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The 2001/02 season has been the most eventful in Alain Baxter's life. It's been a
season of incredible highs, when Baxter made history at the 2002 Winter Olympics, and desperate lows, when a positive drugs test forced Alain to return his bronze medal to the IOC. In the last 6 months, Alain Baxter has become a household name in Britain, with an ever growing supportive fanbase. However Alain's success has been the culmination of over ten years of dedication, determination and hard work.
Getting ready for the 1st World Cup
on the Tignes Glaciers
Baxter's Rise to the Top
Alain Baxter's hard fought rise up through the 6,000 internationally
registered racers world wide is a testament to his determination
to succeed and his raw talent. But some would argue he was
always destined to make it to the top.
His parents (Iain and Sue) were both British Ski Team members
and subsequently leading figures in British ski teaching,
so it was no surprise when they named their son after one
of their own heroes, the 70s French skiing star Alain Penz.
Living in Aviemore he had the run of the local Cairngorm
ski slopes where he inherited all of his parents love of
the sport and he also developed his basic skills and competitive
instinct. He was also becoming a mean Shinty player (the
traditional team game of the Highlands which is like a tough
relation of Hockey) and an accomplished semi-professional
ice hockey player.
He still sometimes plays for local teams, but luckily for
Britain he stuck to skiing.
As a 16 year old he was selected to the British Alpine Ski
Team in 1991 and this was the start of his ten year battle
to reach the pinnacle of ski racing.
A very freshed faced Alain joins his teamates
in the
Hanson & Robertson Development team
at Hillend
Artificial skislope, Edinburgh.
With almost 30 weeks of every year spent on snow, training
and racing or travelling through the snowy areas of the
world, Alain has been through many lows and come close to
quitting on several occasions in the past - mainly due to problems with
funding.
A small band of personal sponsors have helped keep Alain
going, as well as plenty of labouring and landscaping jobs
when not training. But he also knew that he could get to
the top. His personal drive, plus the confidence expressed
in him by his coaches, meant that with continuous hard work
he steadily worked his way up the world rankings, making
the top 100 in time for the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.
Several winters of mixed fortunes followed. Alain produced
some outstanding results at the start and end of the season,
including top three results at the German, Slovenian and
Austrian Championships, but frustration and a lack of progress
in the World Cup races was taking its toll.
In 2000, together with his current coach Christian Schwaiger,
he worked on a number of changes and progressive developments
that all came together and produced a remarkably successful
World Cup season. He moved to Head skis and embraced the new
short, extreme sidecut slalom skis with a vengence. He worked
on his technique to maximise the new slalom style particularly
on the hardest, most challenging slopes and his fitness programme,
shaped over many years, had created a super fit, powerful slalom
specialist's physique. But most importantly in his head he not
only dreamed he could beat the best in the World, he believed
he could do it.
And he proved it.
The results and progress was remarkable for someone who previously
had struggled to make the top 30 in World Cup - 21st, 13th,
13th, 9th, 8th, 7th and then 4th in the World Cup Finals.
 
Alain, British champion in Tignes,
and after the World Championship Slalom in Vail
The world of skiing leapt upon this new force in slalom, especially
in Austria where he is based for most of his training, and he
became the Highlander: the softly spoken raider from the wilds
of northern Scotland. For the first time in his long career he had the support
and backup that his competitors have always enjoyed.
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