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On the 13/14th January, a team from lastminute.com and ifyouski.com took part in the BCV 24 Hour Charity Ski Race which was held in the picturesque resort of Villars, Switzerland. | | | |
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It was an amazing event and although the race was reduced to three sets of 4 hours (instead of 24 hours non-stop) due to the conditions, the team raised over £6500 in total (£3670 online) and finished 44th out of 92 teams.
 The race saw almost 600 competitors of all standards take part including a number of disabled teams and one tele-marker - our very own Robin Wallace who skied the course as fast as almost anyone. The teams tried to cover as many kilometres as they could over the duration of the competition and it was an exhilarating experience trying to get down the course as fast as possible avoiding the other racers, the ruts and ice.
A crowd of 4000 came up in the evening to support the racers and watch a concert that included an interesting set by former Formula 1 racing driver and event organiser, Jacques Villeneuve.
A total of 270,000 Swiss Francs was raised for the three charities supported. (The Anthony Nolan Trust, The Foundation Theodora and The Foundation Uscade) with all the money raised by the lastminute team going to The Anthony Nolan Trust.
Below Tim Bishop summarises his exepriences of the race and explains how he survived the running start...
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| The Running Start |  |
I was pretty nervous before the race, suddenly it was all real and the area was full of professional-looking skiers in lycra warming up or waxing their skis. I remember standing near the starting line about 10 minutes before the race started with Suz and Simon just looking up the hill to where I had to get to and wondering how on earth I was going to get there.
After taking my place at the back of the queue we were off all of a sudden. It was pretty rough going at first, everyone trying to jostle forward, dodging skis and poles on people's backs or being waved around randomly, trying to keep my footing and avoiding those who had slipped...after passing the stadium and turning left we started to climb up the slope, that's where the legs started to burn. | | | The snow cover was very light so a lot of the time we were climbing on almost sheer ice, the only technique that worked was to kick each toe in hard and hope it held as you put your weight onto it.
I was aiming to keep a steady pace and I think I managed this, I didn't have to stop to catch breath like many others who had overdone it at the start. Towards the top the ice got worse to the right and there were a lot of people sliding down on their faces, so the race became a procession as we were all forced to the left of the track where the purchase was better and there was no chance to make ground on the others. I reached the top and hurried to put on my skis, this took a while as I had to knock a load of snow/ice off the bottom of my boots before clipping into my bindings, but soon I was off. Legs on fire and breathing heavily, I made ground on the way back to the chair as many people in front seemed to be taking it easy after the climb. We'd agreed I'd ski a lap before handing over to John, so it was great to recover a bit on the chair before hooning down the course as fast as I could. 
The first lap was quite crowded and you really had to watch out for the other competitors, I saw a couple of collisions on my way down, hopefully none serious. Again, I think I made ground on the lower section, then carried on up to hand over to John. The changeover was pretty chaotic, everyone getting in each other's way, but we were pretty well organised and (having lengthened the belt for the transponder ;) John set off with a few panted words of advice and without too much delay.
We got much more smoother as the race went on and the changeovers became pretty slick. |
| Night Skiing |  |
Skiing at night was a pretty unique and amazing experience, I'd been looking forward to it and wasn't disappointed. I had been expecting it to be very very cold, as it turned out I don't think the temperature even dropped below freezing while we were racing; certainly only barely if at all. This made it a lot easier to stay alert while waiting for my turn to race. Once my turn came, all thoughts evaporated except to where the next turn was and which ruts/rocks/mud patches I had to avoid on the next lap.
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The snow was in good condition at the top of the run and a pleasure to ski, before the big left hander above the finish line and the solid ice ditches to clatter over on the way down, followed by a lifting left with good air before the stadium chicane and the punt through the slush in front of the band. The bottom section was sheer ice, a question of trying to get in shape and hold the line whilst hoping against hope that the edges would hold the last sharp left with enough speed to get up to the chair. Going up on the chair was pretty cool... unlike the daytime sessions, no-one spoke to each other and I think we were all pretty awestruck by the sensation of being on the top of the mountain on a crisp, clear winter's night. There was little light on the back side of the hill and the constellations stood out clearly, especially Orion. |
| Teamwork |
One of the things that struck me most about the whole experience was the way we worked as a team. I think everyone knew one or two others to some extent before the race, but not necessarily to any great degree. Skiing together the day before the race was a great introduction as we all got to know each other's strengths before having to work together the following day, it helped us to plan our strategy for the competition. Without exception, everyone played their part to the full, there was great communication and absolutely no dissent or complaints, even when cold and tired; we all put everything we could into it and I hope I'm right in thinking we all got a lot out of it as a result.
I had no idea what to expect before we started the race; by the end we were all egging each other on and competing flat out to finish in the top 50 teams, and it was a great joy to achieve that (even if only by a whisker!). The fundraising total was amazing, yet again I'm humbled by people's generosity.
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All in all I feel pretty privileged to have been part of this experience, amazing skiers (and telemarker Wal!), lovely people and fantastic team-mates who pulled together to achieve something substantial this weekend. Bring on next year's challenge, I can't wait!
Tim Bishop |
| Ski Sunday Coverage | | Click here to see a clip from Ski Sunday's coverage of the event. Look out for the Kamikaze headband of Tim Bishop!
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| Thanks | The whole team (Suz, Robin 'Wally' Wallace, John Bevan, Simon Lambert, Richard Smith and of course Tim Bishop) would like to thank Mondial Assistance, British Airways, lastminute.com, Holiday Autos, Bolle Eyewear and everyone else who supported, sponsored and looked after them (Jules and David). They also hope to see some of you taking part next year!
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