Podium place gives Guest festive cheer
It’s the ski-son to be jolly for Perthshire slalom ace Charlie Guest after a confidenceboosting start to the season.
The St Martin’s talent performed impressively to secure proud podium finishes at the recent Europa League Cup event in western Sweden.
Former Strathallan student Guest, competing at Funäsdalen, recorded runs of 54.03 and 50.81 to claim bronze on day one.
And she followed that up with silver on day two, finishing narrowly behind winner Jessica Hilzinger who hails from Germany
“I went into these Europa Cups with the absolute intention of winning them,” Guest said. “To come away with two podiums is pretty awesome.
“The hill in Funäsdalen is one I have skied before and I knew what I was going into. It’s a nice mid-steep pitch that you can send your best down.
“It puts me second in the standings at this point in time. I’m absolutely delighted with it.
“I’ve locked in ranking points for next season already. They are good enough that I don’t need to start panicking for the next 12 months.
“Now I can really focus on World Cup and getting top 30s in those. That has been my season goal.
“If I can, I’ll try and keep up with the Europa Cup circuit and make all the races. I’ll see if I can take an overall position.”
Guest entered this season having missed a chunk of training due to a back problem. But she has returned in style and is ready to shine further.
“I had a pretty difficult summer again with a back flare-up in July,” Guest explained to the PA.
“I decided to chill out on the skiing front until I was strong and all sorted. I had done that last year and it worked out well. I didn’t actually get back out onto snow until October. When I came to Scandinavia, I’d only had a handful of days proper training.
“But I left last season on really good form and my equipment really works for me.
“As soon as my body is healthy and strong, I can put down some really fast times. There are still a few things I want to work on.
“Over the last eight years I’ve got a huge volume of skiing behind me. So two or three months off in the summer doesn’t make much difference.
“I feel in a really good head space. My whole life has just done a 180 since this time last year.
“I’ve started an undergrad at the University of Aberdeen so I’m working away on that while competing. They have been super helpful.
“It’s good to have things in my life that aren’t just ski racing. I’m going into 2020 with a much better outlook on everything.”
Guest, before a short Christmas break, has one final event and that will be a World Cup appearance at St Moritz in Switzerland on December 15.
Guest said: “That will be a World Cup parallel slalom. Parallel is a new discipline and is where you race head-to-head with another racer.
“On the new seeding list, I’m ranked in the top 40 in the world with that at the moment. It will be a good chance to see where I’m at.
“I’ll also be doing some more training because, post Christmas, it gets manic. I’ve got three World Cups between December 29 and January 14. Then, after that, there are four Europa Cups before I get a wee break.”