Winter Paralympics: Great Britain's team for Pyeongchang

• From the sectionDisability Sport

Gregor Ewan, Aileen Neilson and Robert McPherson represented Scotland at last year's World Championship

XII Paralympic Winter Games
Venue: Pyeongchang, South Korea Dates: 9-18 March
Coverage: Coverage on the BBC Sport website and app and on BBC Radio 5 live

The 2018 Winter Paralympics will be held from 9-18 March in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Great Britain will be sending a team of 17 athletes to the event, the biggest representation since the Turin Games in 2006.

The Games will feature up to 670 athletes, who will compete in 80 medal events across six sports.

Four years ago in Sochi, the ParalympicsGB team had their most successful Games of modern times, winning six medals.

Skier Kelly Gallagher won Britain's first Winter Paralympic gold medal,team-mate Jade Etherington claimed three silvers and a bronze to become GB's most successful Winter Paralympian of all time, and there was also a wheelchair curling bronze.

Millie Knight and her guide Brett Wild will hope for more success in Pyeongchang

World champions Millie Knight and guide Brett Wild will be among the GB squad for this year's Games after winning gold and silver in last year's World Championships in Italy.

Snowboarders Owen Pick, Ben Moore and James Barnes-Miller will become the first athletes to represent Great Britain in the sport at the Paralympic Games as it builds on its successful debut in Sochi.

Four of the five wheelchair curlers who won a medal four years ago will also be back in action, while Britain will also be represented in Para-Nordic skiing for the first time since 1998.

Wheelchair curling

	Date of Birth
Gregor Ewan	28 June 1971
Angie Malone	27 May 1965
Robert McPherson	12 November 1968
Aileen Neilson	15 August 1971
Hugh Nibloe	9 January 1982

(L-R) GB Paralympic athletes Jennifer Kehoe, Menna Fitzpatrick, Owen Pick, Ben Moore, James Barnes-Miller, Millie Knight and Brett Wild pose for a photo during the team announcement for Pyeongchang 2018 Alpine Skiing and Snowboard Team

Para-skiing

	Date of birth	Classification	Event
Millie Knight	15 January 1999	Visual impairment	Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Super Combined and Downhill
Brett Wild (Millie Knight's guide)	24 December 1992	N/A	Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Super Combined and Downhill
Menna Fitzpatrick	05 May 1998	Visual impairment	Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Super Combined and Downhill
Jennifer Kehoe (Menna Fitzpatrick's guide)	15 November 1983	N/A	Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Super Combined and Downhill
Kelly Gallagher	18 May 1985	Visual impairment	Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Super Combined and Downhill
Gary Smith	24 March 1984	N/A	Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Super Combined and Downhill
James Whitley	17 November 1997	Standing	Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Super Combined
Chris Lloyd	31 January 1974	Standing	Super Combined, Super-G, Downhill

Great Britain's first Paralympic Snowboarding team L-R Owen Pick, Ben Moore, James Barnes-Miller

Para-snowboard

	Date of birth	Classification	Event
Owen Pick	09 July 1991	SB-LL2 (Lower limb impairment)	Banked Slalom, SBX
Ben Moore	01 March 1986	SB-UL (Upper limb impairment)	Banked Slalom, SBX
James Barnes-Miller	31 August 1989	SB-UL (Upper limb impairment)	Banked Slalom, SBX

Scott Meenagh lost both his legs while serving in Afghanistan in 2010

Para-Nordic skiing

	Date of birth	Events
Scott Meenagh	16 September 1989	Biathlon: Men's Sitting 7.5km, 12.5km & 15km. Cross-Country: Sprint, Sitting 7.5km & 15km

Britain's Winter Paralympic medallists

2014

Gold: Kelly Gallagher and Charlotte Evans (guide) (women's VI Super-G)

Silver: Jade Etherington and Caroline Powell (guide) (women's VI downhill, women's VI slalom, women's VI super combined)

Bronze: Jade Etherington and Caroline Powell (guide) (women's VI Super-G), wheelchair curling team (Aileen Neilson, Gregor Ewan, Robert McPherson, Jim Gault, Angie Malone)

2006

Silver: Wheelchair curling team (Frank Duffy, Tom Killin, Angie Malone, Michael McCreadie, Ken Dickson)

1994

Bronze: James Barker (LWX1 men's downhill), Matthew Stockford (LWX men's Super-G), Richard Burt (B3 men's giant slalom, B3 men's Super-G), Peter Young (B1 men's 5km Classical Technique)

1992

Silver: Richard Burt (B3 men's giant slalom)

Bronze: Richard Burt (B3 men's Super-G), Matthew Stockford (LW10 men's downhill, LW10 men's giant slalom, LW10 men's Super-G)

1984

Silver: Ken Robertson (Gr1 ice sledge speed racing men's 300m), Denise Smith (Gr1 ice sledge speed racing women's 100m, women's 300m, women's 500m)

Bronze: John Watkins (LW5/7 men's alpine combination), Peter Young (B1 men's short distance 10km cross country), Ann Peskey (Gr1 ice sledge speed racing women's 100m, women's 300m, women's 500m), Ken Robertson (Gr1 ice sledge speed racing men's 100m)

Source: http://www.bbc.com/sport/winter-sports/42584054

A brief history of Morzine.

The polar opposite of 1970s tower-block resorts like Tignes and La Plagne, the beautiful, charming ski resort of Morzine began life as far back as 1090. The area was one of only two crossing-points over the river Dranse and as such was of great geographical importance.

Around the start of the 12th century, Cistercian monks began arriving in the area of St Jean d’Aulps on pilgrimage from other areas in France, most notably Dijon. The term Cistercian comes from the Latin ‘Cistercium,’ which was the name given to the Dijon village of Cîteaux from whence the monks mostly came. By 1181 they had fully established themselves in St Jean d’Aulps and in the surrounding territories, and Morzine became a “monastic grange” from the abbey of the same name.

For the monks of the day, the monastic granges were bases from which they could work the land, provide their communities with sustenance and divide up clothing, utensils and building materials amongst the population. The monks prospered for hundreds of years in the Morzine area, spreading their civilisation and religious beliefs unchallenged. One of the main reasons for this was their proficiency in farming and livestock rearing, something they learned and improved on from their Benedictine brothers, whose patron they initially shared.

St Jean d’Aulps gained independence from the Cistercian monks in 1531, around the time when the monasteries in England, Wales and Ireland were being dissolved by King Henry VIII. This was followed by around two hundred and fifty years of peaceful farming and the continued growth and prosperity of these humble mountain villages.

By 1800, technological developments meant the area’s slate could be successfully and lucratively mined. The slate mines went as deep as 350 metres into the area’s many cliff faces, and the slate that the labourers mined was split into sheets. It was then cut to size before being transported primarily to places such as Thonon, Thônes and Taninges. Morzine earned a great deal of money from this trade, money which would stand the town in good stead in the years to come.

In 1862 a road was constructed between Thonon and Morzine, and the slate production and monies earned increased accordingly. Like so many Alpine towns of the day, with the financial fruits of their labour the population of Morzine turned their attention to tourism and Morzine’s ski club was founded in 1910. In 1925, local tradesman and entrepreneur Francois Baud set up the town’s first hotel to welcome tourists, the aptly named “Grand Hotel.” He went on to build the town’s first ski jump behind the hotel, and employed Austrian ski instructors to run it.

By 1934 Morzine had its first ski lift and progress went from strength to strength. This was helped by the resort’s swollen coffers and a young local man by the name of Jean Vuarnet. Morzine-born Vuarnet won the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, bringing pride and prestige to the little mountain town. It was following this victory and the spoils thereof, that Vuarnet worked during the 1970s as Director in Charge to establish the higher resort of Avoriaz, close to Morzine. Linking in the towns of Champery and Les Crozets, Vuarnet established the ski able domain we know today, and the mighty Portes du Soleil were formed.

Today, Morzine attracts skiers and boarders from all over the world for its impressive range and variety of pistes, and the summers see hikers, parapenters and cyclists a-plenty. The town has maintained its wonderful charm, and the sense of Alpine tradition pervades to this day. The town planners have shunned the temptation to construct high-rise blocks and it’s one of the prettiest ski resorts in the entirety of the Alps.
Source: http://interactiveresorts.co.uk/blog/morzine-brief-history