J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

The team running tour operator Snowbizz are following British Paralympic skier Jade Etherington more closely than most in her quest for gold in the Paralympics in Sochi.

Jade's first learned to ski with Snowbizz 15 years ago in the French resort of Puy St Vincent, when she was eight years old and the Cambridgeshire-based company is now one of Jade's personal sponsors.

They are thrilled to see the progress of one of their star pupils through to the highest level of her sport,

"It's very exciting to be following Jade" said Wendy Lyotier, who with husband Michel founded Snowbizz 27 years ago. "We will be watching all her events on television and cheering her on."

Jade, who turns 23 this month, is from Lincolnshire and is visually impaired. She skis with guide Caroline Powell, a former British ski racer, and together they compete in alpine skiing, slalom, giant slalom, super G and downhill events.

"Snowbizz is a great company and has supported me from the beginning where I learnt to ski when I was eight and throughout my trials for the development team and now onto the World Class programme," said Jade.

You can read Jade's Snowbizz blog at http://snowbizz.co.uk/blog/2013/11/08/introducing-jade-etherington-2/

Seven British Disabled Ski Team (BDST) athletes accompanied by three Guides will be representing the UK at the Sochi Winter Paralympic Games which start this Friday, 7th March and continue to the 16th of March.

The selected athletes, all skiers, are Mick Brennan, Jade Etherington (with guide Caroline Powell), Kelly Gallagher (with guide Charlotte Evans), Millie Knight (with guide Rachael Ferrier), Ben Sneesby, Anna Turney and James Whitley.

Mick Brennan started to learn adaptive just over five years ago as part of his rehabilitation programme following an incident while on military duty in Iraq nearly a decade ago.

Jade Etherington first skied, aged eight, during a family holiday and skied recreationally for 10 years before joining the BDST Development Squad in 2009. At the 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in La Molina, Spain, Jade secured a bronze medal win in the Super-G and also won silver in the Super-G at the Paralympic Test Event in Sochi.

Kelly Gallagher first skied on a trip to Andorra when she was 17 and joined the BDST Development Squad in 2008, before making her international debut at the Winter Games in New Zealand in August 2009.

Just 15 years old in January and still studying for GCSEs, Millie Knight will make her Paralympic debut in Sochi, having first tried skiing in 2006 while on holiday in France. She joining the BDST Development Squad in November 2012 and in spring 2013 began racing at Europa Cup level in Slalom and Giant Slalom.

19 year old Ben Sneesby first tried skiing on a dry ski slope when he was 11 years old and quickly took to the sport. He was talent spotted and was invited to become one of the first members of the BDST Youth Development Squad at age 13 and will make his Paralympic debut in Sochi.

Anna Turney was a snowboard racer when, in 2006, she broke her back while competing. She returned to the slopes in 2007 and took up sit-skiing and made her GB debut in Canada in 2008 before competing at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver where she ranked 6th in the Slalom.

16 year old James Whitley has been skiing since he was four years old and made his international debut when he was 11. Last year he competed in his first major international, the IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in La Molina, Spain, finishing 16th in the Giant Slalom.

For more information on the Paralympic Games and the British Team visit:

http://sochi.paralympics.org.uk/athletes/category/alpine-skiing
http://www.sochi2014.com/en

Following recent scientific research of the University of Salzburg which highlighted the potential health benefits of skiing on our body and mind, Italy's Dolomiti Superski has created a "Performance Check" feature which allows users to see the number of slopes, vertical metres and distance in kilometres they've skied and the total downhill skiing difference skied within and this work out how much good it has done them!

The Salzburg University study found that skiing regularly positively affects the cardiovascular and muscular system and our psychological profile.

Dolomiti Superski's new feature shows five possible wellbeing levels which can be achieved by skiing, with values taken from recommendations by the World Health Organisation.

These values are cross-referenced to a range of set/fixed weekly, overall calorie consumption: these are then converted into vertical downhill ski metres (hm) that must be skied.

At the lower end, ski less than 7.692hm during six days on the slopes will only have a weak positive effect on a skier's wellbeing (level 1) while at the top end skiing more than 23,076hm (level 5) is usually too much and should be avoided by most and only very well trained persons undergoing a controlled fitness regime. In fact level 3, between 11.538-19.230hm over six days is the optimal level.

You can choose between a "Wellbeing Factor" based on a man weighing 70kg of average fitness and skiing on a medium slope at a moderate level of exertion, or a woman weighing 50k with the same exertion levels and slope type skied. The "Wellbeing Factor" appears next to the designated symbol within the "Performance Check" service.

The French Embassy in the UK have issued a statement on the current publicity about French police action against a British ski instructor.

The statement is headed, referencing the headlines in recent reports in the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph is entitled: "Piste war? No, France loves British skiers and British ski instructors" and begins,

"Recent articles have suggested it was wrong of French officials to arrest Simon Butler, despite his operating illegally as a ski instructor in France. This has led to accusations that France was flouting European law and being protectionist in so doing. This is erroneous and misguided."

It continues, "Under the current French system, any foreign instructor with qualifications that are deemed to fall short of the required standards can rectify this in one of two ways: by taking an examination or undergoing training.

Mr Butler was informed, as acknowledged by the British Association of Snowsport Instructors, that he did not have the appropriate credentials (Eurotest). Mr Butler was offered the chance to take the examination but has to date been unwilling or unable to complete it.

In 2004, the local Criminal Court in Bonneville ruled that Mr Butler could not practise in France, given his inadequate qualifications and subsequent failure to obtain the Eurotest.

He was fined €10,000. In 2005 the Chambéry Court of Appeal confirmed the original ruling.
Mr Butler has nonetheless continued operating illegally as recently as this year, and in doing so he continues to defy French law. In 2013 he received another sentence, against which he appealed.

In February 2014, in order to ensure skiers were protected and in the face of his persistent disregard for the law, the local police placed Mr Butler under investigation for operating without a licence, failing to declare sporting activities and failing to declare the employment of foreign nationals. The investigation is ongoing."

The statement continues by pointing out that although the position is clear, changes to the current system are moving forward across Europe.

The UK, France and nine other member states have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to create a professional card for European ski instructors. The first professional cards are expected to be issued in 2014/2015. This, the Embassy statement says, will go a long way to helping standardize practice for ski instructors while also helping to guarantee the sort of professional teaching everyone should be free to enjoy.

"It is worth remembering that most British tour operators and ski schools in France have happily adopted the current standards and are thriving. 19 different British run ski schools operate in France," the statement continues,

"We will not allow the regrettable behaviour of one repeat offender to obscure the fact that the vast majority of British ski instructors flourish in France, while respecting the law. We will continue to ensure that British skiers are made to feel safe and welcome in our resorts."

Three weeks of parting in the 70+ ski huts of Austria' Skiwelt (skiwelt.at) are just getting underway, with ski instructors from the area's 19 ski schools also acting as slope guides from the 8th to 30th March. They'll be advising on the best runs, most beautiful slopes, sunniest descents and cosiest ski huts – free of charge.

The so called "Hüttengaudi" Ski Hut Party Weeks involve dancing to live music on the sunny terraces by day or in the many bars and restaurants at night with everything from traditional folk music through DJ's, electro, jazz and boogie-woogie to rock music and the very latest hits being performed.

This year's party scene includes the "Weißwurst" (veal sausage) party, the Ö3-Pistenbully (slope groomer with DJ), a St. Patrick's Party Week with parade and much more.

There are special package deals on offer with children aged under 15 skiing freer and the lifts opening half an hour earlier from 8am (instead of 8.30am).

It all seems a bit complicated although equally it seems it should be possible to get to the bottom of it all... What I am being told by people who know more about the intricacies of it that I do, is that, in this case, Mr Butler does have the correct qualifications, but the people he employed did not, so they are in trouble for not having the right qualifications and he is in trouble for not meeting French employment laws. However Mt Butler may disagree that that's the case. It's also tempting to roll all the different legal actions up in one but the 'ski hosts' case from last year is totally different.

The Sochi 2014 Olympics were the most successful Winter Games to date for British skiers and snowboarders with six top ten finishes including the bronze medal for Jenny Jones in Ladies Snowboard Slopestyle.

Five of those six high rankings were thanks to the introduction of Ski and Snowboard Slopestyle with James Woods placing fifth of 32 competitors in Ski Slopestyle, Jamie Nicholls sixth of 29 competitors in Snowboard Slopestyle, Katie Summerhayes 7th of 22 competitors in Ski Slopestyle, Zoe Gillings pipped by a whisker for the final of the Snowboard Cross and ultimately finishing 9th of 24 competitors and Billy Morgan 10th of 29 competitors – Snowboard Slopestyle.

"The results of our skiers and snowboarders in Sochi are a massive achievement and a huge milestone for competitive snowsports in Great Britain. Our 14 top 30 finishes, shows the strength we now have across all disciplines, and to come away with a bronze medal from one of our most experienced snowboarders, Jenny Jones, was the icing on the cake," said British Ski and Snowboard Chief Executive David Edwards.

"We will now be reviewing the successes of the last four years and consulting with all the snowsport disciplines to build plans and programmes with the goal of achieving regular and consistent World Cup results and producing athletes who will be challenging for medals in even more events in PyeonChang, South Korea, in 2018"

I'm now being told there's a new pan European agreement likely to come in to force next winter which should make everything clearer and more transparent so all nations agree that if you have a new Euro certificate 'X' you're OK to teach anywhere in Europe including France, if you don't, you're not... Whether it will be as simple as that (and some argue it already is with existing regs), remains to be seen.