PA Sport is following Great Britain downhill skier Roger Cruickshank
throughout his build-up to next February's Winter Olympics in Turin.
In his own weekly column RAF flying officer Cruickshank will reveal the highs
and lows of life on the World Cup circuit as he seeks to fulfil one of his
lifetime ambitions.
"Everything is going pretty well at the moment and I have made some good
progress towards reaching race fitness again following my bad leg injury.
I am currently out at the Molltaler glacier in Austria where I've had five
days of skiing and every day I have felt the knee getting stronger.
I'm resigned to missing probably at least the first two World Cup races of the
season but the important thing is not to rush in and end up taking 10 steps back
as a result of taking one forward.
I hope I will be racing again by the first week in December which is not too
far away. Rather than going straight for the World Cup I may aim for a smaller
race where I can rebuild my confidence.
To begin with I never really thought I would have too many problems mentally
when I returned to downhill skiing for the first time after my crash.
But at the moment even when I think positively and get focused, my brain is
still telling me that I have nine pins in my leg, and I find myself having to
exaggerate what I do on my left side in order to match my right.
It's not so much memories of the crash which are a problem, because most of
the guys on the tour have at the very least ripped a ligament at some stage, and
it is very much considered an occupational hazard.
Then there was the great Hermann Maier who almost lost his right leg in a
motorcycle crash in 2001. To see him come back from being told he might not walk
again let alone ski is quite an inspiration for the rest of us.
I still get a lot of pain in the knee although it is getting less. In fact I
feel less pain when I am attacking and really going for it. When you are on the
defensive you are tighter and stiffer and that makes you more prone to the
pain.
Loneliness has not been an issue this week because I have been joined in camp
by other members of the British team, the Baxter brothers Alain and Noel, and
James Leuzinger.
Their company makes it much easier. We have been doing a bit of fitness
training involving trampolining and somersaults to try to work on our landing
techniques. That is quite important when you are faced with 60-metre jumps you
just can't afford to get wrong.
I am flying back to London on Friday with the rest of the guys for a Children
in Need event in which Snowsport GB will be auctioning off a day of skiing with
the Olympic team. Then it is back to the hard graft of making sure of a place in
Turin."
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