Where to begin? So, the Europa Cup races being held in Val Thorens this weekend were cancelled and rescheduled for January due to a lack of snow. Because of this, my team was at a loose end with no competitions and no place to train. Then when we saw that there were FIS races being held in Sweden, we quickly booked flights and found ourselves there 3 days later. The two boys and I trained on the ski cross course on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and then raced the weekend in the -23 degree weather... it was so cold that my race suit froze! It was my second time in Sweden and my first winter visit so I wasn't fully prepared for the brief 3 hours of sunlight per day but I got used to it in the end (that's a lie, I was very confused about the time all week). Unfortunately, I didn't get the result I was hoping for on Sunday's race due to a mistake in my qualification run but Saturday was much more successful with a 3rd place finish! It was a brilliant outcome for GB with podiums from both the boys as well so we're all returning home happy and the training time we got on the track was invaluable. It's my 20th birthday today and I've spent it either travelling in a van or on a plane with my coach and two of my teammates but it's been a good one nonetheless with lots of laughs and even some embarrassment after they decided to sing happy birthday to me in the middle of the airport. I'm currently somewhere over Germany so I should be landing soon and then it's off to Les Arcs for Christmas with my parents and a whole lot of food!
Next stop: French National Championships in Val Thorens!