Paris Slalom World Cup 2013

This year was the 11th edition of the PSWC, a mythical international competition of freestyle slalom skating which takes place every year on the Trocadéro, facing the Eiffel Tower!

I haven't missed a single edition since 2007. As a skater at first, then as a judge the last couple of years. Even last year while I was convalescing I came to say hi (as a spectator, but still I was there).

This time my mission was to judge the Classic Freestyle and the Battle. For both men's and women's categories. It was a heavy task:

80 classic runs and 34 battle groups later...

I survived the PSWC 2013!

Meanwhile, when I was not judging (speed slalom and slides) I was not twiddling my thumbs either. All my fingers were busy working, typing reports of the competition!

Freestyle Judge Training in Madrid

This weekend I gave a hand to a long-term friend to help him into a delicate task: Examining candidates who passed a freestyle skating judge test.

The judge training was taking place in Madrid, Spain. Kio and Marie, whom I met in rehab, came pick me up at the airport on Saturday afternoon. I worked on the exam videos the candidates would have to explain the next day, and then we went for a night trip, driving the streets of Madrid in Kio's convertible Mercedes, visiting the Temple of Debob (an ancient Egyptian temple that was rebuilt in the center of Madrid), having a drink, going to a friend's where we spent most of the evening telling weird stories about mosquitoes in Asian jungles and English seaside resorts inhabited by old people, until bed-time.