Biography

Rob started skiing from a young age, spending every Christmas and Easter holiday in Puy St. Vincent in France. His passion for skiing took a serious turn when he saw the English Championships held at the resort when he was thirteen.

Rob joined Kandahar Racing in 2004 and took part in his first race at the British Alpine Racing Ski Clubs Championships in Alpbach, Austria. He finished 21st in the Giant Slalom race a few days after his fifteenth birthday.

Taking all three titles in the 2007/08 season British Alpine Racing Ski Clubs Championships, as well as the best ‘non-GBR team’ skier trophy for Slalom at the 2009 British Championships, Rob was selected for the British Alpine Development Team at age eighteen.

For 2010/2011 Rob was fortunate to be allowed to base himself with the Dutch National Team in Austria. The season saw more progress with his World ranking improving in slalom by 428 positions. He become overall English Alpine Champion with straight wins in Slalom and Giant Slalom and again won the award for best non GB team athlete at the Delancey British Alpine Ski Championships in both the slalom and the super combined events.

His continued progress has been recognised and for 2011/12 Rob has been invited to join The British Alpine Senior Ski Team.

The program commenced at the end of May 2011, travels to New Zealand for August and September for the Southern Hemisphere season with racing at selected events including the Australia New Zealand Cup races and the New Zealand Winter Games. October and November will see the start of the European season with early races in Scandinavia including both Federation International de Ski races (FIS) and selected Europa Cup events. The Europa Cup is the level that provides the stepping stone to the World Cup, the Premiership of ski racing with all its Global TV coverage.

Events Rob competes in...

Rob competes in Alpine ski racing. This involves skiing through a course of set gates to attain the fastest overall time down one or two runs of the course. There are four prime racing disciplines Alpine skiers can compete in. These are the technical disciplines of  Slalom and Giant Slalom and the speed events of Super Giant Slalom and Downhill. Rob’s main focus is within the technical disciplines.

Slalom

This event involves skiing between gates that are formed by relatively close alternating pairs of red and blue poles, which the skier must pass between – specifically the skier’s feet and both tops of the skis must pass between the poles. A course for men has 55 to 75 gates. The skiers use skis typically 165cm in length. The event is won by the skier with the best aggregate time over two runs.

Giant Slalom

Gates in this event are spaced a greater distance apart than in Slalom. The course for men is made up of a vertical drop between 250 and 450 metres and usually around 50 gates. Giant Slalom skis are longer than Slalom skis at around 193cm in length. As in slalom, Giant Slalom has two runs with the racer achieving the best aggregate time being the winner.

Super Giant Slalom (Super-G)


Super-G is similar to Giant Slalom; it has a more open course with greater distance between gates, meaning a faster pace and less turns, and a minimum of 35 gates for men. Super-G skis are longer than Giant Slalom skis at 210cm.

Downhill

Downhill is the discipline with the highest speeds and greatest risks – typical racers will exceed over 80mph in the event. Courses are longer and the gates further apart. Courses are designed to challenge the best skiers in a variety of ways – skiing at high speeds, through challenging turns, shallow dips, flats, and jumps. Skis are even longer than Super-G, typically 220cm in length.