About Jan

Full Name

Jan-Michael, Peter, Kochalski

Home Town

Torphins, Aberdeenshire

D.O.B.

18/01/86

Place of Birth

Exeter, Devon

Ski Clubs

Gordon Skiers & Scottish Ski Club

Skis/Boots

Head

Bindings

Tyrolia

Jan grew up in Stavanger, Norway where he leant to ski at the age of 2 before moving to the North East of Scotland at the age of 5. At the age of 7 he began training with Gordon Skiers both at Alford Dry Ski Slope and at the Lecht Ski Centre. The 2008/09 season will be Jan’s Fifth year on the British Land Alpine Ski Team and this year is the beginning of Jan’s seventh year skiing and training full time in Europe.

Prior to being selected for the British Team Jan trained with the Scottish Alpine Ski Team in the British Combined Nations Programme. In 2005 Jan was the only skier to receive the Champions and Challengers bursary from Atos Origin, this award gives him assistance with his expenses up to the 2010 Winter Olympics. Throughout his career he has received support from Aberdeenshire Sports Council. In 2008 Poyry Energy became a sponsor and both Jan and Poyry look forward to a long and successful relationship.

After a problematic 2007/08 season, which saw Jan take time out of his season due to sever bone bruising, some key races were missed. However he returned to something like his best form towards March with some good results in important races, which saw him qualify for the World Championships in 2009. The season ended in April with overall improvements in his rankings for all disciplines including Super Combined.

His future ambitions include competing at the 2009 World Championships in Val d’Isere, France, and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Ultimately he would like to consistently score top ten results on the World Cup circuit, if he is able to do that he knows that anything can happen.

Pre season training this summer will include a lot of work on a road bike, the team recently completed the “Etape Caledonia” road race in Perthshire and will be returning to the Pyrenees to train over the route of the “Tour de France” in June.

Many hours in the gym are also part of the intense training schedule Jan works to during the summer, this year the team will return to Chile in late August for a month training and racing prior to the start of the European season in late November.

Interests
Playing golf, spending time with friends and sleeping!

Favourite music
Nothing specific (different music for different times)

Favourite food
Mum’s home cooking especially mince and tatties

Favourite thing about ski racing
The feeling you get when you do well in a race

Dislikes
Having bad days training or racing.