Spent some time over the New Year in L2A – the weather wasn’t great, way too much snow and bad visibility days but I still had a great time skiing with David Bilsland and managed to pull a bit of footage together for a short edit.
I hope you enjoy it!
Had an awesome time at Norfolk Ski Slope on Saturday – skiing in a 4 hour grom camp and learning a few new tricks.
At the end of it I was stoked to be selected along with my fellow team mate Monty to compete in the London Ride at Earls Court next week. We will be competing on the Saturday so make sure you come along to cheer us on!
Had a great time skiing in L2A over the summer – had a few camera issues and also lack of a camera crew to follow me but here’s a short edit from the few video sessions I had.
I hope you like it!!
Earlier this year I spent a few days being coached by Dave Young. Check out these great instructional videos he filmed for Fall Line magazine – featuring me!
[ultimate_free 1 /]
Big thanks to Dave for pulling these together.
Hey – here’s my entry for this year’s BSG comp – Hope you like it
A couple of weeks ago my Dad’s friend Dean took some photos of me while we were at the Bracknell Jam – what do you think of them?
Woop woop!!! I’m on the Bawbags team – check out the goodies they sent me a couple of weeks ago!
http://www.mjski.com/SponsorsBawbags.html
The past month has been amazing! I have been skiing at my best in a while and to my luck this month there has been three comps – the first and second legs of the Southern Freestyle Series and the Oakley Grom Games!
The first of the month saw the first leg of the Southern Series, which was being held at Swadlincote dry slope. The competition was great with a fairly good atmosphere. Everyone was throwing it down, especially Tom Coe and Kiki Patel with his wizard tricks…
At the end of the day I walked away with the 1st under 14’s male title.
Next up was the Oakley Grom Games which, the same as the year before was being held at the Chill Factore. When my family and I got there we signed in and then went off to catch up with people we hadn’t seen in a while. When I finally got out on to the slope I saw how sick the setup was. After skiing for a while I started to get the feel for the flow of the course and from the way everyone one had skied during the jam I didn’t think I was going to get a podium at all (as my category was 12-17) but to my surprise I was called up for 2nd place!!
I then was even more amazed when I found out I was in the finals with James Machon, TJ Harding and Murray Buchan, who had all been skiing really well. It was a sudden death final and in the first round I was drawn against TJ Harding but because of my bad choice of line and his sickness I didn’t beat him. So I then competed against Murray (as he didn’t win against James Machon) to decide the 3rd and 4th places. I corrected my line and beat Murray for 3rd place overall with James Machon in 2nd and TJ Harding in 1st. Pat Sharples put on an amazing games it was totally awesome – can’t wait for next year!
The final comp of the month was the 2nd leg of the Southern Freestyle Series which was at my home slope Chatham. As soon as I got there the atmosphere was already fun and intense and everyone wanted to go up and ski as the setup was really good. Everyone skied really well throughout the day especially Tom Coe, Tom Saunders, Kiki Patel and Ollie Powell.
The finalists were then announced and I was one of them. After a short break, everyone put down their final runs… there was such a high standard. At the end of a fantastic day, it was time for prize giving – I was called up for 1st under 14’s and 2nd overall.
Now all that is left is the final comp at Bracknell. So let’s wait and see what happens.
Kent Sport have written a case study on my involvement with the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust!!
You can read all about it here:
http://www.kentsport.org/london2012/heroes_future_back_talent.asp
My case study is towards the bottom
I spent some time in the awesome snowpark in L2A over Easter – here’s the result:
Leave me a comment if you like it!!
The first of the summer comps kicked of in CasVegas last weekend.
The Jam was a 2 hour session, the set up was amazing with lots of awsome rails. As the Jam started, me and TJ Harding headed out to start warming up. After the first few runs I had really got used to most of the features, I was straight in doing K-feds, Super Feds and 450’s out. By the end of the night I had landed tons of sick tricks like nose tap 5’s and 630’s!
After the jam we had a quick break and then got back on the slope for a team event. The rules were that we had 4 runs in our teams to go mad and crazy. The whole event was about creativity. Our team captain Adam came up with some fun ideas and we put them into practice in our first 3 runs and on our 4th we put them all together. We had Liam lying upside down with his skis up in the air for us to tap or ski slide. Then we had Tim sitting behind the gas pipe with his poles in the air for us to jump through and finally, we had a guy grabbing our skis/boards and spinning us on the box!!!!!
At the presentation I was called out for second place in the 13-16 year old category, Josh Jenkins got third place and Tyler got first.
And yes, I was stoked!!!
Last week me, my Mum, my Dad and my sister got up at 4 o’clock in the morning to make a twelve hour journey to Laax in Switzerland for the Brits! On the way there we got lost a couple of times but one of the worst was when we got lost in the roadworks around Zurich. The Sat Nav just kept us going round in circles! Eventually we got there and we were ready to go!
(Click on the photos to get the full picture)
The first event of the week was the half pipe. We got up the mountain for half past nine. I got loads of practice runs. In my first competitive run I threw down some big air out of the pipe with solid, tweaked grabs. I tried to keep the style into it with a big 540 at the end! Unfortunately, I did not land my second run cleanly as I tried back to back 540’s and crashed on the last one…The pipe was running well and there was some stiff competition but I was pleased with my runs and I landed a silver medal!
On the second day, it was time for the slopestyle. The top part of the course was a awesome setup of boxes, rails and gas pipes. The bottom half were three booters! On my first run I landed the top part of the course with loads of technical moves on the boxes like K-feds, Blind switch ups and stalls! I came down to the booters and got a styley 360 with a nose grab but then on the second jump I overcooked it and nearly wiped out! On my second run I landed everything I wanted to! I walked away from the comp with a bronze medal!:)
Day 3 brought the skiercross. A day earlier, on the lift I had a chat with a boarder who was in the GB team for boarder cross. He said that the course was bad at the moment and bits of rock on grass were showing! On the day of the comp they still weren’t covered up which meant a really long wait for the comp to start! Finally it got underway, we only got one run and somehow I managed to miss a gate? Apparently loads of people missed it.
It was time for the final Brits event of the week – the Big Air! I had been hitting the big jump, getting styley threes off of it! So I did a huge, styley three with a nose grab off the big kicker for my first run. On my second and final run I did a 720 off of the middle kicker! I didn’t think I was going to win a medal as Tom Saunders really pulled it out of the bag with his run! In the end I think it all came down to the cleanness of the landings…it was a close one but I just managed to get the bronze medal!
I had a brilliant time competing in the Brits this year – as the youngest in my age category I really wasn’t expecting to land any medals, so to come away with three medals out of the four competitions was absolutely amazing!! I even won a light sabre for showing off my moves on the rails in the Stair Wars event!
I had tons of fun messing about and having fun at the freestyle academy.
I also want to say thank you to all of my sponsors for your support and gear (Adidas eyewear, Ski Bartlett, K2 Skis, Kent Reliance Building Society and Waterbird ) and a big up to Pat Sharples for giving me a few pointers throughout the week to help me achieve my goals!
Fantastic day at the Brits in Laax today – I was competing at the Youth Mens Half Pipe comp which is for under 16’s – I was the youngest person in my age category and ended up finishing in second place with a silver medal, placing 14th overall out of 28 male entries in total!!
Absolutely chuffed with my result and a brilliant way to kick of day 1!!!!!!!!!!
If you haven’t already seen it yet, here is the edit that Quiksilver put together for me from their UK final at Tamworth:
If you haven’t done so already – go to the following link and click on “Vote for this Rider”
http://quiksilverlive.com/radar11/rider.147.php
The prizes that I won for coming first in the Male under 16’s Westbeach Backard Jib video competition finally arrived this week!! Here’s a photo of me opening my prizes – they were awesome.
Thanks Westbeach!
You can check my winning video out on YouTube or watch it below:
Hi everyone,
Here’s that Christmas edit that I said I was putting together. you can also see it at my webpage under Vids, or on YouTube!
Enjoy!
When it starts click on the “240p” and change to “360p” to see best quality
I was in Les 2 Alpes for the new year. It was fantastic to be back on real snow – the park set up was awesome as usual and the pipe was absolutely amazing. It took me a few runs to get used to the proper stuff again but I was soon hitting the big kickers and the rails, laying down some sick tricks.
I met up with Jack Peppiette and the Smithy’s Tavern crew and we sessioned the kickers together. Jack pushed me to do my first 7 over the biggest kicker in the park – I stomped it, thanks Jack!!
My new K2 Silencers were riding amazingly, they are well good on snow.
The first day was a bit of a white out but my new Adidas ID2 goggles really helped me to see where I was going unlike my granddad who had to be rescued by Skidoo when he got motion sickness and started throwing up everywhere!
I had an awesome week and we got some great footage in the park – so watch this space for an edit coming soon!
We’ve had about 2 foot of snow in Walderslade in the past week – shame to waste it so I built myself a slopestyle course on the front drive! I had a bit of a problem getting speed up as there is a definite lack of mountains in our close but I solved that one by using the garden slide.
I managed to lay down a few steezy runs – check out my video here
Me and my sister Madi were lucky enough to be invited to spend a day with the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust at Canterbury University as part of the Backing Talent in Kent scheme being run for F.A.N.S. members.
Along with mum, dad and our freestyle ski coach Paul Webb, we learnt a heap of things about training, nutrition, dealing with the media, mental psychology and loads of other stuff.
We met lots of leading British athletes and our personal coach for the day was Tyrone Swaray.
It was a brilliant day!
The Morrow Jam at Hemel on Friday night was sick! The layout had loads of crazy obstacles including the “Rainbow of Death” which eventually died!
I had a wicked time meeting up with James from my sponsors Adidas Eyewear who brought along a heap of glasses for me to try out. I chose some sweet sunglasses and a wicked pair of reading glasses that are unbelievably light! Thanks James – I’ll be wearing them soon!
It took me a few runs to get the hang of my new K2 Silencers but I had a brilliant time hitting all crazy stuff on the slope.
It was a really fun and relaxed jam and everyone had plenty of time to show what they could do.
Results
At the presentation, I was stoked to find out that I had come 2nd in the junior category across both skiers and boarders.
You can check out the full results at Morrow Jam Results
Today I received a big parcel, full of tons of gear from Adidas Eyewear! I got two amazing pairs of ID2 goggles, along with loads of stickers, a pair of sick sunglasses, some Adidas pens and a tee shirt! 
I can’t wait to wear my sick gear next time I ski!
Thanks to Woodsy, Ben Ashlin and James Hendy for putting me on the Adidas team and for all the gear!!
I used to ride on kids K2 Juvy’s but at my last session in the Chill Factore I managed to destroy both skis! We got in touch with Chris from Ski Bartlett and he said he would talk to Si at K2. A couple of days later, a pair of 149 K2 Silencers (my first adult ski!) arrived in the post – they looked amazing.
On Sunday night the skiers of the southern freestyle squad were invited to do a display for the public at Bracknell which was followed by an amazing firework display!
My brand new skis felt a little heavy compared to my old skis but they rode sooooo smoothly – I absolutely fell in love with them and I am sure you will be seeing pleny of photos of me riding them on my blog in the near future!
I went to the London Freeze to watch the best skiers compete and while I was there I bumped into Ben from Adidas for the first time! We had a chat and got to know each other before inviting him and his wife Emma to have a drink with us.
Then we went over the brand and what I would and wouldn’t like and what I could do to promote Adidas!
Our conversation was cut short by the start of the Relentless Freeze, so we said our goodbyes and got on with the day :)
Me and my ski buddy Josh had an awesome day at the London Freeze on Sunday – we saw some amazing tricks and even met some of the stars. Here’s a pic of us with the the sickest skier of all – Bobby Brown… he was a really nice guy and even went out of his way to go and get some posters for us!
Big up to my Adidas team mate Woodsy who landed a sick double cork 12 – it wasn’t enough to get him into the finals but there’s always next year!
Ski Bartlett had a dealer spotlight interview in this month’s Fall-line Skiing magazine and they mentioned yours truly!! Read the article below:
Meeting with my Sponsors
I had a great day yesterday up at the Metro Ski Show. I met up with Chris from Ski Bartlett and Si from K2!
I passed Through the Ski Bartlett stand to say hi to Chris and I ended up getting two luminous ski straps and a giant Ski Bartlett tall-tee, I’m not sure if they wanted me to work for the day as the t-shirts were staff uniforms so I scooted off asap!
Later in the day I got to have a chat with Si, updating him on how my skiing had been going and discussing gear for the coming season! My K2 Juvys have done a good job for me so far this year so I’m super stoked to be part of the K2 team. Si gave me a sick bag of K2 goodies – thanks dude!
It was also great to catch up with Vince and Ally from Waterbird – thanks for your continuing support and believing in me.
Thanks Si and Chris:) for everything.
Had an amazing time at the Castleford Slopestyle this weekend – we travelled up early on Saturday and arrived in plenty of time for a sausage sandwich before hitting the slope for a practice.
In the jam session I got a good feel for the rides and was stoked to win a spot prize.
In the actual comp I was first to ride in my age category (12-16) – I laid down a solid first run, my second was better and turned out to be my best as my third run didn’t quite go to plan.
Results
There were a lot of great skiers in the comp, including all the local Castleford crew so I was amazed when my name was called out to take the bronze prize in the 12-16’s category – Woooooohoooo!!! Harris Booth claimed silver, and my ski buddy Tyler Jay Harding got the well deserved gold.
Just got back from a brilliant weekend in Norfolk where I had a fantastic time seeing all my ski mates while competing in the mini-Brits!
On the Saturday we arrived early enough to search out the local Sainsbury’s for a good breakfast to set us up for the day. When we got to the slope we were stoked to see a good turn out and a challenging set-up for the slopestyle.
we kicked off with a rail jam – I got to work straight away, getting the feel of the slope and tried out as many tricks as I could. At the end of the session Pat announced that I was the winner of the Jam for the Youth Mens section. I was stoked with that!
Slopestyle
After the rail jam we began the slopestyle competition where we got three runs each – my earlier practice during the jam session paid off and I laid down some steezy tricks with my best run including a K-fed on the top gas pipe followed by a switch-up, pretzel 270-off on the box rail and then finishing off on the down-up-down with a slide followed by a 450 off.
Slopestyle Results
At the end of the day we had the awards and I was announced as the winner of the Youth Mens Slopestyle which was fantastic for me as I was up against 14 of the top guys in the country. TJ Harding came a close second with my Southern freestyle squad team mate Tom Saunders coming third.
After the rest of the awards were announced they moved on to the overall positions for the day and when they called out the results I was stoked to hear that I had been placed 2nd overall in the mens Slopestyle across all age groups – 52 competitors including most of my heroes. Local legend Tom Coe secured the top spot with an awesome run while Chris Wadsworth came third.
Big Air
There was an entertaining quiz night where some of the adults took may be a little too much advantage of the local hospitality but the Chatham Chavs did well to finish second against some stiff opposition.
We got to the slope early on Sunday and started with a practice session for the Big Air. My best run in the comp was a cork 720 which Pat said I had put my own style to, but I very nearly landed a cork 9 in my final run.
When the results were announced I was mega-happy to find that I’d come 4th in my age category against 14 other competitors and 12th overall in a field of 45!! Super-stoked!
SkierCross
SkierCross was a total riot! I put down a respectable time of 16:56 seconds in the timed heats which put me 6th in the heats – not bad for a freestyler! I got through the quarter finals, despite having to run the race twice! I finally got knocked out in the semi-finals after a very tight battle that saw me cross the line holding three ski-poles – what a fight!!
Special thanks to my sponsors Waterbird for continuing to support me with my skiing and to Ski Bartlett and K2 for supplying my skis.
Had a brilliant time at the Farmers Jam at Norfolk Snow Centre over the August bank holiday weekend.
I came 4th overall in the Slopestyle against some of the biggest names in the country so was totally stoked with that. At the end of the prize giving I was also named as the best non-local skiier of the weekend which blew me away!
Thanks to Rick Hutchings for the photo.
Hey dudes… had a great time on the Air Bag at Chatham on Friday – check out the pics here:
http://www.mjski.com/Galleries/AirbagChatham/index.html
I want to give a Mega big-up to Chris McGuire, my ski bud from Ski Bartlett. I’ve skiied with Chris on a couple of ski camps and he’s helped me with useful tips and coaching whenever I’ve seen him since. When I met up with him recently at the Chatham and Warmwell Ski comps we got talking and as a result I’m proud to announce that I am now supported by Ski Bartlett and K2 and will be riding their gear this season!!!
I am totally stoked – This will help to make people take me seriously when they see me at comps in the future.
My ski buddy Sam Gaskin (son of Ally & Vince, my ski sponsors – Waterbird) just won a competition out of his whole year at school with a presentation on freestyle skiing that he gave – it included a video featuring some of his best tricks and also includes one or two shots of me…
You can watch the video on my private pages if you’re a mate at www.mjski.com (see the contact me page if you want to be a mate)
This weekend we went to the final event of the Southern Freestyle Jam Series at Warmwell in Dorset.
We arrived nice and early and got straight out onto the slope. Warmwell is amazing – a small but fun slope with built-in kickers in a fantastic surrounding and the park staff were all really friendly.
We had an hour to warm up – the built in kicker was really nice and the rails were totally smooth although the SnowFlex was running pretty slow in the heat.
The Comp
As soon as the comp started, I got straight to work stomping 7’s on the kicker – landing them every time. Hitting the street-rail was fun – getting 4’s off.
My skis were pretty sticky in the heat so lots of thanks to Chris and Sally at Ski-Bartlett for “lubeing” me up with a huge bottle of lube!!
We had a brilliant fun session with the skiers trying to land the longest airs, while the boarders had a high-ollie comp – man those guys can jump!
At the end of the comp I was stoked to hear my name called – making it into the final 6 against some of the big guns!
The Final
In the final, I put down two solid runs on the big kicker – landing two solid 7’s with a slight cork. I followed this with two runs down the rails – landing a 4 off on the first run, and narrowly missing a 6 on my second.
The Results
Then it was time to announce the results…
I was made-up to be announced as the winner of the day in the under-14’s category but was blown away to hear that I had also come second across all age categories for the day.
I still can’t believe I beat some of the the big boys!!!
Finally, I was announced as the overall winner of the under-14’s category for the entire series – winning a trophy, a camera and a host of goodies.
Well done to my ski buddies Tom Saunders and James Colclough for coming second and third in the series.
Oh – and my sister Madison also came first in the female under-14’s category on the day and for the entire series… we’ve got matching trophies on the mantle-piece at home now!
The only downer on the day was England’s performance in the World Cup – couldn’t even beat the Yanks!!
Big Up’s
Big up to John, Darren, Paul and Dave for organising such an awesome event… can’t wait for next year’s – I believe we’re going national!!!
Big up to Chris and Sally at Ski-Bartlett for the lube!
And finally, thanks to Vince and Ally for their continued support!
Cheers,
MJ.
You can spot me when we’re on the road a lot easier now… if you see me give us a toot!
I went to Castleford for the Summer Heat Rail Jam… I got there after a 3 hour car journey! I put my gear in a pile and went upstairs to the bar to see the setup. When I saw woodsy we said hello and my sister turned up with her Nintendo DSI playing on brain training :/ (Woodsy had a go he got a brain age of 51 … not very good )
Anyway the comp started with the warm up session where I got used to the setup and the rails. The actual jam got underway and I got some great advice from my mates. During the jam I got tons of sick 450 grab’s off of the rocket rail.
Unfortunately I didn’t get into the final :( but oh well there are other comps :)
Check out the video of my final run at the Brits 2010 in Laax Switzerland
http://www.mjski.com/Vids.html
