Backcountry ski touring in Verbier

I had one of the most incredible days yesterday in Verbier, Switzerland. We came here after the World Cup in Les Contamines for a few days of free skiing.

Yesterday, a friend (the coach of Swiss Ski Cross racer Fanny Smith) took us backcountry skiing off the back of Mont Forte, Verbier. The peak reaches a massive 3300m. As you can imagine at that height, the view from the top is incredible. It’s almost as if you’re in a helicopter, looking down on the Swiss Alps. You even get a close view of Mont Blanc. Guilliame, our guide for the day, lives in Verbier, and therefore knows the mountain like the back of his hand. There’s nothing like a local to show you around the mountain!

We started the day by hiring the necessary gear; touring skis, skins (put under the skis to grip whilst climbing up hill), a beeper and a parachute pack (designed to open if caught in an avalanche or in a dangerous situation and you need protection). There wasn’t a whole heap of fresh snow, so the likelihood of an avalanche was pretty slim, but it’s always better to go out there well equipped in case! Better to be safe than sorry.

Once we reached the peak, we skied off the backside of the mountain. It was steep, rocky and pretty intimidating. We skied down an impressively steep couloir and down into the first valley. It was a good two hours of skinning up hill from there. Tough work at 3300m! The air is thin and cold.

The scenery was incredible. There was just the four of us in the middle of the Swiss Alps, with not a person, house or hint of civilisation in site.

Once we made it to the top, the ski down was well worth the hike. There was one long open section where you could just hammer down with some big swooping GS turns, making fresh tracks. We finally made it to the bottom, well below Verbier and into another town, over 5 hours later. It was an epic journey and I was absolutely spent, but so excited to have experienced something so amazing.

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(On top of the World at Verbier)

(View from Mont Forte, Verbier's peak, at 3300m)

(Impressive wind lip)

(Sami, myself and Matt, ready for an epic adventure)

(Above the couloir)

(View of the couloir we just skied from the bottom)

(Skiing through tunnels)

(Exhausted from a full days hiking and skiing)

(The beautiful Swiss town of Verbier)

(Looking down onto the massive mogul field at Verbier's peak)

(Traditional Swiss raclette melting by the fire)

(Bandit in the gondola looking as though he's about to rob me...)

 

The dreaded 17th position in Les Contamines

17th position in ski cross has to be possibly the most frustrating position to end up in. It’s like losing the AFL grand final by 1 point. You’d almost rather lose by 100 points than lose by 1 because of the utter frustration. I finished in 17th position in the Les Contamines Ski Cross World Cup this weekend. In reality, it’s a great result and my best finish this season, but to miss out on finals by only one position hurts!

Going back a few days, we took the drive to Les Contamines, France, from Alpes D’Huez the day after finals. What was meant to be only a 3 hour drive turned into a 7 hour drive due to an unfortunate car crash involving our ski technician, Marcos. Driving alone in his own car, somehow he collided with another car from behind. The result was not pretty. Fortunately no one was hurt, however the 12 pairs of race skis that were sitting in the roof carrier system came rocketing out the front, sprawling across the bitumen road. Not ideal for our equipment to say the least!

(Spectacular drive down Alpes D'Huez, the famous Tour De France hill climb) 

(Marcos' car after the accident... notice the gaping whole in the roof coffin)

The training day on Friday ran smoothly, and I managed to squeeze in four training runs on the course in the allocated 1-hour session. Come qualifications day, I was feeling reasonably confident and comfortable with the course. Courses vary greatly from World Cup to World Cup. They range from long, fast with big jumps like Alpes D’Huez, to steep, icy and at night like St Johann, to fast and super-G-like here in Les Contamines. You really have to adapt your race approach and type of skiing to suit the course. 

(Launching myself off one of the jumps) 

I had a solid qualifying run with no major mistakes, and came down in 16th position from bib 25. I thought I was reasonably safe with only another 8 or 9 girls to go, however I was just pipped by one of the back runners; a French girl. It was a blow to the heart. I was so devastated that I just missed out on racing head-to-head finals; something I thrive on and am good at. A positive way to look at it is that my results continue to improve, and my confidence is getting stronger and stronger.

Once again I watched finals today (when I'd much rather be racing in them!). Scotty finished in 7th place; another great result for the Aussie. Anton finished 29th, and Sami 26th. 

 

(Scotty happy with his 7th place finish)

(Aussie physio Cassie and our Spanish ski technician, Marcos)

(The athlete VIP pass... Thank god I'm allowed in the "Kiss and Cry" area!)

We now head to Verbier, Switzerland, for three days of big mountain skiing. We’re planning on getting a guide to show us around the spectacular mountain, and hopefully get some powder turns in! Then we’re onto Zweissimen, Switzerland, for a Europa Cup Ski Cross at the end of the week.

Will keep you posted!

Plus, a few more photos from the past few days...

 

(The French and their love of cheese...)

(Yes... ALL of those wheels of cheese plus more, and about a tonne of potatoes were used in the tartiflette at the bottom of the race today. The diet of real athletes!)

(Interesting. The French call is 'Steak Tartare'. I call it raw mince with raw egg that probably should be thrown on the barby!).

(Our cute, cosy mini hotel in Les Contamines)

Brand new 2XU sports bra video...

A few months ago I did a shoot for 2XU and their new sports bra. Along with 4 other female elite athletes, we are promoting 2XU's new sports bra range for women.

Check out the mini movie!

Crepes, baguettes and Ski Cross racing

After our epic 13-hour journey from Austria, right through Italy and then into France, we finally arrived in Alpes D’Huez on Sunday night. I really enjoyed the race here last year. The course was a lot of fun; fast with big jumps, and the off piste skiing is phenomenal. Plus the hotel we stay at is great… there are not many times I can say that whilst travelling in Europe on the Freestyle ski circuit.

After our training day on Monday, I was feeling confident and excited to race. Like last year, the course is lots of fun. Definitely more of a real ski cross track compared with the last two races. It’s fast with some big jumps, as opposed to GS turns with a few small step-downs. Scary at first but once I skied it once, all I wanted to do was go around for another!

Yesterday in qualifications I finished 18th, just 0.2 of a second from qualifying for finals in the top 16. Frustratingly close! I was disappointed that I didn’t qualify, however 18th is still a great result; a big improvement from than the past 3 races. It’s a step in the right direction, and hopefully it will give me a boost of confidence going into the next World Cup.

Fortunately it decided to snow pretty hard after the race yesterday afternoon and into the night, so today I made the most of the blue skies, sunshine and fresh snow and went powder skiing. The amount of accessible terrain here is unbelievable. Unfortunately the very top gondola was closed due to avalanche control, however that didn’t stop us from finding some untouched deep powder. I dragged myself back to the race to watch finals, and support my teammate Scott Kneller. Unfortunately he didn’t make it through the first round.

Tomorrow we pack our bags again and head to Les Contamines, France, for the next World Cup. I’m feeling fit and strong and excited for another race ahead!

(Spectacular morning sunrise at Alpes D'Huez)

(Ski cross race start)

(The morning of Qualifications on Tuesday)

(Course inspection - step down)

(Exhausted at the bottom of the course after the training day) 

(Excited to use my fatty's for today's powder day)

(Windy at the top!)

(Anton's destroyed ski after he hit a rock)

(The track)

(Men's finals)

St Johann, Austria

A long and eventful 12 months later and we’re back in St. Johann, Austria. This is where the ski cross World Cup circuit began to get interesting last season! A bulletproof, ice-injected hill held at night under lights with a crowd of over 5,000 people. Not your normal World Cup!

We arrived on Tuesday night after training in Lienz. Official training was held on Wednesday afternoon, with an official welcome dinner on Wednesday night. The athletes had an opening ceremony march followed by a traditional Austrian dinner. The entertainment provided on the night was quite amusing. Austrian men in short shorts dancing the traditional Austrian “Holtzhacker”.

(Traditional Austrian summer house in Zettersfeld) 

(Team Australia)

(Austrian men dancing in Lederhosen)

Qualifications were on Thursday. I qualified 23rd, so again, not enough for finals which was disappointing. I was just over half a second from 16th position (cut-off for finals), which shows how tight it is! I feel that I am skiing well at the moment, but I just haven’t been able to translate it to racing. I made a mistake on the flat at the bottom which was enough to cost me a spot in the finals. The competition amongst the girls is fierce this year, so you can’t afford to make any mistakes.

(Qualifications at St. Johann World Cup)

To make up for my disappointment, I took a ride with a rally car driver in the new Mercedes. They had a track where they took public for a wild ride on the ice. They drive how I ski!

(Bea and I (Marcos, our Spanish ski technicians' daughter) ready to go for a ride) 

(The final jump into the finish) 

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(Anton and I watching finals)

Yesterday, the morning after finals, we made the epic journey from Austria, right through Italy and finally to France. 13 hours in total! The only thing positive from the long journey was a quick pit stop in Oulx, Italy, where I have spent a lot of time living and training over the past 5 years. We stopped for what is, in my opinion, the world’s best crepe!

 

(Yum! Apple and cinnamon crepe) 

We are now in Alpes D’Huez, France, which is most famous for the Tour de France hill climb. Tomorrow is official training, followed by qualifications on Tuesday and finals on Wednesday. Until then, au revoir!

Video Blog - Part 1

Check out my first video blog of the season...

 

Katya Crema - 2010-11 Season- Video Blog Part 1 

Back to Europe and into the New Year!

After a short but sweet break at home, we returned back to Lienz, Austria where we have spent a fair amount of time over the past 4 weeks. 

(Sunrise in Lienz)

(View from our farmhouse above Lienz)

 

A ski cross track has been built at Zettersfeld, so we have been training there with the German Ski Cross Team. The "Himmelfahrt" (meaning 'to the heavens' in German) was a table jump with a massive 25m+ clearance. It was intimidating at first due to the fact that you have to tuck down a steep pitch directly into the jump without turning in order to get enough speed to clear it. If you stood up out of your tuck or put in a speed check, then you would definitely not make it and land on the flat. Ouch! Straight after the jump was a large double which came quickly, so you had to be ready for it!


After I hit the jump once, I loved it and wanted to go back for more! There's something about overcoming your fears that gives me such a sense of satisfaction in this sport.


Over the past two days we have been training at Hinter Reit / Maria Alm, which is a 1.5 hours drive away, in Salzburg region, the racing capital of Austria. We have been training on ice-injected snow to get used to what is to be expected in St Johann later this week. St Johann World Cup is renowned for being double-injected and super icy, almost to the point where just standing up during course inspection becomes extremely difficult! My skis are tuned to 85 degrees (as opposed to the regular 88 degrees), meaning that they're absolute razors. It's the only way to get a grip on the blue ice, which is basically like a sheet of glass.

We have two more days of training here in Lienz, then we head to St. Johann for the World Cup.

Will keep you posted! Plus I have a video blog on it's way shortly, just need better internet to upload it!

(Sam and I at New Years Eve dinner)

(Chopper Reid and I)

(Packing the van once again)

(What my December 2010 looked like... A photo from each day)