Austria back on snow ahead of crucial season start

"These days have been very valuable, precisely because we will go to Chile in 10 days. Specifically, the second day on snow was just perfect, I could again practice my technique,”

The Austrian ski team has returned to training after the summer break, taking part in strength and conditioning activities before returning to snow ahead of the start of the 2016-17 season.

Gym training took place at the National Sports and Leisure Centre in Obertraun before a visit to the Molltal glacier.

Athletes have also been taking advantage of the warm summer temperatures with a varied programme that included kayaking and canoeing on Lake Hallstatt and cycling, as well as team building activities.

World and Paralympic medallist Markus Salcher said: "The atmosphere in the team is very positive and very focused. All are already in good form with the first snow contact. I have trained very well over the summer.”

In the third training camp of the summer, the team travelled to the Molltal glacier to focus on technique as well as conditioning and mental preparation for the coming season, which will feature the World Championships in Tarvisio, Italy.

Reigning triple world champion Claudia Loesch is coming back from an injury sustained during the 2015-16 season.

"These days have been very valuable, precisely because we will go to Chile in 10 days. Specifically, the second day on snow was just perfect, I could again practice my technique,” Loesch said.

Head coach Eric Digruber also feels the team took a lot of positives from their activities: "The athletes have trained super over the summer and you can see how all are already hot in the snow training. In addition to some technical details we could again work a lot on conditioning, from the kayak training to intense intervals everything was there.”

In late August the majority of the team travelled to Valle Nevado, Chile, where in addition to the technical events they were also able to practice the speed elements of their skiing.

The 2017 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships will take place between 22-31 January.

Tarvisio 2017 is expected to attract 140 skiers from 30 countries, all looking to put in winning performances to test themselves with just over one year to go until PyeongChang 2018.