Club news - 27/3/6
Royal roller ski races


Balmoral Castle in Scotland will be the backdrop for one of the UK's most exciting roller ski races this spring.

The Land Rover Rollerski Challenge will be held between top junior ski racers from Britain and Norway. The races take place alongside the regular Balmoral Road Races running races, which have been held in the grounds of the Queen's Scottish estate since 1998.

The British contingent is from the GB Cross-Country Development squad, which is made up of the top youth cross-country skiers from across the UK. The Norwegian challengers come from "Team Kjelsas IL" in Norway, and have been racing the British skiers on snow in Norway over the past season. The GB squad's sponsors, City Star Airlines, will be flying the Norwegians across.

A spokesman for the GB team said, 'this is a fantastic opportunity to showcase roller skiing as a sport, and to demonstrate the skill and strength of our youth squad'. Land Rover are sponsoring the 14 minute Rollerski Relay Challenge. They are also funding a 1 hour feature film on the Balmoral Road Races, and a rollerski Masterclass and Open Day at Huntly. The Open Day takes place on Sunday 30 April and the film will be shown on Sky Sports 2, 3 & Extra in May.

The GB Development Squad has competed well in both the British Championships and international competition this season. The Balmoral Road Races will be held on Saturday 29 April 2006.

 

 

Balmoral Road Races website

Huntly Nordic Ski Club

Report on performances at the British Champs

Youth performances at the Developing Nations Competition

 

PS the Royal Family have long been connected with cross-country skiing. Princess Anne attended the Sarajevo Winter Olympic games, where she had a go at cross-country skiing and reputedly left her bodyguards struggling to keep up!

According to a friend of ours, she went on to present the awards at a roller ski race held in Battersea Park.