30 Seconds in Les2Alpes
Hey – here’s a little 30 second edit from one day of filming over my summer in Les2Alpes
Mike
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Around in Circles – Tom Coe
Earlier this year I was lucky enough to be invited on a road trip to help out my mate Tom Coe by hitting up some urban features in Finland for his university film.
The result speaks for itself – grab yourself a comfy seat and enjoy!
https://vimeo.com/98127858
English Slopestyle Champion!!
Last week I headed up north, to Manchester, to compete in the English Champs. After registering we got the opportunity to head out onto the slope, scope out the course and get a few chilled practice runs in. The course was a lot more creative than set-ups here have been in the past, with multiple lines and potential for a lot of creativity, everyone was loving it. This was then followed by a verylong wait while the snowboarders did their qualification runs.
When the time eventually came round I put down two solid runs with some of my better tricks in them and managed to qualify first for finals for the under 18’s.
Finals was the same format as qualifications, two runs, best score counts. I flaked out a little on my first run but managed to put down a solid second run which I was very happy with.
© Brandon Griffiths
I managed to walk away with a 1st for Under 18’s Male Ski and a 1st Overall! I was over the moon with this result and becoming the English slopestyle champion. My mood was then lifted even further when I looked on the score sheet and found out that one of the three judges had given my run a perfect 100 out of 100!!!
I am so happy with these results and I can’t wait for summer to start!
The Snow Centre
I am delighted to announce that I am officially being supported by The Snow Centre this season.
I’m really looking forward to riding Mt. Hemel every Friday night as it has some of the best set ups and vibes out of all of the slopes in the UK.
Hope to see you all up there!
3 Weeks Away
Recently I headed off with team GB to compete in a few comps and also to get some training in.
The first comp we headed to was the European Open. Held in Laax, it was the first time the previously annual competition had taken place in 2 years! I was so happy to be there. In practice, because of the course having extremely flat landings, everyone was in a bad mindset having not landed a single trick! But, the next day, after a course reshape…it was perfect! Unfortunately I only got one run down as on my second run I went way too big on the first jump and crashed out! I ended up 9th in my heat, qualifying for the semi finals the next day (although we didn’t know that at the time!)
After a seemingly endless train journey through little Italian towns and being interrogated by the police for 15 minutes we arrived in Valmalenco, Italy, for Junior World Championships.
The course was a lot more mellow compared to a lot of the other contests I have been to. With two jumps and three rail sections it suited the way I ski very well. After two full days of practice plus some perfect weather I felt really confident and comfortable with the course and my run. I managed to get 2 solid runs down that I was really pleased with and came 6th place in my heat! Huge well done to Katie Summerhayes for getting 1st and Cal Sandieson for making finals!
After the Junior worlds we all got some quality training time in Mayrhofen setting up for new tricks!
All in all, it was a brilliant 3 weeks and thanks to Pat and the team and all of my sponsors for their support!
Quick Update on the Last Month!
Urban Trip
It’s been a hectic month or so! In February I headed out to Finland for a spot of urban. With a sick crew and a rented 5-man RV, we spent just over a week shooting and logging shots for Tom Coe’s Uni project/longer cut movie. We had plenty of sites lined up in Helsinki but unfortunately, it was lacking one thing – snow!! So we set off in search of features in Finland but also covered Sweden and as far north as Lapland.
We hit some sick but potentially dangerous features and a good time was had by all despite Webbo dislocating his knee doing possibly the raddest attempt at a trick on an urban feature that I’ve ever witnessed and the fact 9 of us were sleeping in a 5 person RV!
SFR Vars Stop
Just three days after getting back I headed off again. This time to Vars for the SFR slopestyle comp! The course, as always, was incredible … and big! Unfortunately, I didn’t have the best of days and only managed to get 10th in my heat! Overall I came 34th out of 78 riders so it was still a good result for me. Overall, I had a brilliant week skiing with friends and getting some tricks down!
Early tomorrow, I’m heading off again for the European Cup in Switzerland, the Junior World Cup in Italy and finally, a couple of weeks’ training in Austria – Watch out for updates!
First Competition Of The Season
Val Thorens
After spending a few weeks over New Year in Austria, the first competition of the season was coming up. The SFR stop in Val Thorens – France. I was really looking forward to this comp as I had gone the year before and really enjoyed myself!
We headed for VT a few days early, hoping to get a few days of practice on the course like last year. However, when we got there we were greeted by bad weather and an empty snow park – the course wasn’t even built. Luckily, Val Thorens are neighbours with Meribel; so despite the bad weather we rode there in the following days to get our ski legs back.
The night before practice day a meeting was called where it was announced that because of the weather, the qualifiers would be held on the day originally intended for practice. We would only have four practice runs and I was to be in heat one which started at 8:30 in the morning and I would be second to drop in my heat. So all round I was not feeling extremely confident.
The next day rolled around and I lazily got out of bed to go skiing at stupid o’clock in the morning and to my surprise, despite the bad weather over the previous days, it was blue bird and it made me more confident to ski.
We got to the park and the shapers had done a fantastic job of building the course; only finishing it at 23:30 the night before. Everything was perfect apart from the last big kicker which was just too whippy. The course shapers tried to cut it down to make it a bit more mellow but it was still too violent giving everyone problems in the first heat.
I got two solid runs down and I was happy with both apart from not being able to perform my intended trick on the final kicker due to it being too dangerous. I placed 26th overall out of 75 adults which was a giant improvement on last year. Unfortunately I missed out on qualification for finals by 6 places but I was happy with how I rode!
I also made loads of new friends, including my K2 team mates from The Netherlands.
I want to give a huge shout out to ALPOHOLICS CHALETS. Without their support I would not have been able to pay my Competition Travel Insurance. Check them out if you are thinking of heading to La Plagne their chalets are awesome!
All in all it was a rad week and I am looking forward to my next SFR comp.
2014 – Austria New Year
I spent 6 days skiing with some of my closest friends over the new year in Austria. I had a brilliant time and managed to get some decent tricks down, plus a few new ones. I hope you like outcome!
London Freeze – Battle of Britain Winner!!!
Saturday I rode at the London Freeze Festival. I had to wake up at a not so reasonable time to get a train from my home in Kent to Clapham, London. When I arrived I got the chance catch up with friends and have a walk around the site before the public were allowed in which was cool.
After riding the setup in practice and getting some tricks down I knew it was going to be a good day. Everyone was riding extremely well and they were all in really happy, positive moods.
After a short relax and some food, the Battle of Britain got underway. The format for all of the competition stages were pretty tight with a 20 minute qualification and then a 20 minute final. This was exhausting. The level of riding was unreal. Everyone in the battle of Britain was riding to the standard of some of the international guys which just goes to show how although Britain don’t have mountains or snow we can keep up with the athletes from countries that do.
In the battle of Britain I managed to bag myself the first place and qualification through to the international competition alongside Josh Birch (2nd), Jamie Lawson (3rd) and Andy Collin (4th.) Josh was extremely consistent throughout the competition, landing big and bold tricks like his big transfer from the kicker to the Sure Deodorant Can feature. Jamie also killed it with his iconic nose butter two on pretzel two off.
I also want to give a special mention to Sam Brennan for doing my favourite trick of the day, fastplant 270 on switch out. Props!
As well as qualifying through to the international competition I also won one of the five ‘Sure’ best trick prizes. Which bagged me £100.
After the Battle of Britain we had a long wait until the start of the International competition. Most of this time was spent eating, trying to sleep and getting to chat with some of the international riders.
The International competition started in front of a massive crowd and the atmosphere was buzzing. The fact that I was competing against some of my idols in skiing was unreal. I have looked up to the likes of Sig Tviet, Kim Boberg, Juho Kilkki and LJ Strenio over the past years – admiring their style, love of life and riding, so to be competing against them felt absolutely mad!
During the qualification round in the International competition the standard of riding was crazily high! I didn’t expect to do very well against the huge line up of skiers so I put down the best tricks possible and hoped for the best. I then won another £100 for the Sure best trick award which made me feel even happier with how I was skiing.
I was totally stoked following that to find out that I had made the final 7 in the international competition, I was the only Brit through and the pressure was on!
In the final everyone killed it. Juho with a mad 540 switch up on the close out rail to Sure can feature and LJ sending a disaster 450 on to the kink. Not to forget Sammy Ortlieb, he was easily the most creative out there, especially when he used the scaffolding along the side of the set up as a feature.
Towards the end of a really intense final I went back up to the top to have one last run. While recovering from running up the stairs, James Webb (who was on the Mic and did a brilliant job of MC’ing) shouted “Come on Mikey lets see a trick!” and then got the entire audience to chant my name before I dropped in. With everyone yelling “Mikey! Mikey!” I decided to try the trick I had been attempting for a couple of runs earlier with no luck. But, I guess with the pressure of the huge crowd watching it helped me to land the blind swap front swap pretzel 270 out. Being the only Brit left in the final, the whole crowd erupted and I can easily say it was one of the best feelings I have ever experienced.
I am over the moon with the final result of coming 4th overall. Congratulations to Juho for 1st, LJ for 2nd and Sammy for 3rd.
Thanks to all my sponsors for their continued support and to everyone who supported me at The Freeze with words of encouragement or loud cheers!
K2 Skis, Fulltilt, Planks, Bawbags, Orage, Adidas Eyewear, Ski Bartlett, Waterbird and Alpoholics you are all amazing!
Today, it was back to school and down to Earth with a bump as a 15 year old studying for his GCSEs – wish me luck!!
Shoreditch Showdown
I was stoked to get an invite to the O’Neill Shoreditch Showdown. It was an amazing event – I made it through to the finals and eventually finished 4th overall. Well done to Tyler, Ross and George!!
Love the photo taken by Kyle Meyr – awesome!
Half Way Home – Unity Productions Video Drop
Stoked to feature heavily in Half Way Home – an all British ski film production. After a lot of filming and many trips both home and abroad, Unity Productions have released their 2013 season edit. Check it out below.
SequenceFreeski Magazine Article
I had an amazing time riding with Rob and the crew last season – you can read all about it in their latest edition of Sequence Freeski Magazine
Traveling Circus UK tour!
Ever since I started skiing, I have been watching the Line Traveling circus episodes on the Internet. I’ve always loved the tricks they perform and how creative they are. They are so different to most people in the sport. So, When I got an invite to go and ski, travel and stay with them on their UK tour I was over the moon – Will and Andy have been two of my idols since I was about 9.
I had an amazing time traveling and skiing with the guys all over the country – riding indoor parks and backyard setups. We rode at Castleford, Hemel, Tamworth and Milton Keynes. We even took a trip to check out Stonehenge!
They are a fantastic group of riders and I am stoked to have had the chance to spend so much time with them – definitely another of my sporting goals achieved!
Check out some of the photos below
Alpoholics Awesome New Sponsor
I’ve had a brilliant week in Les 2 Alpes competing in the Kumi Yama and catching up with old ski mates. The snow so far has been unbelievable. Best of all, I caught up with Charlie from Alpoholics Alpine Chalets. He runs an exclusive chalet in La Plagne and has kindly offered to look after both me and my sister whenever we visit La Plagne as well as helping us out with our travel budget.
Thanks Charlie for your support, can’t wait to visit you in La Plagne!
Crazy Couple of Weeks – Japan & The Brits
Japan
The last month or so of my competitive season have involved a lot of travelling and competing.
A few weeks ago I took a gruelling twelve hour flight to Japan to compete in the Asia Open. I was so happy when I got the invite to travel out and compete. During my stay in the Japanese mountains I got to experience a lot of the Japanese culture. I ate some very strange food and took public baths. I also got to hang out with some of the coolest Korean guys. I skied on only a couple of days but for those few days leading up to the competition we had perfect bluebird weather. Unfortunately, come competition day high winds rolled in and every competitor only got one qualifying run. Luckily, my qualifying run set me up in fourth place overall. The weather didn’t improve and the finals ended up being cancelled so the podiums were decided on the first run score. I was stoked to make the journey and to come so close to a podium position.
A huge thank you to Dean Kistler for inviting me to compete and for looking after me while I was out there in Japan! And thanks to Kent County Playing Fields Association for helping to fund my trip!
The Brits – Tignes
After a week back in school I headed away again. This time for the Brits in Tignes. The Brits are usually held in Laax so this was a big change for the event organisers and the competitors. I think everyone handled this really well but a few things like lapping the halfpipe during practice on a 20 minute long lift and the small size of the jumps could have been improved.
Bangers and Cash
The first competition of the week was the first EVER ‘Bangers & Cash’ rail jam. The course was banging.
You had two chances to qualify for the finals as the qualification rounds were held on 2 different rail zones. After an exhausting 1 hour jam hiking and hitting rails I was so happy to find out I had qualified 1st in to the finals with a front 360 switch up 270 out on the down flat down. I was even happier when I found out that after the second qualification round on zone 2 my 1st place overall qualification still stood.
All 8 riders slayed it in the final with everyone stepping up their game. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to hold my first place but ended up with second overall! Well done to Chris McCormick for his first place and £1,000 cash prize!
SkierCross
After ‘Bangers & Cash’ came skiercross. I came first in my category last year so I had to prove myself. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to hold on to the title and came third in the Youth Mens to the excellent racing Fennely brothers in second and first.
Slopestyle
Wednesday was Slopestyle and the weather for my favourite event couldn’t have been better. Perfect blue skies, no clouds anywhere and low to no wind. After my two qualification runs I wasn’t too happy. I didn’t think I was going to qualify for finals. But as it turned out I actually qualified in third! My first run in the final went better than all of my earlier runs of the day. The second however wasn’t too great.
At prize giving I was awarded Gold in Youth Mens and and was absolutely stoked to get on the overall mens’ podium in second place overall! Congratulations to my Planks team mate Julian Ball for his overall first and to Tom Coe for his third position!
Halfpipe
The weather the following day for pipe was not so good. Heavy snow and poor visibility. But everyone pushed through it and managed to get two qualification runs in! I was so stoked to find out I had qualified for finals as pipe isn’t one of my greatest strengths and I have little opportunity to practice this discipline. The finals got called off because of the bad weather. Unfortunately I just missed out on a podium in Youth Men and ended up in fourth.
Big Air invitational
This year big air had been scrapped this year and was replaced by an invitational big air Britain Vs France. I was overjoyed when I found out I was invited. I had tons of fun showing off to the crowd and beating the Frenchies 
!!
A massive thanks to all of my sponsors for supporting me and helping me to continue to add to my medals collection!
Vars SFR Tour Stop
I’ve had an awesome time in Vars.
This was my second SFR comp this season and I was keen to improve on my results from the first one.
The course was amazing with huge kickers and decent rails. Practice day went well and I was really looking forward to the competition.
Today was comp day – we had to be up the hill pretty early for practice but the course was looking great.
I was really pleased with both of my actual comp runs and managed to get some new tricks into them too.
I was in the adult category with 104 registered riders and there was some pretty serious competition so although I didn’t make it to the final, I was pretty stoked with my 38th placing overall.
Next stop is the Austrian Open!
A Massive Thanks
A massive thanks to the KCPFA and the Ivy Hawkes Bursary Award for contributing towards the cost of my GB youth training week in March. I am really looking forward to getting some expert coaching
Your support is greatly appreciated
Val Thorens SFR Tour Stop
Last week I headed out to Val Thorens, France to compete in my first international competition. We had three fantastic skiing days with bluebird conditions and a perfect park. In the last couple of days there was loads of snow so I got a few days skiing powder on my awesome K2 Pettitors – the best powder ski I have ever ridden.
The competition was split into three heats and I managed to get 14th out of 28 in my heat. This placed me 44th overall out of 100. I didn’t quite manage to lay down the run I wanted but I am still happy with this result because it was my first competition in the overall mens category against some major competitors!
The Bracknell Jam
At the weekend we headed down to Bracknell for the Bracknell Jam!
It was pouring with rain the whole time we were there!
The competition was really relaxed and mellow! There was a really fun, friendly vibe and everyone threw down!
At the end of the night after a really good session I was really happy to get 1st place under 16’s!
Well done to everyone who competed and got a prize!!
Air Attack 2.0
Yesterday I headed up to Snowtrax for the second edition of Air Attack!
The comp had a really relaxed, fun vibe and the setup was really good! I love the Proslope surface it is great to ski on.
I skied well and ended up winning 1st place under 16’s!
Thanks to the guys at Snowtrax for a really good competition and for some amazing commentary from Dazza!!!
Westbeach In and Out at Milton Keynes
Yesterday I headed up to Milton Keynes for the “in” part of the Westbeach in and out competition. Unfortunately on the day of the competition I injured my leg playing rugby and it was very swollen and bruised.
When I got up to the slope I started to get ready but my swollen leg wouldn’t fit into my boot so while everyone was out on the slope for the warm up I was sitting with my leg elevated, getting some ice to it trying to reduce the swelling. Eventually, I was able to ski just in time for the qualifiers. For the first 5 or 6 runs I was just trying to get used to skiing with the bad leg. After that the pain-killers set in and I was able to ski ok although it still hurt whenever I landed!
I was pleased to get into the super finals where I laid down 2 good, solid runs. When prize giving came I had bagged myself a 1st place in the under 16’s category. Well done to Monty for 2nd and Lewis for 3rd.
Respect to Chris Wadsworth for getting best trick, 1st in his category and 1st over all! Also a huge thanks to MK and Sue Garlick from Westbeach for a sick competition!
The British indoor Champs and The Wham Bam Thank you Jam
Last weekend I headed up to Castleford to compete in the British Indoor Champs and the Wham bam thank you jam!
The first half of the Competition was 2 individual judged runs, both of my runs went well and almost how I planned!
The second half was a completely different format than usual. Everybody got put on the slope for the competition. It consisted of a 1 hour long jam. The Entire field got cut in half and the people who didn’t make the cut got sent off! We then had a 20 minute jam session on the first set of features. At the end of this the field got cut in half again. This continued the whole way down the setup until there were only 4 riders sessioning the bottom features. I was lucky enough to be one of them along with Andy Collins, Chris Wadsworth and Monty Wright.
When Prize giving came around to my surprise I was presented with 1st Youth men. Unfortunately I didn’t make the overall podium for the Wham Bam Thank You Jam but I am more than happy with coming 4th overall out of 42 riders!
Summer Heat Rail Battle
The Unity Summer heat rail battle went off last weekend. This year it was held at Milton Keynes rather than Castleford. Now they have introduced a new format which keeps the competition flowing and running smoothly, riders from each category get sent out onto the slope in separate heats. The top riders in each category then go into the overall final where people get knocked out every couple of minutes until the best riders are left.
In my heat everyone skied really well! Tricks were going down from the very first run. Everyone was taking some decent slams going for some of the bigger tricks!
This year I was lucky enough to get into the final and not get knocked out!
When prize giving came around I found out I had come 1st in the Amateurs category and won myself a bag of swag full to the brim with sick prizes.
Thank you to Unity, Milton Keynes, and all of the sponsors of the competition for a well run and fun event! You can check out the full report from Unity here.
I also came 3rd the weekend before in big air at the farmers jam in big air so it’s been another great couple of weeks!
Les 2 Alpes and Gap Nation
I’ve just spent a fantastic summer in the amazing park of 2 Alpes, France learning some new tricks. I won a couple of competitions including the brilliant Kumi Yama.
I was back in the UK in time for Gap Nation at The Snow Centre, Hemel. The layout was really good for an indoor slope. The Kicker was a decent size and the rail setup was really creative. It was really good to see everyone after 8 weeks abroad and it was even better to get some riding in with them!
I was more than happy to walk away with a 1st under 16’s!
Summer Edit – Les 2 Alpes
Check out my edit from my time over in Les 2 Alpes this summer.
I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks as always to all of my sponsors.
Victory at Kumi Yama! Les 2 Alpes 2012!
This summer I am doing a season in Les 2 Alpes! I was lucky enough to get here in time for the 5th annual Kumi Yama Competition!
The theme for this year was ‘Super Mario Brothers’ and the course was covered in Mario props like coins, giant flowers and mushrooms!The set up was amazing and really inventive with a really impressive layout as usual from the awesome park shapers from L2A!
Me and my team mate Alex Hall competed in the amateurs’ competition on the Friday but unfortunately my ski came off in mid-air during a cork 9, even though I landed it it didn’t count as I couldn’t finish my run!
On Sunday, Alex and I also competed in the Kumi-Kids event as team “Banana” and were totally stoked to make it into the final. We laid down a couple of great runs on the rails and were amazed to be announced as the overall winners! We both skied away with the title and a brand new pair of APO powder skis!
The Kumi Yama week was a totally awesome event – it was brilliantly organised and we made a whole bunch of new ski/snowboard buddies from all over the world including people from America (Dean – the Master of Kumi Yami), Estonia (Kelly and Henry Sildaru), Switzerland (Alex Hall), Japan and a few other countries too!
Thanks to the fantastic competition that L2A have put on I have also met my number 1 idol Sammy Carlson and I’m also skiing with him up on the glacier every day this week!
My life is officially complete!
We Still Ride for Japan!!!
Waterbird are now on Facebook!
Wow! My first sponsors Waterbird now have their very own Facebook page – check them out here – Waterbird
These guys are awesome!
Bracknell Jam – 1st Place
On Saturday I went to Bracknell for the Southern Freestyle Jam! The slope has only recently been re-matted so within the first hour of the jam there were already loads of people scratching their faces up on the perm-snow and sliding over and hurting themselves but despite this everyone still threw down.
The day was extremely hot and stuffy! If it wasn’t for the southern freestyle crew keeping the slope watered and slippy the competition wouldn’t have been a success!
I skied well in the jam throwing down some Tyrants, super feds, super chris browns and Shifty 5’s!
I made it into the finals and threw down 2 very decent runs!
At prize giving I was awarded 1st In Under 16’s along with a brand new O’neil Jacket, a hat and some BUTTA wax!
Well done to everyone who got a podium.
Thanks to all the organisers and competitors for making it a successful day!
Check out the edit for the Bracknell jam-edited and filmed by Max Presky
Come on England!!!!!
I am now officially in the England B Squad for halfpipe and slopestyle! I’m extremely happy and honoured to have been selected and I can’t wait to work with the coaches to help me to progress to the next level in skiing!
1st Place at Scottish Indoor Freestyle Championships
Recently I travelled up to Glasgow in Scotland to compete in the Scottish Indoor Freestyle Championships. The set up was amazing and the slope was groomed to perfection! We only had 2 runs to make an impression and I threw down a run which I am very proud of!
At prize giving I received a bag of goodies and a gold medal as I had come 1st in youth men’s!
The following day I found out that I had also come 1st overall!
A great end to my weekend! 
Big thanks to Jeff Menday and Liz Cordingley for getting me all the way to Scotland
SNO!down
Yesterday we made the long journey to Castleford for the 3rd annual SNO!down. The SNO!down is always a relaxed comp which means that everyone is in their comfort zone for most of the time!
The set up this year was sick and everyone was throwing down in the jam! The team event was so much fun as usual! People were coming up with the craziest ideas like jumping over people, skiing with their sleeves tied together and with their jumpers on backwards!
At prize giving I got awarded 1st place in the under 16’s category! I was completely stoked!
Congratulations to my team mate Sam Gaskin on getting 2nd place in the under 12’s
Can’t wait for next year!
SnowTrax Jam – 1st Place
We went to the SnoTrax slope in Christchurch for Air Attack! – their first ever competition on a new type of matting called pro-slope.
The Proslope is definitely a lot different to any other dryslope matting I have ever skied on. It’s a lot softer underfoot than perma snow and snoflex and the upside is that it doesn’t seem to burn out your bases. When you crash it doesn’t hurt which is definitely a bonus when your trying new tricks! It is also very good for getting up speed and just for general all round skiing as well as freestyle! The only downside is that there aren’t enough slopes in the country with this matting!!
The competition got off to a good start with a warm up session and then straight into the jam itself. It was a fun, relaxed competition and was a great start to the summer (in the rain!!!)
At the end of the day we had the presentation in the clubhouse and I was stoked to get 1st place and land some hard cash too!!
Thanks to Darren and the rest of the team for laying down a great competition! You can read the full write up here!
Virgin Active Sponsorship
I’m very happy to say that Virgin Active are now supporting me with free access to their amazing gym to help with my fitness and conditioning for skiing!
I can’t wait to work alongside their amazing trainers to help me improve my stamina and overall performance.
Medals at the Brits 2012!
Just got back from two pretty successful weeks in Laxx!
(click on a photo to see it in full!)
Week 1 – GB Youth Freeski Training
I headed out to Laxx a week before all the competitions started on a GB youth training camp to get some practice in on the features! Unfortunately on the first day I badly injured my back! but with alot of neurofen and some massaging from the TENS machine I was able to recover quickly and still got in a very good week of training! Our coaches were the brilliant Neil McGrain, Dave Young and Jamie Cameron! I learnt a few new tricks in the pipe and hit some of the biggest jumps I have ever done in my life with the help from these guys!
Week 2 – The British Championships
Day 1 – Halfpipe
We got up to the top of the hill and saw that on the day of the competition the pipe was wrecked! The walls had chunks taken out of them and they were covered in fresh snow. We spent a while side-slipping and shaping the walls to make as easy a ride as possible. Despite the pipe, everyone threw down in the qualifiers. I made the finals, finishing 10th overall and placing 3rd in youth mens!
Day 2 – Skiercross
This year the skiercross course was a lot more dangerous than last year. There were a lot of high speed jumps and sharp corners! The competition started the same way as usual…2 timed runs which then put us into heats but because there was only 6 in my category we went straight into the finals. I qualified for the final in 3rd along with two extremely fast racers and Ethan Prince. The racer who was favourite to win overshot the first jump, losing his skis and crashing out!
The second racer, Ethan and I had to dodge him and his equipment which was scattered everywhere to carry on! At the finish it was extremely close with the racer catching up with me but I just managed to cross the line in 1st place!
Day 3 – Slopestyle
Out of all of the disciplines, I was looking forward to slopestyle the most! I had been hitting the biggest jumps on the course all week but when it came to the practice runs in the competition I could only just get enough speed to clear the mediums! In Qualifiers I was extremly dissapointed with my performance and went off the watch the boarders compete in big air and ride the pipe for a bit. I was more than shocked when my dad came over to tell me I had got into the finals. I got back to the course just in time to get one warm up run before my final runs! I was worried to hear that during one of his runs Harris Booth had knuckled and injured himself.
During the finals I put down solid runs and later went to prize giving hoping for a place – I was stunned to hear that I actually got the Gold!! Later that night I found out that I got the highest rail score in the mens overall final and placed 4th overall narrowly missing out on an overall podium!
Day 4 – Big air
To be honest, I didnt really hit the big air kicker that much until the day of the competition because I didnt really like it but on the day, the more I hit it the more I loved it! My two qualifying runs went really well! I stomped a 3 tail grab and a cork 7 nose! I was stoked to make it into the finals but narrowly missed out on a podium in my category coming 4th!
Overall
A huge thanks to Neil Mcgrain, Dave young and Jamie Cameron for coaching and looking after me, a massive thanks to Becky Hammond for cooking all our meals during the first week!
Thanks to all of my sponsors for supplying me with my gear and helping me to be out there! A special thanks to the Gaskin family for coming to the rescue with new poles at such short notice after I snapped both of my old ones!
Finally, thanks to Stuart and Spencer for putting on such a fantastic week, and congratulations to all of the other medalists!!!
Krippenstein – Awesome Week
In February I spent a fantastic week in Austria learning how to ski back-country.
Heading out to Krippenstein was an adventure. It was the first time travelling on my own and only the second time I can remember travelling on a plane in my life.
The second we got to the small resort it was already snowing and there was plenty of snow everywhere. We were staying in a lodge at the very top of the mountain complete with 10 huskies and loads of ski-dos.
We had a piste basher build us a kicker and spent the week riding the jump and cruising the powder on some absolutely awesome K2 Powder skis!
Our guide Andi, knew every route in detail and he took us to areas where no one else had skied and we were creating the first tracks in the snow. We hit plenty of pillows, cliffs and steep faces.
Andi looked after us brilliantly all week – can’t thank him enough.
All in all it was a fantastic week and I can’t wait for my next adventure!
