PROUD Peebles grandparents Bill and Anne Goodburn have been celebrating the chilly achievements of a young family member.
Tom Mac Chambet is the 12-year-old middle son of Nicola Goodburn, who is married to French lawyer Nicolas Chambet.
The couple have three boys and live in the French Alps near the Aravis ski slopes of La Clusaz and Le Grand Bornand, where Tom and his brothers, all good skiers, are fortunate to be able to enjoy the sport on their doorstep with the help of enthusiastic French ski clubs.
Tom has been competing under the banner of the Scottish Ski Club in the British Championships, held annually at Meribel, and for the last two years he has won the Giant Slalom race there. As a result he has been invited to join the British children’s ski team.
Tom made sure his middle name Mac, which both his brothers also have as their middle names, was engraved on the cup (a new clan?).
He was training in September in Hemel Hempstead with the Scottish trainer Andy Freshwater in a huge snow dome – artificially made snow of course.
This seemed a bit strange to Tom, but he enjoyed it.
He is glad that his mother spoke English to him so much so that he can understand it well, and he is now training hard for a competition in Andorra as well as for the British Championships in the spring.