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2008 Quiksilver British Big Air Championships and Schools Programme

The British Snow Tour hit Milton Keynes over the weekend, Saturday 27th September, to host the Quiksilver British Big Air Championships. The huge 10m kicker set the stage as over 120 of the UK’s top Snowboarders and Freeskiers threw down an impressive bag of tricks including stylish 7’s, frontfilps and textbook 9’s. The Schools Tour Team also proved to be a big hit with over 100 enthusiastic kids taking part in the FREE beginner lessons, courtesy of the Quiksilver Lesson Academies.

Quiksilver Snowboard Big Air Championships
The 2-STAR TTR Quiksilver Snowboard Big Air Championships kicked off the day’s competition with over 70 riders taking to the slope each receiving two qualifying jumps to impress the judges and make it through to the top eight men and five women finals. Youngsters, Tom Hunt, Ollie Jackson and Mel Kern were pushing up through the ranks, securing places into the final, keeping the older competitors on their toes.

In the women’s final, Mel Kern continued to be on top form and landed a smooth 360 over the medium kicker to take home third place overall. Second place went to Lynsey Ashdown who stomped a stylish Indy over the big 10m kicker and Samantha Rogers, much to the delight of the crowd and judges, pulled out a huge and gutsy frontflip over the big kicker to take the 2008 Women’s Quiksilver Big Air Title. During the men’s final, riders were opting for a slingshot drop in for optimum speed and amplitude resulting in some of the biggest indoor airs ever witnessed. 2007 British Slopestyle Champion, Ryan Davis, threw down some of the most stylish tricks of the day, tweaking out a frontside 720 which oozed style, to take third place. Ben Knox finished in second place after he stomped a massive backside 720, almost reaching the rafters, and with a perfectly landed textbook 900, Jamie Nicholls walked away with first place and the 2008 Quiksilver Big Air Title, continuing to secure his spot as one of the UK’s top riders.

Quiksilver Snowboard Big Air Results
Women
1st – Samantha Rogers - Reading
2nd – Lynsey Ashdown – Manchester
3rd – Melinda Kern – East Grinstead

Men
1st – Jamie Nicholls – Bradford
2nd – Ben Knox – Crouch End
3rd – Ryan Davis - High Wycombe


Quiksilver Freeski Big Air Championships
The afternoon made way for over 50 of the UK’s finest freeskiers who charged the kickers with style and amplitude in the hope of making it through to the finals. The younger competitors including the three Josh’s, Josh Birch, Josh Ingram and Josh Fawcett, all made it through to the top eight men’s final after laying down some impressive switch 540’s and 720’s. In the Women’s final, 11 year old Molly Summerhayes and local ripper, Amber Connors made it through to the final and just missed out on a podium finish. Kelly O’Donnell landed a clean 540 to take third place whilst Teri Spencer’s lofty 360 over the big kicker secured her second place. First place and the 2008 Quiksilver Big Air Title went to Katie Summerhayes, who was killing it all day and landed a huge 720 over the 10m kicker.

In the men’s competition, with three James’s and three Josh’s making it through to the finals the judges job was made even tougher with only points separating the top five skiers. Local MK big hitter, Ted Foster finished in third place after he threw down a technical switch corked 720 double truenose. James Webb landed a switch 900 to take second place, whilst first place and the 2008 Quiksilver Big Air Title went to a well deserved James Woods, who’d been skiing hard and going big all day, landing a massive switch 720.

Quiksilver Freeski Big Air Results
Women
1st – Katie Summerhayes - Sheffield
2nd – Teri Spencer - Weymouth
3rd – Kelly O’Donnell - Stoke-on-Trent

Men
1st – James Woods - Sheffield
2nd – James Webb - Bracknell
3rd – Ted Foster – Milton Keynes

To check out the pictures and video footage from the Quiksilver Big Air Championships, where you’ll also be able to get timings for the next event on the British Snow Tour calendar, the Trespass British Snowboard / Skiercross Championships and Slopestyle Jam, Saturday 4th October at Braehead, SNO!zone go to: www.britishsnowtour.com

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WIN A PAIR OF FREE TICKETS TO AN EXCLUSIVE FREE PREVIEW SCREENING OF THE AWESOME NEW EXTREME SKIING FILM STEEP AT THE INCREDIBLE BFI IMAX SCREEN!!!

Experience the most breathtaking, exhilarating and inspirational ride of your life at the awesome BFI IMAX. The world’s best skiers go beyond their dreams to conquer the steepest runs ever faced. Devastating avalanches and fatal spills only serve to push them harder. Metrodome Distribution are releasing the fantastic extreme skiing film STEEP at BFI IMAX London on 26 September. To celebrate the release, they are offering 30 pairs of free tickets to an exclusive preview screening to Snowzone TV members!!!
The special preview screening takes please on Saturday 20 September, at 9:30am at The BFI IMAX, Waterloo, London. What better way to start the day!!!

Featuring Seth Morrison, Shane McConkey, Doug Coombs, Glen Plake and Ingrid Backstrom, STEEP is a breathtaking film about bold adventure, exquisite athleticism and the pursuit of a perfect moment on skis. It is the story of big mountain skiing, a sport that barely existed 35 years ago.

“If you’re a fan of extreme skiing, this film is your Holy Grail!”   Empire

“Gripping…you’d be hard pressed to believe it wasn’t CGI!”   Huck Magazine

“Awesome…breath-taking.”   The Cooler

“Breathtaking images, every skier needs to watch this movie, whether they be world champion or an aspiring beginner.”  Fall-Line

To apply, e-mail steep@metrodomegroup.com with ‘Snow TV Screening Comp’ in the subject field and your name in the body of the email.

Watch the trailer on www.snowzone.tv or www.nevertoosteep.com

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Summer is dead, long live the winter! And to help kick things off, the autumn snow shows are fast approaching. So, being the helpful people we are, here’s all the info you need to get you through the next couple of months, complete with ticket offers and of course the super-cool party details…

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Tuesday 9 September 2008 – Ben Kilner of the British Snowboard Team started his season in amazing form, taking 15th place in the half pipe World Cup in Cardrona, New Zealand on Sunday 7th September.

The competition was the first LG Snowboard FIS World Cup of the 2008/09 season and attracted a world class field with 53 men from 20 nations competing in the newly designed 150m long half-pipe.

During the qualification rounds, under the winter New Zealand sun, Ben produced his highest scoring run to date of 38.9, out of a possible 50, landing a perfect front side 900 on his first run, and beating that in his second run with a flawlessly executed front side 1080.

Unfortunately the weather for the finals was not so perfect and took place on an overcast and windy day. Ben scored a 28.3 after fractionally over-rotating on his front side 900, and ultimately took 15th position. This result means that Ben has successfully completed the first of the qualifying criteria for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and shows the potential promise of more successes for Ben in the coming season.

This round of the World Cup was ultimately won by Japanese rider Kohhei Kudoh, followed by his compatriot Ryoh Aono with Canadian Crispin Liscomb taking third, all three of whom are aiming for the World Cup title this season.

Ben’s coach, Leo Addington, stated how proud he was of Ben’s performance, adding that this was ‘a wonderful way to kick off the world cup tour of 2008 – 09’. Mark Simmers, CEO of Snowsport GB said ‘This is one of the best performances by a British Snowboarder in a World Cup that we’ve ever seen. It really proves that Ben Kilner truly has world class potential. ‘
Results

1 Kohhei Kudoh (Japan)
2 Ryoh Aono (Japan)
3 Crispin Liscomb (Canada)

Three other members of the British Snowboard Team were in action at the New Zealand World Cup this weekend, Dom Harrington finishing in 36th with Sam Cullum close behind in 39th. In the Women’s World Cup Lesley McKenna took 26th.

Next week sees another member of British Snowboard Team in action as Zoё Gillings take part in the first LG Snowboard Cross World Cup in Chapelco, Argentina in the Patagonian Andes on 12 & 13 September 2008. Zoё will be aiming for a strong result after taking 5th place in the South American Cup competition held at the same resort last week.

For regular team news updates subscribe for FREE to the “Across the Board” newsletter at www.snowsportgb.com

The British Snowboard Team would like to thank the following for their invaluable support: Sponsors: Land Rover www.landrover.com, Halliwells - www.halliwells.co.uk, FOGG - www.fogginsure.co.uk, BASI www.basi.org.uk Chill Factore – www.chillfactore.com , Funding organisations: UK Sport – www.uksport.gov.uk, TASS – www.tass.gov.uk, Sport Scotland – www.sportscotland.org.uk, BOA - www.boa.org.uk Sports Aid – www.sportsaid.org.uk

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Winter comes early this year with the introduction of a brand new snow sports and music event, FSO4 FREEZE sponsored by LG. From the 23-26th October, 2008 Battersea Power Station in London will be transformed into a real life ski resort featuring the biggest real snow jump ever made in the UK with a live music line up to match. The World’s best snowboarders and skiers will descend on the banks of the River Thames to take part in the highest profile snow and music festival ever seen in the UK. The focal point of the event is the 17m table top real snow jump created for the LG London Big Air Event, part of the LG FIS (Federation of International Snowboarding) World Cup, which will kick off the Northern Hemisphere Winter season in serious style. The LG London Big Air is a leg of the LG FIS World Cup for snowboarders and as such attracts the biggest names in the World of snowboarding. Past competitors include Air and Style winner Stefan Gimpl, Iikka Baeckstroem and David Benedek, one of the most innovative riders in the World. The LG London Big Air is the only chance to see snowboarders of this quality in the UK. The International Freestyle Ski Event will once again feature the World’s best skiers on your doorstep in London. The likes of Armada team riders Tanner Hall, multiple Winter X Games Gold Medal winner and TJ Schiller will blow minds. For tickets, the event line-up and further information go to: www.londonfreeze.com

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Two dates left to go…
The next round of the British Ski Cross series goes to SNO!zone Scotland, in Braehead, so if you want to see your name in lights you’ve still got a chance:

Book your place in advance at Hype Events

The British Skier X
These events are hosted by SNO!zone venues at Xscape and they are the only British Ski Cross Series, supported by Snowsport GB, who will be at all five events with their beady eyes on the scout for winners, who will be offered the opportunity to join the British Ski Cross Team. There are plenty of prizes up for grabs for male and female competitors, as well as all three age categories (Youth, Junior and Senior) and with cash prizes for the overall series winners it’s not a competition to be missed!

Great weekend line up
All five of the events are jam packed, with a pre-event warm up party on the Saturday night, free practice from 6pm to the tune of the guest DJs, and the opportunity for equipment testing. The real competition begins early doors, at 10am on the Sunday, with time trials and head to heads, along with the beat of yet more guest DJs, MCs, equipment tests and sponsor promos from Atomic, Head, Salomon, SNO!zone, Futur-3, Oakley, Uvex, Leki & Holmenkol.

Sounds like your kind of thing?
If you’re in it to win it or just want to come along and enjoy the buzz of these awesome events - then get down to SNO!zone.

The British Ski Cross Series would not be possible without its highly supportive sponsors: SNO!zone, Atomic Skis, d3o, futur-3, Head Skis & Oakley
Media partners: Natives, Ski Club Great Britain & Metro Snow

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A global showcase
New Zealand’s largest snowboarding event, the Burton New Zealand Open Snowboarding Championships, came to a close on Saturday after four intense days of competition. Part of the Burton Global Open Series and the Swatch Ticket To Ride World Snowboard Tour, the 6th Annual New Zealand Open showcased some of the world’s top snowboarders competing in halfpipe, slopestyle and quarterpipe competitions for over NZ$50,000 in prize money.

Halfpipe Best Trick
Daisuke Murakami  JPN  $1,000

Halfpipe Best Trick
Jamie Anderson USA  $1,0002008 NZO Slopestyle Final Results

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SAAS-FEE RIDE 08 - EVENT SUMMARY

This year’s Saas-Fee Ride 08 turned out to be quite an event.  With the mountain being closed the day before due to bad weather, there was no chance for the Ride team or competing riders to test out the newly constructed kicker by the Saas-Fee Bergbahnen’s snowpark shapers.  It was a tense moment when the riders started to session the big air kicker.  It was described by the riders as whippy’ having a lip that whipped the riders steep into the air and then into a hard and fast landing, making everyone hold their breath in anticipation.  After a request from the rider’s, Ride staff and athletes came together to a decision to re-shape the kicker.  It was a nice moment showing the strong bond, relaxed attitude and ambience between all the riders during the task.

However, against all odds, the riders and event staff proved a level of professionalism and camaraderie that made the obstacles seem like nothing.  The sky was deep blue, the stunning glacier was pure white, and the ambience between the riders, staff and audience was sociable and exuberant.   To add to it, there were 57 riders in all that turned out to Europe’s only summer Freeski competition.  The start list was hot!

In the women’s, Virginie Faivre (SUI) was also looking strong, throwing stylee 3’s and 5’s to put her at the top of the women’s field, but local Swiss rider Evaline Bhend and Katrien Aerts (BEL) were also looking strong, throwing down 3’s with ease, and going for some technical grabs, like the double japan.

The final started with a bang as Volkl team rider JP Furrer (SUI) went straight for a switch 900 double tail grab, tweaking his skis so hard that he took on the appearance of a contortionist. Unfortunately he couldn’t quite hold the landing, but it was nonetheless obvious that this was turning into another classic Ride event. Sweden’s Henrik Harlaut then charged at the kicker and launched one of the most styled switch 1260’s we’ve ever witnessed. Then came Benedikt Mayr (GER) with a textbook switch 10 with a tweaked out tail grab. Paddy Graham (UK) stuck to his guns and went with the flat 5, with a bow and arrow grab. Although the 5 is not as technical a trick as the others the technicality of the grab made up for it, and his style was impeccable. Simon Ericson pulled a switch 7 that sent him half way down the landing, and the judges were already scratching their heads with only half the field gone.

In the end no-one managed to eclipse Henrik’s switch 12, and for the 3rd year running he took the title. He was closely followed by Benedikt Mayr (2nd) and Paddy Graham (3rd)

All in all it was a great day, and the riders had put on a real show for the spectators.  Winners Henrik Harlaut, Benedikt Mayr and Paddy Graham will remain in Saas-Fee with the Ride Freesport film production crew to hopefully produce one of the best Ride TV shows yet. Saas-Fee remains the perfect terrain and resort to host the Saas-Fee Ride and with this the event organisers had pulled off another successful competition. We are all eagerly anticipating the next instalment in the Ride event calendar.

For the full resorts and further information go to: www.saasfeeride.com

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The resort of Alta, Utah annonced its final snow figures for 2007/08, and came in with a whopping 18 metres over the season! More than enough to keep them going thoug the summer if they wanted, with most resorts still riding high on a base over 3 metres.

“We’ve seen over 20 inches of new snow in the first two days of May,” said Snowbird Marketing Director Dave Fields. “These weekly storm cycles that started in December continue to deliver phenomenal skiing and riding.”

Many resorts are looking at staying open to the middle of May with possible weekend openings right into June.  Is it just my imagination, or are the seasons really getting longer? So the only real dilemma is what you go and ride, the blue stuff or the white stuff?

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Halifax Locals Take Big Air Titles
2008 British Snow Tour Championships and Schools Programme

Monday 7th July – It was a rainy start to the opening event of the 2008 British Snow Tour in Halifax over the weekend, but spirits weren’t dampened as over 70 of the UK’s top snowboarders and freeskiers, charged the kickers and threw down technical rail tricks during the Quiksilver Big Air Championships and Rail Jam. The Schools Tour Team also proved to be a big hit in Halifax with over 200 enthusiastic kids taking part in the FREE beginner lessons, courtesy of the Quiksilver lesson academies.

Quiksilver Snowboard Big Air Championships
The Quiksilver Rail Jam kicked off Saturdays competition with the local snowboarding contingency AKA, the “AKA crew” out in force and setting the standards. Local’s Matt Macwhirter and Jamie Nicholls bagged the top spots during the men’s rail jam, spinning 450’s onto the box. In the women’s rail jam Lynsey Ashdown cleaned the kink rail with a stylish boardslide to fakie to take the women’s title, whilst a special shout out goes to the younger riders including Will Smith and Tom Hunt for some creative Jackson’s and frontflips onto the box.

In the afternoon’s Quiksilver Big Air Championships the top eight men and four women went through to the head to head two run finals. Andy Nudds was riding super strong all day and threw down a massive frontside 900, which was easily the biggest trick of the day. Nudds crashed out on a huge 720 during the semi finals, leaving Danny McCormick’s stylish backside 900 to take him through to the final round. Jamie Nicholls stomped a textbook 900 and cab underflip 720 to knock Ben Knox out of the semi finals, making it a McCormick and Nicholls final. McCormick dropped in first and over rotated on a 900, scuffing the landing, leaving local ripper Jamie Nicholls to clean up and take the Quiksilver Big Air title with a 900 and perfectly landed backside 720.  In the women’s final youngster Katie Ormerod firmly secured her spot as the ‘one to watch’ taking the women’s 2008 Quiksilver Big Air Championship title after she nailed a smooth 540, whilst Liz Osborn and Lynsey Ashdown finished in second and third respectively.

Quiksilver Rail Jam Results
Men’s over 16’s                 Men’s under 16’s
1st – Matt MacWhirter – Halifax            1st – Jamie Nicholls – Bradford
2nd – Andy Nudds – Halifax            2nd – Lannig Canu – Barnet
3rd – Wayne Taylor – Halifax            3rd – Will Smith – Bradford
Women
1st - Lynsey Ashdown - Manchester
2nd – Rhianna Nuttall - Rossendale
3rd – Katie Ormerod - Bradford
Quiksilver Big Air Results
Men                         Women
1st – Jamie Nicholls – Bradford            1st – Katie Ormerod – Bradford
2nd – Danny McCormick – Glasgow        2nd – Liz Osborne – Cambridge
3rd – Ben Knox – Crouch End            3rd – Lynsey Ashdown – Manchester

Quiksilver Freeski Big Air Championships
Day two of the Quiksilver Big Air Championships made way for the UK’s finest freeskiers, with the Rail Jam kick starting the day’s competition. In the men’s final it was Andy Bennett’s Switch 450 on the box that secured him the gold in the men’s over 16’s age category, whilst local ripper Tyler Harding cleaned up in the under 16’s age category with a sweet 450 on, 270 off on the box.

In the afternoons Quiksilver Big Air Championships it was all about style, amplitude and clean landings as the top eight men and four women went head to head through the eliminating rounds. In the men’s final Andrew Longley was victorious and landed a technical D-spin 720 to take the 2008 Quiksilver Big Air Tile. Switch 720’s where the trick of choice for the Machon brothers, Robert and James who finished in second and third respectively after an amazing day of skiing. In the women’s competition Kelly O’Donnell finished in third place with a 540, whilst Becky Hammond and Rowan Cheshire, newcomer to the tour battled it out during the final round for first place. Becky pulled out a stylish 540 and managed to ski away with one ski taking second, whilst Rowan stomped a clean 540 to take the women’s title, not bad for her first appearance on the tour hey!
Rail Jam Results
Men’s over 16’s                 Men’s under 16’s
1st – Andy Bennett – Sheffield             1st - Tyler Harding – Halifax
2nd – Joe Tomlinson – Rossendale         2nd - Harry Hancock – Stoke-on-Trent
3rd – Jack Nicholson – N/A            3rd – Joe Hides –Sheffield
Women
1st – Kelly O’Donnell – Stoke-on-Trent
2nd – Molly Summerhayes – Sheffield
3rd – Becky Hammond – Sheffield
Quiksilver Freeski Big Air Results
Men                         Women
1st – Andrew Longley – Sheffield            1st – Rowan Cheshire – Stoke-on-Trent
2nd – Robert Machon – Sheffield            2nd – Becky Hammond – Sheffield
3rd – James Machon – Sheffield            3rd – Kelly O’Donnell -  Stoke-on-Trent

To check out the pictures and video footage from the Quiksilver Big Air Championships, where you’ll also be able to get timings for the next event on the British Snow Tour calendar, the Animal British Slopestyle Championships, 12th & 13th July in Chatham Kent go to:  www.britishsnowtour.com

The British Snow Tour and Schools Tour programme would not be possible without its highly supportive sponsors: Animal, Quiksilver, Trespass, SNO!zone, Cushe, SUSO, TSA and Ellis Brigham. Demo partners: DC, Ride, K2, Line and Clifbar. Media partners: Whitelines, Skiclub.co.uk, Metrosnow.co.uk, Extreme.com and Snowboardclub.co.uk.

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