THE BRITISH SKI BIKE TEAM REPORT 18 March 2005

A generous offer from the Swiss Snow Bike Team saw Denis Osbaldeston and Simon Marsh driving out to the Sudtirol in November 2004 to join their pre-season race training session.

Training at altitude
The cable-car swung alarmingly in the wind on its way up to the Hotel Grawand, perched 3212m on top of the Schnalstal Mountains. Strong winds closed the lifts on the first day with a wind-chill of -37oC, but gave a chance to acclimatise to the altitude. The Glacier below provided a dozen or so teams from around Europe with a steep top section, levelling out to a triple chair-lift, on which to set out their courses. After two and a half days of hard work, a corner had been turned and new racing techniques had been understood if not mastered.

World Championships
By March 150cm of snow had fallen in Austria, and Denis and Simon were joined by Darren Walker, the current Senior British Champion, and Richard Platt for the Senior/Junior World Championships held in Lungotz from 2nd - 6th March 2005, with over 140 entrants from 8 Nations.

Excellent conditions and familiarity with the piste helped both Simon and Denis improve on their January times. In the Slalom race, a mistake by Denis put Richard ahead and 5th in Senior Men's Class 3. Simon took 5 seconds off his previous time in the Super-G, coming in 12th in Senior Men's Class 1. Darren had been working hard at his technique in his favourite discipline and finished just 2 seconds behind in the same class. A determined Denis, clipping a number of gates on the way, finished a commendable 5th in Senior Men's Class 3 and a second ahead of Richard.

The final Combination results for the Seniors World Championship put Simon 12th overall in Senior Men's Class 1 and winner of the British Senior Men's Championship. Richard came in 5th overall in Senior Men's Class 3, one place ahead of Denis, giving them Silver and Bronze respectively in the British Senior Men's Championship.

World Cup and British Finals
The next race of the season was the World Cup Final in Missen, which was also the British Elite Men's Championship.The first day's racing was Giant Slalom, of which a Combination result was taken from the two different courses raced, where Nic Platt, the current British Men's Champion, finished in 19th place..

The Slalom followed the next day, where Nic Platt came in first amongst the British racers and 20th overall - British Men's Champion for the fourth year running.

Elite Men's Class: Nic Platt, Tim Platt
Senior Men's Class 1 (30-40yrs): Simon Marsh, Darren Walker
Senior Men's Class 2 (40-50yrs): Kevin Rochfort
Senior Men's Class 3(50-60yrs): Richard Platt, Denis Osbaldeston.

British National Championships results:
Mens Champion: Nic Platt
Men's 2nd place : Richard Platt
Men's 3rd place: Denis Osbaldeston