2009 - D T Price - the DHO

Downhill only Journal 2009
(Above) Victoria Bell
The parallel slalom, always the most fun of the three events,
took place on the bottom of the Stade after the finish of the giant
slalom. There was plenty of cheering going on from the finish
area and those in the finish hut had trouble hearing at times! The
young girls from the Club des Sports in Flaine, the organiser of
the races, and who had entered a team hors concours in the GS
and slalom, took first place in a very close run final with Surbiton
High’s A team. The Surbiton girls were thrilled to be dragged up
the slope by skidoo, along with their coach Paul Telling, in order
to compete in the final!
On Tuesday the weather wasn’t as nice but at least there was no
snow nor, thank goodness, rain or wind. The slalom was moved
back to the Stade because the powers that be decided to build
large jumps in the middle of the GS piste. The experienced racers
love the Stade but for those who have done precious little racing
it is extremely daunting and the whole slope can be seen from the
finish area. At one point the weather closed in so you couldn’t see
the top from the finish, probably a good thing as far as some of
the girls were concerned!
This time the tables were turned and Charlotte Evans came in
ahead of younger sister, Emily, in second place with Lottie Mayer
of Queen’s Chester third. This was a great result, not only for
Emily but also for Lottie as she is also in the children category and
they both beat many older girls. Emily and Lottie were first and
second respectively in the Children 2 category with Rosamund
Lees from the Samoens based College Andre Corbet third. Sophie
Caldwell (Abbey Gate College) was first in Children 1 with
Annabel Wright again featuring, this time in second place, and
Charlotte Ashworth (Godstowe) third. Clementine Wood was the
best unregistered child while Lucy Lintott from Wellington took
the junior title. Rochester Grammar was the best British school.
This time it was Daisy who was the best of the DHO girls in 11th
place with Pamela 15th, Katy 16th, Victoria 17th and Phoebe
20th. This was a good result for the D.H.O with all three team
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members in the top 20 and the team finished 5th overall ahead of
Queen Margaret’s York in 6th.
Emily Evans was the overall combined winner ahead of sister
Charlotte and Rachel Wyld from Millfield. BASI (British
Association of Snowsport Instructors) was the major sponsor of
the races this year and very kindly gave a training course as a prize
to each of the first three overall as well as the best unregistered
junior, Ella Hartley. Emily was the winner of Children 2 with
Lottie Mayer second and Alice MacAulay (Surbiton High) in
third place. Sophie Caldwell came in first in Children 1 with the
consistent Annabel Wright second and Laetitia Hawkins Hooker
third. Annabel was, not surprisingly, the best unregistered racer
in Children 1 with Clementine Wood taking the Children 2 prize.
Violet, Daisy, Katy and Victoria were 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th
overall respectively. Ella was the only other one in the top 20 in
20th place.
The team event is always keenly fought and the team spirit is
there for all to see. Rochester Grammar came in as the best British
based school and the best team overall. A wonderful achievement
as the third member of their team was unable to complete so the
two remaining girls had to finish both events without mishap.
Queen Margaret’s York was second British school and third best
team overall while Sheffield High was third school. The DHO did
not qualify due to their disqualification in the giant slalom but
the Bells from Birmingham were 15th and the Bells from Taunton
24th.
As well as the D.H.O, BASI, and Kandahar, the races were
sponsored by MPI insurance brokers, Mind The Gap Year, Base
Camp Group – who gave many hoodies as prizes, the Ski Club of
Great Britain, Snow+Rock – who gave some good prizes, Meritz
– who produced the T-shirts for the participants, Filarinskis
– who donated vouchers and Atomic. For full results go to www.
LadiesSkiClub.org