February 14, 2005
Alcock Race Diary #7
World Cup Finale, Lake Placid, New York

Our last World Cup race of the season was hosted by the 1932 and 1980 Olympic venue in Lake Placid, NY. The citizens of this cute town celebrated the 25th anniversary of hosting the 1980 Games and you could tell that the whole town was abuzz with excitement. The weather cooperated to some degree, given that the region had experienced frigid temperatures of -40C only one week prior to our team arriving. We had one storm system that passed through with buckets of snow but thankfully, it cleared out the day before our race was scheduled.

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January 31, 2005
Alcock Race Diary #6, St.Moritz, Switzerland

Prada…Gucci…Porsche Cayennes…Range Rovers. Ah yes, we’re back in St. Moritz again, where celebrities and the affluent abound. Besides the people-watching, this is still my favorite place to visit because the ice curves are painstakingly crafted each year out of snow. It is always a privilege to slide here, not only because of the rich Olympic sliding history, but also because so much heart and soul goes into making this natural, high-speed track.

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January 21, 2005
Skeleton World Cup Cesana Pariol (ITA)

The second half of the Skeleton season began with an international training week at the future 2006 Olympic track, located 2 hours outside of Turin, Italy. I was excited to venture over to Italy for the first time in my life and to become familiar with this brand new sliding facility. There was so much speculation and anticipation as to when the track would be ready. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the track was in relatively good shape (minus the dust and debris that was blowing into the track from surrounding construction sites). There are 19 corners in all and top speeds are around 120km/h on a fast day. The track is not as dangerous as Sigulda or Altenberg but I would say that it is probably the most technical due to important combinations of corners. If you miss even one combination, you cannot make up the time or speed by the bottom of the track.

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December 13, 2004
Sigulda

We are in Sigulda now and have enjoyed three days off to catch up on sleep, do some laundry, and allow any aches or pains to heal. I am nervous about taking our first runs down the track here tomorrow, especially knowing the level of difficulty required. Our team came here last year for the first time and the experience ranged from good to the downright ugly. We have eight training runs available to us before the race this Saturday. On Sunday, we get to come home to Canada to begin our Christmas holidays!

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November 20, 2004
Hello from Winterberg!

Our team arrived a few days ago and we are currently waiting out a snow storm that has cancelled our sliding sessions. It started out as a constant downpour of rain but the town has since turned into a winter wonderland. Before the snow hit, I managed to get 2 runs down on the track but in the rainy conditions, it was simply a waterfall all the way down. We were all soaked to the bone and shivering when we went back to the apartment. We heard word that we may get back on the ice tomorrow but if this snow continues, I doubt that will happen.

March 2, 2004
2004 WORLD SKELETON CHAMPIONSHIPS

Alcock takes home the silver at World Championships!
I am writing this on the plane as I fly home to Calgary after seven weeks of touring throughout Europe on the Skeleton World Circuit. My body is certainly feeling the effects of intense racing from this past weekend at the prestigious 2004 World Championships held in Konigssee, Germany. I feel so honoured to have competed in such an exciting event. It really showed me what sport is all about.

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