robert Moore Chiropractor, Alpine Health & Fitness, Avoca, Merrell NZ,  XTM Performance, Auckland Bone & Joint Surgery, McClean & Co, One Square Meal, Adidas, Remarkables Physio

Canada Races. Happy New Year!

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Before climbing the peak on the left. So hot! 30 degrees C and humid.

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The beach was quite a different location than usual for some dryland training and the temperature change from -20 to +30 a minor shock to the system! Two weeks of heat, rest and re-energizing has been the perfect way to finish 2015 and start the new year.   Also time to reflect on the racing in Canada over the past month.

panorama drive

We arrived into Canada with the snow so the first series of NorAm races at Lake Louise (downhill for Willis) were disrupted along with the Super G being cancelled.  We headed on down to Panorama to continue the NorAms starting with Super G, GS then slalom.  This series was one of those learning curves for me with expectations, pressure and goals focus instead of taking it each run at a time.  While I had some good runs (3rd fastest time in the second run GS) and the second slalom run, I did not perform as well as I would have liked.

panorama raceAfter the NorAm races we had a Tech series, also at Panorama.  Unfortunately in the first GS run I was DNF (fastest time at the first interval so skiing better) but day two I put together two good runs to take out top podium spot.  First day of the slalom I made a few errors both runs but managed to come in at second place. They were all long days with a large field of athletes (140 each day) and quite a few delays. We missed day two of the slalom as had a flight to catch in Calgary.  I was happy to get points results for both slalom and giant slalom over the past two months with a 15 point result in each.  I start the new year in Europe with 16.45 for giant slalom and 18.36 in slalom.

Panorama gs start

Adam Barwood podium Panorama

Panorama Podium for giant slalom (15.47 points)

World Ski Champs 2015

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CTOS LOGOMany thanks to Community Trust of Southland for their continued support of my racing career – CTOS are an amazing team who support a wide range of activities across the community, including Sport.  This year they have helped towards one of my goals of racing at the World Ski Championships held at Beaver Creek, Colorado 2nd to 15th February.

Adam super g

Following on from my previous post, after leaving Eldora we were lucky enough to stay with a kiwi family in Edwards (many thanks to Kathy & Brett Derwin for your hospitality) for a week of training at Vail before moving into our accommodation at Beaver Creek for the World Ski Championships.

Super G postponed due to bad weather

Super G postponed due to bad weather

It was a very intense couple of weeks starting with the men’s super g which was postponed a day due to bad weather.  This was my first experience racing Super G at this level and on the “Birds of Prey” course which is considered one of the toughest race hills in the world but I really enjoyed it. The start was a really steep drop into the course on a slick surface. My skiing was fairly solid for the most part. Over skied it a little bit but my goals for the race were more about technique and experience than anything. Starting bib 57, I was pleased to finish and place 44.

It was quite draining having to race the qualification races with the high intensity of needing to qualify, on top of the high altitude and long courses and then race again the following day in the main event.  Four days in a row starting with the Giant Slalom. For the slalom qualifying race, I had the fastest second time which I was pretty happy about after a slow first run.  In the last race of the WSC I was skiing well but had a DNF in the first run of the slalom – super tough course, 73 gates of steep and icy and the snow started to fall fairly heavily.  Before the snow, the weather had been particularly warm with almost spring like conditions. It was a tough WSC set of races, but I will take away some valuable experiences as we continue with our training and races in Europe.      Enjoy a few images from the races.

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Opening Ceremony with the kiwi flag.      Qualification GS course at Golden Peak

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Course set by Nils Coberger.       Course inspection on Birds of Prey

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Looking down into the stadium at Red Tail, Beaver Creek

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Waiting in the finish area for the top 25 athletes – qualification criteria

Training Vail

Training in Vail

dirty dog sunglasses

Took a little time out from training while we were at Vail to do a bit of a photo shoot for Dirty Dog Sunglasses – had a lot of fun with some great weather and snow conditions.

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And this was our ride while in Colorado

Community Trust of Southland

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Adam

Many thanks to the continuing fantastic support by The Community Trust of Southland.  They support many people in wide and varied fields from the Southland province and the Queenstown, Glenorchy, Arrowtown, Tapanui and Heriot areas, so I feel privileged to have received their ongoing support.  This year with my sports scholarship, the funding has gone towards getting to Sochi, Russia to attend the 2014 Winter Olympics which has been an amazing experience.

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