|
 Aiming
to be the Jamaican bobsleigh team of the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics,
Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, the first professional skier from Ghana,
chose the Natives Workers Challenge in Meribel to make his competitive
debut.
Taking on the world
Nkrumah-Acheampong took up the sport only two years ago when he
got a job as a receptionist at the indoor skiing centre in Milton
Keynes. He has based himself in Meribel for this winter and the
Natives Giant Slalom was his first outing 'contre la montre'.
It was the third year in a row that the Olympic Stade in Meribel
had hosted the race, and competitors were blessed with clear blue
skies on a fresh January day. As well as the best of season workers
in the Three Valleys and Ghanian Olympic hopefuls, workers from
as far away as Chamonix competed in the opening leg of the Natives
Workers Challenge Race Series (www.natives.co.uk/race).
Name up in lights
Over a hundred competitors took part in the individual Giant Slalom
in the morning, and for Nkrumah-Acheampong, it was a first opportunity
to see his name emblazoned on the main scoreboard, where gods such
as Alain Baxter, Chemmy Alcott and Finlay Mickel have gone before.
Unfortunately due to a limit on the number of characters available
on the screen, strict informality ruled for race number 114, named
solely as 'Kwame'.
 As
with all Natives Workers Challenge events, although the emphasis
was on inclusivity, with many novice racers taking the chance to
experience the thrill of racing for the first time, the standard
at the top was very high, with a number of ex-national team skiers
from the home countries.
Unfortunately Kwame's debut resulted in a DNF ('Did not Finish'),
but undeterred his multinational team entered the afternoon's team
Parallel Slalom races.
Team games
Over twenty ski and board teams took part, and the crowds who braved
the freezing cold conditions were not disappointed - with the racing
at an awesomely high standard and as packed with tumbles and turnarounds
as only a truly head-to-head sport can be.
 With
such a high standard, the Ghanian's team did not make the latter
stages, although Kwame told Natives afterwards that the day had
been great experience. A committed Christian, he added: "Only one
person stops you reaching the top and that's yourself."
In the boarding competition, the Ski Beat squad, Ski Dicks, more
comfortably confirmed victory by conquering every team in their
round robin group.
The skiing competition went to best of three final and could have
been either teams' race right up until the final second, with Dani
and Her Merry Men, led by Dani Bosher, eventually pulling victory
from the slavering jaws of the second placed Special Needs, led
by Tim Fawke.
Top prizes
The prize-giving at Jack's Bar on the same evening saw the winning
workers rewarded with brand new skis courtesy of Freeride.fr, gear
from Fat Face, Sun Helmets, Redeye Beanies, and summer holidays
from Skiworld.
 The
best were also rewarded with trophies and medals, while every single
novice who entered was given a prize, just for having the guts to
enter.
Next up for the Natives.co.uk team is the Big
Air Competition in St Anton on 03 March and then the final stage
of this winter's Workers Challenge Series: the Skier/Boardercross
Comp in Val d'Isere on 30 March.
At this stage it is not known if there will be any African entrants,
but as always for a Natives event, all everyone is welcome to join
in. Check out a gallery
of the day's pictures and full details of team and individual winners
of the 2005 Meribel race.
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