Racing for Team GB - Conrad Sutciffe
Friday September 3, 2010 - Email this article to a friend

Geyer, who is 20 and lives in Devon, made the GB team at the end of the last winter season.

The Torquay Alpine Ski Club member had been knocking on the GB team's door for a couple of years.

It follows a string of English, UK and European titles on snow and artificial surfaces since 2004.

We reported his elevation to the senior team at the time here on PlanetSKI.

The clincher was being crowned England FIS Slalom champion in the Italian resort of Bormio in February.

Earning a GB place had been Geyer's ambition since the age of 12.

A liking for silver ware

Now though the hard work has really started.

The summer has been one long round of conditioning sessions, assessments and ski training on high-altitude glaciers in Europe.

"So far I have been summer training on the glacier in Zermatt, attended a programme for Olympic contenders in 2014 and 2018 in London, taken part in more training in Saas Fee and gone to Scotland for fitness testing," said Geyer to PlanetSKI.

"Unfortunately I was ill during the trip to Scotland so missed out on some of the strengthening and conditioning, although I still had to go through all the medical tests.

I am home for a couple of weeks now, then it is back to Saas Fee in Switzerland next Saturday for another two weeks training.

I will be back until early October, then training on the mountain again for two weeks as the training really starts to build to the start of the season."

In Zermatt. In Action.

The 11-strong team flies out to Austria in mid-December, the exact location of the team HQ hasn't been decided yet, in readiness for the first races.

Then the serious practice on snow will start, although the travelling won't be quite so bad.

"The downhill speedsters will be off to Canada to do some races on the North American circuit, but the more technical slalom and GS guys like me will be staying to compete in Europe," said Geyer.

Now Geyer is part of the GB team his race programme will be worked out by the coaches.

There are FIS races all over the Alps and central Europe during the winter, at a variety of ability levels.

Geyer is aiming for some European Cup races in his first season, and has other goals as well.

"You go where the coaches tell you and I have been told I will be doing some European Cup races for the experience," said Geyer.

"I am looking to get my points scores down from 41 to around 30 - and a priority is a podium finish at the British Seniors in my disciplines."

Getting a place in the Great Britain team eases some of the financial pain of a five-month ski season, but there is no company credit card to cover the expenses.

Geyer reckons he will have to find between £15,000-£20,000 this winter to meet all the costs.

 For that reason he is grateful to the support of Torquay Round Table, who are about to finalise a sponsorship package for the season ahead.

In the past he has been heavily sponsored by Torquay Alpine Ski Club.

"Coaching fees are covered by the team, as is the accommodation in Austria," said Geyer.

"I have a sponsorship deal with Salomon for skis and my clothing is covered, but that's about it.

I have to cover flights to and from Austria, accommodation at the venues we race in and lift passes. It is a fair bit of expense."

Potential supporters or sponsors should check out Geyer's website www.jaigeyer.com.

Racing for GB is as much about funding as anything else and the Olympics were thrown into confusion when Snowpsorts GB went bankrupt on the eve of the Games, although things are slightly better now with a strategy in place.

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