Charlie Guest and Alex Tilley secured third places in the two Giant Slaloms held on Sunday 31st August. With both races being held on the same day due to the small field, Guest and Tilley were able to both score well, sub ... twenty point results, in the races that had some top World Cup standard racers in them: Michaela Kirchgasser, a World Cup race winner last season was second in the first race and then won the second race.
Talking to Racer Ready after the set of three races, a slalom followed by two Giant Slaloms, Stefan Moser, the Head Coach for the Delancey British Senior Ladies Team explained that "Charlie has made further steps forward with her slalom technique and is getting more stable in her skiing overall, a very good second run charge in first race and third run time let her climb up from 7th to 3rd, second race she was skiing very well with a lot of risk clearly aiming to win but unfortunately came out on bottom half of course."
With Guest and Tilley enjoying an established set up, Darcie Mead has made the set up to their training group this season and Moser feels that she "has shown her best skiing so far but couldn't finish two consistent runs and also came out in the slalom and the second Giant Slalom race, still the focus will be on getting more stable with the technical changes made which will need some time but one can see that she has a lot of potential in many areas." Moser continued: "She is fearless and has a good touch for the skis, if she continues to work hard and consistent i can t see why she shouldn't have a bright future as a ski racer."
A few years ago neither Tilley nor Guest were recognised by some of the top girls in Austria. Now the situation is very different and not only are the girls recognised but they are respected and this is due to the hard work that both Moser has put in and the work that the girls have responded with. While Chemmy Alcott pushed the boundaries, the standard of both Tilley and Guest is rising all the time. Alcott has been giving quiet words behind the scenes to both girls with helpful advice.
Moser felt that the girls skied really well in the two Giant Slalom races, explaining that "Alex was in lead after first Giant Slalom but had a big mistake getting caught with an arm on a gate close before the finish in second run, still I was really happy that she stayed in and finished and could gain back some confidence after a couple of DNF's, second race she skied very fast without a couple small mistakes she could have won nevertheless it was an outstanding performance and I was particularly happy that she could perform to her best level."
Moser has been building links around the world and was keen to mention the support that the girls and he had received training down in New Zealand: "It has been amazingly good especially the last three weeks with constant blue sky and improving snow cond every day, I'd like to thank Adi Bernasconi and the team from HPC Cardrona for the perfect cooperation and everyone being very helpful with training and anything we needed to make it a very good training camp again."
Laurie Taylor was competing in the Men's races and scored a 71 in Giant Slalom and a 78 (taking 8th place) in the Slalom.
Results
Picture: Charlie Guest on the podium after the first Giant Slalom in Treble Cone - Picture: Charlie Guest!