What A Week!

Wow, what a week it's been!
Snow, snow and more snow, in fact just over 60cm this week, the powder skiing has been amazing!
A.J and I had the best day on Wednesday as the storm cycle rolled through the Tahoe Basin, there was too much new snow to train so we ditched and lapped K.T 22 for most of the day in what was boot top to knee deep powder, G.S Bowl was awesome, it was fantastic to ski Squaw with my team mate and with so much snow after the past two years where new snow has been scarce to say the least!
We managed some training this week, some solid Slalom work on Exhibition with the U.S NTG Girls joining us for the past few days, it's been great to be back in such highly regarded company!
The first of the Far West Regional Qualifiers get underway at Squaw Valley tomorrow, 2 x SL + 1 x G.S over the next three days, I'm feel OK but a little under done, will give it my best shot and see how I go.
Wish me luck, updates on Sunday.

2015 / 2016 U.S Training

It's great to be back in the U.S and returning to my Squaw Valley U16 Team for the next 8 weeks.
I'm looking forward to catching up with my U.S training mates A.J, Magnolia and Anna and welcoming my NZ team mates Sophie and Livvie to the team.
I'm focused and have some clear goals that I want to achieve in the coming weeks, conditions are amazing with tons of great snow, so cool to see Tahoe at its very best!
Stay tuned for updates...

Whistler Cup 2015

So stoked to be named in the Snow Sports New Zealand U16 Team to compete at Whistler Cup ( Canada ) in early April 2015.
Be assured I'll be working hard while training in the U.S with the Squaw Valley Ski Team and racing in the USSA Far West North Series with my sights set firmly on good results at Whistler Cup in April.

Squaw Valley Ski Team / Tahoe CA USA

I must say, I'm starting to get pretty amped about heading back to Tahoe and catching up with my friends in Tahoe. With heavy snow falling there and a couple of earlier December storms things should be looking pretty good by mid January.  

Spring Update

Spring has well and truly arrived, I think today is the 25th Bluebird Day with temperatures getting warmer day by day...
Conditions are tough to train in with hard melt freeze conditions in the morning, the snow softens by mid morning for an hour or two of good training then boom you have heavy wet slush, my legs are toast by days end and it's tough to find consistency, oh the challenges of spring!
With only three weeks remaining in our season and one important round of the NZYS remaining at Cardrona in two weeks it's going to be interesting to see who can hold their form and find the energy to race for three days in Spring conditions.

New Zealand Youth Series / Round Three / Mt Hutt

We travelled to Mt Hutt for our annual Speed Camp last Tuesday, we set up camp at Barkers Lodge in Methven which as usual was fantastic.
We trained two days of SuperG in perfect conditions and sunny, clear skies at Mt Hutt on Wednesday and Thursday working ourselves up to speeds around 100Km/hr on the speed gun.
Round Three of the NZYS at Mt Hutt consisted of 4 x Super G Races + 1 x Slalom Race.
Super G Race One and Two on Friday went well with a 7th and a 4th placing, SG Race Three and Four on Saturday weren't bad either with a 5th and 6th place, overall I was the fastest 1st Year U16 Female Athlete, I felt comfortable at speed and ironed out a couple of small positional issues that pleased my coaches and picked up valuable NZYS Points :)
Sunday we raced Slalom, the course for the first run was long and very tight, after four days of speed training and racing there were some very tired ladies, I skied well and with the exception of a big mistake on the second to last gate I managed a 5th place, would have been a lot better without the mistake!
My second run was great, I went out with a determined attitude wanting to make up time for the mistake on my first run. I charged hard and managed a 4th place with the three podium places going to Second Year U16 Athletes ( Well done Eden, Georgia and Cam ), happily I still managed the fastest 1st Year U16 Athletes time, thanks Sophie T for a tough weekend of close competition and pushing one another to ski at our best!
Overall a very pleasing weekend with solid results, I'm looking forward to the last round of the NZYS at Cardrona in a couple of weeks!
Thanks to Team Hutt for a great week and well run races :)
Stay tuned for the final NZYS results and overall placings...!

New Zealand Youth Series / Round Two / Coronet Peak

A bit late posting this as we travelled to Mt Hutt for Speed Camp and then Round Three of the NZYS Races the day after Round Two finished at Coronet Peak so it's been a full on and pretty hectic two weeks!
Round Two of the NZYS was held at Coronet Peak last weekend, we raced 2 x G.S and 1 x SL race.
Conditions were fine and sunny with hard packed snow on the tricky Out Wide course.
Day One was GS, my first run was OK although conservative, I managed a 4th place and maintained that in my second run to finish 4th overall.
Day Two was GS once again, my first run was rubbish, a total nightmare, I started OK but just couldn't find my groove, I stiffened up and finished 9th, my second run was better but still not great but I managed to claw back a couple of places to finish 7th overall :(
Day Three was my preferred event Slalom, my first run was OK but I wasn't totally on my game picking up a 5th place, my second was solid but not my best. I managed to hold onto 5th place with my QAST team mate Sophie T making podium in 3rd place.
Roll on Round Three at Mt Hutt next weekend...

Slalom Run One / Ohau NZYS Round One

My first SL run from Round One of the New Zealand Youth Series at Ohau on Sunday, fastest women's 1st run time overall.

New Zealand Youth Series - Round One / Ohau

What a fantastic, inspirational weekend at Ohau for the first round of the New Zealand Youth Series Races ( GS & SL ), thanks SSNZ and Twizel Ski Club for a great two days of U14 / U16 racing.
It started off well when I bumped into Ted Ligety playing tennis on Friday afternoon at Ohau Lodge, after a chat he signed my Slytech Arm Guards, well his arm guards actually as my Dad scored them off him on a TV Commercial last winter.
Saturday dawned a beautiful, clear and sunny day, I had breakfast at the lodge with the U.S Men's Team and was totally inspired and pumped to watch them train a full GS course set from the top to the bottom of the mountain at Ohau.
The U.S Team finished training and pulled the lower section of their course and left the upper section ( 28 Gates ) in place for us to race the first round of the NZYS GS on - So cool to race on a course set for the U.S Men's Team / thanks Sasha :)
My first run was solid, I was fast on the upper flat section of the course and skied the lower steep set well, finishing my first run in 4th place overall with the fastest 1st Year U16 time, my second run was good too but a couple of small mistakes meant I finished 5th overall with the 2nd fastest 1st Year U16 time, just beaten by 0.52 of a second by my QAST team mate Sophie T, well done Sophie.
Sunday was another sunny, clear day and with my favourite discipline / Slalom ( 38 Gates ) I was pumped to race and do well!
A nice course set on dry snow with a steep start then a flat technical section leading to the final pitch with a rhythmical tight set to the finish.
I was stoked to put down the fast overall U16 women's time ( 35.90 sec ) in the first run, leading Georgia Bushell ( 2nd Year U16 ) by just 0.21 sec.
After a course reset and the addition of a few more gates ( 44 Gates ) my second run was fast too registering a respectable second fastest time ( 37.18 sec ) behind Eden McKay ( 2nd Year U16 / Team Hutt - well done Eden ) but just enough to hold off Team Hutt's Georgia B by 0.37 sec ( Well done Georgia ) for the Gold Medal and 1st Place in Round One of the NZYS SL Races.
With Round Two of the NZYS Races coming up this weekend here at home at Coronet Peak it's going to be exciting, I'll keep you posted....

August Update

With the season now in full swing and three of the five Junior Inter-field Races complete I'm looking forward to the real race series ( New Zealand Youth Series ) which starts this weekend at Ohau.

The Junior Inter-field Races haven't produced the results that I'd hoped ( I seem to own 4th place at present... ), I've struggled with the tight / turney combi courses on my adult race skis so am looking forward to the NZYS Race Series with regular SG, GS and SL courses.

I must say that my QAST team mate Alice Robinson ( U14 ) is an inspiration, displaying some totally awesome skiing, blowing away all male and females competitors in both the U14 and U16 age groups with some very impressive times!  

Chest Infection Grrrrr!

Damn cough, I hate being sick especially when there's snow falling!
Looking forward to getting back on snow at the weekend for some good ole Super G training at Cardrona :)

2014 Sponsors - Thanks

A huge thank you for the ongoing support from my 2014 Sponsors Outside Sports Queenstown, Bobo Products New Zealand, Dynastar New Zealand, Dalbello Italy and Atlas Beer Cafe Queenstown.

NZ Winter Training Underway

Three weeks into winter here in NZ and training is going well, although we could definitely do with some more snow!
I'm working hard and enjoying being part of the QAST U16 Team this season, our coaches Igor and Tim are amazing and I'm learning a lot from them both.
I'm loving my new Dynastar Race Skis, the move to an adult ski from a junior ski is fantastic and has totally changed my skiing!
Telemark training tomorrow will be interesting....
AndieG❄️

Japanese Camp

Finally back home in Queenstown after 26 hours of non stop travel!
The camp was great fun, with great coaching and great company.
We mainly focused on G.S training with both technical skiing, gate training and daily video sessions.
I was happy with my early season progress and have identified what I need to work on and have set my goals for the fast approaching NZ winter season.
Thanks Simon, Thanks Japan :)

Japanese Camp

We've had two great days of technical free skiing supported by video sessions at a small resort called Akita Hachimantai in the Hachimantai National Park in the far north of Japan's main island of Honshu.

There's just the one chairlift and two long, moderately steep runs which are perfect for training :)

There's no one here except us and the snow is perfect allowing us to ski hard and fast all day without getting into trouble!

We've spent the days training until early afternoon followed by some Dryland training and a bike ride in afternoon then a swim in the icy Lake Towada ( Which by the way has ice on the surface ), it's freezing but so much fun!

We're having a day off today to visit one of the nearby cities ( Towada City ) to do some shopping before we start four days of gate training tomorrow.

I'm loving my new Dynastar SL and G.S Skis ( Thanks Gerald and Bobo Sports NZ ).

My new race skis are totally different to my previous junior race ski, far more precise edge to edge, more stable under foot and powerful out of the turn, I'm looking forward to getting into a course with them over the next few days.

More to come, stay tuned...

We've Arrived In Japan!!!

Wow, what a massive couple of days!
After long drive from Queenstown, calling by my sponsors Bobo Sports in Darfield to collect my new SL and G.S skis we overnighted in Christchurch.
The alarm went off at 3:15am on Thursday morning, I was at the airport in Christchurch by 4:30am for a 5:30am flight to Auckland with my Dynastar buddy Prue Lange. We had a really bumpy landing due to a nasty storm and then a quick transfer across to the International Terminal to hook up with the other athletes travelling to Tokyo for the camp.
After an 11 1/2 hour flight to Tokyo with Air New Zealand we arrived in Tokyo early evening, thankfully all of our luggage showed up so after clearing Immigration and Customs ( Thanks to the Air NZ staff for escorting us ) we met up with our coach Simon Brown and his daughters Tegan and Rebecca in the arrivals hall.
Simon - " Guess what, change of plan the snow in Ontake isn't great we're heading North"...!
So after being awake since 3:30am in Christchurch and flying for 13 hours we headed off on a 9 Hour trek north to a small city called Moriaka in the Hachimantai National Park in the Northern Iwate Prefecture of Honshu on Japan's main island.
We arrived at 2:30am, you'd have to use they word shattered but I'm stoked to see snow :)
Awake 5 hours later at 8am we've just finished breakfast and are heading to the mountain to free ski this afternoon at Hachimantai Resort Shimokura then checking into our lodge near the mountain tonight.
Gate training will begin tomorrow, stay tuned for updates... :)

Japanese Camp

So amped to be heading to Japan in mid April for a two week training camp with my Dynastar buddy Prue Lange.

It's going to be a great experience and my first trip away on my own :)

Back Home, Back To School, Bring On Winter...

Well I'm back home, back to school ( Wakatipu High School ) and back to being a regular kid :)
Looking forward to getting my Training Schedule sorted out with Braden at Fight Science Queenstown and the coming NZ Winter Race Season :)
Stay posted for regular updates as our NZ Winter draws nearer... :)

USSA U14 Far West North Series Dual Slalom Races

Another amazing race day today at Alpine Meadows here in Lake Tahoe C.A.

A very competitive field of 87 of the best U14 Girls in the Western United States raced a Dual Slalom in near perfect weather, sunny clear skies and warm temperatures.

I posted the fastest time of the morning on the Blue Course and then the 6th fastest time on the slower Red Course in the afternoon finishing 4th overall, an OK result and I achieved my goal of a top five finish :)

Tomorrow my goal is a top three podium before heading home on Monday...

 

Back On The G.S Skis

After a long drive back from Utah yesterday and a bit more shopping in Reno on the way through it was time to put the fat skis away and get back onto the good old G.S Skis :)
Training today at Alpine Meadows was awesome, only a few of us there as most of the local kids were in school, the snow was dry and chalky and we skied hard in the gates until late afternoon.
It's so nice to be training in a race suit and hoodie, working on the goggle tan and making small technical changes to my technique. Looking forward to another great day tomorrow - Thanks SVST