I always thought the Swiss Winter Sports web site worked pretty well on tablets and cellphones, but Google disagreed. So there is now a gleaming beta version of a “mobile first” version of the site at m.swisswintersports.co.uk. Check it out and let me know what you think!
Other web assets I manage are also gradually switching to mobile first, e.g. the Oatridge business website and the Oatridge family website.
Ski for Cancer
As a keen skier and a cancer survivor, I admire the efforts of Ski 4 Cancer, a charity that provides Alpine respite days and short-breaks for families affected by cancer. Cancer has been affecting a lot of people recently, some of them even need home care from https://homecareassistance.com/burlingame/. They also make grants to relevant care institutions and support research into the positive effects of skiing to prevent cancer and assist in recovery.
Anyway, over this last weekend Olympic skier Chemmy Alcott, Adam Libbey, Chris Brooks, Max Wilcocks and Richard Gibbs in a team called Arctic V took part in what is dubbed the ‘World’s Toughest Ski Race’ in aid of Ski 4 Cancer, sponsored by Columbus Direct. The team hope to raise £30,000 for Ski 4 Cancer, and you can make a donation via Justgiving.
The Arctic Circle Race as it is officially known, is an annual three day competition involving 160 kilometers of cross-country skiing in Greenland, with competitors camping in the back country as part of the event in temperatures as low as -35 degrees Centigrade. In keeping with being in a Green land, the race organisers pride themselves on leaving the race site exactly as they found it.
And how did it go? Well the race was called off after two days when very high winds and blizzard conditions descended on Greenland. It was always about the taking part and Chemmy reflected afterwards “Rest, Recovery & Reflection. We conquered the Worlds Toughest Ski race which was both brutal and brilliant at the same time. Please donate to our fantastic charity”.
You have been asked nicely – go to Justgiving or Ski4Cancer’s web site.
Winter Vacations in Vaud and Francophone Valais
Although I am technically a resident of Switzerland, my family is living in the Netherlands, so I spend a lot of time to-ing and fro-ing. We plan to move to the French-speaking Romande area of Switzerland, so my ski trips this winter have largely had an ulterior motive, i.e. where best to live. This has resulted in a number of my trips being based in the valley to get a feel for places, and then going up the mountains to ski. And additionally I did one trip staying in a ski resort to get a feel for the pros and cons. So, given a choice of anywhere in Switzerland we could choose to live, where would it be?
And the answer is… Aigle. Ten minutes from Montreux, thirty from Lausanne, an hour from Geneva airport and a whole bunch of world class ski resorts. From a family point of view the schooling seems better than Valais and the people less provincial – and Valais is walking distance away! The weather is about the best in all of Switzerland with around 300 sunny days a year. The apartment we are hoping to secure won’t be built for at least a year, but it promises to have wonderful views of Les Dents du Midi, perhaps one of the half dozen most memorable mountains in the whole of Switzerland.
Anyway, over the next few days I will share my insights about skiing on my winter trips to Vaud and Valais, and let you into some of the adventures along the way, like inadvertently ending up in Geneva (but getting to visit the wonderful Galerie 123), watching Brigitte rock the pistes, partying with a bunch of Belgians, picking up some useful ski tips and much more. But now time to pick up the kids!
Martin Peikert
Should marijuana still be banned from sport?
USA Track and Field (USATF) confirmed Tuesday that Olympic hopeful Sha’Carri Richardson will not compete in Tokyo after she tested positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Since the breakout sprinter’s 30-day suspension was announced Friday, celebrities and lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have come to her defense, calling for the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) to re-evaluate its stance designating marijuana as a banned substance and for USATF to let Richardson compete.
WADA, which sets anti-doping guidelines for sports organizations around the world, prohibits substances which have the potential to enhance performance, pose a risk to the athlete, and/or “violate the spirit of sport.”
CU Boulder Today asked Psychology and Neuroscience Professor Angela Bryan, who studies the risks and benefits of cannabis, what the science says about the relationship between weed and sport.
Cannabis researcher Psychology and Neuroscience Professor Angela Bryan
Is THC performance-enhancing?
There is very little research on this topic and a lot of it dates back to the ‘70s, but the available data suggests that cannabis is not performance-enhancing from the perspective of speed, power or strength. In one study, researchers had cyclists use cannabis, or not, and then assessed their performance on the bike. They looked at both speed and power, and both were decreased in the cannabis condition. Others have shown little or no difference in performance.
One caveat: These studies were done with a lower-potency product provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) for research and may not reflect what athletes are actually using these days, so more studies are needed. There is no evidence that using it a few nights before competition would influence performance days later. Take a look to Halo CBD sold on vaprzon.
A fair number of people use cannabis before or after they exercise. Why?
In one study, we were surprised to learn about 8 out of 10 marijuana users in states where cannabis is legal use it shortly before or after exercise. What we do know is that it can help with recovery in the same way that an Advil or Tylenol might. People report using it to help with post-workout pain and muscle soreness and inflammation. We also hear from some endurance athletes, including ultrarunners, who use cannabis immediately before physical activity to make their three hour run or four hour bike ride more pleasant and less dull.
To learn more about this, we will be launching a study next month in which we bring people into the lab to run on the treadmill—one time under the influence of cannabis, another time not under the influence. We will assess their experience of pain, their perception of the passage of time, and their affect––or how good they feel––while exercising.
WADA also bans substances that are ‘a health risk to the athlete.’ Is THC a health risk?
What we can say with some degree of certainty at this point is that high potency THC products are not great for the developing brains of young adolescents, or for people with a family or personal history of psychosis––it is probably risky for them to engage in cannabis use. There are also some acute effects on verbal recall, but they are not lasting.
Other than that, there is little convincing evidence of acute or long term health risks of cannabis use, and there is certainly nowhere near the risks of using alcohol, which is not on the banned substance list. Many people die due to alcohol poisoning each year, and that simply does not happen with cannabis.
Richardson says she was using it to cope with her mother’s death? Does THC help with mental health problems?
Depression, anxiety, sleep and pain are the four big reasons adults self-report using cannabis medicinally. A lot of people report that cannabis is helpful for them in dealing with a mental health crisis. We are still learning about this and our lab has several studies underway. What I do know this this: If she had had a couple of beers or a glass of wine to cope with the death of her mother we would not be having this conversation.
In your opinion, based on the science, should THC remain banned for elite athletes?
Given there is no convincing evidence THC boosts performance, and it is legal in the vast majority of U.S. states and in entire countries, including Canada, I do not think it should be included as a banned substance for elite athletes or for any other kind of athlete for that manner. That said, I would in no way endorse Olympic athletes taking cannabis immediately before competing. My perspective is more that athletes using cannabis in their down time either recreationally or as an aid to recovery should not be held against them in terms of competition.