Baxter goes indoors in search of flying start

Published on Friday 4 November 2005 00:13

FOR his first slalom of the Olympic season Alain Baxter finds himself not on a icy glacier in Austria, but in the unusual surroundings of an indoor piste in the flattest country in the world, Holland.

The International Ski Federation has arranged the first competition of the Europa Cup season in Landgraaf today and the Highlander is hoping for a flying start.

"I hope to be in the top five or ten," said Baxter, taking time off from stretching in his hotel room and doing a turn on the exercise bike to speak to The Scotsman.

Though not quite the standard of the World Cup there will plenty of high-class opposition with a big Italian squad and skiers of the calibre of Slovenian Jure Kosir, former Olympic bronze medallist, and Norway's up-and-coming Lars Myhre who won two FIS races last year.

There will be no lack of atmosphere for the competitors either. Though the Dutch are not well known as an alpine nation, crowds of up to 20,000 have been known to attend these competitions.

Indoor skiing is not ideal for Baxter who finds the snow too soft and the humidity high, but organisers have poured gallons of water on the piste to replicate the icy conditions of high mountain skiing. After back problems and knee surgery earlier this year, Baxter announced that he feels "pretty good. The knee is fine, but my back can still give me a bit of gyp."

The back problem shows itself with a sciatic niggle, but stretching and physiotherapy keep the problem under control.

In the quest for shaving vital split seconds off his times, Baxter has once again changed skis, this time to Volkl: "Atomic did not agree with me. Technically, the new skis make it easier to turn and are more stable," he said.

After Landgraaf, Baxter will be heading for glaciers in Austria for two weeks before he leaves for the North American circuit.

Baxter finds the knockout format used today enjoyable. There are two qualification runs in the morning out of which the top 32, plus two lucky losers, are selected. Then in the afternoon session the fastest races against No 34 and so on until the winner is arrived at based on the fastest time down the slope.

It may be a far cry from the Turin Games where the season peaks this winter, but it is here that Baxter hopes to lay the foundations for another crack at the medal that was controversially taken away from him four years ago.