Ben Clatworthy's Blog

With all eyes in the skiing world focused on the Paralympic Games in Vancouver it seems fit to write a blog on Disabled Skiing. Ben Clatworthy gave it a go last season, with the help of an instructor; this year James Cove the editor of PlanetSKI.eu tries it for himself. It’s harder than it looks… really!

There have been major developments in the last few years, and now it is a common sight to see a disabled skier enjoying the freedom and exhilaration of a day on the slopes.

For Stefan, my bother, skiing has changed his life.  He is a disabled child who never lets his disabilities get in the way.  Before we discovered handiski, he used to be left at home when the family went skiing, but now he is also able to join in with the excitement that the slopes bring to thousands each year.

Last season I swapped my skis and gave sit-skiing a go. It was truly terrifying as you can see here in my video reports.

However, our experiences vary in different ski resorts, and even within one ski area.  Les Trois Vallees, the

Even the young can have a go!

world’s largest ski area, has 3 different lift companies managing the 183 lifts.  In the Vallee des Belleville, Setam and Sevabel manage the lifts of St Martin de Belleville, Les Menuires and Val Thorens.  In the past few years, they have adapted most of the ski lifts to make then accessible for disabled skiers.

In the other two valleys, one company, S3V manages the lifts in Meribel and Courchevel.  But the attitude to disabled skiers is markedly different between the two valleys. In Meribel there are only 9 lifts that can’t be accessed by disabled skiers, whilst in Courchevel there are 25.

Ski resorts were designed for able bodied people so many hotels, chalets and apartments are unusable.

Last week James Cove, who is the Content Editor for PlanetSKI.eu, a website I write for, gave sit-skiing a go for the first time and found it difficult but very rewarding.

“After several attempts I managed one turn and then after a few more I managed to put 2 linked turns together before crashing over.

I had an enormous sense of achievement.  I though was on a basic nursery slope.” Cove wrote in his article for PlanetSKI.

You can read the full report on PlanetSKI here

There is no doubt that skiing for the disabled is becoming increasingly more accepted and wide spread, but some change still needs to happen before all disabled people will be able to take up skiing. Its not easy for the resorts either, often expensive to make changes and sometimes in their eyes not worth the effort.

However this are changing and more and more disabled people are giving the sport a go. The tour operator Crystal is working closely with Disability Snowsport UK  to raise its profile and provide help for people with a disability who wish to give skiing a go.

It’s a fantastic sport and well worth a go!

Ben Clatworthy is the ‘Racing and Sports Correspondent’ for PlanetSKI.eu and writes for other ski publications too, including InTheSnow Magazine.

With the main Olympic games over attention turns to the Paralympic games in the host city. The Vancouver Olympic Centre has become The Vancouver Paralympic Centre and the medals have Braille on them; it’s a brilliant competition shining with equality. We have a video report too.

Having a disabled brother who is skiing crazy and uses a sit-ski himself the Paralympic games highlight how accepting the world can be when it wants. It’s a lovely sight to see disabled athletes competing on the worlds highest sporting stage doing what they love.

Let the games begin...

But here in Britain the Paralympics aren’t exactly drawing the same exposure as the able-bodied games did last month. The BBC are lacking coverage, instead highlighting the two weeks competition in one hour at the end and the newspapers are writing supplements on these games. It’s a sad sight really but there is no doubt that our British represenatives out in Canada will have a brilliant time.

Sean Rose and Ben Clatworthy in October 2009.

We might just bring home another GBR medal; Sean Rose has already won gold in the Disabled Skiing World Cup this year and is on top form. Its a perfect chance for him to shine and boost coverage of Paralympic sports in the UK. I met Sean in October last year at the Metro Ski and Snowboard show and he is a truly inspirational skier – I’ve kept in contact with him since and written several articles this year as I followed his progress.

I wish all of Great Britain’s athletes at the games the very best of luck and really hope I’ll be able to write a blog on a medal sometime in the next fortnight.

If you’re interested in finding out more about skiing for the disabled why not check out these videos I made last season on Disabled skiing. It’s an inspirational sport! Click here to watch the videos.

If you are interested in using any of these videos please contact Ben Clatworthy through his website. Thank you.

But why? It’s the oldest advertising ploy but it usually works. So what is being advertised?

Well, surprisingly its Ski Boots….

Last season Lange who manufacture ski boots named Maria Riesch as ‘Lange Girl 2009′ and she advertised their ski boots in a rather ‘revealing’ way. So, why the semi-naked pose?

Ski racer strips down for Lange

“The boots look great, Maria has a fantastic body and so the two go together really well,” laughs Nadine Carle, a spokeswoman for Lange. “She looks absolutely gorgeous!” I’m not sure that everyone is looking at the boots though!

It’s a strange combination in many people eyes but from an advertising point of view its quite the marketing tactic.

It’s the most read news story of all time on PlanetSKI.eu, a website I write for and a similar story on sex and skiing is the third most read. So what is it about the 2 Ss that promote the sport so well?

So with the success of advertising by the means of ’sex’ is it likely we will see a rise in the number of semi-naked based adverts in the future? Well only time will tell, but I think that might just be the case.

Ben Clatworthy is the ‘Racing and Sports Correspondent’ for PlanetSKI.eu and writes for other ski publications too, including InTheSnow Magazine.

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.