04 April 2005

Round 4 2004 was held on Feb 14, leading to the lowest turnout in Kings history. Not that no-one could make it, just no-one wanted to be seen as having nothing better to do on Valentines day than go to a dry slope ski race...

No such issues this year when the last race of the Kings London and Southern League got under way on Feb 12. Natives 1 was poised to take the league win if they finished second or above, and with a good result Natives 2 would be on course to qualify for the final...

Unconventional finish from veteran Blackwell
Illness, injury and holidays had forced a number of changes for both teams. Natives 1 had two ex- No.1 ranked racers from different generations, George Hunt (18) and Dave Blackwell (180).

The first race looked like a straightforward affair against Surrey 3, and a chance for Dave (who declared himself 'a little rusty' after 3 years off skis) to get his old skills back. Unfortunately an uncharacteristic error by Natives 1 Lucy Newman saw Dave pushing hard as last man to catch Surrey 3. The ex-England skier crossed the finish line, on his back...in the air...with one ski on. Despite this unconventional technique Natives 1 claimed the victory, as unknown to Dave, Surrey's first skier went the wrong way at the second gate.

5th place for Natives 2
Natives 2 also had a new racer in the streamlined shape of Stefan (larger than life) Elton. Another ex-national team racer, Stefan had always resisted change and so brought along his 195cm race skis and showed the old boys how racing used to be done, one foot on the ground, the other kicking the gates out the way. Still very effective, Stefan brought the 2nd team through their rounds almost unbeaten, ending up in 5th place, the best result all season and enough to put them 9th overall in the league and through to the finals, the only team to qualify who hadn't done all the races!

Natives 1 go wobbly, but finish 3rd
Natives 1 meantime were having a few problems. After the shaky start, Dave B found his winning ways and with George Hunt at least twice as fast as any other racer there we looked set for victory and the league title.

To stir things up again Kings officials pitched Natives 1 and Huskis 1, the only teams able to win the league, against each other in the first race of the second round. George led off for Natives 1 and pulled out a convincing lead over the Huskis racer, then our curse struck again as Natives 1 Katy Lamb hooked the second gate and was spun the wrong side. A quick recovery saw us back in the race and almost overturn the Huskis team, but not quite.

With a defeat at that stage 3rd place was the best we could hope for, and for some other team to beat Huskis to still win us the overall league. The rest of the races progressed smoothly with a final race off against Cambridge to put us 3rd overall. Then we could only sit and watch as Surrey 1 (trained by Natives) took on Huskis 1 in the final. A really close race could have gone either way. but eventually Huskis 1 just proved too strong and nudged ahead to win the last round and end up equal points with Natives 1 for the league.

Natives go for two trophies
So a case of what could have been, but with both Natives 1 and 2 through to the finals and a race off between Huskis 1 and Natives 1 at the Finals to decide the London & Southern League winner, it could have been worse.

Bring on the finals, where we hope to go a few steps better than last year's 4th place and bring home two trophies! Kings Ski Club National Finals take place on April 30 at Wycombe Summit. Supporters and spectators welcome!

Join Team Natives
Team Natives is currently undergoing affiliation to Snowsports England as a race club. This will provide an alternative forum for anyone who wants to get involved with ski racing to be part of an officially recognised and fully insured club who are not affiliated to any particular slope.

Membership of Team Natives costs just £10 for the year and includes access to training with professionally qualified coaches, discounts on ski equipment and travel, and the chance to purchase exclusive Team Natives merchandise!

We still have a limited number of FREE memberships available, so hurry! For more information please contact James Gambrill on jgambrill@skiworld.ltd.uk

Mail this page to a friend
What do you think? Tell us in the Chat Room