For someone who earns her corn from scuttling down sheer ice at high speed, the small diversion of a Superstorm barely raised an eyebrow.

In Lake Placid, where her World Bobsleigh Cup season will begin on Friday, Gillian Cooke is more intent on blowing away the competition that awaits her and her driver Paula Walker over the coming months as the pair traverse the globe.

It is a crucial campaign, admits the Edinburgh-born brakewoman who was world champion in 2009. "Everyone was very aware when we went though selection this year that it was the last one before the Olympic teams get picked," Cooke says. "That makes things a bit more intense and brings a bit more pressure."

Her burgeoning partnership with Walker has propelled both into Great Britain's No 1 sled and on their shoulders are placed the greatest hopes of a medal at Sochi 2014. Cooke, in tandem with previous partner Nicola Minichello, went to Vancouver two years ago with high expectations but came up short. A spell attempting to make it as a pilot brought only moderate success. It was no shame when team chiefs asked her to resume her former role.

Now it is Walker, from Blackburn, who is at the tiller. It has taken time, says the Scot, to establish the trust required to operate as one.

"Last year, we were a new team. We only had five races together, so we've spent a lot of time getting the timing right, working on our starts and getting to know each other better. I have to put a lot of trust in her, especially on the difficult tracks. It's a real team effort and then you have the second brakewoman, the coaching staff, physios, everyone."

Results in their practices have been promising. Cooke believes her experience is an asset and being a past champion also gains respect. "Even though people look at the drivers first, on the circuit there is an unofficial ranking of the brakewomen as well," she says.

It is just 15 months until Cooke hopes to be standing at the top of the run in southern Russia where their Olympic fate will be decided. She once had an alternative path to gold of course, as an athlete. It would have been nice to have done London, she says, but it has still provided inspiration.

"We've had Sochi in our diary for a while but when you watched all the hype that surrounded Team GB, that's now spilling over on to us," Cooke says. "That's exciting."