OWI Alpine Snowboard coach Leigh Delahoy reports from Switzerland, where Joh Shaw is training in preparation for the start of the World Cup season on October 9.

After a successful training season at Mt Buller, Joh and I have come to Zermatt, Switzerland home of the famous Matterhorn to prepare for the first race of the season Landgraaf.
 
The day starts at 7am with a long ride to the glacier, a climb from 1600m to 4000m. It takes three cable cars to reach the top, which are packed to the rafters with what seems to be every other National Team.

At the top it is a mass of people, skis and boards all shuffling through a 1km tunnel to the glacier. From here it’s a ski down to the 15 odd courses and a maze of gates.

Everything from SL, GS, Super-G and Downhill tower above our snowboard flags. We finish training around 12, an hour to get down to our apartment, lunch, dry land and then early to bed ready to do it all over again.

The last weeks have been spent in GS training (with many thanks going to Pullins for their work in the tuning and set up of the boards).

It’s been very busy, so Joh has had no time to be jet-lagged or get homesick away from her newly-married husband Josh, as training started the day after we arrived.

She has been riding strong, setting some fast times two to three seconds ahead of the French, Norwegian and Finnish riders, and staying on par with 2008 World Cup champion Nicolien Sauerbreij from the Netherlands team.

Joh’s new GS board arrived safely - tuned by the guys from Montana-International – and we are looking forward to testing that, as well as working on things to make her go even faster.

After a few days off we are set and ready to start our SL training. With a new SL board and Joh nicely rested, we are looking forward to some great training.