Ben Clatworthy's Blog

Mid season and it’s here, there and everywhere on the British Ski Racing circuit; last week Ben Clatworthy was in Italy this weekend he was in Scotland.

Tired, worn out and holding a shiny Bronze medal from Scotland, it’s been quite a fortnight; plus, when I’ve not been on skis I’ve been watching it, reading it, and enjoying it – It could only be the Olympics.

Over Half Term it was a trip to Bormio in Italy for the English Alpine Ski Championships; the third consecutive year in Bormio for the races. The resort underwent substantial upgrades in the summer of 2004 in order to host the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in 2005. Its one of the best resorts for racing and continues to host the World Cup and previously the World Cup finals. What a resort. The town itself is lovely too with old Italian arcitecture, and no purpose built appartments in sight.

Finish area in Bormio

For the first time this year the race orginisers had managed to cram 5 races into 5 days. The ski cross was canceled due to lack of interest from happy injury free racers. I must admit I was happy enough without it. Slalom started the week, followed by Giant Slalom before the Senior competition started on Tuesday with Super-G, then GS and Slalom to end.

Bormio is one of the highlights on my race calendar, along with the British Championships; however unlike the Brits, Bormio features purely from a resort perspective, not a race one (although that is the main and ulitmatly best event) but from the atmosphere in such a picturesqe resort. Bliss.

Back to rainy England, and back to school for a week. Lessons by day, Olympic skiing by night as stuck cocktail sticks between my eyelids to stay awake in a constant struggle with the 8 hour time difference to PST. It won’t be much better for Sochi in 2014, being 3 hours ahead of us, the Men’s downhill is likely to start at 7am – breakfast time!

Bormio welcomes the English.

The week past as quickly as ever and it was back to Bristol Airport and on a plane to Edinburgh. My first time in Scotland, and my first ever time skiing there. The plan was to race on the Saturday and Sunday, but mass snowfall left us in Pertshire for the night and driving to the resort of Glenshee the next morning. With talk of ‘Snow Gates’ and record snowfall, even too much snow in places we were expecting to see the Alps. It was too good to be true. Once we were in the resort, just shy of midday, the runs turned out to be rather short, icy and extremely windy. It was easy to go uphill than down.

The first Scottish FIS Alpine Ski race since 2002 got underway at 3pm and ended as the sun was setting over the highlands at 5.30pm. Welcome to British ski racing. Unpredictable to say the least. Taking bronze in my category of race really made the trip worthwhile. Back in the car and off to the hotel.

Racing passed without issues on Sunday; I fell in the first run leaving me cafe bound and ready to head back to Bristol. What a couple of weeks, 7 different FIS ski races, many different countries and in need of an early night. Welcome to the world of ski racing.

It’s no doubt that the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics will go down in history for having a fair few problems, controversies and of course successes. It tends to be the same with most major sporting events, but Vancouver hasn’t half had it’s fair share.

Times were hard from the start of the season with unseasonably warm temperatures for Cypress Mountain leading to a distinct lack of snow (and again today the Helicopters a flying in new snow), and the treat of the resort of Whilster being auctioned off by Intrawest. Hundreds of tickets have been canceled too as spectator areas on Cypress are turned to mud.

The tragic death of 21 year old Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili just one day before the start of the games highlighted the dangers of the Whilster Sliding Center track with training postponed for the 2nd time in the run up to the games.

Bad weather and heavy snow put hold on both the male and female Downhill competitions and also messed up the entire Alpine Schedule; again a common occurrence at many FIS Alpine Ski Races.

But let’s not forget the successes; most notably so far for Great Britain, Amy Williams who won gold on Friday evening in the Skeleton event. Amy had led the field from the start of the competition. Didier Defago won the delayed Men’s Downhill and just yesterday Bode Miller won Gold in the Super Combined event meaning he takes home one of every kind of Medal from the games.

Britain’s Ed Drake has done very well too, he finished 29th in the Super Combined yesterday, 32nd in the Super-G and Chemmy Alcott finished a very creditable 13th in the Women’s Downhill last week.

It’s hard to summarize an Olympic Games in such a short blog, but I hope this have given you a taster of whats going on over the pond. I am helping to cover the games extensively for PlanetSKI.eu, where I act as their Racing and Sports Correspondent so do keep an eye there for all the latest from Vancouver.

See our special Olympic Section on PlanetSKI; as well as the latest news it is has some in-depth features and a few stories that you wont see elsewhere.

You can find all my Olympic Games Articles on Benclatworthy.com too.

Amy Williams from Bath has won a Gold Medal in Vancouver competing in the Skeleton event.

For more information on her Gold Medal see this article by Ben Clatworthy for PlanetSKI.eu

Last week Ben Clatworthy blogged about a rather novel way of raising money for Haiti at a school in Bristol.

Clifton College made a 640 foot line of coins consisting of over 15 different currencies, which stretched from the schools Memorial Arch to the Chapel and back again.

In total the event raised £530, however this sum does not include the foreign currency yet.

The event was covered by local media including Bristol Evening Post and also in an article by Ben Clatworthy for Bristol-27.com.

Following one of the world’s greatest recent disasters, fund-raising efforts for the Haiti Earthquake Appeal have been endless. Ben Clatworthy reports from a rather novel way of raising money in Bristol.

There is no doubt that the Haiti earthquake which shock the country on 12 January 2010 is one of the worst disasters to strike in recent history. An estimated 150,000 people have died with scores more left homeless and injured. Haiti, with a $380 million debt to the International Monetary Fund, and just two fire stations on the entire island is in no position to provide care and support for the injured.

That’s where the rest of us come into the picture. Every penny raised for the Disasters Emergency

Pennies on the Parapet

Committee (DEC) helps to provide aid and vital support for those in need. Schools, companies, local societies and many more people have been holding fund raising events up and down the country. Many schools will have opted for a home clothes day, and companies a ‘dress down’ day, but is that really the most effective way of raising money?

Clifton College Upper School in Bristol, where I am a pupil, came up with a rather novel way of raising vital money for the appeal. A 640 foot line of coins was made by donations from pupils, teachers, support staff, porters, catering staff, cleaners and many more people.  The line 3 coins wide in places, stretched from the schools Memorial Arch up the parapet to the Chapel and then back again. The word ‘Haiti’ was also made out of coins in the ‘Quadrant’ next to the Chapel.

The event was the brainchild of Fiona Hallworth, Director of Charities at the school, who told me, “The event has been an undoubted success with everyone giving some money to help make the line. It’s a much better way of raising money compared to a home clothes day or cake sale as everyone is getting involved and wanting to give more to help extend the line.”

Clifton College pupils show their support for Haiti

The majority of the 720 pupils at school donated along with countless members of staff and even members of the public who were intrigued by the idea as they walked past the school.

Heather Williams, Head of Marketing told me, “We have an estimated total of around £600 – £800 but it will take a while to count all the money. Over 15 different currencies were laid down and every single last penny will be counted and go directly to the DEC. With pupils from over 32 different countries at the school we expect lots of foreign currency.”

The school are always looking for new ways to raise money and yesterday’s event is yet another success story for the Charities Committee, who meet every Monday. A second ‘Fashion and Music Show’ is planned for Commemoration weekend this May, with more details expected soon, but I’ve been told to it’s going to be X-Factor meets fashion.

I will make sure I let you know the final total raised from the event in the coming week or so. It was quite an event!

Every little helps...

In a society where life never stops Ben Clatworthy looks at the advantages of taking a moment to reflect.

It’s seldom that any week goes by without us hearing of some unpleasant news story or other. Take last week or so, the Togo national football team were shot at on their way to the African Cup of Nations; Sunday Mirror journalist Rupert Hamer was killed in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb and on Tuesday catastrophe struck the island of Haiti when an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 destroyed towns and cities. It is reported that the current casualty rate stands at an estimated 200,000 people.

Quickly the world’s attention turned to this small country as one of the largest ever aid operations got underway in the latter stages of the week. This time last week the small country with it’s population of just over 10 million was unheard of by many people, today, I doubt there is a single person in the UK who doesn’t know about the country.

Everyone needs a rest from time to time!

It really isn’t the most uplifting set of news stories by anyone’s measure. Reading the Telegraph this morning I then went on to learn that Monday 18 January 2010 is in fact the “most depressing day of the year”. Nicknamed ‘Blue Monday’, the day was inspired by a British psychologist who worked out that using a pseudo-mathematical formula involving the weather, debt, motivational levels and time elapsed since Christmas that the third Monday in January is destined for doom and gloom. Friday June 18 2010 will apparently be the happiest day of the year.

Regardless, in a day and age when ones phone vibrates 20 times a day, the television is always on, the internet powers life and Facebook is a child’s pastime, do we really take enough time to pause for a little thought and reflection? Be it a moment of quietness each day, or a prayer before bed it seems that these days we rarely ever disconnect from the bustle of day to day life enough.

The other day I found myself sitting next to a businessman on an EasyJet flight, from the moment he sat down out came his BlackBerry and up popped his email. Just before take-off the cabin crew lady exclaimed to him, “that needs to be fully switched off now, sir”, immediately he snapped back, “it’s on flight mode”. I don’t want to speculate over flight safety guidelines for one moment but last time I checked ‘flight mode’ was not fully switched off; never mind. The process was then repeated the moment the seatbelt sign faded out, right through until it was time to land.

I on the other hand had enjoyed a cup of tea, read the in-flight magazine, listened my iPod and even had a quick nap; let me wonder who felt most relaxed getting off that plane.

So, maybe next time you feel a little down, or even just tired, take a moment to reflect on life, and the bigger picture. It might just help blow away those Monday morning blues.

This article was first written by Ben Clatworthy for Clifton College in January 2010.

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Snow, wind, rain, cloud and surprisingly even a little bit of sun! Christmas and New Year in the Alps are notoriously 2 of the busiest weeks of the season, and two of the most important for businesses, so how did everything do?

I would be lying if I said the ski season started with a bang this year. It did in the Austrian resort of Ischgl as I blogged back in November. Many resorts were left with a problem on their hands when the opening date came and went, but the snow didn’t come. Things weren’t all that bad though.

The snow did come, and in places where the totals were lacking absolutely freezing conditions allowed for vast quantities of snow making across the Alps. Snow cannons were firing out snow 24 hours a day in many resorts, topping up any bare patches. Temperatures of -25 degrees C were common across France, Switzerland and Austria. In higher resorts the wind chill was bitter. The Pitztal glacier in Austria recorded -38 in late December.

However, it’s not the best year to be blasting snow all the time. The big ‘R’ word seemed to have impacted

Snow Cannons top up the pistes in Austria

booking figures for the festive period. For those of you in doubt that ‘R’ word I refer to is the rescission. There were of course other factors too, reports of snow-shortage didn’t help, the poor exchange rate and of course the fact that it seems every holiday company has some sort of offer on holidays not in the peak season. Hiring a whole catered chalet for a week in January for £300 would have been unheard of a few years back – this year they are throwing holidays away… quite literally.

In the 3 Valleys, France bookings were down over Christmas. The 3 Valleys include the resorts of Courchevel, Meribel, Les Menuires, Val Thornes and St Martin de Belleville. A contact in Les Menuires told me that the resort was just 70% full over Christmas this year; it would normally be full to the brim with people being turned away. Things were better over New Year, the resort was full as expected. The figures are worked out from Agency figures, lift pass sales and hotel bookings. The data is normally available by Wednesday as more and more chalets do Sunday to Sunday bookings.

Things really are on the up now, just today I read a snow report and it seems that the constant snowfall across much of Europe over the New Year has improved snow conditions dramatically.  The picture out in the Alps now is great with loads of snow and great deals to be had. Book a cheap flight from EasyJet (who currently have their biggest ever sale on) and get out to the slopes for some late January fun!

Ben Clatworthy stayed at ‘Ski St Martin‘ in St Martin de Belleville which is a village in the 3 Valleys, France.

This is not a snow report. Views expressed are those of Ben Clatworthy. If you are looking for a professional snow report then Ben recommends PlanetSKI.eu, who publish a detailed report regularly.

As the UK starts to recover from the recent snowy weather Ben Clatworthy takes at look at the British reaction to snow.

Snow, neige, nevar, sneeuw, or however you say it is very much a factor of winter weather. In fact, each year 1.27 million Britons up-sticks and head to the mountains all in a quest to find snow.

In the past week the UK has been brought to a standstill as people battle with freezing temperatures, heavy snow and treacherous ice. More than 8,000 schools were closed across the country, including the whole of Clifton College, as a result of the extreme weather. The closures meant that around 230,000 pupils were given the day off school and the perfect opportunity to head out and play in the snow.

The snow really went to the heads of newspaper and television companies as pages and pages, or hours and hours of coverage were given to the snow. On Wednesday night the BBC were left with hours of blank schedule after the League Cup semi-final between Manchester United and Manchester City was called off. How did they fill it? Well half an hour was given to a ‘BBC News Special: The Big Freeze’ – anyone would have thought we were in for an ice age. Many would say they were trying just that bit too hard.

If you watched the BBC at all that day, I would totally forgive you if you were left, stranded indoors, scared, shaking and fearing for your life; they made out snow was the most dangerous, horrible, life-threatening thing that the UK had ever seen.

Supermarkets went without deliveries, thousands of pints of milk were reported to have gone to waste as milkmen and lorries were unable to provide houses and shops and there is no doubt about it that people went panic buying. On Saturday Waitrose was completely out of normal milk with dwindling supplies of bread and vegetables.

Fun for some

Snowy road in Bristol

Oblivious to the state of emergency scores of children happily played on every green-space with snowmen dotted across the Downs in Bristol and in front gardens everywhere. It’s been a very fun time for children and grown-ups alike who were unable to make it to work. 14% of the UK workforce was reported to have stayed at home on Wednesday 7 January costing the economy £0.5 billion per day.

But questions are being provoked as people ask whether schools were right or wrong to close and if they should have made more effort to stay open. An unnamed primary school teacher in Bristol told me over the weekend, “Bristol Local Authority wouldn’t execute a ‘blanket closure’ of schools and instead just gave schools a single-lined telephone number to call and give details of closure.”

With more snow expected in the coming days these unanswered questions could lead to further disruption.

Ben used information from the BBC, The Evening Standard, The Guardian and the Ski Club of Great Britain to compile this article

In parts of the Alps resorts are opening their lifts early following heavy snowfall, whilst in some resorts openings are being delayed due to a lack of the white stuff.

It’s quite a common a scenario and no real change to many previous seasons. Last year broke the mould in many ways with bumper amounts of snow across the whole Alps.

I would be lying if I said that I didn’t quite enjoy all the speculation and discussion that I hear and read each November and early December. It’s all quite interesting and funny – everyone has their own take on the picture and everyone thinks they know whats going to happen. I don’t have a crystal ball, or any special powers but I would guess that as has happened in years gone by the snow will come; it’s just a matter of when.

Val Thorens today, fresh snow at 11am. c/o Snowbrainer

In Switzerland the resort of Verbier, which is very popular with British tourists opened on November 7, whilst the French resort of Val Thorens opened one week later on November 14, a week early. Tignes is also open in France and Zermatt in Switzerland has the most snow in the world with 4 meters.

I’m not here to write a snow report but there its easy to feel quite optimistic going on those few resorts. It’s not that simple everywhere though, Bansko in Bulgaria remains closed despite hoping to open earlier this month and now has it’s fingers crossed that the snow will arrive.

In the French Alps temperatures remain quite warm and lots of the early season snow that fell over the past weeks is, if not already, starting to melt. It’s a nail biting situation for any seasonal worker and especially tour operators.

Ischgl's famous opening season concert c/o PlanetSKI.eu

The Austrian resort of Ischgl, which is world famous for its beginning and end of season concerts, opens for skiing this Friday and then hosts international singer Katy Perry on Saturday for this years concert. Kylie Minogue, The Scissor Sisters, Pink, Elton John, Lionel Richie, The Sugababes and Bon Jovi have all performed live concerts there in years gone by.

If only I was going, it’s always a super event and enjoyed by everyone! It really is a ‘Wish I was There’ moment every year… I just need to find a valid reason to go!

No doubt the snow will come, in 2006 it didn’t come to many parts of the Alps until mid-december, but in 2008 it came in October.

The British media love to give the snow situation as much hype as possible. In 2006 a chalet manager in the resort of St Martin de Belleville in the world famous 3 Valleys invited one British ski journalist to stay in his chalet for a week, free of charge. But why? To make him go home and write a positive story about the snow that, in fact wasn’t as bad as the media had reported. You can’t blame them, every journalist wants a good story and people love reading about snow… I’ve already admitted that.

It’s important to remember that snow in November doesn’t necessarily mean snow in December, and with that in mind no snow in November doesn’t mean no snow in December. It really is swings and roundabouts this skiing lark!

This is not a snow report. Views expressed are those of Ben Clatworthy. If you are looking for a professional snow report then Ben recommends PlanetSKI.eu, who publish a detailed report regularly.