2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics

Posted on March 2, 2018 by Adam Barwood

Stunning experiences in Korea but the journey is not over. Back to Austria now and I will be racing again next week in Kranjska Gora! Thank you to everyone for all the kind words and support!! It was unbelievable to walk into the opening ceremony with team NZ and all the other great nations.

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Our first race was scheduled for the 15th so we were able to get in some great training prior to the races, as well as getting used to the time zone and conditions.

Training at Yongpyong

Checking out the start gate

Training

Freezing -20 not to mention chill factor

Awesome Shred!

A number of races were rescheduled due to strong winds with our first race postponed a day. First up was an amazing day for the Super G at Jeongseon – unfortunately made a pit stop near the top and lost my speed. Managed to save it but unable to pick up those lost seconds. Giant slalom on the 18th – while I had some great sections I just had too many time costing mistakes to put me in the top 30 which meant I missed the valuable advantage of making the flip. I was happy with my slalom however was not able to finish my run.

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And the closing ceremony – a few images although we missed it as had to leave early to be back to our base in Austria to continue training for the next world cup race in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.

A few images of my experiences in South Korea – with a number of interviews, family visits, trips to the beach to explore the Fire Art Festa at Gyeongpo Beach, food people and places

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After a real roller coaster ride, it is farewell to South Korea with another incredible experience to add to my journey and I now need to work hard to regroup and re-energize for the next World Cup.

Farewell 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics!!

Back in Austria now in time for the “Beast from the East” big Chill for Europe

Racing Underway

Posted on August 13, 2017 by Adam Barwood

Racing is now well under way with the Cardrona FIS Series and Coronet Peak National Champs completed. Bit of a mixed bag with weather and snow conditions making for some tough and long days. One and a half giant slalom races before blizzard conditions cancelled the second day of racing at Cardrona. Bit frustrating as day one with errors of the flats in soft snow cost too much time for me, but day two produced a good run before gale force winds closed lifts. Had a 45 minute wait at the bottom of Valley View waiting for bus ride back to base buildings and more waiting before race called off some time later from continued winds and fresh snow. Racing at Coronet Peak was also a mixed bag of results and snow conditions. Too much warm and wet weather saw one of the slalom race days cancelled and tricky conditions for the remainder. I was a bit frustrated with my giant slalom being a bit slow in the National Champs – congratulations to team mate Willis Feasey for taking out the title again. Day two with a good clean fast run but a mistake at the bottom second to last gate cost me a DQ which was disappointing. First day of slalom was cancelled after a night of heavy rain but we were lucky the following night with conditions freezing allowing the National Champs slalom race to go ahead. I was frustrated after the first run with mistakes and no timing board but put a strong second run down. I retained the National Slalom title and managed to score my best result in a slalom race (14.08). Placed 5th overall with just 0.28 sec off the winner .

A little time now for some more training before we head over to Australia for the first of the ANC series which run 21st – 25th August.

Slalom title

GS title

Slalom Course

Coronet Peak

Early morning start at Rocky Gully, Coronet Peak.

Many thanks again to all the volunteers, Coronet Peak and Race Department, coaches, athletes, parents and all the amazing sponsors and supporters for all your time and contributions to my sport!

Farewell Canada!

Posted on December 22, 2016 by Adam Barwood

Toby Creek, Panorama

The Panorama NorAm series are over and now it’s time for a quick break. For the most part, the weather stayed clear for the week however it was incredibly cold with a couple of days approaching -30°C. The snow-making clouds were more of a problem creating some poor visibility at times. My toes suffered a little with the extreme cold but hopefully the numbness will disappear over the break.

Alpine Combined, Panorama

It has been an exciting week of racing for me with some great results and PB’s. Starting with Super G and bib 47, I moved into 22nd spot and made a good points result. Day two, still bib 47 I had an amazing run and finished on the podium in 3rd position and made a points result of 19.36 (currently on 53.48) surprising quite a few people as well as myself! Day 3 was super combined and I had bib start 61 as I haven’t raced a combined for a while to get any results. In the super g portion I came 12th, also a points result 21.95 and skied the slalom portion a little conservatively finishing 17th, scoring 39.73 (currently 155)

Moving on to the giant slalom, I made a mistake on day one and came out on a fall-away turn. Day two I started 21 and skied into 9th, couple of mistakes but pretty happy with the way my skiing is improving. In the slalom from bib 18 I moved into 4th place, a frustrating 0.19 sec off the podium. Final day, also slalom I moved into 4th spot missing the podium again by a small margin.

Race start for Super G and GS

On the morning we packed up to head out of Panorama, the temperature warmed up by almost 20 degrees to a balmy -7°C and snowing. After a successful NorAm series and the long trip home, I’m looking forward to a few days of warmth and leisure before the next section of training and races in Europe.

Many thanks to all the volunteers and workers who braved those cold temperatures for us, putting on an excellent series. Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas and all the best in the new year.

2016 NZ Season Complete!

Posted on September 27, 2016 by Adam Barwood

Slalom Podium

GS Podium

Slalom Nationals

Racing got underway 1st August with a GS at Cardrona which came around quickly after just one day of gate training due to the lack of snow conditions. I picked up a podium in 2nd place and then it was straight back to Coronet Peak where we were finally able to get some gate training in. The National Championships came around quickly, 9th August, with the GS first. Managed to pick up the gastro bug going around so felt pretty bad for most of the week but was able to place 2nd behind Willis in the GS and pick up the National Title again for the slalom. One more week of training on some pretty good conditions at Coronet Peak and then headed over to Australia for the start of the ANC races at Mt Hotham.

Coberger Academy, NZ Ski Team . Pic Michael Thomas

First men’s races at Hotham were postponed due to the weather but managed to complete all races using up the weather day. I had some good runs but had trouble finding a good head space which didn’t go well overall. Flew back to Queenstown and it was straight into racing again with the final of the ANC GS and slalom races at Coronet Peak. Again I had sections of good racing and managed to take out the AUS/NZ yellow bib for the slalom but found it quite a struggle.

Hotham inspection

Hotham GS

Hotham finish

Hotham start gate

SL course inspection Mt Hotham

ANC GS Coronet Peak

Finish area Rocky Gully

We had a couple of days in Queenstown then headed up to Methven for the final speed races for Nationals and ANC’s. The weather wasn’t the best with our day of training super g cancelled and the following day we squeezed in three super g races. After the super g races, the weather pretty much fell apart so we decided not to race the super combined but headed back to Queenstown which was a good call as the rest of the races were then cancelled.

a-barwood Overall I found it to be a very challenging season with virtually no training to speak of before racing started. Fortunately we have had some excellent training since the races finished with some great conditions both at Rocky Gully and up at the Remarkables.

Remarkables slalom training

Remarkables

One day during the last week of training, we had an early GS session at Remarkables which was followed by an enjoyable session with the Gold Members and children on a paneled slalom course. It was great to catch up with them again to see how they have progressed and watch their enjoyment on snow.

After a week of taking time out it is now full swing back into the next strength and conditioning phase before heading on to the northern hemisphere season. Once again it has been amazing to have the support of so many, thank you one and all!

NZ Season coming to a close

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Adam Barwood

We are coming to the finish of our New Zealand season after some great races at Coronet Peak. The finals of the tech series of ANC Cup races saw perfect weather (although just a little warm!) blue skies, and the snow held out over the four days. There were some top international athletes with a similar start list to the ANC races in Hotham including Adam Zampa in bib 1, four days in a row.

View from the race course over Wakatipu Basin

The races kicked off with two days of giant slalom and with my ANC points I started in a good position. I scored a points result day one with a top second run but made a few mistakes day two. This was followed up with two days of slalom, again with some good results but just a few too many mistakes. All up though, my technique is getting more solid all the time and I feel I’ve made some good gains this season. For the overall ANC Cup series I won the yellow bib for slalom. Unfortunately the speed races at Mt Hutt where all canceled due to snow conditions.

Still a little more on snow training to be had over the next couple of weeks as well as getting into more dryland training before leaving to Colorado at the start of November.

On another note, our NZ Ski Team have started a Supporters Club and have held our first evening last week in Queenstown with another to be in Christchurch 18th September. Take a read and if you would like to show your support, drop Hamish Edwards a line hamish@skiracingnz.co.nz

It’s been great to catch up again with friends from all around the world and be able to take some time out for the occasional game of frisbee golf in our beautiful part of the country.

Sochi – First week

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Adam Barwood

After a very long day from leaving Saalfelden, Austria 6.00am to Munich, flying Air Siberia (with a hefty excess luggage fee) via Moscow, I’ve arrived safely to the New Zealand House in Sochi in the early hours of the following morning. Pretty neat set up, lots of good gear from MonsRoyale, Peak and Samsung and working internet in the bedroom we’re good to go! Have had a bit of a chance to walk around and get my bearings then training got underway the following morning before the Opening Ceremony in the evening. What a fantastic feeling to be part of such a Ceremony! Definitely not something I will ever forget. Back on the bus at midnight to take us back to Kiwi House.