Barnaby in Third Form has had an exciting few weeks skiing competitively in Italy and Switzerland. Here he writes all about his incredible experiences.
Speeding down a black run hitting 80 km/h, I reach the top of my first training run. Welcome to the world of competitive GB Ski racing!
I’m Barnaby, and in February I competed in the English Alpine Championships in Bormio, Italy. The English Alpine Championships has been run for the past 28 years and it is the main competition for seeded races during the ski season. Seeding is the way Snowsport England rank competitors to find the best racers in each discipline. This season over 2500 racers have competed in seeded races. Everyone starts on 999 and this number decreases each time you race. There are different seeds for dry slope and alpine skiing. They are also different for the four disciplines; slalom, giant slalom (GS), super g (SG) and downhill.
I race for CDC performance, a club run by Chemmy Alcott (four time Olympic ski racer and presenter of Ski Sunday) and Dougie Crawford (25 time British champion). There are a number of camps throughout the season with this one being the longest at 2 weeks (one week for training, the second incorporating that with the official races). CDC is different from academies (such as Apex 2100 in Tignes, France) where racers board all year round and combine skiing with their academic studies.
When doing a training camp with CDC you can either be an inlier (staying with the team in a boarding lodge) or an outlier (staying with your family). Or, like I did, you can combine the two staying for the first week with the coaches, then joining my Dad when he came for the racing. This is my first season competing at U14 and the first time I’ve been away on my own. I was a bit nervous but I learnt SO much, not just about skiing!
The first two days we spent freeskiing in the morning getting a feel for the runs and then slalom training in Bormio’s main resort in the afternoon. It was great fun to train on a slope which will be used for the Winter Olympics in 2026. For the next few days we trained in Santa Caterina, a resort 20 minutes further up the valley.
On Friday, we had the opening parade. This a tradition of the English Alpine Championships where all competing clubs parade through Bormio carrying their team colours and finish in the centre of the town. Everyone loved the atmosphere and excitement, inspired perhaps not only by the parade but also by the biscuits and hot chocolate they gave us afterwards!
The next day the races started. My first race was on Wednesday, which was a GS race in Oga, another 20 minute drive up the valley. We arrived at 7.30am and were allowed one free run before our inspection of the course. Normally, there are two courses set on the same piste. Boys race on one course and girls race the other, before switching around for the second run. Both runs are timed and the winner is the racer with the fastest combined time – if you miss a gate or fail to finish either run you cannot qualify.
The course at Oga was tough, with a lot of really experienced skiers unable to finish. I completed both my runs and came 49th out of 70.
My second race was slalom, which took place the following day in Bormio. The day started again with a free run, followed by the course inspection. The boys and girls course was switched between the first and second runs, and I came 31st out of 70.
This week, I was racing at the 33rd Inter Schools Championships in Verbier, Switzerland. I was with CDC again, but also representing Exeter School. Verbier was a different experience to Bormio and I was really proud to be there as an Exonian. I trained GS with my team on Saturday and slalom on Sunday. The snow conditions were great and I felt like I made a big improvement before the races.
The slalom race was first, which took place on Monday. As in Bormio, we had an inspection followed by two runs. There were 61 gates on the hill, which is the most you are allowed – so this was a very long course. As I started my first run there was a lot more crowd encouragement from the spectators – including some parents ringing cowbells – which was really great to hear. I finished fifth out of 22 and I was really pleased with the result.
The following day was the GS race. There are fewer turns on a GS course and the distance is longer, which means you reach faster speeds. GS is my favourite discipline and my GS seed is much lower. As with all the other races we started with an inspection early in the morning, followed by two runs. Only one course was set and there was no change between run one and two – this is unusual, but the organisers felt that the course was in good condition and so did not need to be changed. There were 23 racers in the U14 category and I finished 8th.
As well as the individual seed points for competing in the slalom and GS races, there was also a schools league. 40 different schools competed and points were awarded for any racers with a top ten place. Some schools had racers in every age group and every discipline, so I knew it would be hard for Exeter with just me earning points. Exeter finished 25th in the table – which I think is pretty good.
There is one more competition this season on snow and I can’t wait for the 2025/26 season!
