It has been a frustrating year for Edinburgh's Finlay Mickel and Noel Baxter from Aviemore.

For after producing career best results in Olympic and World Cup races over the past two seasons, both succumbed to career threatening injuries at the turn of the year.

However, according to a spokeswoman for Snowsport GB, downhill ace Mickel is now well on the road to recovering from his ruptured Achilles and may click into his bindings again as early as late August.

For Baxter too the news is promising with reports that his knee is responding well to physio treatment and that the Combined and Slalom specialist is already back on his bike.

Whilst those members of the alpine team rehabilitate, their team-mates have just returned from a post season fitness training camp in Biarritz.

Meanwhile, British no.1 half-pipe specialist Lesley McKenna is preparing to fly out to New Zealand next month for training and competition, whilst her fellow World Cup compatriot, Ben Kilner (Banchory) will be heading for Vancouver to train on the same half-pipe that will be used at the 2010 Winter Olympics.