SKIING - THE West of England Ski Team took 11 children from Torquay, Churchill and Gloucester, to Borovets in Bulgaria, to race train and compete in the Chamkoria Cup which included FIS junior slalom and giant slalom.

THE West of England Ski Team took 11 children from Torquay, Churchill and Gloucester, to Borovets in Bulgaria, to race train and compete in the Chamkoria Cup which included FIS junior slalom and giant slalom.

The team were able to train under the guidance of Luboslav Toderov, who until last year was the Bulgarian national team coach, and were able to utilise the services of Geri, a ski tuner to the Bulgarian team at four Winter Olympic games.

Emma Penhale from Slalom Plus at Gloucester, came sixth out of 20 in a time of 44.09, 5.14 seconds behind the winner and 1.57 seconds from the podium. Emma has recently moved clubs from Avon Ski Club where she learnt to race.

Henry Richmond from Gloucester Ski Club, came eighth out of 48 starters in the boys race in 41.74 seconds. These two were competing in races against solely Bulgarian race clubs, who tend to train six days a week on snow.

In the international competition, both Emma, Henry and Georgina Cooper (Gloucester) were up against junior teams from Croatia, Lebanon, Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro, as well as the best Bulgarian junior racers.

In the giant slalom, Emma came 23rd out of 27, Henry 36th out of 53 and Georgina 21st.

Lauren Black, whose grandparents live in Cheltenham came fifth out of 25 to record the highest finish and was 0.89 seconds from the podium. Her five-year-old brother was a creditable eighth from 16 as the youngest competitor.

The club are appreciative for the support they received from the Skiers Trust Charity, Dare2be, Skiwear4less, Stephen Jabs Ltd, and Alpine Kitchens.