If you are interested in trying skiing for the first time or want to sharpen your skiing skills, then Metro Blind Sport and Disability Snowsport UK are seeking to arrange a taster day at the Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead.
Pricing for a group session is £10 per person and we will arrange transfers from Hemel Hempstead station to the Snow Centre.
We should be able to accommodate both a group session and/or private 1-1 tasters (if people can already ski) depending on numbers that register their interest.
Venue: The Snow-Centre, St Albans Hill, Hemel Hempstead, HP3 9NH
Time: TBC.
Contact: If you would like to register your interest, please email lucy.simper@metroblindsport.org or call him on 07966 260 089
If you are interested in trying skiing for the first time or want to sharpen your skiing skills, then Metro Blind Sport and Disability Snowsport UK are seeking to arrange a taster day at the Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead.
Pricing for a group session is £10 per person and we will arrange transfers from Hemel Hempstead station to the Snow Centre.
We should be able to accommodate both a group session and/or private 1-1 tasters (if people can already ski) depending on numbers that register their interest.
Venue: The Snow-Centre, St Albans Hill, Hemel Hempstead, HP3 9NH
Time: TBC.
Contact: If you would like to register your interest, please email lucy.simper@metroblindsport.org or call him on 07966 260 089
The registration for the 51st Ridderweek has finally opened. The Ridderweek 2019 takes place 24th-31st of March 2019 and is held in n Beitostolen Norway.
You have the opportunity to participate in a 5km race for women or a 10km race for men; a biathlon (a 6km ski coupled with sonic rifle shooting); and the 20km Ridderrennet race.
You can read Metro member’s accounts of the previous Ridderweeks here: http://bit.ly/MBSSkking
Contact Mike: mike@mikebrace.co.uk for enquiries about the annual Metro Blind Sport skiing trip to Ridderweek.
Photos from Metro’s Previous Ridder week Skiing trips link here: Gallery Link
I signed myself up for the 2017 Ridderrennet week in November 2016, not knowing what I’d really gotten myself into having never cross country skied before.
Ridderrennet is an annual international disabled cross country ski competition held in Beitostølen supported by student volunteers from Sports Science degree courses and the King’s guards from the army. With cross country skiing there are two tracks in the snow that skis fit into, which aid vision impaired people to follow the tracks whilst skiing.
After having a rocky start with Ryanair on Sunday 26 March and their limited desire of wanting to accommodate 8 blind and partially sighted passengers we safely landed in sunny Oslo. On Monday morning I was paired up with my guide for the week. We ventured out and hit the snow, or what may be better referred to as slush and rather difficult cross country skiing conditions.
By the end of day 2 I wasn’t sure whether skiing was for me, but when old hands like Mike Brace say “I’ve never known snow conditions to be this bad in all my years of coming and for beginners it isn’t the best conditions to be learning to cross country ski”, I stopped giving myself a hard time for not grasping it as well as I’d have liked. As the week progressed so did my skiing abilities and the slight onset of sore muscles informed me that I was working hard!
Masuma Skiing at Ridderrennet 2017
Thursday arrived with snow falling and the challenge of tackling the hills as part of my first race. Not sure who at this stage was more nervous me or my guide! I was counted down at the start line and before I knew it we were off and tackling our first downhill of the 4k race. I made it to the finish line with some rather splendid uphill and downhill falls along the way but in 54 minutes and one exhausted piece! The rest of that day entailed rest and sleep!!
Saturday morning the atmosphere was buzzing over breakfast with everyone excited about the race, with plenty of discussions about start times and competing to beat each other, as well as own personal race times. Whilst the skiers and guides readied themselves for the race at the World Cup Arena the military band came out and played. My personal goal was to try and beat my time from Thursday, although not knowing what the tracks would be like it was virtually impossible to say how it would plan out.
For the second time that week I queued and edged my way to the start line and waited to be counted down with my guide beside me who was telling me I had to give it my all as it was the last day of skiing and I could rest tomorrow. I encountered just as many interesting falls as the previous race, but with more confidence and the focus of beating my time in the forefront of my mind I got up and kept going. I crossed the finish line with a few marvellous falls with my legs having turned to jelly and given way from the exhaustion of smashing my previous time and coming in at 35 minutes!
Metro members smiling with medals at Ridderrennet 2017
Despite the lack of snow and awful conditions as a newcomer, it was a great week, I got to meet some awesome people, push myself physically and try something new and challenging at the same time, as well as discover muscles I didn’t know existed or had forgotten they did. To say I was sore by the end of the week was an understatement! As one of a few newbies on the trip we didn’t have the same expectations as previous attendees, so did the best we could, but equally giving us something better to look forward to hopefully next time.
The whole week was extremely well organised from transport to guides, to volunteer support at breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you were unfortunate enough to be lost, or misguided by another vision impaired person (a frequent occurrence!) a helping hand was never too far away to offer a guiding arm.
If you have never cross country skied and are looking for something challenging to do as well as socialise then I’d say to keep an eye out for next year’s Ridderrennet week and start working on the leg and arm muscles.
One of our members, Janice, flew out on Friday 3rd February, and the ski week finished on Sunday 13th February 2017.
If you are wanting to learn to Cross Country Ski and improve your technique, Janice recommends Ski For Light is the place to go. We were at 7-8 thousand feet, so it does make you a bit breathless, so it is a help if you can arrive there with some fitness. You are expected to ski every day while you are there, and the guides I have found to be mostly excellent.
The social side of things is good too, with over 100 blind skiers, each with a guide, and a few sit skiers too. Ski For Light is held at a different venue each year, and often returning to Colorado, so the terrain can be mixed. There is varied entertainment in the evenings, and one evening, it was dedicated to The Wild West, and as well as Square Dancing, there was a mechanical Bull, which many of us had a go on, and does take a lot of strength to hang on, and the cheers and jeers from the crowd, and the commentator is all part of the fun.
If you are interested in going for Ski for Light next year check out their website: http://www.sfl.org. Ski for Light 2018 Date: 21 Jan to 28 Jan.
Good luck and break a leg to the large party of Metro cross country skiers going to Norway on the 26th March 2017 for 1 week, many of whom this is their first time and we look forward to receiving some feedback from them.
