News - 2010
Arrived in Winter Park
After a long flight from the UK I’ve arrived in Winter Park, Colorado to start training for the 2010-2011 ski season. Took me a little while to get my bearings and work out how to get to ski hill, where the shops were, etc but all got sorted and today I finally got on the slopes for the first time for some fun. It was a free day but with a sunny day greeting me when I woke up there was no way I was passing that up.
17 Dec 2010
MARS Refuel Drink Fund
A really big thank you to MARS for the donation from the MARS Refuel Drink Fund. With every ski season costing so much money every penny counts and with this donation I’m able to use it to help with my ongoing training and racing. I will be using the MARS Refuel Drink donation to pay for all my race entries this year as well as going towards the insurance you need while racing.
25 Nov 2010
GB Development Team Training 2010
Just got back from Hintertux in Austria from our development team training camp, wasn’t sure what to expect as it was my first one and I hadn’t skied on a real slope since the end of March. Getting used to being on my ski again took some time, but the week was great fun but hard work.
07 Nov 2010
Icelandic Challenge the Beginning
In October 2010 I was invited by members of the senior GB Disabled Ski team to take part in a challenge to snow kite across a glacier in Europe. At that time I had no real idea of what the challenges would be, how we would do it and what would it take to learn the skills to take part.
25 Oct 2010
Sportability Microlighting
I had a fantastic day microlighting with Sportability, they are a fantastic organisation that have given me so many tastes of different activities. This was my second time microlighting, but my first was when I was about 10 years old and I think I was just so overwhelmed then to really enjoy it. It was a crisp sunny winter day, perfect for visibility but once you got up in the air cold like you wouldn't believe, even though I was wrapped up as warm as I could be.
21 Oct 2010
Peak 2 Peak Challenge Completed
The Disability Snowsport UK Peak 2 Peak challenge was an amazing opportunity to take part in a 70 mile ride across Scotland. The furthest I’d cycled in one day before was 30 miles and to double that by some margin was a real challenge for me that I could see as being both physically and mentally tough, something that I could not say no to.
11 Sep 2010
Peak 2 Peak Challenge
On September 11th the British Disabled Ski Team will be taking part in a challenging bike ride, peak 2 peak cycling from Ben Nevis, 70 miles to the Cairngorm Mountains in one long day. This route will see the team climbing nearly 2,500 feet. The Team consists of amputees, visually impaired and wheelchair athletes. More at home traveling at speed downhill in the mountains, this push uphill will get the team in shape for the forthcoming season.
26 Aug 2010
GB Development Ski Team
I tried out for the GB Development Ski Team in Manchester; really happy to be invited up and give it a shot. This is why I left my previous job; I’m getting the work/life balance down perfectly. We had a detailed talk in the morning about what was expected from a team member and the dedication we would have to put in, all detailed and not sugar coated which is what I like.
23 Aug 2010
New Polar Monitor
Decided to get a top of the range monitor for my hand bike that was compatible with http://www.runkeeper.com/ , finally got the Polar RS800CX. Not only does it measure my heart rate, it measures my peddle cadence and also my bike speed. It has an optional GPS unit that I might get later in the year to fix to my sit ski. It cost a bit more than I wanted to spend, but well worth the money for the features it has. I bought it from http://www.heartratemonitor.co.
17 Jul 2010
Training with RunKeeper.com
Downloaded a new app for my iPhone to help me keep track of my progress on my new hand bike. My iPhone goes in my backpack and gives me audio information about my ride and gives me a report at the end of it. Brilliant app and well worth the money for it. Only done a couple of small runs on it so far but it doesn’t seem to drain the battery too much with the GPS on all the time. Going to keep it going and with any luck should see my progress get better and better throughout the year.
16 Jul 2010
New Top End Force hand bike
I ordered a Top End Force hand bike to do some out of season fitness training and great news I’ve just taken delivery of it. It’s a lot lower than I thought it was going to be and I can see getting to grips with it is going to be great fun. Getting out and about during the day and getting a good workout is something I had thought about while skiing and this is just the bike I want.
07 Jul 2010
Ben Hooper what next
A second season in Kimberley was more fun that I could have thought, but what are my plans now I’m back in the UK? I’ve already decided that I want to go back to Kimberley for a 3rd season but the goal is to earn enough money to make it there.
11 Apr 2010
2010 Season in Kimberley
After making the decision to leave my existing job and do another season skiing in Kimberley with Steve Bova and http://www.ski2win.ca I was always worried that it wouldn’t live up to the time I had the previous year. Last year was all about getting to grips with my skis, learning different basic techniques and to be honest getting down the slope safely.
31 Mar 2010
Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games
It’s been great to be in Canada while the Paralympics have been on, even better with a few of my friends taking part. I wish they had shown it as much as they did with the normal winter Olympics. But broadcasters are slowly getting better and in 20 year they might even get it right. I think if people saw the blind skiers, the ski skiers and the others giving it 110%, not for money but because they want to be there and have trained for years, they would have a different opinion.
20 Mar 2010
No more spare outriggers skis
We have been training slalom for the last few weeks at http://www.ski2win.ca and although I’ve not been doing as well as I would have liked to, I’ve enjoyed it. Finding a new challenge while skiing and being able to overcome it is always great and this is one of those times. The problem I’m finding is that I’m breaking my outrigger skis on the slalom poles and I only brought a few spare ones.
17 Mar 2010
Slalom Training on my Bramble Sit Ski
We are working on more technical ski skills at the moment at http://www.ski2win.ca with Steve Bova. The Bramble sit ski isn’t known as a rig that is easy to produce great slalom results with, however the technical skills translate to all aspects of your skiing. So although initially I wasn’t very enthusiastic about it I knew that in the long run it would help my total skiing skills.
11 Mar 2010
The Russians are heading to Vancouver
After a hectic two weeks here at the Western Lodge in Kimberley the Russian Paralympics team have headed off to compete in Vancouver. Interesting having a full team here and getting to know a few of them. For the first week or so they kept themselves to themselves which is understandable when you travel in a group and English isn’t your first language. It was only when I started to ski with them that we started to chat together at the top of the slopes and have a bit of a laugh.
06 Mar 2010
Canadian Sledge Hockey Team
The Canadian Paralympic sledge hockey team came to Kimberley to put on a demo of their skills and speed. They didn’t disappoint, I don’t think they was a person in the arena that didn’t want a go. It was especially interesting for me to see how fast they turned and how they kept their balance. There has been a lot of work done on the arena to make it accessible and from what I could see all the players were enjoying the facilities in Kimberley.
28 Feb 2010
Why do outriggers break when you smash them
Training GS with the Russian Paralympics team, a really great course setup, nice and narrow a real test of skills that I don’t yet have, but that’s not going to stop me from giving it my best shot. I’ve improved my free skiing massively this season and the speed I can generate its just unreal, just when I get into gates it all goes wrong! I’ve also been surprised that I’ve only managed to bend a few skis and not break an outrigger.
28 Feb 2010
Russian Paralympics take to the hill
It’s always fun to train at http://www.ski2win.ca because you never quite know who is going to be on course. This year I’ve trained with some great friends from last year, I’ve trained with some great young able bodied skiers from different clubs, and in the Olympic year the Russians are training on the same course as me.
23 Feb 2010
Moving forwards
There is always work you can do to improve your skiing and I’ve still got a lot of it to do to get to where I want to be. I having been working with the coaches here at http://www.ski2win.ca to keep my speed while turning, this will give me faster run times and also I’ll be more stable at high speeds. But to do this means firing my hip muscles to create an angle between myself and my sit ski.
19 Feb 2010
Kimberley NorAm SuperG Race
I had competed in the SuperG race last year and after 3 days of downhill racing I was a little more relaxed about these races and looking forward to them. I only got one inspection run in and I had a hard time remembering the course, but I had the main areas I had to focus on in my mind. The course looked a lot of fun and I felt confident running it. The plan was the same as before, put a banker run in and then build the speed for the second run.
12 Feb 2010
Kimberley NorAm Downhill Race
The downhill race day came around fast, I had some nerves going in to it, but I figured that was pretty healthy. I had planned out what I wanted to do for the race, the first race was going to be a banker, try to ski it clean and get a result out of it. The second race I would push it a bit harder and try to improve my time. I warmed up as I would normally and headed for the start gates.
11 Feb 2010
Kimberley 2010 NorAm Downhill
One of the goals for this year was to be good enough to compete in the NorAm downhill race that was being held in Kimberley. I watched last year from the side lines and had a great time, but knew it would be more fun the other side of the fence. The NorAm is split up in to a few days, 2 days downhill practice, then 1 day for 2 downhill races and finally the last day for 2 SuperG races. It was going to be a busy week both mentally and physically.
09 Feb 2010
SuperG Training
Had a good day today, I was getting all the goals I had set myself done. We had decided on five speed runs on the course and call it a day a little early. I was testing some race wax and the snow temperature, my skis were gliding well and I was a little happier with the upcoming races. The first three runs were great; each one I improved on the last and I was dictating the line more rather than getting thrown all over the place and taking gates late.
07 Feb 2010
Best training week so far
I’ve been in Kimberley with Steve Bova for over a month now and I’m having a relaxing couple of days off. The last week though has been the best week I’ve had skiing to date I think. I’m finally getting my head around the turn shape I need though the gates and I’m getting better at dropping my hip though the turns, still a lot of work to do! I think I’m skiing the best and fasted I’ve ever done, plus I’m confident charging over peaks knowing it will all hold at the next turn.
01 Feb 2010
New Skis
Had a great month skiing in Kimberley, done some hard training and managed to bend one of my Slalom skis. This wasn’t too much of a surprise for me, last year I really gave them a hard time so a new pair was needed. While I was getting those I decided that I’d invest in some downhill skis as well, with the intention of entering my first downhill race in the coming NORAM to be held here.
25 Jan 2010
Olympic torch comes to Kimberley
We were really lucky to be in Kimberley for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games torch relay when it passed though. We had a half day of training in the sunshine before getting ready and heading in to town. There were free cakes and hot chocolate, hundreds of people turned out down the street and in the main plaza. The Surf Dragons were playing and although pretty cold by the time the torch got to town there was a great atmosphere.
22 Jan 2010
A Great Week of Training
Had one of my best weeks of training to date ever!! The crash netting on the race course had been put up now, it really focuses you. We had skied down a few times before the netting went up, but I found it very difficult to pinpoint exactly where I was, even though I had been down it all last year many many many times.
21 Jan 2010
It snows in Kimberley
Finally we got a good day of snow in Kimberley, just hope it continued all night. The hill could do with it. I had a pretty good week, we have been Slalom training and although I have bruised knees from hitting gates I really enjoyed it. I had a crash early in the week and bent one of my Slalom skis, so I’ve orders a new pair, it common for a sit skier to bust skis; we have a lot more force going though them than normal.
16 Jan 2010
IPCAS Points List
My goal for my second season sit skiing in Kimberley is to decide how much further I want to take this. Travelling across the globe to train with other athletes doesn’t come cheap and I have to make a lot of sacrifices to do this. But racing with the best in the world is great fun and the best buzz you can get. You always want to see where you stand in the world against the other disabled athletes that I admire. This is when you check the IPC points list for your world rankings.
14 Jan 2010
Warm weather in Kimberley
It’s the start of January 2010, only a month till the Vancouver Winter Olympic games and it’s warm on the west cost of Canada!! Last year it was freezing, temperatures well below freezing all the time, it is so bad at the moment that they have shut some of the Olympic hills down. Here in Kimberley we have had a week of warm weather followed by a freak cold snap yesterday. We have had rain at the bottom of the hill and snow at the top.
14 Jan 2010
Surf Dragons
One of the great things about training with Steve Bova is you meet lots of people from all around the world. Last night we went to see “Surf Dragons” at “The Stemwinder”, Paul the drummer is one of Steve’s coaches, great to see all of them again. Slightly out numbered by Australians last night, but met some good people and had a brilliant time. We start training again Monday, so today will be taken up preparing skis and equipment.
10 Jan 2010
Old Friends
Back on the hill today, the weather had really closed in, we couldn’t see more than one lift tower at a time. Spent today on the narrower runs so we could get a bit of definition from the trees, I’m not a great fan of skiing towards trees but it did the trick. Back to working on tight slalom turns with my hip dropped and my head and shoulders level, needless to say a few wipe outs today. But at the bottom of Main I caught up with “Scotty”, great to see him again.
05 Jan 2010
First day back on the slopes
Back on main in Kimberley, odd feeling like I had done this before. Unfortunately I still remember my very first day on main last year, I was rubbish and everyone there can testify to this, back in 2009 when I came here to took me ages to get one run in. Today I had the very same nerves, just hoping that this year’s first day wasn’t going to be a repeat of last year. I strapped myself in to my sit ski, and headed for the lift.
04 Jan 2010
Tuning skis
Once all my kit was safely in Kimberley I could get ready to tune the skis for the first run of the season. The snow hasn’t been great and tomorrow looks like its going to be a mild day, still below freezing. I spent 5 hours today getting my skis ready, wasn’t sure what I was going to be using first so best get them all in shape.
03 Jan 2010
New Year in Kimberley
I had a great New Years Eve catching up with some friends from last year. So good to be settled in and I didn’t need to worry about my skis, they arrived this morning, just got to fix my bindings and put my sit ski together but that can wait. We are due to start skiing on the 4th Jan, so I’ve got time to do a bit of shopping for food and gear I needed.
01 Jan 2010
