(Pic: Millie Wilkinson by Ollie Wittaker)
Day 3 of competition at The BRITS 2015 saw the skiers take on the enormous Tignes pipe, where competitors faced the 22ft walls of ice in the hunt for the British title. Snapping up those titles for the year where two of last season’s Olympic stars in the form of Murray Buchan and Emma Lonsdale, who wowed the crowd with true world class riding, even in changeable conditions.
For the overall men’s category, BRITS regular and Sochi star Buchan won through, but not without an incredible fight with newcomer Alexander Glavatsky-Yeadon, who came within one point of the gold medal. Both skiers threw cork 9s, followed by back to back 7s, all with massive amplitude. Glavatsky-Yeadon then followed up with back to back flairs, his last easily topping 10ft above the coping. Buchan went with a massive 180 followed by his outrageous double flair, A BRITS first, which proved enough to put him on the top step of the podium by just a single digit. The bronze was to be fought out between the Klein brothers, who at just 13 and 15 years old showed skills far beyond their years including massive cork 5s to start each of their final runs. In the end it was the elder brother Felix who took it from Jasper, although both brothers are serious prospects for the future.
Stoked on his win, Murray commented: “It’s great to be back in Tignes and at The BRITS. Really happy to have landed my run and hope it can inspire the next generation of halfpipe riders, who I was stoked to see out in force today.”
In the women’s contest it was also an Olympian who was taking the win and inspiring the younger riders. Huge stylish grabs and plenty of switch tricks put Emma Lonsdale head and shoulders above the competition. Completing the podium where teenage up and comers Thea Fenwick and Millie Wilkinson, who both showed serious promise in a pipe which absolutely dwarfed them. Both Fenwick and Wilkinson threw an array of grabs and spins, with Thea taking the silver, and Millie with the Bronze.
After her historic 10th win in 11 years, Emma had this to say on her win: “It was a really good competition, The light was flat, but the pipe was really good. I was just taking it easy, I retired last year, but I wanted to come back to get that 10th medal”
The under 12s category showed exactly the talented future which Emma and Murray look to inspire. Tom Westgate managed to grab second in the category, despite being just 7 years old, whilst Sam Annis took the under 12’s crown by throwing a stylish 540 on his last hit.
British Freeski Halfpipe Championships Results
Men Women
1st – Murray Buchan 1st – Emma Lonsdale
2nd – Alexander Glavatsky-Yeadon 2nd – Thea Fenwick
3rd – Felix Klein 3rd – Millie Wilkinson
The 3rd day of the British Snowboard Championships saw riders stepping up their game and landing big tricks during the British Slopestyle Championship, regardless of the less than favourable weather conditions. Fighting the poor visibility and sticky snow due to white skies, consistent snowfall, and warm temperatures, it was Henry Schakelton (20) and Ella Fry-Taylor (22) who took home top positions and the gold medal.
Based on athlete input during practice, the decision was made to remove the two bottom kickers from the course. It was determined that this was the best way of ensuring the safety of the athletes who, on top of dealing with poor visibility, were struggling to find the speed needed to hit the kickers back to back. This left the riders both technical rail zones at the top of the course as well as the massive booter to show the judges their snowboarding prowess. Additionally, the poor weather convinced both the athletes and competition officials to base the final score on the best qualifying runs of each rider instead of prolonging the contest with poor weather conditions.
Once the riders took the course, the 65 competitors were still more then able to throw down for their best run. For the men, it was a really tight fight for the podium with a 2-point difference out of 100 between each rider’s ranking. Taking first place thanks to his massive second run was Henry Shackleton (20) with a 50/50 to front 3 off the flat bar rail, a gap to frontide boardslide on the second set, and a big floaty front 7 on the biggest kicker. In second place was Matt McCormack who put down a 50/50 front 3 out on the first rail section, a boardslide fakie on the second set, and a smooth cab 5 in his 1st qualifying run. Jamie Trinder (20) took home third place with his 1st qualifying run with a boardslide 270 out on the first rail, a gap boardslide on the second, and a massive front 5 on the biggest kicker.
Upon winning, Henry explained, “It’s been great to win. It definitely would have been nicer with better weather; it would have given us the chance to spin more, go bigger.”
In the women’s contest, Bangers and Cash Women’s gold medallist and Tignes local Ella Fry-Taylor (22) who took home the win with the most progressive run for the girls. Combining technical tricks and amplitude, Ella’s run included a 50/50 tailgrab off the flat bar, a 50/50 boardslide, and massive method over the biggest kicker. Cerys Allen (15), laid down a really smooth run involving a frontside 180 on and off the first rail, a big boardslide on the second, and a front 3 nosegrab on the medium kicker. Rounding out the podium was Coco Merz (23) sending a boardslide on the first rail, a 50/50 on the second, and a big tail grab on the medium kicker.
Stoked on her win, Ella states, “I’m really excited to have landed a couple of runs today. The course was better than last year and it was even alright to have just the first kicker to use.”
This contest wouldn’t be complete with the young guns pulling out all of the stops, already demonstrating incredible style and trick technicality. A good examples is Scott Walsh (12) whose second run involved a really nice 50/50 back 1 out on the first rail, a cab 270 onto the rail and back regular stance, setting him up for a back 3. Harry Waite (15) is another promising rider with a 50/50, boardslide pretzel, and cab underflip placing him in 5th. Though she wasn’t the most consistent of riders, Amber Cordingly’s big riding style definitely impressed the judges, working on landing 50/50 180 out, and swith 50/50s.
British Snowboard Slopestyle Championships Results
Men Women
1st – Henry Shackleton 1st – Ella Fry-Taylor
2nd – Matt McCormack 2nd – Cerys Allen
3rd – Jamie Trinder 3rd – Coco Merz