Hall has earned his place in sun

Adam Hall
Adam Hall
Para alpine skier Adam Hall is baking under the Central Otago sun for the first time in 15 years.

One of the downsides of winter sport is you can end up stringing a few winters together. For the 31-year-old that number is about 30.

That is 30 winters in a row. Zero summers. Imagine that.

''It is not as bad as what I initially thought it would be like,'' Hall said.

''It hasn't been too brutal. But sometimes you get a pretty hot day and have trouble trying to sleep at night and that sort of thing.''

The only ice he has seen recently was flavoured and on a stick. It is all a bit strange.

Hall arrived home in Wanaka just before Christmas, having completed an incredible year. He claimed gold in the slalom and bronze in the super combined at the Winter Paralympics in PyeongChang.

He was also named as a co-recipient of the 2018 Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award.

He was the first New Zealander to receive the award, which has been presented to the female and male athlete who ''best exemplify the spirit of the Games and inspire and excite the world'' since 1988.

It was quite some honour and they kept coming. He was named Otago Sportsman of the year in May, Snow Sport New Zealand athlete of the year in October and was recently nominated for the Halberg Awards.

He wrapped up his 2018 competition season with a silver medal in the slalom at the World Para Alpine Skiing Europa Cup in St Moritz, Switzerland.

''It is pretty hard to pick one out,'' Hall said.

''To be able to reclaim a gold medal after an eight-year gap was pretty remarkable and something which is pretty rare in the history of the sport.

''There has not been many people who have done that, so that was a pretty big accomplishment. But also the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award and that recognition as well was pretty spectacular.''

Hall won gold in the slalom at the 2010 Games, so he is a double gold medallist in the event.

After a year like Hall has had he certainly deserves to stretch out in the sun for a spell. Not that there will be too much relaxing, though. There is too much to do.

Hall and his wife, Elitsa, are expecting their first baby in February.

''Right now the focus is on bringing a wee one into the world and seeing how that all goes.''

Next season's schedule is not out yet, but Hall is in the gym most days building his strength and has no immediate plans to retire.

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