L a t e s t  n e w s ..... Heel wins Super G in Val Gardena with Defago and Jaerbyn on the podium ... Paerson wins Super combined from Hosp and Suter ... Walchhofer retains King of the Hill in Downhill, Miller 2 and Osborne Paradis 3 ... Gut wins Super G in St Moritz from Suter and Fanchini

'The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams' (Eleanor Roosevelt).

TJ Baldwin and Sega Fairweather skied with great courage and skill to win the boys and girls races, respectively, at the British Land Children's National Ski Championships Super G.  The full length course combined with the hard conditions meant that the conditions were very challenging  for the vast majority of the racers: the better racers rose to the challenge.  A delighted Baldwin took his second title of the week while Fairweather finally won her first British Title.

Baldwin has had a good week and this has come at the end of a season that has seen him secure good results both internationally as well as in British and French competitions.  Having spent the season training at the British Ski Academy, Baldwin's run was not as clean as he had hoped yet he managed to keep the skis running across the hard icy early morning snow.  "It was a good run yet scary as I put my hand down through one of the fast traverses," he reflected as he tried to cool his face down.  On his way down after the race, Baldwin had fallen over and badly grazed his face and injured his groin.  Baldwin is determined to take a clean sweep of the titles this week; his injury he hopes will not rule him out but his rivals will be hoping that it slows him down slightly as he has been in fantastic form this week.  Baldwin admitted afterwards that he could have gone faster as he had made a number of mistakes and had almost straddled a gate at speed, ominous signs for the rest of the field!

Best of the rest amongst the guys was Baldwin's training partner at the British Ski Academy. Aaron Tipping.  Although almost half a second behind Baldwin, Tipping was satisfied with his run: "I made a few scrappy mistakes, nothing big but they all added up." The early start to the race had meant that conditions were hard and fast, yet Tipping had relished the challenge: "I loved the course and at last this was a proper Super G," Tipping said afterwards before adding that he was "pleased yet frustrated" with his runner's up spot as he had been looking to take the Title.

Taking third place was a slightly surprised Adam Piper.  Piper, whose older sister took the Senior Championships Junior age group awards recently, has been training at the British Alpine Race Academy at Radstadt this winter and was pleasantly surprised to have beaten the highly rated Jake Richardson and Harry Brown, his training partners.  Piper had come to the races after a disappointing BARSC championships where he had crashed out of all the races yet still believed he could make the podium.  "It was a bumpy course and I felt totally out of control," admitted Piper afterwards.

Racing the same course used by the boys, the course had softened slightly for the girls.  Credit to the sliding crews that kept the course in excellent condition, as although the girls felt the course was bumpy, it was no different as it had been for the boys.  Sega Fairweather took the course by the scruff of the neck and was a class above the rest of the racers as she tore down the course.  Fairweather, delighted to have won her first National Title, has spent the season training in Austria with the Alpine Coaching Academy set up and along with her training partner, Benn Hall, has spent time training all the disciplines alongside young Austrians as well.  Fairweather feels she is more relaxed this year yet is taking her skiing much more seriously.  This new outlook can be seen with her improving results nationally, though she feels her international results have let her down slightly.

Taking runner up to Fairweather was Niki Sole. Following in a strong line of Oxfordshire racers, Sole felt her run was bad due to the bumpiness of the course.  Sole, a podium finisher in the Giant Slalom a few years back, is a stronger skier in the faster disciplines.  Having spent the season training at the British Ski Academy, Sole has benefited from training alongside the likes of TJ Baldwin and Aaron Tipping as well as Hannah Wright.

Just over a quarter of a second behind Sole was Kim Bruce.  Bruce, who finished second last year in the Super G, was happy with her run though she had made a few mistakes. Bruce, from Edinburgh, has raced for the British Children's team this year in Turkey was comfortably ahead of her British Children's Team team mate Franki Simonds who finished in fourth.

The Children 1 age category was won for the second day in succession by Hannah Garwood and Jack Breton.  Both young racers train with French clubs, Les Arcs and Meribel respectively, and are raising the standard for the rest of the age group.  Garwood finished ahead of Natalia Harte and Rachel Hughes while Breton lead home Jamie Reid and Jo Morrison in the boys race.

The race for the age group Overall Titles will be decided after the Giant Slalom.  In the Children 1 Boys category, Jack Breton leads with a perfect 200 points after winning both races.  90 points behind Breton are Jo Morrison and Tom Kirton with Alistair Stang, Jamie Reid and Simon Edwards all looking to make their way on to the podium.

In the Children 1 Girls Overall, Hannah Garwood also has a perfect score following two race wins, however, she will not add to this as she will take part in a qualification race for her French Club in the morning.  For Natalia Harte and Christy MacKinnon nothing short of a win will secure them the Overall title while the leading first year racers, Toni Hodkinson and Alessia Thomas Jackson, can equal Garwood's score if they win the age group in the Giant Slalom.  Rachel Hughes, currently in 6th can move up the rankings if she can make it on to the podium in the Giant Slalom.

For the Boys in the Children 2 category, TJ Baldwin, with two wins, can secure the title if he finishes no lower than third.  Aaron Tipping needs to win to be ahead of Baldwin if he is to have any chance of taking the title ahead of his team mate.  Jack Evans has an outside chance of taking the title but needs to win and Baldwin and Tipping to be outside the top twenty.

The most intriguing outcome looks like being in the Children 2 category.  No fewer than fourteen racers still have a chance of taking the overall yet there is a winner takes all scenario.  Mashiter currently heads the ranking ahead of Jayme Baggio, Niki Sole, Kim Bruce and Sega Fairweather.  With 32 points separating the first five, nothing less than victory will be good enough to secure the Overall Title.

With warm weather expected for the last of the Children's races at this year's British Land Children's Championship, the Giant Slalom will see the conclusion of this years children's programme.