The First Generation

January 06, 2009 @ 3:00 PM - Features: Sports

Women’s snowboarding would still be skulking in the shadows of the men’s scene if it weren’t for the actions of a mould-breaking few. Here are their stories...

Words by: Chris Moran

In 1993, the Australian lager company Castlemaine XXXX ran a campaign on British television in which two Aussie men stood around watching their pick-up truck being
loaded with crates of beer. As an afterthought, they ask the shopkeeper for two bottles of sherry “for the ladies”. The axle on their truck buckles under the weight of the added bottles, and the owner turns to his friend and says “looks like we overdid it with the sherry”. It was a popular and funny ad, which worked because everyone knew it was ironic.
Around the same time, however, the worldwide snowboard industry seemed to have a similar attitude, but without the joke. The 1994 Air & Style comp, for example, featured a 60ft kicker, and although there were girls invited to ride at the contest, that particular jump was strictly out of bounds. To hammer it home a sign on the run-in even read ‘No Girls’.

Today of course, the situation is far better. There are girl-specific boards, lines of clothing, film producers making girl-only movies and magazines like the one in your hands. Such infrastructure means an elite of female snowboarding superstars is sustainable. Hannah Teter showed off her Olympic Gold medal on the David Letterman Show, our cover girl Torah Bright is perhaps one of the most famous sportspeople in Australia (though whether she’s a sherry drinker is unlikely) and the next generation of girls such as Jamie Anderson are increasingly riding for equal prize money, a feat not even the tennis world has achieved.

But all this is no happy accident. The gap has been closed due to the actions of many influential characters, each one chipping away at the stereotypes and adding vital strength to the girls’ scene. While a list of those riders would be exhaustive, standouts include Bonnie Zellers from the first TB series of films, Shannon Dunn, owner of the first pro model board, Michelle Taggart and her pipe riding skills, and those behind the scenes such as Amy Howat – instrumental in organising the Mt Baker Banked Slalom, still hailed today as the most fun snowboard competition in existence.

Without these riders and more, we may well still be stuck in the dark ages. But it is without doubt the following five girls that have made the most lasting impression on the world scene. After all, it was one of them that stood up to the ‘No Girls’ sign back at the Air & Style all those years ago. “I looked at the jump,” said Tina Basich in her autobiography Pretty Good for a Girl “…and then went and put on the Beastie Boys to get all amped up. There were like 100 stairs to the top of the jump. We walked half way up and stopped. Then I don’t remember walking the rest of the way up but I did not hesitate. I took three breaths and then dropped.”

Magazines reported that she “had gone bigger than the guys” and probably would have placed in the top ten. “I think the gap between men and women just makes women
work harder,” said Tina in 1999. “If we were right there, we might not take it to the next level. So we’re definitely pushing toward closing the gap, and we’re motivated.”

The Big Five

Barrett Christy, USA

Buffalo NY isn’t exactly a snowboard hotspot so in 1992, after a couple of winters learning to ride at Killington and Vermont, Barrett moved
to the emerging snowboard scene at Crested Butte, Colorado. It’s easy to see the attraction – Crested Butte was famed for its powder and nearby Vail had opened the world’s first snowboard park two seasons before, so the chance to ride with the best riders in the US, coupled with the bonus of getting some freshies, was too much to ignore. Christy liked to think of her style as being quite skateinspired, claiming the idea of keeping things flowing was her main goal. “Whether it’s linking turns in powder, riding technical lines, jumping, sliding or whatever, it’s that quest to get the feeling as often as possible,” she said at the time. But while she was riding for her own satisfaction, she was hitting the park enough to start entering comps and impressing her peers. “Barrett is little,” said Vail’s Todd Richards, “but she carries a big stick.”

In between impressing the seasonaires at Butte and Vail with her cliff lines, Barrett saw the freestyle opportunity and pushed herself to ride hard. It was a gamble that paid off. After winning an amateur pipe contest in Vail, she went on to be the most successful freestyle snowboarder the US has ever produced, with a medal placing at every single X Games up until 2003. But while she was big time at the comps, she could also hold her own in the backcountry. “I need to balance out contests,”
she said in 2001. “If I don’t have time to just snowboard for myself, it gets a little gruelling.”

Where she is now

After having a pro model on Gnu snowboards, Barrett finally moved out of the pro scene in 2004. Now 35, she spends her time riding at Mt Baker and Vail, or working out of Portland, Oregon. Today she coaches and manages the Nike 6.0 snowboard team in the US, is married to fellow Gnu pro rider Temple Cummins and is hugely thankful for her time as a pro rider.

Reflecting on the growth of women’s snowboarding she says, “The winter X Games didn’t exist until 97, and that seems like a pivotal time in snowboarding. They brought snowboarders to people’s living rooms and made some riders household names overnight. As a pro there weren’t the pressures that go along with the big paychecks today. Now, riders are expected to perform at all these events and often still film for a movie segment and get photos for sponsors and editorial.” She also notes how much better women-specific kit is these days. “The biggest obstacle I faced in the early 90s was getting equipment that was right for me,” she says. “I was always riding boards that were too big, too wide and too stiff.”

Tina Basich, USA

Tina’s first day riding came in 1986 when she hiked the slopes of Soda Springs, Lake Tahoe, in a pair of moonboots with her brother Mike in tow. After learning to ride properly and placing well in some local and national contests, Tina turned pro in 1989 with a $250 a month deal with Kemper Snowboards. Riding with fellow pros Andy Hetzel and Matt Goodwill pushed her hard. “It was all I could do to keep up,” she said in an interview for The Way of the Snowboarder. “I even started to jump cliffs because I had to get the girl shot for the team.”

It was an attitude that served her well, and Tina became the dominant female pro. She also had one eye on the longevity of the girls’ scene, and along with fellow pro Shannon Dunn, launched Prom Clothing in 1995. “We wanted to start a girls’ line because at the time boys’ clothes were super-huge. So we called it Prom and wore prom dresses in the ads and made it all pastel colours.” Although the feeling had been that Tina and Shannon were trying to “make fun of the whole girl thing to get noticed as something different,” said Tina, the fact that the industry took it at face value and didn’t get the irony meant that Tina was unwilling to continue with the brand. Around the same time, her friend Monica Steward – one of the co-founders of Bonfire clothing – was diagnosed with breast cancer. Along with Shannon Dunn and Michelle Taggart, Tina organised a charity event and the foundations for Boarding for Breast Cancer were in place. Monica died at the tragically young age of 29.

Where she is now

Boarding for Breast Cancer has gone on to raise over $1 million, while Tina is universally hailed as one of the most influential women riders ever. Her autobiography Pretty Good for a Girl has sold incredibly well, she is a regular on the US chat show circuit and still rides regularly. She lives near Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe, is a keen artist, and presents GKA (Girls Kick Ass) on Fuel TV in the US. She still says her favourite, favourite thing to do is to picnic in the backcountry with friends. “No hustle, no noise, no tracks, just fresh turns.”

Looking back on her career she says, “I think being a female athlete was part of the challenge but also part of the drive to push harder, get recognized for your skills and make your mark.” On snowboarding’s stratospheric rise she says, “It’s amazing how fast it grew. I think that it gives you such a feeling of freedom that it’s easy to get hooked on, and that’s what the world did, they got hooked on snowboarding.”

Amen to that.

Coming up: Nicole Angelrath, Circe Wallace and Victoria Jealouse…

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Six of the best… Snowboards

January 04, 2009 @ 9:55 AM - Features: Sports

In a pickle about which board to invest in this season? We hunt out a bunch of the best for all abilities...

Best for freestyle… Spinster by Forum
The latest offering from Forum, this board lives up to the ‘no nonsense’ brand mantra and will have you stirring it up in the parks all season long. It’s strong enough to stand the most hardcore of tricks, yet lightweight and flexible making it perfect for boxes, rails and butters. This snappy little number is the perfect partner for 2009.
£299, €399; forumsnowboards.com

Best for progression/beginners... Jett by Rome
The beauty of this board is that it has been designed with fun in mind. Who wants to learn to snowboard if they find it unfulfilling and unenjoyable? Exactly. Step on this board and away you go – it has a smooth cruising laminate that’s perfect for finding your feet on the mountain, but is sturdy enough for the park when you’re ready to progress.
£220, €245; romesnowboards.com

Best for freeriding… Promise by Ride
If you are looking for an all-round performer at a price that won’t break the bank, then this bad boy’s got your name on it. Promise is specifically designed with a narrower waist for easy turning, allowing optimal board control and comfort. And it looks damn good too.
£270, €290; ridesnowboards.com

Best for all-round girliness… Lipstick by Burton
Fool your fellow park-goers into believing you are cute and girly by stepping out with this board – and then unleash some kick-arse moves. This board is designed to the new ‘rocker’ shape, with additional rockers towards the nose and tail for more foot control; it puts the ‘pop’ in lollypop.
£280, €310; burton.com

Best graphics… Lily by Salomon
The graphics on this board are stunning, but if that’s not enough to convince you – Lily is also top snowboarder Jenny Jones’ board of choice. The ‘Popster’ core profiling gets great ollie height, perfect the moves and you’ll look hot.
£270, €290; salomonsnowboard.com

Best ‘inbetween-er’: not too soft, not too stiff… Fling by K2
This board has been refined to achieve true versatility, offering twin-tip design and medium flex, it’s the one you’ve been waiting for. If you’re looking to improve your park performance then this could be the answer - and the 80’s styling gives you the attitude to go with it.
£290, €310; K2snowboarding.com

Words by: Laura Adcock

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G-Trainer Anti-Gravity Treadmill

January 02, 2009 @ 10:53 AM - Features: Sports

The G-Trainer is the latest piece of kit to be delivered to Paula Radcliffe’s pad, and plenty of snowboarders, cyclists and athletes are also getting in on the game.

The G-Trainer Anti-Gravity Treadmill is designed to enable people to improve mobility and health, recover from injury and surgery more effectively, overcome medical challenges that limit movement, and enhance physical performance. Whether you’re an elite athlete who can’t afford bench time or an individual whose daily life doesn’t have time for sitting still, G-Trainers are designed for everyone.

The anti-gravity technology behind the G-Trainer was originally developed at NASA. Air pressure is used to accomplish ‘unweighting’, allowing individuals to set body weight as low as 20% in 1% increments. As such, in addition to having the usual speed and incline buttons to vary your performance, you also have a gravity button, whereby you can carry as little as 20% of your body weight while running to reduce impact on your joints and enable you to boost your cardio fitness by running faster than you’ve ever run before!

In order for the treadmill to work, you simply pop on a pair of cycling shorts with a ‘skirt’ attached. This skirt then zips on to the chamber so that your lower half is encapsulated in the treadmill. You can then vary the pressure, speed and incline to suit your needs and abilities. It feels pretty strange at first, but soon you’ll be running for faster and longer than you’ve ever managed on your Saturday morning trudges round the park.

Balance Performance Physiotherapy in London have now brought the G-Trainer treadmill to their London sports injury and performance facility to give the public the opportunity to have a go on the machine. The first G-Trainer available to the public in Europe, the machine had been installed to help out in the treatment, recovery, rehabilitation and performance training of elite and everyday athletes.

Indeed, BMX Olympic bronze medalist Jill Kintner was back on her bike within six weeks after reconstructive ACL surgery thanks to the G-trainer. Now Kintner plans to recover fully in time for a couple early season BMX races in February/March and the start of mountain bike season in April.

Check out the video footage of the guys from Urban Freeflow having a bash…

Urban Freeflow G-Trainer Test >>

Book your appointment at Balance Performance Physiotherapy: 020 7627 2308; balancephysio.com.

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Backcountry Ski Test Weekend

December 29, 2008 @ 9:21 AM - Features: Sports

Snow+Rock Backcountry Ski Test Weekend: The Verdict

Words by: Claire Collins

The early season snow in Lech was fantastic for Snow+Rock’s Backcountry weekend with Ski Freshtracks, which presented the perfect conditions to test a selection of their best freeride skis. Taking the fear out of fat skis, we’ve got the pick of the crop…

PISTE PRESTIGE: Volkl Attiva Fuego
Really more of a piste ski than off piste, but it was good to compare with the fatter versions. A wood core gives it good stability and confidence to attack icy terrain so they were good for perfecting my turns on the piste but were a bit narrow underfoot for off piste so it was difficult to keep up.
£529 (including bindings)

FREERIDE: Head Great One
This is definitely a 50/50 on-piste off-piste ski. A wood core and medium waist gives a solid ride and quick short turns on piste but it’s equally easy to ride off piste.
£439 (including bindings)

FREERIDE: Rossignol Bandit SC80
A nice looking ski with rave reviews among the group. I found them really easy to turn, giving a great return for not a lot of effort - which was definitely a bonus after a couple of days powering round the mountain! I think most skiers would enjoy these on or off piste.
£445 (including bindings)

FREERIDE: K2 Lotta Luv
Directly comparable to the SC80 these have a similar geometry and construction. If you’re unsure of the conditions at the top of the mountain, they won’t disappoint. Good fun to ski and great for confidence building.
£425 (including bindings)

FREERIDE: Volkl Aurora
These skis will definitely give you the confidence to venture further off piste. Initiating turns in powder was easier and I could see the difference of the wider waist and tips. It was also good at short quick turns and handled icy terrain on piste.
£619 (including bindings)

FREESTYLE: Scott Sheela
This is the women’s version of the Punisher, replaced with a lighter wood core which gives easier control. With similar geometry to the Aurora, the Sheela has a twin tip, which is traditionally good for park tricks, but as it has a slightly longer tip it also gives good ‘float’ in off piste powder. Graphics have good chairlift appeal. Definitely worth the money.
£299 (ski only)

FREERIDE: Salomon Lady
The Lady uses a new ‘rocker’ technology which gives the tips better float in powder – which was definitely evident compared to some of the other skis (although maybe it was my lack of technique?!). Apparently the Salomon Lord has won so many tests they’ve taken the exact same ski and slapped some girls graphics on it – who says girls can’t have it all?!
£349 (ski only)

BIG MOUNTAIN: Volkl Aura
Everyone’s favourite ski! The Aura definitely made me fall in love with powder. As the fattest ski on the test it was easily the best off piste, but once I got used to skiing a wider stance it also carved effortlessly on piste.
£439 (ski only)

I’m now totally convinced fatter is better! The great range of freeride skis available for girls is making the backcountry more accessible, and I, for one, will definitely be grabbing myself a big fat pair to venture off-piste and perfect my powder turns!

For more information on all the skis above check out snowandrock.com or call 0845 100 1000.

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Exclusive Sweetspot: Eva Walkner Skiing Iran

December 03, 2008 @ 7:49 AM - Features: Sports

Eva Walkner recently hunted down her dream sweetspot in Iran for Nike ACG. While she got a plethora of powder and culture in this unsung snow spot, she also encountered plenty of unwanted obstacles along the way. We get the low-down on shredding one of the globe’s most remote spots...

WATCH EVA’S EXCLUSIVE NIKE ACG SWEETSPOT HERE!

How do girls behave differently in the mountains to the streets in Iran?
In the mountains, it is just the rich people who go skiing. A ticket costs $13 and the average person earns just $250–$300 in a month so for most people skiing is too expensive.

In the ski areas the girls don’t wear headscarves which is illegal. It is not easy to force people to wear headscarves on the slopes: they could control it if they wanted to but it’s a matter of time and money, as they have to spend a lot of resources training skier police and bringing them to the slopes. The police probably prefer to spend that effort and money on putting the police in a place where they will get more noticeable results, such as on the streets of Tehran.

In the city, the girls only wear dark clothes, with the exception of colourful headscarves. However, the girls in the ski resorts wear colourful ski clothes from the same brands that we wear in Europe. They also wear a lot of make-up and get really tarted up to go out to the pub and meet friends!

In Teheran the girls are more liberal than the girls in the country. They don’t wearing headscarves and sometimes the city girls provoke the moral police because they disapprove of the regime. If they go into the mountains, they can feel free for a short time. No moral police, no headscarf, no dark clothes, no rules: boys and girls just have fun together.

Do they ski/snowboard fast or are they quite timid?
They are really good skiers and snowboarders! I hardly saw any beginners on the slopes. But they do just stick to skiing on the slopes; they don’t know much about freeriding. They like doing some jumps on the slope, playing around – but they don’t have a freestyle park and they are scared of skiing off-piste, which is pretty understandable considering they’ve never even seen an avalanche transceiver.

Did you get stopped by the moral police? Were you scared?
We got stopped in Chaloos – at the Caspian sea. It was my fault as it was so hot in our old car that I didn’t keep my head covered. The moral police spotted us in the car and asked us to follow them to their office.

We ended up sat on these old uncomfortable wooden chairs in a dingy little room at the police station, all next to each other with sweaty hands like pupils on a school bench waiting for the mistress! None of us dared to speak while the two policemen checked our passports under UV light, while armed men were patrolling outside with machine guns. The policemen fired odd questions at us once in a while with our guide Mohammad translating for us: “What does your government think about our nuclear plans?” “What’s the name of your president?”

After our very diplomatic answers, they asked Peter if he was married. When he replied “No”, the two men started to laugh and offered to find him some local women! Finally, the ice was broken and suddenly the two Iranian policemen seemed to be quite nice. Luckily, we got off easy with just a record in their diary and a one-off experience. It was a valuable experience for us. As soon as thoughts like “it’s getting more relaxed” or “it’s not so strict here” creep in, reality would catch up with us and bring us back down to earth. It wasn’t as easy as we thought in the beginning, and from that moment on, the headscarf stayed firmly on my head!

How else was it different from a Western ski resort?
Definitely the ski lift. They have very old chair lifts and bubble lifts that are built in a super-simple style and move ridiculously slowly. Of course, the ski resorts aren’t as modern as the western ski resorts, and they are much smaller than anything you’d find in Europe. But the people in the ski resorts are always dressed up; they have cool ski clothes and look very modern. They also have a lot of fun: hanging around in a deckchair at the fast food restaurant in the middle station, drinking a coke and flirting with the boys and girls. They enjoy their life, and skiing allows them to feel free for a few hours. You can see in their faces that they enjoy a piece of independence, if only for a few hours. In a western ski resort, everybody can go skiing if they want, whereas in Iran you’ll see just the rich people.

How did the local men treat you?
They were very nice. We got lots of invitations for dinner and they asked us if they were handsome enough for the European girls! Of course, we said “Yes, you are very handsome men,” which they were really happy about! People were keen for us to tell the people back home what the Iranians are really like. Many of them feel that Europeans have the wrong idea about Iran and the people there. Everybody was interested in us and wanted to know everything about us and our trip.

Would you recommend people go skiing/snowboarding in Iran?
I would not recommend Iran JUST for skiing but I can recommend it for anyone who is ready for a great experience. You need to be open and willing to form your own opinion about Iran and the people there. Not everything is bad in Iran; it’s a very interesting country with wonderful people. A trip to Iran is an amazing adventure. So I can definitely recommend it to anybody!

WATCH EVA’S EXCLUSIVE NIKE ACG SWEETSPOT HERE!

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Shredding to Success: The Sam Rogers Interview

November 27, 2008 @ 10:01 AM - Features: Sports

At just 17, Sam Rogers has been topping podium spots at some of the UK’s best snowboarding comps and winning respect across the snowboarding scene. We send fellow shredder Catherine Peck to find out the secret to her success...

Sam Rogers

I already know Sam through Animal but having the chance to interview her, even I found out some interesting facts.

What I knew already: Sam is genuine, modest, focused, extremely competitive, ambitious and a risk taker, traits that all equal a great boarder. She is also blessed with real beauty and a great figure and she is so brave that even the guys are envious of her!

What I didn’t know: I assumed that Sam was going to be a great gymnast or a pro on the trampoline as this usually contributes to boarding skills. So when asking the question ‘How great are your gym skills?’ I was expecting to hear, not bad (because Sam is so modest), and then a list of things she could do i.e: the backflip, the somersault, the vault, etc. Interestingly I got; ‘I can’t even do a cartwheel’. Okay, so where is the logic in doing a front flip over a 14 metre kicker (I got to witness this at the Big Air Comp at MK this year - mental, see pic) but you can’t do a cartwheel with the safety of a mat… Crazy. So you must trampoline? ‘Well, I have one in my garden and I do sometimes practice on it with a skateboard and bindings but I don’t do trampolining properly’. Blimey.

Sam Rogers

The Stats:

Age: 17
Kit: Always Animal!
Board: True Snowboards - Size...149 -Bindings...Ride - Stance… + 18 front - 9 back
Favourite Morzine crepe: Sucre et Citron
Tunes for the slope: Anything goes really!
Calculated risk taker or a slightly mental risk taker? Calculated of course!

On to the important questions:

Sam Rogers

Catherine: Is your boyfriend supportive, or is he intimidated by the skills?
Sam: Nathan is always supportive yeah, he always tries to help me improve and tells me where im going wrong. He definitely has more skills than me but I can beat him on the front flips ha, ha!

The famous front flip (Sam’s trademark move); how on earth did you get the balls to try that?
I first tried them onto the EuroBoys airbag then gradually moved to powder jumps, but I never got the hang of them. So I just thought I’d try it in the Brits Big Air anyway.

Wow - impressive. But not only are you doing the front flip you are doing it with a double grab?
The front flip truck driver! So with an indie and melon.

Back flips anytime soon?
I’ve had some painful knocks to the face with my knees in some attempts so that has put me off a little. But maybe, I might give them a go again sometime.

With such balls of steel, most want to ask the question but wouldn’t dare… ‘Are you really a man?!’
Ha ha! Not that I know of!

Sam Rogers

Onto the standard questions:

Where do you want to do your first season?
Morzine/ Avoriaz.

I go to Morzine for the Crepes, why Morzine for you?
Definitely the parks and the fact it has a pipe.

I love the Stash (thanks Burton).
Yeah it is pretty good, not one of my favourite parks in the resort tho. Oooh, controversial!

What do school think about your boarding ambitions?
Some of the teachers joke around and ask me for my autograph! But I work hard and catch up on work that I miss when I’m away so they are always encouraging. I want to go to uni to study Sports Therapy at some point. I went to visit Loughborough, which is a great uni for Sports. Yeah I’m hoping to apply for either Loughborough or Bath.

I know our parents are both supportive, but my mum would rather that I had gardening as a hobby, what about yours?
Ha ha! Well she has realised that I’m not going to give it up any time soon so I think she has just given up now.

Sam Rogers

Could your parents bring themselves to watch you do front flips over the 14 metre kicker at MK?
Yes, but mum said she was terrified!

How do you train to aid improvement?
I go to the gym two or three times a week with a personal fitness trainer, I mainly work on my core strength and my leg muscles to make them stronger. I also ride at Bracknell on Monday nights and sometimes at weekends, depending if there is a competition or not.

Are you going to win the Brits this year?
I will give it my best shot.

Well we’ll certainly be backing you!

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Surf: Faking It

November 12, 2008 @ 10:20 AM - Features: Sports

Europe’s first artificial reef, built in Bournemouth, is set to be finished this winter. We sift through the hype to find that reefs built by surfers for surfers may well create the new generation of perfect waves.

Words by: Tiffanie Wen
Illustration by: Eve Bracewell

Musing on the concept of an ‘artificial reef’ might turn our thoughts to a chlorine-filled sea and beach made out of plastic sand which, even though it doesn’t get stuck in our bikini bottoms in the pesky way that real sand does, seems so very wrong. Mad scientists bent over Bunsen burners and glass test tubes mixing up smoky and colourful ingredients behind a curtain somewhere, trying to figure out how to create an even more beautiful sunset. Perfectly formed waves break 300 metres from shore and are ridden by some of Europe’s best landlocked surfers, some with fake boobs, others with fake tans, before lapping gently on to the crowded beach.

It seems a million miles from the beach and natural world as we know it. But is the building of Europe’s first artificial reef on the south coast in Boscombe, near Bournemouth, taking us towards a surfing world that’s unsettlingly close to Disneyland? Well, not exactly. Though most surfers might not take to the word ‘artificial’ or ‘fake’ very well initially, the Bournemouth reef won’t really be made out of anything fake.

“An artificial reef was built using tyres back in 1993 and when I spoke to the local council about it then they were quite interested,” says David Weight, a surfer of 40 years and the brains behind the Boscombe reef that’s been dubbed ‘Weight’s’. “But then I heard about a group based in New Zealand who was looking to build a reef using sandbags wrapped in a geotextile material.”

The reef is costing Bournemouth £2 million and is being built by a New Zealand company called ASR, the world leaders in reef research and design. ASR’s founder, Dr Kerry Black, spent eight months designing and testing the reef in the lab. Black is a surfer based in Raglan, NZ (remember where The Endless Summer boys found their perfect break?) and designed the reef to maximize its surf quality – waves will be 1.5 times bigger, break about 300 metres from the shore, have a deeper and more hollow shape and rides will last longer, for about 70 metres. “The reef essentially acts like a ramp, pushing the water up and forcing it to break earlier and in a particular direction,” says Black. “Bournemouth gets quite a lot of wind, so we put a little left on it to try to knock out some of the chop. But the main wave is the right which is running away from the wind.”

While reefs in the past have been made out of tyres or cement blocks, the reef at Bournemouth will be made out of a fibrous bag filled with sand, which plants can cling on to. Reefs made in Australia and New Zealand using the same method have become a habitat for marine life, and the Bournemouth reef is expected to do the same.

“In Australia we’ve had everything from turtles to manta rays and lots of fish so it has been a fantastic outcome for the ecology, and it’s been the same in the Mount Maunganui reef in New Zealand,” explains Black. “The ecology is just astonishing. A reef provides a fixed substrate, a stable object, whereas on most sandy beaches, every time the tide comes in the sand’s moving all around and things can’t grow very well.”

Artificial reefs, like real reefs, also provide coastal protection to the beach in addition to improved surf. Since waves break sooner, most of the energy and damaging effects of the water are diminished by the time they hit the beach. There’s a good chance that artificial reefs might become the preferred method of coastal protection in the future. “We may have to use other means of coastal protection later,” begins Weight. “They’re going to take measurements and see how it works out and see what the response is, both from the public point of view and from the effect on the coastline, and compare the advantages of the reef with groins.”

In general, better surf is welcome by locals. Some of the more serious surfers in the area consider themselves no better off than surfers in London. A series of beach replenishments at neighbouring Southborne ruined the sandbar that created surfable waves there, so most surfers in Bournemouth trek down to Cornwall when they’re looking for a good session.

Sophie Chambers is a 23 year-old surfer who grew up in Bournemouth. “As it is now Bournemouth is rubbish and hardly ever works. It’s really messy and short. There’s no point surfing there. Occasionally there might be a really good day, but I’ve never seen one,” she says.

26 year-old Helen Keeling used to lifeguard at Bournemouth beach and is one of the many local surfers who makes the regular pilgrimage to Cornwall. “There’s definitely a bigger demand for good surf here,” she says, “Most people travel down to Cornwall but it’s a long way to go and petrol’s expensive so if there were more days and better surf here than that would be brilliant.”

The reef is primarily designed to improve the quality of surf during mid-sized swells, at about 1.5 metres, and will be best around mid tide. But if it works on really small days too it has the potential to double the days of surf. The reef is the cornerstone of a £9 million regeneration project, which includes a refurbished pier and 1960s bathing station, restaurants and shops, and beach bungalows. The project is already having a positive impact on the Boscombe suburb, with land and property values rising sharply. A design-winning development of luxury flats, which have sold for up to £895,000 apiece, has been named The Reef, while another developer is working on a building called The Wave. Boscombe relies heavily on tourism but has in recent years become a haven for drug use and deprivation. Whereas Newquay turned down a proposal for an artificial reef, in part because the success of an enhanced wave would bring overcrowding to an already touristy area, increased tourism in Boscombe might just save it. Residents are optimistic too.

“Boscombe used to be a really wicked place,” says Joel Whitmore, who’s lived there all his life. “It had a good reputation and was one of the best places in Bournemouth. But now it’s overrun with drugs and nasty stuff. The tourism will give it a face lift and a good name again.”

Bournemouth councillor Roger Brown estimates that the direct spend of the reef will be worth £2.5 to £3 million a year and create about 100 jobs. “But we estimate the publicity value is worth £10 million a year and we’re confident it will regenerate Boscombe,” he says.

The economics are all well and good, but does the idea of an artificial reef ruin the romance of surfing? “I don’t think it takes away from the experience of surfing,” says Weight. “In a sense the reef is what it is. The waves themselves, their variability, the tides and the currents will still be there. Each swell will have its own unique characteristics which are natural.”

Alex Dick-Read, Editor of Surfer’s Path, agrees, “Does an artificial reef ruin the soul of surfing? Not really, in my opinion. It’s not faking it in the way a wave machine is. It’s just bending swells to your advantage by altering the bathymetry – something that both man and nature do all the time. In nature, beach breaks can go from epic to useless in a cycle of shifting sands, and reefs grow, die and get altered. Surf breaks morph all the time.”

But local Sophie might best sum up the attitude of her fellow Bournemouth surfers. “For me, it does take away the spirit of surfing but if it’s a wave it’ll make people happy,” she says. “And hey, if there’s a good wave on my doorstep, I’m not going to say no.”

Check out this clip of the Bournemouth artificial surf reef modelling…

Elise Garrigue: Board to be Green

November 10, 2008 @ 9:41 AM - Features: Sports

Elite surfer Elise Garrigue has long been worried about surfing’s impact on the planet. So when the UK company Homeblown offered to let her test their eco-friendly surfboards she leapt like a salmon at the chance. We caught up with her to get the skinny...

How long have you been worried about the planet?
Being aware and caring for the planet and nature runs in my family. My grandparents were farmers and artisans who raised their five children with their own organic garden and animals in the French countryside. Now I live on Maui, which blends an ocean surfing lifestyle and a town full of greenery. I’m always hiking around tropical forests, waterfalls and coastlines. I started worrying about nature in my teenage years through school. We did beach cleanups, and there was always lots of trash on the side of hidden, smaller roads. I did my final paper in my last year of school on the Kyoto protocol. But the more I grow and discover the more I worry about our planet.

What worries you the most?
Population growth and the decrease of nature, as humans are invading it. And how many people live life without thinking about or being environmentally friendly? How many of us actually maintain or give back to nature and the planet? We can’t stop society but we can improve it.

Why do surfers have a special responsibility to protect the planet?
Surfing is very close to nature, obviously via the ocean. Surfers require swell and waves created by healthy weather patterns, clean waters and beaches to keep healthy bodies. We also need a normal ozone layer so we don’t get fried like fish on a barbeque. Surfers are usually somehow sensitive to nature, especially the weather and wind conditions. Because surfing needs many ingredients to be fun and firing, we need to keep the environment clean, healthy and functioning naturally to be able to live happily. In other words, surfers depend on the planet more than most and feel very close to it.

How did you get involved with Homeblown and their eco board?
Getting involved in this project has been very exciting. It started randomly like many things in life. At the spring 2007 Rip Curl Europe Seminar, a conversation started about what Rip Curl was working on at the time to be more ecological. So, it was pretty interesting to get the news update until someone mentioned something about new materials for surfboards being tested as natural plant related materials. As polite and professional as the place and conversation was, I wanted to say, “STOP, what is this all about?”
After a lot of pestering on the subject, I learnt about a group of scientists in England creating and testing plant and naturally based materials and products to make surfboards. My eyes, mind and heart sparked. Finally the essentials of surfing are really becoming environmental. Not just people trying, talking and acting about other subjects when we all know the what and how of surfboards, wetsuits and etc.

Since I believe this is one of the most impressive things I have seen or heard of in the history, lifestyle and industry of surfing, I kept calling and talking to the people in the project to get me to try a couple of eco boards. Then last summer at the Newquay Boardmasters Pro in England, I got to test the eco boards with Nathan Hedge. The inventors at Homeblown asked our opinions and we entered an eco tag team during the event. Finally the dream was achieved, and I got two of my own eco Boards, in my hands with a big smile! Supposedly I am the first pro surfer to own eco boards, and I got to surf, test and enjoy them in lots of waves in England, France, Portugal, Spain, San Francisco, Maui, Sand beach breaks, Rock breaks, point breaks, reef breaks. I’ve been giving feedback but I don’t have too much to criticise. This is the future!

Why are normal surfboards bad for the planet?
Normal surfboards are created with toxic products, which harm and pollute our planet. Foam, fibreglass, resin needs toxic production, which creates harmful excess wastes, and once a surfboard finishes its life then what… more trash. We’re lucky to have these normal surfboards so we surf well with quality performance but it’s bad for the planet. The nice thing with eco boards is that’ll create a big change, and provide a big choice for shapers and surfers. The goal of eco boards is that shapers, glassers and sanders will work without masks and protection and the excess wastes and surfboards at the end of their life use will be able to be thrown in the backyard for example, because they’re not anymore toxic than today’s fruits and veggies, which are full of pesticides anyway.

Would you advise people to try it?
Yes it doesn’t hurt to try, and it feels good to own something environmental friendly. At last surfing can be environmental friendly!

Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the planet’s future?
I’m optimistic because life will move on no matter how humans influence our planet, but there are also lots of possibilities, solutions and motivated people out there. I also believe every person, rich or poor can make an effort, and every little detail does make a difference for our planet. It doesn’t take much, it takes many, and we are many.

What else does Rip Curl do for the planet?
15 per cent of the summer 2008 range is made from organic cotton. They collect and recycle wetsuits, creating other things with them. Rip Curl and WWF (World Wildlife Foundation) have created Coral Guard, where Rip Curl surfers get together to talk about environmental situations facing the oceans, reefs, coast, and marine life in the area to then bring awareness and understanding to the public. In the offices, computers are turned off, paper is recycled and reused paper, and water is conserved.

For more info on Elise and her Homeblown eco board go to ripcurl.com or homeblown.co.uk

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The Lowdown on Longboarding

October 30, 2008 @ 1:13 PM - Features: Sports

Longboarding not only looks more stylish than a chocolate Labrador hanging out a car window in a pair of Ray Bans, but it also suits our delicate British waves well. Sweet.

Words by: Sam Bleakley

Piano rolling, sax, bass and drums in synch, the trumpet sets loose on a snaking improvisation. The timing is perfect, syncopated, just behind the beat: invention, not imitation. If the pulse of jazz is the ocean swell, then the trumpeter is the longboard surfer improvising against that backdrop, not by stating the obvious, but by creating space through style. Good longboard surfing on 9 feet boards is a mirror of good jazz – the pauses, the tones, the beats, the walk. Most importantly, don’t get fussy – understatement with precise timing always beats flashy overstatement. Smooth flowing longboarders like Californians Joel Tudor and Kassia Meador do not just play the tune straight, but hint at it with sideways glances, subtle intonations, moves away from the beat, long arcing silences punctuated by perfectly timed clusters of blue notes, or just a single shimmering note suspended in space, like hanging ten.

Nose riding is what sets longboarding apart from other forms of surfing. It involves walking up the board in crossed steps to hang five, or role all five toes over the front of the board. The ‘hang ten’ is the defining dance, the finest statement of balance. Similar to riding the tube, time on the nose seems to expand and happen in slow motion. “Noseriding gives you a perfect sensation of weightlessness,” says Australian pro Belinda ‘Bindy’ Baggs. “It reminds me of how a bird rides the back draft of the wind, gliding.”

Bindy and Kassia have been at the forefront of the most stylish movement in contemporary surfing – women’s longboarding. The UK has followed suit, embodied by national longboard champion Grace Davies, from Jersey. As a backlash to the twitchy rock and roll of shortboards, the glide of longboards allow female surfers to be more feminine, flowing with the wave, rather than battling against it and emulating aggressive shortboard moves. The beauty rests in making hard things look easy, linking turns and footwork gracefully. Learning on longboards is considerably easier than short boards because they are more buoyant and stable, making catching waves and balancing easier. But mastering the cross-stepping walk and noseride is just as challenging and rewarding as mastering the shortboard aerial.

Noseriding was invented in 1950s California when all boards were long, and perfected at the long peeling point break of Malibu by Mickey ‘Da Cat’ Dora and Lance Carson. But it was Hawaii-California transplant David Nuuhiwa who took nose riding to its zenith with a grace unmatched until Joel Tudor cat-walked in the 1990s. Nuuhiwa might have won the 1966 World Championships had it not been for Nat ‘The Animal’ Young. The Australian blew everyone away with his aggressive style, carving ‘S’ turns on a revolutionary shorter surfboard. It was a lesson in the future of surfing and heralded the shortboard era. Between 1967 and 1970 while minds expanded, boards contracted from 10 to 6 feet.

The total domination of the hard-to-learn-on shortboard meant the number of new people coming in to surfing slumped. The sport had become quite an elite pastime. Then in the mid 1980s the smoother-riding longboards started to make a return. Strangely, the original shortboard proponent, Nat Young, was at the forefront, this time promoting a fun and fresh style of surfing that was more about using the wave, rather than dominating it. Surfboard shapers were encouraged to perfect a plethora of mid sized boards between 7 and 9 feet, ideal for beginners. Coupled with the growth of the surf school concept, surfing began to boom.

By the 1990s the ‘Longboard Renaissance’ was in full flight. When blonde Californian teenager Joel Tudor was caught on celluloid curling ten toes over the nose surfing’s retro revival was suddenly a hell of a lot more cool. Tudor had the talent and bravado to reformulate the historical references into a unique futuristic style. He was driven to create an artform concentrating on all things longboarding was founded on – nose riding, footwork, trim and smooth style. Before Tudor went on to become a double World Champion he toured Europe with Nat Young and clothing sponsor Oxbow. This inspired charismatic Cornish longboarder Robert ‘Minnow’ Green to start the British Longboard Union contest tour in the mid 1990s. The BLU has created a host of pro longboarders and European Champions, including Chris ‘Guts’ Griffiths and Elliot Dudley from Wales, Will Eastham and Ben Skinner from Newquay and Sam Bleakley from Sennen.

Longboarding is perfectly suited to the small but consistent waves that skirt our cool water coastline, and there are thriving longboard scenes at Saunton and Bantham in Devon and Sennen in Cornwall. Longboarding suits everyone. This is why it’s surfing’s jazz – there are no fixed rules - it’s freeform and expressive. It can be an easy-to-ride reminder of a lost golden era, a minimalist-learning tool for beginners, or a stylish expression for accomplished riders. Longboarding now accounts for half the global surf population, helping to make the line-up way more democratic and unisex.

Minnow has also given a huge amount of energy to raise the profile of the Ladies’ Division at BLU events. Champions Dominique Kent, Louise West, Juliet Marlow, Emma Fitzhenry, Nina Blake, Grace Davies, Candice O’Donnell and Sophie Skinner have been at the heart. “Most people’s opinion of longboarding is that it’s graceful and traditional,” says Cornish lifeguard Louise West. “This is true, but with the variety of board shapes available nowadays, longboarding can be just as progressive and aggressive as shortboarding. When old and new styles are fused together longboarding becomes an extremely exciting and radical sport to participate in and watch.”

Longboard contests, such as the Roxy Jam, promote the more radical style of progressive surfing where nose riding is mixed with big turns. Although inherently anti-competitive these surfers have taken nose riding to new and extreme levels. Their measured walking matches their poise on the nose, never hesitating, always confident they can pull off a variety of hang five and hang tens. The allure of noseriding makes it surfing’s most enduring trick, having taxed surfers for over 50 years.

Before you can ride the nose you must master cross stepping. This is a totally functional way to speed up or slow down your board. Walking is all about overcoming the fear factor and taking your first steps. Lift your back foot over the front in small, soft paces to progress up and down the board. Practice on land or on a long skateboard. Walk – don’t shuffle. Once you can walk, the easiest way to achieve a nose ride is to use the stall. Applying pressure on the back foot to slow down allows the wave to get very steep around you and gets water over the board to hold it and the fin in place – walk to the nose and hang. If you’ve hung five you’ve mastered the Zen paradox of noseriding – applying weight, remaining weightless. If you didn’t get Zen this time, don’t give up – practice. Just watch those clips of Bindy and Kassia. Don’t they look the part?

Next: The Pro Views >>

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London Freeze - Snowboard World Cup

October 27, 2008 @ 2:42 PM - Features: Sports

It has been a great weekend for ski and boarding events. Saturday morning I headed to the Metro Ski Show. The highlights for me were getting advice from Jenny Jones on my Salomon set-up (so going with either the Lark or the Lily Board – TBD). And having the chance to check out the World Resort Village. The boyfriend and I are planning a trip to Japan after hearing tales of immense powder (50ft of powder a season apparently!).

Then onto LG FREEZE at Battersea Power Station for the LG Snowboard FIS World Cup. A weird venue, with the derelict power station in the background, dark, eerie the type of location used for a gangster film. And it is here that the massive ski/snowboard jump in excess of 30-metres high has been constructed! Getting to the top of the jump looked scary enough to me! But the pro’s were pulling 1080s and double back flips, with the Finnish pro Peetu Piiroinen claiming first place in yesterdays immense LG FIS Snowboard World Cup.

The scene was buzzing and it was great to hang out in London with so many like-minded people. I met up with Luc (part of the Gumball family) and we head straight for the bar to see what we can blag. Luc is a pro at this and she gets us two complimentary vodka tonics.

I was well excited for the LG Air Bag Finals; after trialling the LG Air Bag at Milton Keynes and Bracknell, I was keen to see the finals. Alice Blake, (my co-rider) got through to the finals and I was so proud of her as she was the only girl in the competition. At just 16 years old, this was pretty brave as the run was as steep as, and having the pressure of a massive crowd.

I spoke to Alice after and she was buzzing from adrenaline (and one too many Relentless energy drinks!): “That was awesome, the run in felt almost vertical and was icy but I got the McTwists in (front flip with a 360).”

Asking Alice if she was intimidated by being the only girl she said: “No, the competitors were all so encouraging and it was a great atmosphere. You are aware of the crowd until it is your run and then you just focus on your trick.”

Alice won the latest LG phone for being the most daring and best girl. Being the only girl in the finals sealed her a winning status! But, we give her a high five as she beat all the other guys at Milten Keynes to secure herself a place in the finals at this event.

Luc and I then headed to see Trevor Andrew perform, after listening to his tracks time and time again when boarding it was a nice surprise to listen to his gig. We took some fun pictures at the Roxy Booth, checked out the Gumball cars, sampled a Yegameister (it would be rude not to), grabbed a crepe and headed home.

Thanks LG.

Watch all the highlights from London Freeze 2008 here!

Words by: Catherine Peck, Animal and Salomon sponsored rider.

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The British Kitesurfing Queen: Hannah Whiteley

October 22, 2008 @ 8:12 AM - Features: Sports

Hannah Whiteley is currently leading the British Pro Ladies Kitesurfing Grand Prix Freestyle Championship after six rounds. With just one more event to go, taking place this weekend in Brighton, the 16-year-old could be on course to become the youngest person ever to be crowned British Freestyle Kitesurfing Champion. We catch up with Hannah on the eve of her big event to see how she’s handling the pressure…

From: Stockport, England

Have you always loved watersports?
Yes! Before I got into kitesurfing, I was into windsurfing and loved surfing.

How did you get into kitesurfing?
My dad (2007 & 2008 British Senior Freestyle Kitesurfing Champion), got me into it.

How does it differ from surfing or wakeboarding?
The Freestyle competitions which I compete in are very similar to wakeboarding, except you can jump much higher and when you’re not jumping, your edging hard to get back upwind. Kitesurfing boards generally have straps on instead of bindings, so during some tricks you can take your feet out and back in again.

When did you decide to commit yourself to the sport full time?
When I finished my GCSE exams and left school.

How does it feel to be leading the rankings of the British Pro Ladies Kitesurfing Grand Prix Freestyle Championship?
It’s great, I feel like I have really achieved something.

If you win the next event in the BKSA, you’ll be the youngest person ever to be crowned British Freestyle Kitesurfing Champion. That must be quite a lot of pressure?
There is pressure on me to do well, but it’s still pretty relaxed, as long as I do my best I will be happy with my result either way.

How do you prepare for a big competition?
I make sure I’m fully equipped on the beach before any of my heats start with my quiver of different sized JN Prima Donna 2 Kites. If the wind drops off, I use a bigger size kite or if the wind picks up I will use a smaller kite. It’s an advantage to have the right kit to compete on.

Do you still get nervous before a big contest?
Yes, but at the same time I’m really fired up for doing it.

What is the atmosphere like behind the scenes?
Everything’s chilled and friendly. And there are always lots of other things going on like skating, trampolining, etc..!

What are your suitcase essentials when you’re on the road?
Hoodies, hats, bikinis and towels.

Can you give us a run down of your average day?
Wake up, look out of my window to see if the trees are blowing to see if it’s windy enough for kitesurfing. If it’s windy I’ll go and persuade my dad that he really should be out kiting instead of working, so could he please take me to the beach! As we live over an hour away from the coast it’s hard for me to just nip there myself. One way or another I usually manage to blag a lift off someone to the beach for a sesh. I’ll train hard on the water and have loads of fun! Then I’ll come in, pack my kit up and try not to leave anything on the beach! Then it’s the journey home, during which I usually fall asleep! Arrive home, get the hose pipe out and wash all my kit off which results in me getting soaked again! Then have a big slap up meal. Do some sit ups and go to sleep.

And if you could have the perfect day, what would it include?
Waking up on a Caribbean Island to see the sun shining and the wind howling - the perfect kitesurfing conditions! Go out kiting and land every trick beyond my imagination. Come in at sunset, to the feast of all feasts for dinner.

What’s your favourite kitesurfing spot?
Rhosneigr, North Wales - it rocks!!!!

What have been your biggest career setbacks?
Ermm school?! I couldn’t get out kiting at every opportunity.

What have your greatest achievements been so far?
2007 British Amateur Ladies Freestyle Champion. I scored maximum marks at GCSE level in trampolining. In Primary School I broke the school record for 800m running. In 2006 I came 1st in 1500m in the North Area, then went on to come 2nd nationally for my age group.

Who or what are your inspirations?
Everyone out there who is pushing their sport, taking it to the next level!

What affect does your career have on your personal life?
I never have much time to go out and see my friends that don’t kitesurf.

How do you relax when you get the chance?
Slouch out on the sofa watching a movie.

What are your plans for this winter?
I’ll be training in South Africa - I can’t wait!

What are your ambitions for the future?
To train hard, keep enjoying kiting, and go on to compete internationally.

Check out Hannah’s website for further info.

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Brighton’s Girls-Only Surf Club

October 20, 2008 @ 8:31 AM - Features: Sports

Set up by Louise Lawrence in February 2008, Brighton Board Girls (BBG) is the first girls-only surf club in Brighton, and indeed the UK! After breaking up with her surf-mad man, Louise was reluctant to give up her new-found love for wave-riding so fixed up a Facebook group for fellow fans. Now with 150+ in the club, the numbers are growing daily as more girls pluck up the courage to take to the water.

Age: 32

From: The sunny streets of south London (Wimbledon) but moved to Brighton a few years ago. There’s no surf in Wimbledon… obviously!

Have you always loved watersports?
Absolutely. I was swimming before I could walk and my Dad taught me to water-ski in the Channel when I was all of 6 years old. I had great fun with the school and Uni swimming team… I’d like to think I would have made it into the Wimbledon High surfing team but sadly we didn’t have that option! I sucked at run-of-the-mill land sports though, I never understood the appeal of hockey, and netball just wasn’t fast or exciting enough for me. I was far too busy throwing myself off mountains at 14 when I did my first parapente jump, I was bungee jumping at 16 and I was downhill ski racing with the junior British team for most of my teens.

Brighton Board Girls

How did you get into surfing?
I fell in love with a surfer, and then I fell in love with surfing. My love affair with surfing has lasted a lot longer than my love affair with that surfer!

What made you decide to set up a girls-only surf club?
I set the group up back in the beginning of ‘08 after I split with the boyfriend who introduced me to the sport. It was too late – I had become addicted to surfing and everything associated with the sport and there was no way I wanted to give up a sport that I had not only grown to love, but I had also put so much time and effort into learning. I was just about up on my feet, starting to really feel confident out in the waves, and, more to the point, I’d mastered the art of understanding swell charts, tide times and strapping boards down to the roof of my car, so there was definitely no way I was going to give it all up!
I never really saw many other girls in the water down here in Brighton and when I suddenly had to head out to surf alone, I turned into a total wimp and got really nervous. I turned up to surf the West Pier one day but the fear set in as soon as I got there, I felt oddly alone, the wind was howling and I knew I couldn’t carry my board down to the pier alone so I chickened out, came home totally gutted and a few days later I created the Brighton Board Girls through Facebook. The next day I had two members… the next week it had grown to 10… by the end of the month about 25 local girls had found the group and now we’ve got over 100 paid up and active members! I’m so stoked with the club’s success.

Brighton Board Girls

Have you had a good response from the local surf community?
Fantastic. The general response seems to be that it’s great to see so many more girls in the water down here. The real locals here have been so welcoming. A couple of the lads who’ve been here for a few years weren’t that impressed with the club but they warmed to us in the end and it’s all good now.

Did you experience any setbacks when setting up the club?
Not really, though it did take me and Saffron a good few post-surf beers to come up with a catchy name for the club!
I suppose the real setback I’m experiencing is, ironically, keeping up with the success of the club. I work full-time so I find myself doing all of the BBG event organising, website updating, maintaining of the membership database, etc, in the early hours of the morning and also from my BlackBerry at the most random of places!

How did you secure funding?
I blagged, blagged and blagged for freebies! I managed pretty quickly to get Ocean Sports Board Riders on board as the club’s founding sponsor. They were really great helping us to get up and running and contributing to certain costs. Myself and two other founding members put in a little bit of money and then we basically secured funding by charging members £20 per year. Obviously the membership comes with lots of benefits, such as discounted surf trips, fun events throughout the year and loads of amazing discounts at shops and services both locally and nationally that are exclusive to BBG members.

Brighton Board Girls

What have your greatest achievements been so far?
Seeing so many girls out in the Brighton waves now. I’ve been encouraged to hear so many girls saying that they were nervous of going surfing on their own but through BBG they’ve made fellow surfing friends and gained the confidence to head out into the waves. One of the BBG’s wrote me an email recently and she said that thanks to the club she has been given the opportunity to learn to surf with out feeling intimidated. I was really touched by her comment and moments like that make all of the hard work totally worthwhile.
Securing sponsorship from Roxy was pretty special too… now THAT was an exciting day when we got that news!

Can you give us a run down of your average day?
I always get up at first light, whether that’s for a surf, run or swim. Obviously surfing is my first choice but if there are no Brighton waves then I just try to stay fit. I landed my dream job a while back, working as an account manager for A1surf so I basically get paid to talk surf all day – how fantastic is that? A1Surf are really accommodating with their hours. It’s generally an 8:30am until 5pm day with a 2pm finish on Fridays so I pray for timely surf at the end of the week, especially in winter when dawnies and post-work surfs during the week are just so difficult to make. In the summertime I head home and go for a post-work surf or, if it’s flat, I’ll go for a paddle with the girls. In the winter time, it tends to be gym, out with mates or curled up updating the BBG website, armed with a glass of wine!I

And if you could have the perfect day, what would it include?
Surf, sun, clear waters, a perfect mojito and surrounded by very good friends.

Brighton Board Girls

What are your plans for the autumn?
Well, our home break is down at the Southwick Hot Pipes so we’re hosting a fun challenge called the Brighton Board Girls Hot Pipe Masters later on this year and we’ve got some local legends judging the event. Some of the BBG’s are getting their first taste of competitive surfing by entering in the South Coast Champs in Bournemouth in November and by the beginning of December we’ll have the club website even more fully developed to host a members-only forum and allow them to upload their own photos and videos.

Do you have any exciting events or competitions coming up?
Our Winter-Warmer film screenings begin this November and we’re kicking it off with a cinema screening of “One California Day” followed by Roxy’s “Shimmer” which we absolutely love but it just ends up giving all of us the travel bug and making us insanely jealous of all those awesome Roxy team riders! And then we’ve got our mermaid-themed Xmas party coming up on December 11th!
Heading into the New Year, we’ve got a massive BBG quiz night organized which will see the winning team receiving a seriously dream prize (I can’t say what yet, but put it like this, they’ll need to pack their bags!) and then in April 09 we’re off on a BBG surf trip abroad. It’s all happening.

What’s your favourite surf spot?
I absolutely loved surfing out at Les Bordaines in Hossegor this summer but I have to say, there’s nothing quite like surfing your home break, despite the fact we don’t get the best ever surf here on the south-coast. There’s no one single break as each of them vary here, depending on the wind and tide conditions – I do love surfing Brighton’s west pier though. I’m off to Oz this Xmas, so ask me this question in 2009 and my answer will no doubt be very different!

Brighton Board Girls

How do you relax when you get the chance?
I’ve always found it really hard to relax and actually surfing has taught me to chill out a bit more. Bizarrely, boxing and working out actually keep me relaxed the most.

Do you think there will be more girls-only surf clubs cropping up in the future?
Absolutely. There are already a few that have cropped up since the BBG was launched this year. I know for a fact through working at A1 Surf that stats show more and more girls are getting into surfing… that can only be a good thing!

What’s up next for you?
Finding myself a nice fit boyfriend…preferably one who surfs!
During the year we participate in all sorts of fun events such as The Paddle Round The Pier, we’re asked to take part in sports demo’s at Hove Lagoon and Brighton Watersports Office, we organise fundraising events for the club, next year we’ll be shooting a 2010 calender to raise money for the group, we regularly have events with our sponsors Roxy, we organise surf film screenings… always keep an eye on the site to find out what we’re up to.
For next year, priorities are expanding the club so we can afford some serious kit to lend out to the girls, finding some committed people to help me run the club on a long-term basis and, fingers crossed, next year I’d really like to host a stand alone event for UK girl surfers… maybe an inter-club contest sometime in 2009. Any offers…?

For more info, head to the Brighton Board Girls website. Annual membership, including photo ID membership card, bespoke BBG rash top and exclusive BBG car sticker is a bargainous £20.

Images copyright Sean Clark / Underwater Image

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Fixed Gear Cycling

October 18, 2008 @ 11:16 AM - Features: Sports

Fixed gear cycling is de rigeur in global cities such as London, New York and San Francisco. (That’s with no breaks or gears, what’s next no seats or wheels!?) Just try not to crash and if you do, aim for buses and not Grannies...

Couriers aside, road cycling has never really been cool. For too long it’s conjured up images of Dads in unreasonably snug lycra or commuters overloaded with testosterone and neon accessories (though never ‘good’ neon, obviously). For whatever reason road cycling has never embedded itself in our collective conscious the way Choppers, BMXs and, to a certain extent mountain bikes, have. But all of this could be about to change thanks to the popularity of fixed gear cycling in forward-thinking cities such as New York, San Francisco and London.

More commonly called ‘fixies’ these bikes strip riding down to its essence. There are no brakes on the handlebars and there is only one gear. The chain connects directly to the rear cog which in turn is bolted directly onto the back hub. Whenever the bike is in motion the pedals are turning, so coasting is not an option. Braking is by pure muscle power – reverse the pedals to slow down.

Fixed gear bike

It’s an acquired taste and even the basics take a while to master. But just as skateboarding derives a certain purity by being just rider, board and city, so fixed gears too are simply rider, bike and city, and as you are always pedalling you are always in contact with the road. If you’re living in a concrete jungle, riding a fixie is probably the closest you will get to feeling flowing motion, the effortless symbiosis of human and machine.

If the fixed gear scene was created simply by removing brakes and derailleurs – the device which makes multiple gears a reality - then it began with the invention of bikes themselves. Over a century ago, when racing bikes in velodromes took off, fixed gears were favoured for their speed, agility and lack of weight. Having anything attached to the handlebars, such as brakes, could also prove lethal in a crash so bikes were kept as simple as possible.

It was urban cycle couriers who took the fixie onto the streets and created the subculture, which, as with skateboarding and surfing before it, is currently proving so attractive and now attracting interest from the mainstream. Where cycle commuters deck themselves out in day-glo and waterproofs, couriers, with their fashion and ‘opt-out of rat-race’ attitude have long been regarded as the cool cats of the mean city streets. Gap and Nike are a no-no, the brands to wear are SWRVE, Rapha and Harlot.

Fixed gear bike

In San Francisco the mystery of the messenger clique was cemented with the production of MASH: SF an impossibly cool film by Mike Martin and skate director Gabe Morford which focussed on the skill and grace of urban riders. One of the things which comes across in the film is the strength and identity of the fixed gear community. Fixed gear and messenger forums carry lively debates and promises of pints as well as safety campaigns and plans for events. Last year’s World Cycle Messenger Championships took place in Dublin, every year Rollapaluza – a festival of roller-racing and associated cultural shenanigans – hits London town and alley-cat racing (think the racing scene in Grease but on bikes in the city to get the vibe) is rapidly increasing in popularity.

And just as BMXers use the city’s landscape as a playground, so fixed gear riders, when they’ve finished seamlessly cruising through traffic, are gathering to practise their skills with a series of tricks. Track stands – balancing on the pedals, doughnuts – cycling backwards in circles and 180 degree skids may sound like child’s play but they are tough to learn and show a certain amount of commitment to and knowledge of the bike.

Trixie Chix is a London-based collective of around 20 girls who meet once a week to do just that. Despite being only five months old, the Trixie Chix are already making a name for themselves. Roxy Erickson, 29, who is the brains behind the formation of the group said: “We have a team going to the upcoming roller-race and we are so new that about half of us race in the alley-cats in London. We are pretty active and we get involved.”

“When I first started riding there were only about three other girls in the whole of London who rode fixed and they were all messengers so there wasn’t much community feel for me. Trixie Chix is very laid back. We go for rides or practise tricks, play bike polo and sometimes we don’t even leave the pub.”

Fixed gear bike

So why the recent appeal, especially to girls? “There’s something about the fundamental ethic of the fixed gear bike,” muses Debbie Burton whose website minx-girl.com specialises in urban messenger-style cycling clothes. “It has a purpose. It’s really easy to maintain so you don’t have to worry about riding around with loads of tools. But it’s not just about riding bikes, it’s a culture thing and a lifestyle because riding fixed is hard – you’ve got to love it.”

Plus there’s a growing amount of people wanting to channel that cycle courier chic, “I have always thought cycle messengers are so cool, their fashion, layers, skinny trousers, caps, looks good off and on the bike. If you’re a messenger it says something about you – you’re independent, not a follower,” she says. Certainly there seems to be an unspoken bond between riders. Eschewing brakes and gears marks you out as something of a purist, a response to the suspension forks, disc brakes and multiple cogs of mountain bikes which have been the bike of choice for many years.

But is there a possibility that the scene is too hip for its own good? If you bought a fixed gear bike new (warning: this is frowned upon – bikes should be built up and customised to be truly cool) the starting price is around £400 and custom builds can go way past the £1,000 mark.

“Demand has gone up about 1500 per cent,” jokes Patrick Trainor at Evans Cycles. “We now sell 15 different bikes from 10 different manufacturers and it’s become a much bigger part of what we sell as a company.” In other words, Tom, Dick and Sally want a piece of the hipster action, as was the case with skateboarding, snowboarding and just about every other burgeoning sub-culture, and such try-hard involvement can threaten the essence of the scene.

Fixed gear bike

“I became addicted to my fixie before there ever was a hipster scene,” says Roxy. “I welcome that but this ‘tres chic’ attitude has almost created two different scenes now. Fixed gears are great because they are easy to maintain and in London you don’t need a geared bike. Simple as that. Using a fixed in San Francisco with all those hills seems ridiculous to me.” The blogger NYC Bike Snob is comically scathing about the inappropriateness of riding fixed gear bikes in urban areas, and he especially enjoys slating Bianchi Pista riders.

The ever-increasing mainstream appeal of fixies also throws up some interesting safety issues. Without the necessary skill, riding without brakes could be lethal. A court case in Portland, Oregon in 2006 highlighted the backlash when messenger Ayla Holland was fined for allegedly not having a brake on her bike. And writing on the Treehugger website Lloyd Alter caused a stir by saying that although we needed more people on bikes for a greener world “surely don’t we also need safer bikes with brakes?”

Debbie Burton says, “You have to really be into bikes to understand the grace of riding fixed and yes beginners on fixies on the road can be annoying. But if what it takes to get people riding bikes is that they are into it because they are having a fashion moment, then that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

Fixed gear bike

Where to get me a fixed gear bike...

Fixed gear bikes are, at the moment, very much a London thing so if you want an off-the-peg model check out the Charge Plug chargebikes.com or the Bianchi Pista evanscycles.com and of the course the ubiquitous Condor condorcycles.com. While the Specialised Langster is ever-popular it is not really a purist’s machine. Most bikes come with a flip-flop hub – one side is fixed, the other a singlespeed which means you still only have one gear but you can coast – a good way of breaking yourself in gently.

For a more original build head to Brick Lane Bikes who specialise solely in fixed gears. Their prices start at £400 but include more quirky details like wide, colourful rims and bull horn bars. We also love lock-7.com and velorution.biz who both stock stylish and unusual bikes including fixed gear bikes.

Fixed gear bike

The web also has some good deals. fixedgearlondon.com will build you up a bike if you get in touch and the prices vary depending on what you have.

If you don’t feel up to building your own bike from scratch then try converting one. You will need horizontal dropouts – the bit on the rear forks which connect the axle to the frame – then the rest is pretty simple. Remove the un-needed sprockets and components, select the front chain ring for an agreeable ratio, switch the back sprocket from a coast-able freewheel into a track sprocket, re-space the rear axle so the chain is aligned, check the rear wheel is centred and put on a new chain. The best website for step-by-step instructions is sheldonbrown.com

Watch the Mash San Francisco trailer here!

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LG Freeze Air Bag Tour

October 15, 2008 @ 12:43 PM - Features: Sports

LG Freeze Air Bag Tour made it’s latest stop at Sno!zone, Milton Keynes on Thursday 9th and Friday 10th October. The riders got to practice their new tricks at MK secure in the knowledge that they would have the comfort of landing of the LG Air Bag – awesome.

To celebrate LG’s sponsorship of the FIS Snowboard World Cup, LG have set up an Air Bag Tour around some of the UK’s top snow slopes. This is leading up to their big event, the FSO4 Freeze sponsored by LG, set to take place at London’s at Battersea Power Station from 23-26 October. Here - for the first time ever - the world’s best skiers and snowboarders will be heading to the capital to compete at Big Air on a 17metre-high real snow jump.

Back to MK… And as I stand at the top waiting for my first run in; I can feel my heart pounding. Excited and nervous, I ask my friend Neil for some advice. He suggests keeping my legs strong but relaxed and to get as much speed as you can. I have experienced the Air Bag a few times before so I know what to expect; massive air and a comfy landing, but my heart is still pounding!

I straight line it into the kicker, keep legs fairly strong, pop off the jump, do a sketchy nose grab and scream as I realize just how high I am! 1/10 for style; 10/10 for effort!

After a few hits most riders at MK were brave enough to take the opportunity to throw either front or back flips. Alice shouts on my 2nd run in, “do the front flip,” I shout back, “mate, I am aiming to master not screaming this time!”

Having the opportunity to experience such a big kicker you realize how much strength you need to keep control of your body. I was struggling to keep together in the air and definitely struggling to pull a sweet trick. Riding up a big kicker requires a lot of core strength.

Experiencing big kickers makes me admire our pro rider, Dom Harrington even more. The skill and strength that is required to pull either a backside or frontside nine over big kickers is impressive. Our pros are true athletes.

LG are offering the riders a great practice and the Air Bag brings your riding on no end. When you come back to trying your trick that you have practiced on the Air Bag but now on a smaller kicker it feels easy and your opinion of what a big kicker is has changed dramatically.

Thanks LG!

Still time to (safely) get your big air hits…

To participate at one of the LG Air Bag nights you just need to pre-register at londonfreeze.com, sign your disclaimer (of course), and prepare yourself for some serious adrenaline. You should be able to get at least four or five hits at the Air Bag and as long as you can ski or board confidently in a straight line from the top of the slope (as you need speed) then you should try it.

Remaining LG Air Bag Tour Dates;
• Wed 15th Oct – Sno!zone, Castleford
• Thurs 16th Oct - Sno!zone, Castleford
• Fri 17th Oct – John Nike Ski Center, Chatham
• Sat 18th Oct – Snowdome, Tamworth
• Sun 19th Oct _ Snowtrax, Bournemouth
• Mon 20th Oct – Ski and Snowboard Center, Bracknell
• Tues 21st Oct – Ski and Snowboard Center, Bromley

Watch the pros over the 17m high big air jump at FSO4 Freeze sponsored by LG from 23rd to 26th Oct at Battersea Power Station, London.

If you fancy a couple of free tickets, enter our competition now!

Words by: Animal and Salomon sponsored rider Catherine Peck
Pics by: Wilf Turnbull

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Bye Bye Beachley

October 11, 2008 @ 8:11 AM - Features: Sports

Layne Beachley says goodbye to professional surfing...

Layne Beachley, 7 x World Surfing Champ, announced yesterday that she is retiring from professional surfing at the end of the 2008/09 season. Bryony McCormick gives you the run down…

Sometimes when I am on deadline, I find myself staring into the space beyond my computer screen and reminiscing about days gone by. I think about my childhood and remember climbing trees in the back yard and watching Kelly Slater surf through the piers on Baywatch. I remember eating fish fingers in a blue plastic bowl for lunch and the smell of my pre-school blankie. And then I think about Layne Beachley.

So, she’s not that old, but she has been around for a while. Layne first went pro at the tender age of 16, which back in the late Eighties was considered ‘a big thing’, and kicked off her professional career by winning her first event in 1993. She won her first World Title in 1998, and has since proven herself to be renowned as one of the worlds greatest female surfers, incidentally gathering a heap of titles, World Titles and accolades along the way.

More than that, Layne has single-handedly helped to transform the sport of women’s surfing over the last two decades, by revolutionising the way the world sees women’s surfing as a profession and an art. She has helped to introduce the much-appreciated respect and recognition that women deserve and in doing so, has built her own empire and reputation in the process. Through her achievements and continued dedication, training and hard work, Layne has proved to all those I’m-a-man-and-better-than-you male surfers out there that women have a worthy place on the Tour, in the media and most importantly, in the line up. With her involvement in movies like Blue Crush and Step into Liquid, she has promoted the sport beyond the boundaries that have kept it such in such a niche in the past.

Apart from her seemingly inhumane surfing achievements, Layne has spread her ambition across different platforms too. She started her project company, the Aim for the Stars Foundation, in her home country of Australia in 2003, which was created with the aim to inspire Australian athletes and in particular women to dream and achieve. When describing the Foundation, she explains that her personal struggles and hardships faced in her professional surfing career have given her the experience, that once transformed into knowledge and advice, can help people in similar positions achieve their dreams. She also has her own brand, Beachley Athletics, and sponsors her own event on the world tour, The Beachley Classic, offering one of the most generous prize purses on the entire circuit. Most recently, Layne has released her own biography called Beneath the Waves, and in it opens up to the world and surfing community. She talks about how she dealt with personal issues, like finding out she was an adopted child and was in fact conceived through rape. Pretty heavy if you ask me. She talks about the tour, working to provide for herself and in the end, achieving her dreams. It’s about climbing over obstacles and letting go of the past.

Currently lying 3rd on the tour, Layne made the official announcement yesterday, saying that she was retiring from Professional Surfing as of the end of the season. When asked by an ASP representative as to why now, especially when she is lying 3rd on the tour and performing at her best, she commented that: “I am an all-or-nothing kind of girl and to achieve the goals I set for myself in surfing, I have to give it my all and I’m not. It doesn’t mean that I can’t win world titles, but my priorities are beginning to shift and my focus and my passion in business and charity work and my ambassador roles is beginning to have more appeal to me than competing for a living.”

It will be sad to say goodbye to such an inspiring woman, although Layne will always remain an active figure in women’s surfing and on the tour. By bowing out she is simply opening the door for the future of women’s surfing. In her own words, she has “instilled hunger and passion into the future generations of female competitive surfing coming up through the ranks. I know Steph (Gilmore) looks at me and wants what I got. It was Lisa Andersen before me that gave me the motivation to become seven-times ASP Women’s World Champion. That kind of drive and dedication that it takes to be a champion is the legacy I think I am leaving behind and it’s something I’m very proud of.”

Words: Bryony McCormick

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Freestyle Nights: A peek into the UK snowdome scene

October 09, 2008 @ 7:24 AM - Features: Sports

SNO!zone, Xscape, Milton Keynes (MK)

Every Thursday and Friday evening and the first Saturday of the month, the MK Sno!zone has eager shredders queuing round the block. The reason? Their now legendary freestyle nights, where the indoor snow slope hosts different park set-ups every week; consisting of kickers, rails, boxes and pipes. Whether you’re a budding beginner or a seasoned slope-rider, the Sno!zone welcomes all ages and abilites through it’s doors.

freestyle

The freestyle nights are all about pushing your riding skills to the limit. It’s common to see back flips going down, 720s, rail slides and a groups of girls pushing the tricks to a new level. For those who are a little more unseasoned on the slopes, freestyle coaching is available every Thursday evening, and the Pink Sessions (for ladies only) run on the last Thursday of every month.

I, along with many others, have got addicted to the adrenaline hit of the park nights. A few people have asked me how long it takes to get there; I cringe when I think about it. At best I can do it in two-and-a-bit hours, but at the worst it can take up to three hours. It’s a long journey experienced every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night but I am not alone in making the pilgrimage. Many other regulars are driving crazy distances to get their hit of fake snow, including Animal-sponsored skier James Webb who has his dad drive him across the country several times a week so he can practice his awesome tricks!

freestyle

When you consider the distance combined with the risk, you would think it would reduce the demand, but in fact the UK indoor boarding scene is booming. It provides British riders with a mix of punishment (as it is a constant reminder of the mountains that we are missing), but also a relief to have a training ground and a place to hang out with like-minded people.

Young riders are hooked to the freestyle nights, with kids wanting to fine tune their skills with a view to making a career in something that they love. Young riders Alice, Emily and Sophie, all 16, are focused on getting sponsored and competing at the Brits next year. They are pushing it hard every week and their progress is rapid; they have no fear, and are all fit, competitive and ambitious which all equals great results.

freestyle

I smiled to myself recently when I heard one of the sponsored kids explain to his friend how to do a 360, “just turn your head and keep looking for the bar.” That was all the instructions needed and off he went over the kicker looking for the bar! This is why kids progress so fast! Progression is also made all the quicker by the fact that we have rails, boxes, pipes and kickers so you can hit four obstacles in one run, then it’s just a quick button lift back to the top to try the tricks again.

So what pushes me every week to learn a new trick, and then step it up on bigger rails, pipes and kickers? I have a well paid job, extra work through my modeling and a love for a few tame sports. Why risk my enjoyment by pushing it every week? But taking risks and pushing myself outside my comfort zone is what I thrive on. I guess the average Cooler reader would congratulate the idea!

freestyle

Come and check the scene. Either join the jibber/skater style with the skinny pants around your legs flaunting your coolest boxers, or join the baggy pants nailing the kickers. Or just come wearing your finest threads from 1980s - no-one cares, we’re just all having fun.

So why not check it…

SNO!zone, Xscape, Milton Keynes
Freestyle nights: every Thursday and Friday - 7pm until 11pm
Freestyle coaching by the Sno!academy: every Thursday night
Girls-only freestyle coaching: last Thursday of the month

Call 0871 222 5670 to book your spot!

Words by: Animal and Salomon sponsored rider Catherine Peck
Photos by: Wilf Turnbull

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Surf Sensation: Shauna Ward Interview

October 07, 2008 @ 10:54 AM - Features: Sports

Shauna Ward, 21, grew up surfing her home break of Bundoran, Ireland. Now she’s on the Vans surf team and taking the contest circuit by storm. We catch up to chat about the holy trinity of surf, sleep and stretch...

Have you always loved watersports?
Yes, I learned to swim before I could walk, I loved the water when I was a kid.

How did you get into surfing?
My dad brought myself and three brothers to the beach all the time to surf when we were growing up.

When did you decide to commit yourself to surfing full time?
When I was 15 years old, I made it into the Irish Junior surf team for the first time and went on to win a bronze medal at Eurosurf.

Do you consider yourself to be an adrenaline junkie?
No not really, I definitely enjoy getting the adrenaline pumping but I wouldn’t say I’m a junkie!

Can you give us a run down of your average day?
Not really - all my days are very different, on a really good day it would be surf, eat, sleep, surf, eat, sleep and so on…and maybe a bit of partying in there too!

Shauna Ward

What are your plans for this autumn?
Plans for the next wee while is a trip to Madeira, to compete on the BPSA Triple Crown. It’s the first time they have a women’s event at Thurso - the wave looks amazing.

What’s your favorite surf spot?
Lakei pipe.

How do you prepare for a big competition?
Sleep, rest, stretch, eat well and surf as much as possible leading up to it.

What is the atmosphere like behind the scenes?
You can see the good and bad parts of people in and around competition so it’s an interesting place to be.

You must travel a lot: what are your suitcase essentials?
I always pack as light as I can so it’s the bare essentials for me: boards, suit, wax, blue-tac, music…

Shauna Ward

What have your greatest achievements been so far?
Becoming Irish Champ, British University Champ and getting 19th spot in the World Surf Championships. I also managed to get a 1st class honors degree along with a three year sports scholarship at University of Ulster, which was quite an achievement.

Who or what are your inspirations?
Good people with positive attitudes.

What affect does your career have on your personal life?
Surfing doesn’t have a damaging effect on my personal life - it enhances it if anything.

How do you relax when you get the chance?
Party! And taking time to chill out with my mates.

What’s up next for you?
A nice cup of tea.

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Snow Cinema: this season’s best snow movie teasers

September 30, 2008 @ 7:52 AM - Features: Sports

If you’ve read our insider’s guide to this season’s best all-girl shred films (in the latest issue of Cooler, on sale now!), then take a peek at these visual treats.

See What I See Trailer
From rider-born Runway Films, See What I See, the follow up to 2007’s La La Land, is a unique piece of snowboard cinema, which showcases the most progressive women’s riding on the planet. Filmed in HD and Super 8, the influential crew charge across the globe, from gnarly backcountry steeps to behemoth park booters, and stylish powder slashes to ridiculously technical rails. This is the best ladies shred flick ever.

Oakley Uniquely Trailer
The first women’s only surf, skate, snow and wake film, Uniquely is a beautifully shot, HD masterpiece, directed by John Roderick of Float fame, with motion graphics by Chris Hewitt. Shot with RED, an advanced new camera technology developed by Oakley, the riding is cutting edge too. Featuring the talents of Marie-France Roy, Chanelle Sladics, Anne-Flore Marxer, Gretchen Bleiler, Angeli Vanlaanen, Elena Hight, Amber Wing, Lauren Perkins, Lynz Adams Hawkins, Claudia Goncalves, Karina Petroni, and many more on some of the finest slopes and waves around the globe.
Amazingly Uniquely is free in the next issue of Cooler, on sale November 27th 2008. To guarantee your copy and your eternal happiness, subscribe to the mag!

Samantha Bruce Interview

September 19, 2008 @ 12:03 PM - Features: Sports

Sam Bruce

Sam Bruce, 20, is one of the UK’s top skater girls. We chat about her trajectory to success, from hanging out in car parks causing trouble to getting sponsored and blitzing the skate contest scene.

Age: 20

From: London, UK

How did you get into skating?
I first properly got in to skating when I moved homes. I didn’t do much besides hang out in car parks and cause trouble, then one day I spotted a skate park round the corner from my house and there was a skate comp happening there. I sat about and watched it from start to finish. It was amazing! It really inspired me. So the next day at school told my best friend and she got me a £20 skateboard from Argos for Christmas. Custom built with plastic wheels and abec ‘Germany’ bearings! Then I just rode it up and down the streets before taking it to the skate park to drop in, then it just progressed and took off from there.

When did you decide to commit yourself to the skating full time?
I got sponsored by Gallaz shoes a year into skating but at that time I wasn’t really sure what sponsorship was all about. So I just skated around and did my own thing. Then Vans offered to sponsor me and the following year they asked me to be on the official team.
Sam Bruce
So I suppose about three years in it all got a bit official. But now I’ve started travelling off to other countries to go skate and enter comps, and six years in, it’s amazing! I went away to my first European comp earlier this year and there have been a lot more female comps cropping up in the UK in 2008. I’ve got my eyes set on more international comps next year.
I haven’t as yet decided to commit myself to becoming a full-time skater as I have other commitments such as paying the tax man! Skating doesn’t really pay the bills and I wouldn’t say I take it seriously, but I always have fun when I go out for a push. The only serious side about being sponsored is making sure you get media coverage and making sure you promote the brands that look after you, meaning wearing their shirts and shoes and stuff. I just fit it in around my social and work life really but it’s always a lot of fun, especially when travelling is involved!

Did you find it pretty hard to break into a male-dominated sport?
It’s had its ups and downs. I’ve always been a bit of a tomboy and so have always got on better with males than females, so the socializing and meeting new people side of it was fine. The older skaters were really welcoming and when I first started skating they were really supportive of me and helped me to learn a lot of stuff. Whereas the younger kids who were my age were fun to skate with, but at the same time were a bit two-faced about me being a skater too. I got quite a lot of stick for coming first at my local skatepark competition in the early years of skating and the boys put it down to me being a girl and couldn’t accept that I had simply worked hard and progressed. They were just being competitive boys about the whole ordeal! I must admit that there were some rough patches along the way with some of the kids I skated with giving me a tough time - I just put it down to envy and jealousy and got on with it.

Sam Bruce

Do you consider yourself to be an adrenaline junkie?
At times I do. I find myself loving it when I’ve just landed a sketchy trick or had a near death experience and making it out in one piece. That just gives you such a buzz! It’s just the fear of hurting myself which has stopped me from turning in to a junkie, which I suppose in its own way is a good thing, Otherwise I’d be wheeling myself about in a wheelchair rather than a skateboard.
But I am very laid back. In fact a little too laid back. As much as I love skating, It still scares the hell out of me! Skating too fast, skating big ramps and all the things that I thought I would have grown out of by now are still pretty intimidating. It does feel amazing when you land a gnarly trick or if you’ve just cheated death though. On those occasions I just want to do it all again! It sends a buzz through my body!

MORE>>

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Big Friday Oakley Girls Surf Weekend

September 15, 2008 @ 12:14 PM - Features: Sports

Boys boys boys. They’re everywhere. At work, on the tube, even at home taking up the sofa. And they can often be found crowding the surf spots of Britain and bragging about the size of their boards. For us girls it can be daunting to join the line up with a bunch of guys, especially when you’re a beginner and liable to fall flat on your face.

Which is why, when I came across the Oakley Girls Surf Weekends, I signed up straight away. Organised by Big Friday, London’s surf break specialists, they provide the opportunity for city girls to head down to the coast and hit the waves, with some yoga, pampering and the odd cocktail thrown in for good measure.

Having zoomed down from Hammersmith to Newquay the previous evening in the Big Friday ‘surf bus’, we woke on Saturday morning in our spa hotel to stunning views of Fistral Beach and some decidedly British summer weather. Undeterred, we limbered up with a morning yoga session to get us in the right frame of mind. Our instructor, Mara has been surfing for years and explained to me why the two disciplines compliment each other so well. “In surfing you need balance, flexibility and co-ordination, everything that yoga can teach you,” she says. “It also helps you stay calm, and I find that the more relaxed you are when you enter the water, the more waves you catch.”

Big Friday

I was going to need all the help I could get on that score, and the session definitely loosened up my stiff, desk bound muscles. Our next stop was the Quicksilver and Roxy Surf School to get kitted out. Mark Farrell who runs the school, has noticed a sharp rise in the number of women taking up surfing in the past few years. Nearly 70% of his lesson bookings in the last month were made by women, which Mark puts down to the sport’s increasing accessibility: “Surfing is a lot easier to do these days, we’re right on the beach and have got all the facilities here. Gone are the days when you had to trek for miles to find the best beaches.”

He certainly had a point, as a mere five minutes later we down on the beach practising that elusive surf move, the perfect pop up. Our instructor Nat had a girl-friendly technique which doesn’t rely so much on upper body strength, and it made all the difference. Soon we were wobbling to our feet out in the white water, and after several spectacular falls, I even managed to stand up and put in a turn. My fellow surfettes cheered me on and despite the rain, we were all absolutely loving it.

After all that effort, it was time to pop back to the hotel for a jacuzzi and sauna to ease our aching muscles. That evening conversation flowed easily over cocktails as we recounted our afternoon’s triumphs and disasters. Despite our group being mostly strangers, there was a great sense of camaraderie which seems to be main reason why girls only surf breaks are becoming so popular. “I think girls are a lot more supportive of each other when they’re surfing” says Kate Czuzman, co-founder of Big Friday. “When they’re in the water there seems to be a lot more interaction, whooping and helping each other along, so I think this a good environment for girls to help them feel less intimidated.”

Big Friday

The view from my window the next morning showed clearer skies and a 2ft clean swell, perfect for learners. At least 20 decent surfers, mostly blokes, were in the water by the time we got down to the beach but I didn’t feel daunted. We were all in this together, and I was able to admire the local talent (for their surfing skills obviously) rather than feel intimidated by them. Afterwards there was just time for a slap up lunch overlooking the beach, before we all bundled onto the bus and headed back up to London in time for last trains and buses.

I’ve always felt that having a good mix of guys and girls in a group brings out the best in everyone. Yet the great thing about just being with the girls, means that you don’t have to worry about competing or comparing yourself with guys who’ve been doing it since they were knee high. So if you’re wanting to get away from all that noise and smell (the city obviously, not the blokes) and just have a blast, then a girls surf weekend could be just the ticket.

Watch the highlights of the trip here!

Big Friday provide great surf weekends for anyone who wants to wave goodbye to the city and make the most of their time off. Their popular Girls Surf Weekends with Oakley are held in Cornwall and Northern Spain and run all summer until November. For more information go to www.bigfriday.com

Words, images and footage by: Juliette Dyke

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Zoe Gillings Interview

September 02, 2008 @ 7:37 AM - Features: Sports

The British snowboarding sensation Zoe Gillings is gearing up for a busy winter season. We chat rehab, role models and leaping out of planes...

Age: 23

From: Isle of Man

How did you get into snowboarding?
I started skiing when I was three years old and then got pretty bored of it by the time I was 10. By that time my elder brother was snowboarding and I wanted to try it as a bit of a challenge… I got hooked and I’ve only skied for about a week in total since then!

When did you decide to snowboard full time?
When I was 16 I decided I wanted to go and do a full winter season with a coach, so - with my parents help - we found one and I spent the winter out in Canada with him. I came on leaps and bounds that season!

Do you consider yourself to be an adrenaline junkie?
Yeah, I am totally an adrenaline junkie! I am currently trying to get a deal on my first sky dive (tandem of course).

Can you give us a run down of your average day?
In the summer I spend about three hours in the gym and spend the rest of my time doing sports psychology work, with the physiotherapist or doing e-mails and stuff. In the winter I will be training on snow for about 4-5 hours then in the gym in the afternoon, in the evening I will try and get some down time and then an early night.

And if you could have the perfect day, what would it include?
I would love to go somewhere where you could go snowboarding in the morning then surfing in the afternoon.

What are your plans for this summer?
I am based in Bath for most of the summer but in September there is a World Cup in Argentina which I will be going to - I’m really looking forward to that.

Zoe Gillings

Where is your favourite spot?
I like Valle Nevado in Chile, I may be a bit biased on that one though because every time I go there I do well in the competition!

How do you prepare for a big competition?
Train, train and train some more!

Do you still get nervous before a big contest?
Yeah I get super-nervous. I have a lot of breathing and visualization routines I can do to control my nerves so they don’t affect me in a negative way. If I am ever not nervous for a competition, I will get very worried.

What is the atmosphere like behind the scenes?
It’s pretty friendly really. Most people go into their own little world to prepare just before their run but most of the time everyone is chatting and pretty chilled.

What are your suitcase essentials when you’re on the road?
They would have to be a spare fold-up bag in case my board bag weighs over 32K because no matter what the airline rules are or how much money you spend on excess baggage, no airline will take a bag over 32K. A book. One of those blow up C shaped pillows. My laptop and earphones for watching movies. A hoodie with a big hood so I can cover my eyes with it and sleep (Nike of course). Also a piece of advice: if you ever go around the world, go west, the jet lag is way better going west than it is going east.

Describe your personal style...
Baggy with loads of bright colours which is what the new Nike Women collection, called ‘Her Favourites’ is all about – mixing and matching bold, contrasting colours to create your own favourite style.

Can you tell us a bit more about your involvement with the Nike ‘Here I Am’ campaign?
Zoe Gillings
I am one of the ambassadors of the campaign and what we are trying to do is get more women in the UK into sport. As part of the campaign I am trying to get the message out there that sport is fun, it’s not just a guy thing. You can be a girly and do sport too! It has many benefits other than the obvious physical benefits: after a good session or game your head feels way better and if you’re stressed it can be a great way to empty your mind for a while and give it a rest while your body does all the work. One of the things I am encouraging girls to do is to look at the wide range of sports there are - there are thousands of them so it’s worth having a look around. I guarantee you will find one you like.

What have been your biggest career setbacks?
I shattered my foot into loads of little pieces back in 2005 and was told I would never snowboard again, I didn’t listen and went through eight months of rehab before getting back on a board. It still bothers me now if I ride or walk for a long time but I am doing what I want to be doing and a little pain isn’t going to stop me.

What have your greatest achievements been so far?
Winning the World Cup in Chile 2005, and getting to the Winter Olympics in Turin in 2006 just 11 months after breaking my foot. Another highlight was finishing 7th in the world last season after not having a coach for half the season.

Who or what are your inspirations?
Muhammed Ali once said: “make the days count, don’t count the days”.

What affect does your career have on your personal life?
Because I am traveling around a lot it does make it quite difficult to keep in touch with friends but on the other hand I have met loads of cool people along my travels.

How do you relax when you get the chance?
When I am in the UK I like to go to the cinema, if I am away my favorite thing to do is chill out in the team apartment with the other guys watching a movie or playing cards.

What’s up next for you?
I am at the first World Cup in Argentina in September then the season starts properly in December. This season I have the World Championships as well as about seven World Cups and the X Games. It’s gonna be busy!

Watch Zoe in action here!

Action photo by: Yves Garneau

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Park Life: The Ultimate Outdoor Workout

August 30, 2008 @ 3:01 PM - Features: Sports

If the thought of pounding a treadmill at the gym gets you as excited as a grey sky of drizzly rain, panic not. We have an outdoor workout that you can do anywhere. It’s super-easy and guaranteed to make you feel good or your money back (umm… only joking about that last part).

Devised by: Nike Fitness Athlete Jane Wake
Photography by: Glen Burrows

Outdoor Workout

Whatever your sport, it’s good to play. Not just to increase your strength and energy levels but because people who play sports have more confidence, lower stress levels and even better brain function. If your sport also has that edge to get your adrenaline and endorphins pumping, you can feel the buzz for days. By using the streets, parks and fields around you two to five times a week for just 30-45 minutes, depending on how lazy you are, you can stay strong in body and mind all year round. Plus you’ll improve your surfing, riding, skiing, mountain biking or whatever else you love to do.

Your activities have kindly been divided into three sections, and sections 1 (cardio) and 2 (strength) can be done together or on alternate days, but finish each session with section 3 (holistic).

Always start with a warm up. This basically means doing the activity at a low intensity where you start to feel your heart rate go up, muscles warmed and brain engaged. Always finish by warming down, lowering your intensity gradually – section 3 is designed as a cool down.

1. CARDIO
Cardiovascular (heart and lung) activities increase your energy levels so that the next time you’re on the snow or surf you’ll feel able to keep going for hours and hours.

Energy bursts
Increases your sprint ability, stamina, agility and co-ordination, plus burns loads of calories.

Outdoor Workout

What you need: A skipping rope, stop watch.

How you do it
• Warm up slowly, jogging for 5-8 minutes
• Skip for 30 seconds
• Count and record the number of skips you do
• Rest for 30 seconds
• Repeat but this time for 45 seconds
• Rest for 45 seconds
• Repeat the 30 seconds as before
• Continue to repeat for at least 6 bursts
• Jog slowly for 3-5 minutes to warm down
• Finish with your holistic moves.

To progress: Increase the number and length of each burst.

Your alternative: Mark 20 metres (20 big steps) apart using the lines on a court or put out makeshift markers such as water bottles. Then run as fast as you can from marker to marker in 30 and 45 second bursts as above.

How often: 1-3 x a week.

Stamina Builder
Increases stamina, leg strength and burns loads of fat.

What you need: Open space with steps, low walls or benches, stop watch.

Outdoor Workout

How you do it
• Warm up slowly, jogging for 5-8 minutes
• Now break into a run for 3 minutes
• Find the nearest step, 10-20 cm from the ground and run up and down, 30 seconds left foot first, then 30 seconds right foot first
• Jog for 3 minutes
• Slow to a walk, taking giant steps and bending at the knees, torso upright
• Start to lunge with each step, alternating right and left, 20 times
• Break into a run for 3 minutes
• Find the nearest low wall or bench 30-50cm high and take big steps up and down, 30 seconds left foot first, then 30 seconds right
• Jog for 3 minutes
• Warm down by walking for 3-5 minutes
• Finish with your holistic moves.

To progress: Treat as a circuit and repeat.

Your alternative: Instead of step ups use natural hills or run up flights of stairs, and instead of lunges do repeated jumps over low logs and benches, shrubs and plants.

How often: 1-3 x a week

Next: Strength

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Because of Snowboarding

August 26, 2008 @ 7:24 AM - Features: Sports

Get stoked for the upcoming winter season with Burton’s new Because of Snowboarding series.

These video snippets showcase some of the world’s finest female riders shredding the globe’s best slopes in search of the perfect powder. And we have gathered them all here for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy…

Watch more Because of Snowboarding episodes on Mpora TV >>

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Mpora TV Presenter Contest

August 24, 2008 @ 7:49 AM - Features: Sports

A few weeks ago, we launched our contest to find a talented new presenter for Mpora TV.

Our winner will become a roving reporter for Mpora TV. We will send you to the latest events where you’ll be covering the goings-on, taking a peek behind the scenes and chatting to the best from the boardsports world.

Here are our pick of the top five entries so far...

The Beginner’s Guide to Longboarding

August 22, 2008 @ 7:17 AM - Features: Sports

The Answer is a Long One...

Words by: Caroline Nieuwenhuis
Photos by: Matthew Griffiths and Paul Nieuwenhuis

longboarding

My knees were covered in cuts and bruises and my jeans were ripped to shreds. I had finally accepted that I simply wasn’t cut out for skateboarding. In the five years that I had owned skateboards, my body simply refused to progress to any tricks past an ollie. As the five-year-olds skated rings round me, twirling and popping on their boards with ease, I decided it was time for a change.

It was not until last summer when I took a trip to Southern California that this miraculous change would take place. I was sitting in Santa Monica, sipping my way through ‘Snapple’ when something caught my eye. A tall man in a business suit went flying by, almost hovering motionless above the sun-beaten ground. Something about the way in which he was moving attracted me enough to stare at him disappearing into the distance. It wasn’t until he had disappeared that I learned he was riding a longboard. His body seemed to flow with the board like a gentle wave lapping the shore, without even breaking a sweat. This was something I just had to try for myself.

After doing some longboarding research on the web, I learned that they were originally based around surfboards. This gave surfers something to do when there was no surf. I decided to take myself along to the home of surfing, Santa Cruz. It didn’t take me long to pick out an elegant-looking longboard that didn’t break the bank. It was a ‘Sector-9’ board that sat proudly on bright yellow wheels, decorated with a curling wave sparkling in the sun. Even if I never managed to ride it properly, at least it would look nice on my bedroom wall! I took myself and my board to a nearby car park where I would introduce myself into the world of longboarding.

longboarding

Standing on it couldn’t have felt more different to a skateboard. This board was soft and springy and turned with the slightest of movements. As I pushed off for the first time, I felt the power and freedom straight away that I had seen flowing through the man in the suit. I felt as if I was flying above the trees and shops, shooting through tunnels of waves on the pacific and I was still in a carpark! I couldn’t help thinking that everyone should put down their skateboards and hop on a longboard to share the experience. Why wasn’t this a mode of transport worldwide? Within minutes I had got the hang of riding my longboard and took to the streets of Santa Cruz, flowing through the town under the beating sun.

During my time in California I longboarded along the beach in Pacific Grove, through the city of San Diego and straight down Sunset Blvd, becoming more and more at ease with my longboard.

Arriving back home in Cardiff, Wales, I took to the streets on my new best friend. As I flew by, people would stop and stare, with cries of ‘What’s that?’ and ‘Nice board!’ hollered my way every couple of blocks. As I weaved in and out of the skateboarders, they too would stop in their tracks, sweat dripping off their faces and blood dripping down their legs from bails and falls.
I have now been longboarding along the streets of Cardiff for a year and I’m still stopping people in their tracks. Unlike California, longboards are a rarity and not once have I bumped into a fellow longboarder, someone else who has found the light at the end of the tunnel. Cardiff isn’t quite California, but if I’m on my board and close my eyes, sometimes I can imagine flying down the streets of Santa Cruz with the pelicans circling and sea lapping the shore…

So, in order to convert you to the wonders of the longboard, here’s my Beginner’s Guide to Longboarding, with all the essential info and inspiring advice to get you on your way…

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Jennifer Useldinger : Beauty and the Beasts

August 13, 2008 @ 12:25 PM - Features: Sports

Jennifer Useldinger

Jennifer Useldinger not only jostles in macho line-ups for the right to surf waves the size of skyscrapers but she has the gall to do it with style and grace.

Words: Andy Martin

The first time I saw Jennifer Useldinger she was jumping up on stage at the Grove Theater in Anaheim, south of Los Angeles, just across the street from Disneyland. It was on the occasion of the 2005 Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards, the Oscars of surfing. She was a standout in an impromptu surf babes group and they sang a song which went something like this: “We like to surf, to charge da big waves/We like to have fun, to be so brave/To be so brave,
la la la...”

Jennifer Useldinger

Big waves have always been the Disneyland of surfing. They are the stuff of fairy tale or possibly nightmare, the size of castles, their turrets dissolving into the clouds, but capable of turning into very real monsters. Once upon a time, women were the cinderellas of surfing, the downtrodden downstairs parlourmaids, while the baggy-shorted princes were out there strutting their stuff. Jennifer Useldinger is one of a new generation of women, riding on the back of extremely large and harmful bodies of water, who have undergone something of a metamorphosis into the belles of the big-wave ball. The
fact that she is as beautiful as Snow White with a tan, that the lens loves her, and that she poses with or without a swimsuit, is probably a contributing factor.

Her winter base is the North Shore of the Hawaiian island of Oahu, which is to big waves what New York is to tall buildings. Now 22, she lives at Backyards, a hundred yards of sand from the most consistent wave arena in the world, Sunset Beach, and a mile or so north of Waimea Bay, the Empire State of big waves. When I spoke to her, the North Shore had just become an island within an island, as a passing tropical storm had generated flash-floods, 70mph winds that had blown away trees and power lines, and finally the kind of 20ft-plus surf that turns the Bay into what is widely known as ‘Real Waimea’.

Jennifer Useldinger

Surfing one of these massive Hawaiian waves is, as someone once described it, like jumping off the top of a three-storey house and then having it chase you down the street. And Useldinger was out there, surrounded by heavies, both human and aquatic, and sounding as relaxed and poised if she were sitting in a café sipping a cappuccino.

Born in Santa Cruz, south of San Francisco, with Pleasure Point as her home break, she had the kind of upbringing that gave her an edge. Her mother was a pro surfer and the young Jennifer followed her around the Grand Prix circuit, from Bora Bora to New Zealand and Japan. Home schooling consisted of her mother winning the women’s section while she won the girls (or sometimes the boys). She was a natural to hit the professional big time on the global women’s tour that has flourished over the last decade with huge investment from big corporate names. But she became disenchanted with the aggravation and the gladiatorial mentality, the “energy” around the contest scene. “I decided it just wasn’t my cup of tea,” she said.

Jennifer Useldinger

It was while she was feeling burned out and uncertain of which way to go that Jamilah Star – the first winner of the inaugural women’s section of the big-wave awards and voted one of the “Twelve Most Adventurous People in the World” – talked her into surfing with her in Hawaii. She had dreamed of surfing big waves from around the age of nine when she discovered that Mavericks, at Half Moon Bay (where the legendary Hawaiian big-wave virtuoso Mark Foo died in 1994), was only 50 minutes from her house. Ten years later she found herself paddling or towing into some of the biggest, most hair-raising waves in the world, such as Teeahupoo (Tahiti), Dungeons (South Africa), and Jaws (Maui). She talks of big-wave surfing as a “calling”. She is fearless, philosophical, and has brought a new attitude and spirit to the testosterone-charged rodeo of big-wave surfing, which used to be the province of grizzled Vietnam vets, maniacs, jailbirds, and failed cowboys.

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Skater Girl: Evelien Bouilliart Interview

August 11, 2008 @ 9:16 AM - Features: Sports

Cooler cover girl Evelien Bouilliart is one of the globe’s finest lady skaters. We catch up with the Belgian boarder to chat about skating, sponsors, favourite spots and sexy time...

Evelien Bouilliart

Name: Evelien ‘Evie Cakes’ Bouilliart

Age: 18

From: Aalter, Belgium

How did you get into skating?
When I was around the age of 10 they were building a skatepark close to my house and close to my school. So I saw all the guys that used to rollerblade getting into skateboarding. As I was young and looking for something to do in my life, I decided I really wanted to skateboard. I asked my mom for a skateboard and she was like, ‘Ooohh it’s dangerous’. But she said if I counted out all the little 1-cent coins from our change jar and I had enough, I could buy one of those shitty skateboards from the toystore. So I counted out all of the coins and I was so happy that I had enough. So I went to the store and walked proudly back to my house with the board in my hand.

When did you decide to start skating full time?
It started when I realized that I actually skated well for a girl, although I never really envisaged travelling and earning money doing contests all over the world. I think it started at a contest when people started talking to me about sponsorships and stuff. So I made a ‘Sponsor Me’ tape and sent it to a skateshop and they hooked me up with some stuff. The Belgium distrubution brand Transind was also interested to get me on their team.
A while later I had a picture in a magazine of me doing a kickflip over a bump; the team manager of element Europe saw it and he got in contact with me, which is how I got on the element team. Around the same time, I got on the etnies Europe team and they sent me to the World Cup in Germany which led to being invited to the X-games. I was stoked, being so young and getting invited to go to LA! For us in Europe it’s a big deal to be invited so I’m always really stoked when I get invited to go to contests in California. The team manager of etnies took care of me. I got 2nd place at the X-Games that year and that’s how I got on the etnies US team. I guess that’s when it got big time.

Evelien Bouilliart

Did you find it pretty hard to break into a male-dominated sport?
No, I grew up with guys, so I don’t mind being around guys and I’m not scared of them! I know generally the guys will always be better than me, but I don’t care. I hate the fact that a lot of guys are always competitive like ‘I’m so much better than this guy or that girl… blah blah’. I just love skating around guys because they are hardcore and that’s the kind of adrenaline I want.

Do you consider yourself to be an adrenaline junkie?
I always get mad at myself when I’m being a pussy and when I’m scared of doing a trick. But it’s still a real kick to go for it. I just love throwing myself down stuff. I guess I’m an adrenaline junkie. I just love it when I get pumped and just go for stuff.

Can you give us a run down of your average day?
Well, school (boo) during the week… but weekends and vacations are always spent skating. I’ll wake up after partying hard, take a shower, have breakfast, burp, feel shitty, look to see if the sun is out, call my friends, grab my board, go skate all day, chill with my friends, then sleep… zzzzz.

And if you could have the perfect day, what would it include?
It would include sexy time - ha ha! - skating and my friends. Good vibes.

What are your plans for this summer?
First of all I’m going to Prague for the Mystic Cup, after that I’m heading to California for the Maloof Money Cup. I might go to NY in between Maloof and X-Games, which is the next big event on the agenda. After the X-Games I’ll go on to Basel, Switzerland, for an etnies skate camp. I might go to a festival when I get back home, and then school will be starting again.

More...

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Exclusive Maloof Money Skate Cup Photo Gallery

August 04, 2008 @ 12:47 PM - Features: Sports

View the gallery

Exclusive Maloof Money Skate Cup Photo Gallery

Words and photos: Ana Paula Negrão

The Maloof Money Cup kicked off in Costa Mesa, USA, at the end of July, with the biggest prize purse in skateboard history. A whopping $41,750 in prize money was doled out to the globe’s finest female riders.

The top 10 pro female skateboarders in the world were invited to compete in a bid to bag top podium spot and take home $25k plus a Nixon watch.

Only five made it to the finals to take part in two ten-minute jam sessions, where the average of their two scores made their final score. The skaters shredded the course and showed the world that girls skateboarding has progressed incredibly.

Leticia Bufoni qualified second and was everyone’s favourite to win after landing three amazing new tricks: flip front board down the rail, flip back lip and frontside blunt slide. Unfortunately, her bold manoeuvres resulted in injury on the first jam session and left her lagging in fifth place.

Elissa Steamer stepped up with a noseslide the habba and kickflip down the gap first try, and Vanessa Torres came back with a noseslide down the habba, back tailslide, back lip down the rail and a lot of style.

Rachel Reinhard showcased a kickflip down the big 17 stairs on the last jam session, but it was Lacey Baker who came out on top with perfect control over the manuals and huge 360flips, fontside flips and hard flips. The highlight was the nose slide to nollie heel flip on the long long ledge. Congratulations to all the girls for some seriously show-stopping skating.

The final results:
1st – Lacey Baker: $25,000 and a Nixon watch worth $10,000
2nd – Rachel Reinhard: $8,000
3rd - Vanessa Torres: $4,000
4th – Elissa Steamer: $2,000
5th – Leticia Bufoni: $1,500
6th – Amy Caron: $250
7th – Lorena Lima: $250
8th – Lauren Perkins: $250
9th – Evelien Bouilliart: $250
10th – Marissa Del Santo: $250

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10 Things You Didn’t Know About Mimi Knoop

August 01, 2008 @ 7:40 AM - Features: Sports

Words by: Avra Kouffman

Mimi Knoop

After winning the Women’s Soul Bowl contest at the S3 Supergirl Jam, Mimi Knoop is setting the ladies skate circuit on fire with displays of powerful skills, fast skating, and talent that are earning her some tidy prize purses. “Mimi looked like she owned it,” said World Cup of Skateboarding head judge Charlie Wilkins. “Run after run, she skated everything fast and powerfully, including all corners of the bowl while incorporating travelling airs.”

But modest Mimi hasn’t let her success go to her head: “I am honored to win,” she commented on her victory. “A lot of girls were skating well. I wasn’t expecting to take first place, but I just happened to stay on and connect some tricks which worked in my favour.”

We get the low-down on the burgeoning skate sensation with 10 facts you never knew…

1. She’s a military brat from Virginia.

2. She first started skating in Cuba in 4th grade.

Mimi Knoop

3. In high school, friends named her Knoop Dogg: “For some reason it stuck . . . I’m not claiming gangsta, though!”

4. She loves art and graduated from college with a B.F.A.

5. After that, she lived on an eco-camp in the Caribbean and worked as a wine steward.

6. She was about to transfer to London when 9-11 shot down the hospitality and travel industries.

7. Instead, she road-tripped across the country “for lack of anything better to do”.

8. When she started skating seriously in California in 2002, she “didn’t even know there were contests for girls.”

9. Croatia, Australia and Iceland are three cool places skating has taken her.

10. She has a winner’s approach to life: “Do the best you can with what you’re given. If you want something, then go out and get it and get it with class.”
Since she has just won this year’s Pro-Tec Pool Party and Soul Bowl, this approach seems to be working!

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Rip Curl Girls Surfing Day Celebrates Successful First Stop

June 30, 2008 @ 2:00 PM - Features: Sports

Rip Curl GIrl's Surf Tour

Last weekend saw over 100 budding wave-riders attend the first stop on Rip Curl’s girls learn to surf days presented by Renault. The European Girls Tour kicked off in Cornwall and Devon as part of Rip Curl’s grass-roots programme designed to get girls of all ages into the water and (hopefully upright) on their boards.

French longboard champ Justine Dupont was on hand in Newquay to give first-time surfers advice on the basics of paddling and how to pop-up, while intermediate and advanced surfers were taken out to deeper waters and treated to top tips on how to improve basic wave riding manoeuvres such as cutbacks, bottom turns and re-entries.

Rip Curl GIrl's Surf Tour

Large choppy surf over the whole weekend didn’t make for the easiest learning conditions, but the sunny weather provided good conditions for chilling out and enjoying the laid back beach spirit over the course of the weekend.

Saturday kicked off bright and early in Newquay with over 40 girls checking in at 9.30am for the morning session with the Rip Curl English Surfing School and the BSA National Surfing Centre on Fistral beach. In Croyde Bay, North Devon, even greater numbers of girls took to the water with Rip Curl team rider and coach Elsie Pinniger and instructors from Surf South West Surf School.

Following a warm-up and stretching session, the girls were introduced to the basics on paddling, wave knowledge and how to get upright on a surfboard. The ensuing two-hour surf session allowed them to put their new-found knowledge into practice before a well-earned free lunch. After a spot of Brazilian martial art Capoeira, the participants headed back into the water for another two-hour surf session.

Rip Curl GIrl's Surf Tour

After a busy day face-planting in the surf, the Brazilian theme of this year’s tour continued at after-party in Newquay’s Chy Bar. Girls were treated to the best Latino beats from top Cornwall’s Brazilian DJ Nina Martin and mingled with live hip-wiggling Brazilian dancers.

If you missed out on the fun, the next stop on the UK leg of the Rip Curl Girls Tour will be on 5th & 6th July at Bournemouth, Dorset and Llangennith, Wales. Call 0844 887 0109 to book your spot.

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howies Blackboard Skate Tour

June 27, 2008 @ 12:04 PM - Features: Sports

Nuclear power is the perennial elephant in the room when eco chats are taking place, so howies set off around the country to find out what people really think about it...

howies, the brand we love so much our boyfriends get jealous, has always been about making people think. “I kept reading that nuclear power was the green answer to climate change, and I wondered about that,” says co-founder David Hieatt. “I also wondered what other people thought, so when Tom Seymour came to us with an idea of painting our white van with blackboard paint, I thought it would be great to use it as a vehicle (pardon the pun) to find out.”

Following the blackboard-cum-skateboard tour, we caught up with Alison, howies’ extra pair of hands and girl on the road.

How did you decide where to park up?
We parked anywhere, mostly places that would grab people’s attention, though we were regularly asked to move on. howies blogger Scania (back in Cardigan) would say
where we were heading next and people would contact her with good places to park.

howies Blackboard Skate Tour

Did people get it right away?
Most people got it because of the comments scribbled on the van, but some were unsure of what to make of it and sometimes it was difficult to get over the point that nuclear power in the UK is on its way.

What was the best comment anyone wrote?
Illustrations were the best – people were so creative. There were some foreign languages on there too which made me smile.

Were there many people pro nuclear power?
Not many at all. People who scribbled seemed passionately against nuclear, so it makes no sense why we’re still going ahead with plans to build more nuclear power stations.

What are your conclusions after the tour?
People are against nuclear power. The public seem to be very aware of the alternative energy options available which is why I don’t get that we are still going forward with it.

howies Blackboard Skate Tour

Watch exclusive footage of the howies Blackboard Skate Tour here!

Photos courtesy of: Jamie Stoker, Nick Hand.

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Let’s Get Ratted…

June 24, 2008 @ 11:55 AM - Features: Sports

A Bird’s Eye View of the Bristol Rat Race by Fran Hardy

Bristol Rat Race

Ever heard of Adventure Racing? Or to be more exact Urban Adventure Racing? For the serious outdoor enthusiast you need to know about this genre of event and then put it at the top of your list of things to do as soon as soon as possible!

About this time last year, I remember passing lost-looking, map-reading rats on the streets of Bristol, either on bikes or on foot and - having seen no advertisements - reckoned that they were probably involved in some lame orienteering event… Nevertheless, I was surprised I hadn’t heard anything about what was going on right on my doorstep, and it’s pretty much thanks to the Cooler events calendar that after three years in Bristol (one of eight cities which host a Rat Race), I’ve finally become aware of this incredible high-adrenaline event!

Bristol Rat Race

The official Rat Race website enticed us with tales of 15km runs and 60km on/off road bike rides, whilst navigating around a course that weaves its way through the vibrant and varied suburbs of Bristol, plus parks, rivers, lakes, scout huts and swimming pools! Having completed a whole bundle of action adventure challenges, I’m amazed that adventure racing has taken this long to feature in my life. It has proved itself to be completely in a league of its own - and certainly isn’t just a lame orienteering event! Adventure racing is particularly remarkable as it embraces so many different activities: climbing, kayaking and high ropes courses are intermingled with long distance running or cycling and a host of other activities are usually thrown in for both comedy value and skill. As I have always been a good overall athlete rather than excelling in just one discipline, this sounded like a dream event!

Bristol Rat Race

Two of my equally sadistic friends were on board straight away and we formed one of the 9 all-female teams out of the 111 teams. After coughing up our £99 each, we received a series of rather cryptic emails which certinaly added to the element of surprise! As we had no idea what to expect, none of us ended up training (not to say that we didn’t wish we had done a few extra runs afterwards!) Instead, we relied entirely on our general good level of physical fitness, stamina and mental determination.

Our single sex team entry meant we couldn’t win but we were not in it to win it (although an hour in, we did quite fancy our chances of being the fastest all-female team). Our only aim was to complete it, whatever it took; we were not going to quit once we’d started, however much it hurt! And it did hurt. It really, really hurt! Read on and share our pain…

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Bri Chmel: The Wakesurfing Wonder

June 22, 2008 @ 7:44 AM - Features: Sports

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Bri Chmel, 24, transformed herself into a World Wakesurfing Champ within one year! We meet the super-determined lady to find out about wedgies, life on the water and what exactly is this wakesurfing lark...

Bri Chmel

From: Bellingham, WA; Hood River, OR; La Ventana, Mexico; Orlando, FL

Have you always loved watersports?
I actually used to be scared of the ocean and waves when I was little, and would have rather swam in a swimming pool. I was really in to snowboarding when I was in high school, and as soon as I graduated I fell in love with kiteboarding. This forced me to get used to the ocean, and ever since then I cannot stay away from a lake, river or ocean.

How did you get into wakesurfing?
I was sponsored by Centurion Boats for wakeskating, and went to their annual photo shoot at Boardstock in 2006. While I was there, I watched the World Wakesurfing Championships and promised myself that I would win the next year. After I learned how, I trained for a whole year and won in 2007.

How does it differ from surfing or wakeboarding?
Wakesurfing is great because it is an ongoing wave behind the boat that you can surf on with no handle. You can ride until you fall, where as in surfing the wave eventually ends as it gets closer to the beach. Wakeboarding is very different because you do tricks across the wake behind the boat, while hanging onto the handle.

Watch Bri in action...

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When did everything turn serious and you decided to commit yourself to the sport full time?
When I was at Boardstock in 2006 I promised myself that I was going to win worlds the next year. But first I had to learn how to wakesurf, so that is when I went straight home and out on the boat.

Can you give us a run down of your average day?
Right now I am in school full time. My average day throughout the school year is getting up around 7am, taking cereal to go in my car, going to class until the early afternoon, coming home and running 2 miles, finding someone to go wakesurfing with, doing homework, and then eating dinner and spending the rest of the night with my boyfriend.

Bri Chmel

And if you could have the perfect day, what would it include?
Being in a different country on a secluded white beach with a tiki hut bar. Kiteboarding and surfing on a perfect little wave.

What are your plans for this summer?
For the summer I have two months off, and I am going to Oregon and California to kiteboard, wakesurf, and hang out with my family and friends.

What’s your favorite wakesurf spot?
It would be pretty neat to go wakesurfing in some exotic location, but unfortunately I have only been on inland lakes, waterways, and rivers. My favorite spot so far is probably Discovery Bay, CA behind the Sellar’s 24 foot Centurion.

How do you prepare for a big competition?
Just by practicing my run as much as possible and trying to get as consistent as possible.

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The Lush Longboard Bath to Bristol Skate

June 21, 2008 @ 2:54 PM - Features: Sports

Words by Fran Hardy

Lush Longboard Bath to Bristol Skate

The cool chill of the tunnel came as a welcome relief after miles of pushing and sweating along the beautifully bright leafy path that links the two cities of Bath and Bristol. We rolled into almost complete darkness to the hoots and whoops of camaraderie of 180 very tired longboarders! The long dark tunnel marked the looming finish and, at a gradient now finally in our favour, riders could enjoy a speedy last few miles of Lush Longboard’s biggest ever event.

I emerged out of the other end into the bright mid-afternoon sun glaring through the trees, with the Lush crew’s smiling faces welcoming us. We chatted as we rolled and I became enlightened as to the success of this year’s event and how the number of riders had doubled from last year’s debut…

Lush Longboard Bath to Bristol Skate

The Lush boys decided on riding for Sustrans this year, who are an organisation hoping that there will be a cycle track within two miles of everyone in the country within two years! Sustrans are the country’s leading sustainable transport charity, who campaign for a more environmentally friendly transport system nationwide and have recently been fighting to prevent the Bath-Bristol cycle path from being made into a bus route. This has been a really topical issue in the area over the past few months, so Lush took this ideal opportunity to support such an important and relevant cause by getting 180 long-boarders to skate the 15-mile cycle path!

Lush Longboard Bath to Bristol Skate

Advertising only via their website and word-of-mouth proves the effectiveness of the longboard network, with every rider paying £15 towards the chosen charity, in return for a Lush t-shirt and an awesome day (maybe the perfect way to spend a sunny urban Saturday) amongst like-minded long-boarders, all up for a laugh - and a challenge!

I managed to exchange words with a handful of girls who were riding and learnt that they had travelled from Oxford, Sheffield, Devon and Newquay to be there. All the girls involved finished after great effort, despite quite a few of them being new to skating. No doubt all were urged along by the high spirited energy emitted from all the riders. There were probably less than 10 of us girls riding that day, and for anyone concerned that females are not sure footed enough, you’ll be spewing confidence after 16 miles! This is the beauty of this event; it’s accessible to people of all standards of riding, so next year more ladies please!

Other riders included boys on Rollsrolls long distance boards (like the one ridden by Dave Cornthwait on his epic trip across Australia a couple of years ago - and the original inspiration for the Bath-Bristol skate); the boys from Bath who made their own boards out of planks of wood the night before; a short-boarder (yes, even he made it on those tiny wheels!); Simon, in head to toe purple lycra and G-string for added shits and giggles; three grown men using either their dog or wife (on a bike) to pull them along! I’d have thought they’d have known better! Plus, a handful of roller-bladers, a didgeridoo player, and a 6ft plank rider all came out to play in the sun.

Lush Longboard Bath to Bristol Skate

The lunch time mid-way stop was swarming with riders watching the silly antics of those showing off their nose manual skills, with a Canadian shredder taking these tricks a step further, pulling off a 3ft drop and tunnel wallride indy grab further down the trail! Sweet!

Having hosted a really successful, downhill free-riding (no racing) event at a disused race track at Cadwell at the start of the year, Lush are now awaiting their next big event in September, as the title brand sponsors of the Eastbourne Downhill (a 3-day world cup downhill and freeride event) where there are expected to be about 200 riders. And so stoked on the turnout of this year’s marathon skate, Lush are looking forward to an even bigger event next year. I for one can’t wait… only this time I’m definitely going to put bigger wheels on my board and wear my belly dancing outfit!

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Exclusive: Liv Sansoz Climbing Sweetspot

June 19, 2008 @ 8:17 AM - Features: Sports

Liv Sansoz, 31, from Les Arcs, France, is one of the world’s most fearless climbers. We follow her intrepid expedition into Hampi, India, to conquer a challenging Nike ACG SweetSpot.

Liv Sansoz

How long have you been climbing for?
16 years

How did you get into bouldering?
To go from climbing to bouldering was a natural progression for me. Bouldering looked fun and cool and it was just another part of the climbing. I wanted to experiment and have fun with it.

Have you always loved the outdoors?
I was born in the mountains and I’ve been skiing since I was two years old. Running in the mountains, hiking, climbing, skiing are all natural things for me…

When did you decide to commit yourself to the sport full time?
When I won my first world championship in Paris, in 1997.

Can you give us a run down of your average day?
Thankfully, there is not one day like the other! It mainly depends if I’m on a climbing trip or if I’m at my ‘base camp’ in Bourg St Maurice.

On a climbing trip I usually focus on one or two specific routes or boulders I want to succeed on. And of course, beside this I always try to discover new lines or something different. In general, I’ll start climbing in the morning and keep going until it gets dark… But of course you always have to adapt to the conditions. In India we had to wake up at 5am for instance, as it was quite warm there.

Liv Sansoz

When I’m at home it’s more a training day format: running in the forest in the morning, stretching and climbing on plastic (I have a small personal climbing wall) to work power, endurance and stamina… Depending on how I feel I can include some exercises with weights and a campus board. In the winter I train more on plastic and ski as much as possible when there’s good powder.

And if you could have the perfect day, what would it include?
A perfect day’s climbing would be only me and the line in a perfect harmony… Right moves at the right moment, right balance at the right place, right decision at the right time and to fight when it is needed. Good feelings and strong emotions. I’d also like my boyfriend or a few really close friends there to share it with…

Were you excited to take part in Nike ACG’s Sweetspots project?
Sure! Speaking with a few of the other Nike ACG friends from the skiing scene really psyched me up. Also, I’m always very interested in doing something new and different in my life.

What made you choose to go to Hampi?
I’ve always really wanted to go there since I saw the pictures of this unusual place! I was attracted by the amazing potential of climbing here, the history of this place and the unique mystic atmosphere we could feel there.

How did it feel to complete your challenge?
I was quite happy and satisfied as I did it fast. Because there are so many variables (mental, physical), there is always a small amount of uncertainty. It’s always a good feeling when you succeed.

Watch the world exclusive footage of Liv’s ACG SweetSpot here!

Next: Liv chats practice, preparation and personal life...

Liv Sansoz

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Exclusive: Mariann Saether’s African Kayak Sweetspot

June 12, 2008 @ 9:13 AM - Features: Sports

Mariann Saether, 27, from Otta, Norway, is one of the globe’s best female kayakers. We follow her intrepid expedition into Uganda to conquer a challenging Nike ACG SweetSpot.

Mariann Saether

Tell us about your SweetSpot...
Uganda was described as the pearl of Africa by Churchill, and from my point of view I certainly agree. The White Nile flows through the country in a series of rapids, and also forming some of the best surfwaves on the planet on its way to the confluence with the Blue Nile, the two of them meandering their way down through Egypt as the mighty Nile.

This is a perfect Sweetspot, with warm water, 25 degrees every day, lots of huge rapids and a mecca for freestyle kayaking. The power of the river is raw, and every day can be an adrenaline filled day… Depending on the water level from day to day you can challenge yourself with rapids like Bladerunner, Widowmaker and Itanda (which means death in the local language!) In the afternoon you can head out and surf for hours on standing waves that allow for some big air in our kayaks..

The film crew has been here for three days already, and we have covered a big portion of the rapids already. Today we are moving down the river to run a drop called Kalagala, and to get some freestyle footage to go along with the hairier stuff… After all, diversity is the spice of life…

Watch the world exclusive footage of Mariann’s ACG SweetSpot here!

Mariann Saether

Have you always loved watersports?
Yes, I was an active swimmer for years and did four years of synchronized swimming as well.

How did you get into kayaking?
I grew up in an area surrounded by rivers, and by chance I started dating a kayaker when I was 16. One of our dates was learning to roll in an indoor swimming pool. The same spring I got to go out in the river and try to kayak in the current, and I simply loved it!

When did everything turn serious and you decided to commit yourself to the sport full time?
This sounds like a cliché, but from the moment I was in the water, on a flowing river, I never looked back. I wasn’t thinking that I was going to become professional at that point, I simply just loved the feel of the river, being on the water with good friends, AND get good exercise at the same time… I was bored with many of the sports I was doing when I was 16, and kayaking combined adrenaline and work-out in total new way. I very fast started adapting my life to fit in with kayaking on a daily basis, and didn’t even realize it.

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Oakley Women Wakeboard Camps

June 06, 2008 @ 7:05 AM - Features: Sports

As a dedicated snowboarder, I spend all summer longing to get back on my board. So this year I decided to put a stop to all that yearning and find myself an alternative sport for summer. With every surfable ocean at least a whole day’s journey away, I decided to try out cable wakeboarding...

As I have never been a girl to enjoy humiliation, instead of queuing on my own at cable full of wannabe-pros and cute beach boys, just to make a complete idiot out of myself, I opted for safer option of the Oakley Women Wakeboard Camp. Here I would not only have female support and company for my first faceplants into the water, but also coaching from the best pros in the business.

This was Oakley’s second wakeboard camp and was located at a cable park near Hamburg, Germany. Nestled between the incredibly comfy chill-out lounge and the huge tipi tent we slept in, there was a sandy beach where we would have our professional wakeboard coaching. Oakley pro wakeboarders Eva Koch, Mari Sandner, Ginger Pfennings and Aurie Brabänder were on hand to put us through our paces.

I was pleased to see the participants were a mixed crowd, with ages ranging from keen teens to adventure-loving mums in their thirties. We were similarly varied in our wakeboarding skills: from those who had never set foot on water to girls itching to learn the most stylish and difficult wake tricks.

We had the cable park completely to ourselves for the whole morning, so our 10-strong group had plenty of opportunities to fine tune our skills and learn the tricks of the trade. I was thrilled to complete a whole round after only three trials! The coaches gave us heaps of support – holding up the nose of the board to help us get up, teaching us perfect timing to do a jump start and telling us what to do differently when we fell!

I’ve always found it really hard to figure out what’s going wrong by myself when I learn new sports, so having a coach like Mari, who studies sport science alongside career as professional wakeboarder, was great. She took the time to explain in detail what had caused a slam, and gave me some incredibly worthwhile advice. “I always tell beginners to make sure their knees are bent,” says Mari. “And I’m sure they have the feeling their knees are bent – but in fact they’re not and I won’t stop until they do it properly!”

When you’ve finally mastered the art of getting upright without plunging into the lake face-first, and have managed to ride a couple of rounds comfortably, you can start to do bunny hops (little ollies on the water) and try to ride switch to increase your security on and feeling for the board. Coaches Eva and Mari agree, that it is vital to have perfect control over your board before learning tricks: “There’s no use in trying to learn a 360 over the kicker if you can’t even do a 180 on the water,” says Mari.

Oakley Women Wakeboard Camp

If you feel ready to learn tricks, the box is the easiest to start with. Let the cable drag you over the obstacle to get a feeling for it and try not to use the edges of your board. If you’re more into flying, obviously you’ll rather head for the kicker. You can prepare spins by going over the kicker and slightly turning your board a bit and back, which will give you a feeling for the torsion. By far the most effective way to learn any new trick is the double rope (even the pros use it). Under supervision of the other coaches, Ginger joined one of the girls on her cable with a second rope so they were riding side by side. That didn’t only give the girl a chance to observe very closely how the trick is carried out before reproducing it, but Ginger could also observe her and analyse her riding.

If you don’t manage to stand up on the board, complete a full round or do a backroll right away, you need to keep on trying! “Be patient and try, try and try again and never let your courage slip away,” advises Ginger.

Even Mari, who has won several national and international titles in her career, wasn’t born with a wakeboard strapped to her feet. “It took me three days to stand up on the board and ride it for the first time. I didn’t have anyone to teach me then, so I had to find out by trial and error all by myself,” she says.
Although watching her gracefully flying through the air today, you wouldn’t believe that she fared as badly as me when she first tried the sport!

“People have different abilities to learn different courses of movements,” reassures Mari. “Sometimes a different motion sequence is easier for you to learn than another one”. Instead of giving up or becoming desperate, just try something else. If you can’t manage a dock start, try a jump start, if you have problems doing a 50/50, try boardslides instead.

So if you aren’t up for water-based humiliation but still want to learn a new sport or improve your existing skills, try an all-girls camp like the Oakley Women Camps. Instead of making half the lake laugh at you and having the hot wakeboarder dudes looking down on you pitifully, you’ll have a bunch of girls cheering for you if ride only two meters and very compassionate coaches, who will fish you out of the lake and encourage you even after the fortieth plunge! The atmosphere between the girls was great the whole weekend (not even a second of bitchiness!), and without the pressure of being compared or comparing themselves to boys all the time, all the attendees had some kind of feeling of achievement and success. We all left the camp with loads of memories of a weekend packed with fun, a great deal of new or improved skills and very, very sore muscles.

The Oakley Women Wakeboard Camp is coming back next year, but if you’re super-keen to try out a weekend of demanding sports in the supportive environment of an all-girls camp, check out the Oakley Women Mountainbike Camp in Livigno, Italy in August or the Oakley Women Beach Volleyball or Snowboard Camps later this year where more pros will be on hand to put you through your paces!

Words by Anna Langer

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Gnar Chicken and Tea Jib-Jam Review

June 06, 2008 @ 7:02 AM - Features: Sports

Tamworth - 31st May 2008

Gnar Chicken and Tea

One thousand and nine days is a long time. Two years, nine months and five days exactly - but nonetheless, a damn long time! So finally, I returned with my Gnar Chicken female-focused project. I wanted to see where we women were with our riding here in the UK. I write this review astounded, delighted and still in shock at the show you ladies put on this past weekend. Officially the sickest riding seen by women in the UK… no doubt!

I knew the buzz surrounding the event reached a pinnacle when my German, non-snowboard, non-sport, sexy-shoe-wearing colleague, suggested I go to a female snowboarding event going on in Birmingham this weekend. Que? … that’s nuts!

With the biggest attendance the Snowdome has seen in a long time, the 100 plus girls and guys didn’t disappoint the crowd of supporters gathered on the balcony. After premiering Euan Southcott’s movie ‘Freezing Level’ to a room full of appreciative and newly educated snow-worshippers, everyone took to the slope ready to rumble.

Hungry and motivated, we bonded over the great love we all share when sliding sideways (or forwards!). As the boxes got a beating in the warm-up, all eyes were on two very tiny rippers that led the way for the standard of the evening. Katie Ormerod aged 10 and Sophie Nicholls aged 13 put down boardslides, nose-presses and spins on to the vermin box with such style and consistency that guys twice their age quivered like dribbling babies! Jade Walshy was the youngster rider at 6 years of age. Having obviously inherited the jibbing skills of her father (MK local Walshy!), it was great to see her make it confidently to the end of the box – I hope you like your Blue Skin goodies little lady!

Gnar Chicken and Tea

Invited to high-five MC Southcott at the top of the quarter-pipe, the first challenge of the night sparked the imagination of the riders (and some less-dressed party people!). Although the temperature of the snow prevented an excess of gnarly airs, it was good to see fine efforts rewarded. Harriet Skinner we salute your bum grab!

With everyone now getting the feel for the slope, the A-frame and the big gas-pipe seemed like the run of choice. Sarah Morgan led the way with the nicest frontside-boardslides seen in a long while (sick enough to eventually win her the over-all title of Gnarliest Chicken!). A special mention must go out to a girl named Niki who was doing back and front-flips off the Grad Prix kicker. After landing several to a big cheer from the crowd, she landed on her back and was taken to hospital with a suspected breakage. We wish you all the best Niki, swift recovery.

Helen Fox also sustained a massive black-eye when ‘bonjour-ing’ the big gas-pipe. When the stars cleared and she regained knowledge of her whereabouts, it wasn’t long before she was getting her sweet revenge, schooling that gas pipe with some super smooth backside-boards. With riders like Jules Chapell and Lindsay Ashdown leading the way for the less experienced chickens to attempt the challenging obstacles, we can safely say the progression, inspiration and fun-enticing missions of the Gnar event were now in full swing.

Gnar Chicken and Tea

Followed by a whift of Les Ettes perfume, the ladies descended onto the newly groomed slope for the final hour and a half of Gnar Shred Action. Jaws dropped when the riders saw the boxes of prizes we had to give away. Laden with product, we began dishing out the challenges. First up, the girls must rugby tackle Euan for all the kit in his hands… although worryingly the guys were more attracted to the prospect of lying on top Euan! Harriet Skinner left with the glory, Euan evidently, with the bruises!

Emily Park then picked up a nice Nikita hoodie for her nose-slide across the A-frame. Skier Amber Conners proceeded to hit that rail with such speed she made boys amongst us whimper! That chick’s got style. Lindsay Ashdown rose to the next challenge of boardsliding the A-frame, winning herself a pair of Oakley goggles, while Anna Barlett rocked the rail so hard she was awarded a nice Vans wallet for her efforts. Moving down to the gas pipe, Martin Hennesy launched off the kicker with a front-flip worthy of some Oakley kit, whilst Helen Fox was awarded a Ruroc helmet to protect her new shining black eye from another gas pipe encounter. George Wolly won himself a pair of Vans snow-boots for his consistent styleee spins across the gas pipe whilst Joe Sandy was awarded the Avalaan style award for setting the benchmark for what great style is all about. Vicky Pullen and Becca Richardson dug deep in their bag of tricks throwing down consistent moves all night and Kirsty Smith left with a Nikita top for her mad jibbing skills. With all the progression going on around me, a slight touch of jealousy plucked my heart-strings… I was especially inspired by Lindsay Ashdown’s 270 off the gas pipe… that is my kind of riding!

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Everything you wanted to know about the TTR but were afraid to ask…

May 18, 2008 @ 9:25 AM - Features: Sports

Read our guide to snowboarding’s grand prize...

TTR

What is the TTR?

The TTR, or Ticket To Ride, is the world’s premier snowboarding tour. Forget the Winter Olympics, leave that spectacle to the curlers and scary-looking ice-skaters, as this is where you come to see the real stars of snow. The TTR crowns the world champion, and every freestyle snowboarder in her or his right mind aspires to be a part of it. It’s a place where hopes and dreams are realised, champagne is sprayed on podiums and giant cheques are brandished. And it’s a place where sponsors, riders, media and fans come together in a big smoochy love-in for their sport.

Snowboarding has come a long way since the hard-booted and day-glo early days, though there will always be a place in our hearts for those who pioneered that special look. The snowboard competition circuit was once somewhat chaotic, and not a worthy showcase for the awesome talent that the sport had to offer. So in 2002 a group of industry veterans put their heads together and formed the TTR, a huge global umbrella organisation, which unites the world’s top snowboard events under one flag.

The TTR revitalised snowboarding, creating stars out of champions, bringing order to the proceedings and signifi cantly helping to progress the sport. With a founding committee that reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of snowboarding – including legendary rider Terje Hakonsen – the Tour was conceived to be a credible and respected platform that now attracts crucial sponsorship from a number of core and mainstream brands. “The TTR committee took elements of the ASP surfi ng model, FIFA football, ATP tennis, PGA golf, the World Rally and Formula One to make a system that best suits professional snowboarding,” says TTR CEO and industry guru Drew Stevenson.

TTR

In 2005 the women’s Tour launched and the level of girls’ riding went stratospheric, which also raised riders’ profi les way above anything that had ever gone before. “The level of women’s snowboarding today is amazing,” says Stevenson. “Their technical ability has gone through the roof, with the majority of female riders not only nailing spins, but doing so with grabs. The power and style has seriously stepped up and a new breed of female rider is emerging. I don’t think there is a professional sport out there where the women have the same power and style, matched by an incredible grace.”

The women’s TTR is in now in its third season and is bigger, better and badder than ever before. Over 19 events are crammed into a 10-month schedule in four geographical zones. “The women’s Tour is exactly what the sport needed,” says sponsor Karsten Mohr from Volkl snowboards. “The girls can show their individual style and class in a credible ambiance. It’s a good feeling that our industry got an authentic contest and ranking format and that the women are so well integrated. We’re sure that it’s a great motivator and attracts new girls to the sport.”

Not to mention catapulting those already involved in snowboarding into the limelight. “Torah Bright won the TTR Tour last winter, and I see how much coverage she got out of that, it’s definitely given a massive push to her career,” says Roxy’s snow team manager Stine Brun Kjeldaas.

So how does it work..?

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Ana Rumiha: Nikita Chickita Winner

May 09, 2008 @ 10:13 AM - Features: Sports

At last year’s Nikita Chickita Ana Rumiha made it to the women’s finals, narrowly missing out on a podium place, finishing 4th. This year the judges all confirmed she was the clear winner, busting out some consistent and stylish runs. Her final run comprised a backside 180, frontside 360 indy and she was the only girl who bonked the tree with a nice frontside 180, finishing off with a frontside 360 on the wall. She claimed 1st place, a tidy 1,000 Euros prize money and the much-coveted one-year Nikita contract.

We catch up with Ana to see how she found the day…

En Route to Serfaus

“I think I first found out about Nikita Chickita on the internet last year and decided to go along with four of my friends. Last year’s contest was the most fun ones I’ve ever been on, so I decided to come back again this year.

“The night before I was supposed to set off for Serfaus, I was considering not going, due to the bad weather report and pretty high travel expenses, but I woke up the next morning full of positive energy and an itch to travel. I called my friends, Anja and Andy and told them that we had to go - it didn’t take much to convince them! So that was it, three happy friends went to Serfaus…

“As the competition morning was kind of cold and snowy, I wasn’t too motivated to jump around right away, but that’s why I love Nikita Chickita. You can ride however and whenever you want, no pressure. In the qualifiers I couldn’t do a single trick I wanted to, so I was just hoping to get in to the finals and be able to ride the park for the rest of the day.

Nikita Chickita

“Then the sun came out and Nikita Chickita transformed into the best contest of the year once again for me. No bibs, no starting positions, no tension. It felt like a normal day in a perfectly shaped park, except there were only good girl riders and I could have had the whole park for myself whenever I wanted. Because of the positive atmosphere, I was really relaxed and I had so much fun from the beginning ‘til the end of the contest. I think it’s really difficult to make a contest where the riders can have all the freedom they need and can do whatever is on their mind. This one makes me feel free and that’s how I understand snowboarding.

“It was great that we had a snowcat driving us up the hill because the girls had to wait for each other and watch each other ride, so there was a really nice and friendly feeling among us. I also got to know some great girls there, as it’s not every day that I meet people with same interests and same passion for snowboarding and skateboarding as me.

Nikita Chickita

“So… I had some funny runs in the finals and I guess the judges liked it, but I sure wasn’t expecting to win. I have to admit that I was really stoked when I found out, especially when I remembered that I almost nearly didn’t go!

”Nikita Chickita is still my favorite contest. I wouldn’t even call it a contest, it’s more like a gathering for the girls who want to have fun, ride and show each other what’s new in the female snowboard world.”

Images by: Andy Kuljis

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Let’s Dance

May 06, 2008 @ 8:24 AM - Features: Sports

Cast aside images of leotards and leg warmers, dance has reinvented itself as urban, edgy and unashamedly combative. We caught up with the winner of last year’s Nike Dance clash, Clara Bajado.

Clara Bajado

Even the folks at Nike admit that when they branched out into dance around three years ago, it was a pretty steep learning curve. While running, football and other mainstream sports are pretty easy to tap into, the underground world of dance has a whole heap of customs, clubs and competitors unknown to outsiders.

Break dancing emerged in New York in the mid-70s and became the dance of a burgeoning hip hop culture. From backstreets and basements, urban dance has now reached the masses, with women packing out workshops to learn some MTV moves. The style is loose and layered, the music is hip hop and the fancy footwork is carried out with finesse. This is not your average Saturday night fare: no smiling, sweating or singing along allowed. Though in addition to the appeal of the style, art and attitude that go along with dance, it is also a pretty handy calorie-burner. An hour of dance can burn up to 400 calories – more than surfing, aerobics or kayaking, don’t you know.

But the scene still remains largely underground, making it difficult to dig out dance talent. Events such as the Nike Dance Clash seek to change that by drawing deft dancers
out of their studios and on to the stage to battle over who’s got the best moves. So far, the comps have helped dancers evolve from unknowns into top athletes, and some have
taken part in TV ads, Nike campaigns and even worked with stars like Madonna, if that happened to be their thing. We caught up with Parisian dancer Clara Bajado – the latest
winner of Nike Dance Clash.

How long have you been dancing?
My father was a renowned ballroom dancer in the Philippines and when I was younger we used to watch dancing videos together. When I was eight, my mum wanted me to take ballet classes but I thought it wasn’t cool enough, so I opted for modern jazz. Then at 16, a friend at school took me to a hip hop class and I instantly loved it. I took endless classes and workshops to improve my skills in old school, such as lock, pop and bboy, and new school hip hop moves. Then a year later I discovered house dance.

What were you doing before the dance Clash?
I spent three months in New York in 2000 doing really intensive house and hip hop workshops. Then in 2006, my friends encouraged me to come to London and teach, so I took up a post at Pineapple dance studio. That job was a good way to promote house dance in the UK.

Nike Dance Clash

How did you hear about the event?
I actually missed the initial auditions, but a friend told me Nike had added an extra audition day. I only found out an hour beforehand, so just threw on my clothes, headed down there and managed to secure one of the last spots. From my first audition to the final, I was back of the queue and had the last number every time.

Were you nervous?
Everything moved so fast I only realised how much pressure was on in the final. I just kept getting through the rounds and being called back on stage. By the end, there were so few people that the rounds were moving really quickly and I had less time to recover between rounds. I knew over 300 girls had signed up, so I just intended to enjoy the competition and do my best, but by the time I made it to the final all my friends were cheering for me and I felt a real sense of responsibility to do well.

How did you prepare?
The Dance Clash is a freestyle comp so you have to improvise. You can’t prepare a routine beforehand, as you don’t even know what the music will be. It’s perfect for me, as even when I devise a routine, the chances are the next day I won’t remember it. Once the music is on, you literally have seconds to get the beat and formulate some steps, so it’s pretty difficult.

How important is the music?
When you get on stage, you just have to move, you don’t think about it too much, you just feel it and go with it and the moves come naturally. The style of music changes in every contest, so you need to have good improvisation skills and creativity. If I’m going to a hip hop or house dance contest, I never listen to that type of music before I go, so that I don’t get used to it. It’s good to be surprised by the music – it makes you listen to it more closely.

Clara Bajado

How did it feel when you won?
When they said my name, I was stunned. It wasn’t until I saw my friends going crazy in the audience that it really sunk in that I had won. I never entered with winning in mind, I just wanted the opportunity to get up there and take part in a big dance event.

How often do you train?
I used to train every day, but now I only dance when I really feel like I want to. If I force myself to practise every day, I run out of creativity.

Where do you get your inspiration from?
From everything! From people I meet, from my origins, from stuff I see in the street. With freestyle, you get inspired by the music and the atmosphere as you dance so you’ll always be surprised by what you’ve done. Even when I saw footage of the Nike Dance Clash, I didn’t remember some of the moves I did. As a freestyler, you can pull out the greatest move of your life in a club but then not be able to replicate it in a show. On the flipside, I do have some signature moves that I fall back on when I’m tired or have run out of ideas and I always know they’re going to work.

Does dancing in front of a crowd make a difference?
It helps your motivation massively. If I ever feel like I can’t go on and that I have no more energy, when I step on stage, my battery is instantly recharged and the crowd spurs me on to perform. you are engaged in a battle to be the best dancer and want to win over the crowd, but afterwards there is no rivalry behind the scenes. There’s a lot of mutual respect for each other.

Watch the footage of the Dance Clash final here!

Words: Amy Lindsay

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Floating on Air

April 27, 2008 @ 8:40 AM - Features: Sports

Snowboard movies are as common as whoops on a powder day, but occasionally something special emerges. All-girl film ‘Float’ is one such example, so we decided to quiz co-director Erin Valverde and catch up with the film’s main stars...

Float snowboard movie

How is Float different to other snowboard films?
It offers a unique perspective into the lives of the top women athletes of now. We portray this without much dialogue, instead using artistic imagery. There’s an underlying organic feeling that’s played out throughout the film, which is very different to the female films of the past. I know everyone always says that about their own film, but it’s true.

How do you go about planning such a film?
John Roderick (my co-producer and director) and I started off last season trying to figure out what our plan was and being frustrated at every turn. John knew he wanted to film and I knew I wanted to be filmed, but the companies we’d worked for in the past weren’t making movies that year, so we were desperately thinking of a way we could still shoot. We figured that even if no one was making a film, we could make one anyway. It was late November and we’d only just started the planning for Float. Super-last minute and unprepared, and we got Float off the ground. sponsorships were tough since it was so late in the year, but the female athletes were itching to have their shots used. and I’m so glad that we did, as otherwise the documentation of female athletes would have been reduced to only a select few. These days so many female snowboarders are killing it but they don’t yet have profiles because we never see them. Float gave us girls a chance to prove ourselves to the public and to document the amazing progression that’s taking place in women’s snowboarding.

Float movie

what were the biggest challenges you faced during filming?
a lot of making a film is down to pure luck and a higher force that makes the stars align. We had lots of times when the stars were crossed or the luck just missed us, but we made it and it turned out good in the end. The season was looking good at first in the Pacific Northwest but, as a lot of you know, there were definite spots where the snow was not falling. We took advantage of down times from the lack of snowfall and filmed in the parks and streets. We had big plans to go to Europe and we also had a couple of heli trips lined up as well, which we had to back out of due to Mother Nature once again. The hardest part is trying to chase the snow and weather. It’s go-time if you hear of a storm, whether you’re ready or not.
Another tough thing about last season was the amount of injuries that the girls encountered. Maribeth Swetkoff broke her leg, Chanelle Sladics hurt her back, Silvia Mittermuller blew out her knee, and Laura Hadar and Caroline Beliard also hurt their knees. All of these girls still got amazing shots, but it’s stressful for the riders, filmers and sponsors when these things happen.

Why is this film so important for the women’s snowboarding scene?
Female snowboard films have progressed so much, and they’re super-important for the industry. Films and magazines promote snowboarding to girls around the world, and encourage them to get into the sport and realise that not only guys can do 720s off huge jumps. Girls and guys love to see the riding ability of the top athletes and to use it as inspiration. Nowadays the women’s market is rising due to all of us showing them that it is possible.

Float snowboarding movie

What’s your favourite time of day to film?
There are important times to go out and get the shots. When there’s powder, it’s especially good to get out there as early as possible. Dawn patrol always seems to be rewarding. The park is usually good at any time of day, but I like the look of sunset park riding, or when the sun is lowered just enough to give the snow and trees that really nice alpine glow. But it’s good to film all day long to get as much material as possible.

What tips do you have for budding snowboard film-makers?
You have to devote yourself 110 per cent to the project. Film everything that you think could possibly be used in the film and find people that are not only good athletes, but have good attitudes too. We were super-lucky that the girls in the film had beautiful and unique personalities. Marketing and communications skills are good for dealing with sponsors and media. I’ve learnt a lot by calling all the companies I thought would be a good fit. It was hard but rewarding at the same time, and we couldn’t have done this film without them.

Thanks to everyone that helped us along the way… you know who you are.

So how was the Float experience for the rippers on the other side of the camera? We get the pro views...

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Knocked Up: yep, the pro’s get injured too…

April 24, 2008 @ 7:38 PM - Features: Sports

Nothing can wreck a dream day on the mountain like a fresh dose of injury, but in the spirit of looking at the lighter side of life, we got six pros to talk us through their weird, and not always wonderful, worlds of pain.

Photography by: Matt Walder
Make-up by: Christel Thoresen

Jenny Jones

Jenny Jones

What’s the best thing about getting injured?
“you can meet some hot doctors, you just have to hope you don’t have your granny pants on and have shaved your legs.”

What’s the funniest injury you’ve ever had?
“When I smashed my face up at the roxy comp. It looked bad but funny and with all the bruising and grazes I think a lot of randoms thought I was a beaten wife.”

What’s the most unusual injury you’ve ever had?
“When I was a kid I got a bead stuck in my ear and had to go to hospital to get it taken out.”

What’s your swell-reducing item of choice?
“Those amazing ones that physios have where the water is constantly flowing through. or snow, an ice pack or peas.”

What’s your favourite painkiller?
“Ibuprofen, but at the hospital that morphine is pretty damn good.”

What’s the best casualty experience you’ve ever had?
“I broke both the bones in my left arm on a dry slope and the ambulance came, and they gave me morphine. That stuff is truly amazing. The doctor said not to worry if you react a bit weirdly but by the time I reached the hospital I’d asked the ambulance man if he enjoyed having sex and had he seen my new thong. Some people get aggressive, and I got randy.”

Posy Dixon

Posy Dixon

What’s the best thing about being injured?
“So right now I’ve snapped my arm in half and there are many positive sides including loads of great prescription drugs and you can’t do the washing up. I guess it’s a valid excuse to be lazy if you’re into that and my arm now does a good Emu impression.”

What’s the funniest injury you’ve ever had?
“A haematoma in my ass the size of a tennis ball, it was all wobbly fluidfilled bruises. Pretty entertaining.”

What’s the most unusual injury you’ve ever seen?
“A friend burnt her face off this winter, which was different.”

What’s your swell-reducing item of choice?
“Frozen squid rings, and they’re yummy.”

And your favourite painkiller?
“Laughing gas, morphine and adrenaline.”

What do you do more of when injured?
“This season I’ve been walking lots up random hills in New Zealand, plus chasing sheep and cruising the supermarket.”

What’s the best casualty experience you’ve ever had?
“Not me, but I’ve heard in Iceland if you injure yourself they put you on an iceberg and fl oat you away so they can’t hear you moaning.”

Are you squeamish?
“Love ketchup but not so keen on real blood.”

Next: Sonia Shaw & Lesley McKenna>>

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Surfing A-level? Exams never sounded so good…

April 04, 2008 @ 1:20 PM - Features: Sports

Fancy switching quadratic equations for your surfboard? Well in France, you are now able to do just that.

Those inspired folks in Biarritz have just added the equivalent of a Surfing A-level into the curriculum, meaning that French students can be examined on their surf skills as part of the French Baccalaurate.

Next week, on April 8th, 70 candidates will be taking to the water to be judged by 12 sport teachers on the Grande Plage in Biarritz.

The inclusion of surfing into the curriculum has been the result of a long battle supported by every surf club in the region, all of whom are keen to promote the sport in schools.

Alexandre Griveau of the French Federation of Surfing (FFS) says: “The president of the FFS Jean-Luc Arassus will oversee the exam, organised by the Biarritz Surf Club and the local education authority of Bordeaux. The examinations will consist of tests in paddling, physical skills and an oral test on general knowledge about surfing. ”

Candidates will be called on to the Grande Plage at 8am and will be examined until 6pm. So it seems stamina is certainly being put to the test too!

Surfing A-Level

Surf photographer Elizabeth Pepin never thought that surfing would be integrated into education. “It is amazing that the schools are accepting surfing!” she says. “I could never imagine this in a million years. When I began surfing, people thought I was crazy. My parents asked that I stopped doing it because it was too dangerous. It was still considered a rebel sport done by people on the fringe of society.

“For schools to embrace it in this way is incredible. I think it is such a positive thing because surfing is very empowering and also a fantastic way to connect with nature. It’s also a way to teach kids about other things like physics, oceanography, weather, geography - all those things come into play if you want to know when and where the surf is going to be good.”

While Biarritz are leading the surf revolution, it seems like it may take a while before surfing becomes truly mainstream. However, the surf exams certainly look set to give surfing a huge boost in promoting worldwide interest.

“We’ve been thinking of this idea for years now,” says Alexandre Griveau. “It has been a tough job to convince people that surfing is no longer a marginal sport, but getting surfing on the agenda proves that it is finally accepted on the same level as other traditional sports like football and rugby. It is a great thing indeed.

“Our numbers have already grown from 43 candidates last year to 70 this year, so let’s hope it becomes a wider phenomenon – in other surf spots in France and even the rest of the world!”

Surfing instead of double chemistry? We certainly hope so too…

Pictures by: Anglet Surf Photo.
Interviews by: Elisa Routa

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Slide Awards 2008

March 01, 2008 @ 9:15 AM - Features: Sports

The Slide awards recognised the hottest, most talked about products at the recent Slide trade show - the ones that got the buyers excited and prompted ‘I want one of those!’ exclamations from customers.

The awards recognised the ‘Best in Show’ in 3 categories: Hardware, Software and Accessories. And the winners were…

Hardware Category – Salomon Custom Shell
Customised boot fit has previously focused on the liner of your boot, but now Salomon has designed a boot with a custom shell. In a simple 20-minute process, boots will give such a precise fit, there’ll be absolutely no compromise on comfort. Boots are designed for your feet by your feet. Genius!

Software Category – DB Leisure (Thaw LTD) Bamboo base Layer
Thaw is a brand that designs thermal base layers to keep you snug during outdoor pursuits. Thaw are launching a new line of bamboo thermal underwear to move towards more eco-friendly material that still ticks all the technical criteria. These clever pants wick moisture away from your skin, keep you comfortable in all temperatures and are naturally antibacterial - fabulous!

Accessories Category – Noble Custom Ortovox S1 Avalanche Transceiver
Being outside in powder is what we enjoy – but there is also a very real threat of danger when venturing off-piste. A handy protection tool is a the Ortovox S1 which reflects the actual situation in the avalanche field, allows exact, efficient pinpoint search with indication of depth of a buried person and offers signal isolation and marking of found persons. Literally, a lifesaver.

For the full low-down from the show, head to the Slide website.

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A Beginners Guide to Freerunning

February 25, 2008 @ 2:41 PM - Features: Sports

If jumping over benches, somersaulting fences, sliding down rails and leaping onto walls sounds like your cup of tea, then freerunning could be set to become your new favourite hobby...

What is Freerunning?
Freerunning is ‘the art of expression through motion’. Started in France, freerunning involves the runner, or ‘traceur’, attempting to pass static obstacles in the fastest and most direct manner possible, using skills such as jumping, vaulting, rolling, spinning, flipping and climbing. Freerunners use obstacles and the spaces between them to create a forward flow, taking physical objects intended to restrict motion and using them to enhance it instead. The obstacles can be anything in your environment, so parkour is often practiced in urban areas because there are a bundle of suitable structures, such as buildings, fences, rails, and walls.

How To Start
There are many freerunning clubs and organisations, with new ones starting up all the time. Try meetup.com for a club near you, or pop ‘freerunning’ into Google to find an organisation in your area. Many clubs accept new members, and will teach you the basics, as well as guide you on exercise and fitness. If you can’t find a local club, why not get some of your friends together for s spot of freerunning in the streets around your home. After all, one of the best things about freerunning is that it can be done anywhere - just don’t get arrested!

Getting Fit
It’s important that you have a good all-round level of physical fitness before you even attempt freerunning, with emphasis being on the core muscles, as well as stamina. Exercises such as press-ups, stomach crunches, and chin ups will go a long way to building your shoulders, arms and core strength. In addition, you should be jogging or running on a regular basis to keep your all-round fitness, legs and joints in top condition. Make sure you always stretch and warm up before a freerunning session to prevent any nasty muscle and joint strains and sprains.

Jumping & Landing
Getting over obstacles in your path is what turns a run into a freerun. As a beginner, you should be starting off with small objects, just a couple of feet high at most. Try some simple vaults over low railings and benches, and work your way up from there. As you take on more and more obstacles, you’ll learn to spot more opportunities and more challenging routes, but don’t take on too much, too soon. Accidents do happen, but are easily avoided if you know your limits.

Kit Essentials
It doesn’t cost the earth to kit yourself out for freerunning. Freerunners generally wear a light, comfy clothes. The emphasis is on freedom of movement so anything you wear should not impede your ability to complete the various movements you’ll need to do. Some people wear thin athletic gloves to assist with grip and protect against abrasive surfaces, such as brick and concrete. One important part of your arsenal should be a good pair of freerunning shoes. Running shoes are good, but rarely offer the grip you’ll need to take on vertical objects or slippy rails. There are a number of freerunning-specific shoes available if you have a hunt on the web.

For more top tips, head to the Urban Freeflow freerunning website.

In the interest of practising what we preach, we sent Cooler intern Elisa Routa off for a freerunning lesson…

Freerunning

Early on a Tuesday morning, I could be snug in bed, or beavering away in the office, but instead I’ve decided to start the day the Relentless way, with two hours of freerunning training with a professional. While I’m excited at what’s in store, having not exercised in almost three months, I’m hoping I’ll survive being put through my paces…

It’s 8.30am and I’m outside the iMax Cinema in Waterloo, waiting to meet Blue, one of the world’s best freerunners. By 9am we’re kicking off with an energetic warm-up. After plenty of stretching and a two-lap run, I’m starting to think this freerunning lark isn’t too difficult after all… That was just before Blue asked me to jump onto a 1-metre wall. After rather ungracefully trying to scramble up the solid wall, that frankly may as well be the Great Wall of China, I admit defeat and Blue shows me how it’s done. He leaps up so fluidly, simply by pushing his foot on the wall and hauling himself up with his arms. He is just amazing.

Freerunning

As we stroll down the Thames, a few metres further down by the National Theatre, Blue makes another display of his talent, strength and skill. Among impressive jumps and cartwheels, he is also incredibly agile and precise in his moves. “It is all about the notion of distance,” Blue says. “Some people often tell me that if they could run as I do, they would never be late. But to be honest, outside the freerunning I am lazy!”

By 11am, I am exhausted and it’s time for some well-earned relaxation and a can of Relentless energy drink to give me a boost. I’m certain that I’ll sleep well tonight, and I also leave thinking I’d love to have the opportunity to try out freerunning again. I coped pretty well with the embarrassment of my physical incapability and quite enjoyed the fact that I was desperately unable to do a third of what Blue showed off! But while I’m certainly not a natural, my first experience of freerunning was great fun and it was really interesting to view the space we live in a completely different way.

However, even if I have enjoyed climbing walls, jumping over benches and sliding down rails, I’ve developed a new appreciation for walking on pavements and think I’ll stick with them for now…

Thanks to Relentless and Blue for a great day.

The advertising campaign for the new Relentless Juiced energy drink, featuring Urban Freeflow Freerunner Blue, will be on screens soon, with Relentless Juiced available in stores from March. For more information go to the Relentless website.

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Anna Barry Portfolio

February 20, 2008 @ 3:33 PM - Features: Sports

Anna Barry has been a freesports photographer for over seven years, largely shooting snaps for Southern Hemisphere Magazines. She fell in love with photography at school and went on to study Visual Arts at university in Melbourne. “I’ve always had a passion for art and this genre of photography just progressed through my passion for snowboarding,” she says. This season, she’s been hanging out in France, freelancing and snapping UK riders in action.

We take a peek at Anna’s photo album and ask her to give us a run down of her favourite shots…

Snowfarm, NZ
This would have to be one of my favourite shots as this was taken when I was coaching with Snowgirls NZ. We were staying up at Snowpark and sometimes you get the most amazing sunsets there. The sky went into these crazy colors and I just couldn’t resist capturing it on camera. New Zealand is like my second home, it is one of the most beautiful countries in the world and I’m lucky enough to have enjoyed many of its wonders.

Jo Chastney, Gilly Seagrave and Emma Rogers, Morzine
I have found that recently I have started to really enjoy shooting images that illustrate moments in time, especially of this lifestyle that many of us endure. This image is one of my recent images and I had never been to this frozen lake outside of Morzine. I just fell in love with this very cold winter wonderland.

First snowfall, Trin Mulin, CH
This image was taken outside my friend’s house in Laax at the start of October - it was the first snowfall of the season. The first snowfall always sparks excitement and memories, especially the good times.

Winter, Morzine
I have always loved landscape photography, although it is entirely down to personal taste. There’s no reason for this choice but simply for the fact it’s a personal favourite.

Fiona Duncan, Treble Cone, NZ
This image of Fi is taken at one of the most famous resorts in NZ. Fiona is one of the most well known, dedicated and inspirational female snowboarders in NZ. She has always been an inspiration and a diamond in my life and I was pleased to share this moment with her at one of our home resorts.

Abby Lockhardt, Japan, 2006
This shot of Abby has caused me slight hiccups in the past. What looks like a snowboarder jibbing a building was no ordinary building; I later found out this was a dedicated shrine to the ‘snowgods’. But for some reason this shot has always been a favourite simply because we had a ton of fun on this day. I think all countries need buildings dedicated to ‘snowgods’ - especially if we get to jib them and pray for endless pow.

Peniche, Portugal, October 2007
Surfing is my other passion and when I’m not snowboarding I’m at the beach! I was in Portugal for a month last year surfing. Portugal is a beautiful place; the sun was setting behind me and the moon just sat nicely above these old surf club buildings.

Check out Anna’s website for more amazing shots.

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Nike Rockstar Workout: House

February 18, 2008 @ 9:51 AM - Features: Sports

As sports evolve beyond traditional courts and playing fields, and we’re facing the end of our season on the slopes, Nike is once again shaping the agenda with the new Nike Rockstar House Workout. With fresh movements from world renowned choreographer Brian Green, the Nike Rockstar House Workout provides a fitness challenge combining a mix of martial arts, African and Latin dance and a spot of tap dance, combined with fancy floor moves and footwork.

While most people might not think of dance as a hardcore workout, those who have attempted the Nike Rockstar classes can testify that they combine artistic expression and athletic challenge to result in some serious sweating! High-energy house dance moves are performed to a soundtrack of drumbeats, snares and electronic sounds. The ensuing workout helps you to develop greater cardio endurance, muscular strength and rhythmic coordination. The movements are super-fast, giving participants an opportunity to increase their speed, rhythmic skill and creative self-expression while burning calories and having fun.

The Nike Rockstar Workout House will be hitting gyms nation this March; Gyms include Virgin Active, Gym Box, 37 Degrees, Third Space and Funk Physics Studio.

For more information check out http://www.nikewomen.com

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Rip Curl Girls Tour - Glasgow 2008

February 08, 2008 @ 8:28 AM - Features: Sports

This winter, the Rip Curl Girls Tour is on a mission to get girls across Europe hooked on freestyle skiing and snowboarding. The tour is touching down at plenty of Europe’s best snow spots in France, Switzerland, Italy… and Glasgow. Glasgow? Yep, that’s right Glasgow. Although it’s not the first place you’d think of spending a day on snow, with the arrival of SNO!zone, Scotland’s only indoor snow slope, Glasgow is fast becoming a breeding ground for new ski and snowboard talent. And with the new snow dome comes a new type of girl, the Rip Curl Girl…

After a successful stop in Milton Keynes the week before, I could see this event was a good excuse for me to go riding with friends and add a couple of new tricks to my snowboarding repertoire. A quick call to my mates at SNO!zone, and we were all booked up and stoked for a weekend of fun in the ‘snow’.

The Rip Curl team met us as we arrived, introducing our instructors for the weekend - including Rip Curl pro skier Shelly Jones. As a boarder I was disappointed Rip Curl pro snowboarder Alex Barrere couldn’t make it, but throughout the weekend Shelly was equally encouraging to the boarders and the skiers. By Saturday morning we were all practicing our 50/50’s and boardslides on the rookie box!

It was exciting to have the skiers and boarders encouraging each other and really brought the group together. By lunchtime on the first day I had managed to get over my fear of backside boardslides and was giving backside 180’s a go off the kickers, but for my best mate Barbara and many of the other girls there this was their freestyle debut and I could tell many of them were catching up with me!

All the girls got chatting at lunchtime and I was surprised to hear some of them had travelled all the way from London, Cardiff and even Belfast for the event. However, even after just a couple of hours riding, they were glad they made the trip. We enjoyed some well-earned hot chocolate and cookies before we were back on the slope to step things up a notch in the afternoon.

We decided to session the rookie box again in the afternoon as the group became more comfortable with their new skills, and pretty soon several of the girls were pulling off big tricks. After mastering my frontside boardslides to fakie out on the rookie box I decided it was time to try out the bigger slide box with an up-gap-down setup that I had been itching to have a shot at all day. With the help of my awesome instructor Graeme, by the end of the day I was pulling off 50/50 to frontside boardslides over my new favourite obstacle with style. Bruised but happy we were all treated to goody bags and some music to rock out to, provided by hot new band Skirtbox.

The next day the progression continued further with many of the girls nailing grabs and 180’s off the kickers, and for those of us that wanted a bit more of a challenge there was a 5m rail set up for our grinding pleasure. After getting over my fear of backside boardslides the day before I was chuffed to be trying them switch by the end of the second morning - this is definitely my new favourite trick, despite taking a couple of hard slams trying it!

The afternoon gave me the opportunity to take some pictures, ride with my new friends and watch everyone show off their new-found talent. Little did we know that throughout the second day the Rip Curl team were keeping an eye out for the girls they thought looked most promising. After pulling a 360 off the kicker, Sinead Owen won a snowboard for ‘best trick’ on a board. I was chuffed to win a bunch of Rip Curl goodies including a rucksack, hoodie and skullcandy headphones for being the ‘most stoked’ rider that weekend whilst my best mate walked away with a new pair of Rip Curl skis for pulling off the best trick on skis. Skiier Jordana Dunlop was also awarded a free pair of skis for the ‘best progression’ award, and 11-year-old Katrina won a bunch of prizes for being one of the most promising on skis. The final prize for ‘best progression’ on a snowboard went to a girl called Lucy who didn’t even know how to put a helmet on before she started!

A week later, I’m still stoked and planning a trip to France with my new friends to improve our freestyle skills even further. The tour has only just begun so I would encourage girls of all ages and abilities to get to their nearest resort and take part. I can’t wait for next year!

Words: Ruth Carruthers

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Shiny New Cooler Website

January 24, 2008 @ 12:57 PM - Features: Sports

Seeing as we’ve just relaunched the mag with a shiny new look and improved content, we thought it only fair to give the web site a fresh lick of paint too. In case it got jealous and starting acting all weird and blanking us or something. So here it is. Look around and make yourself at home. We’ll be updating up it regularly with all the latest news and views from the boardsports world and beyond. And if you haven’t seen the new mag yet you can subscribe for hardly any money at all at the bottom of the page.

Here’s a sneak preview.

Enjoy,

Sam Haddad
Editor

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Women in Sport

December 11, 2007 @ 3:58 PM - Features: Sports

It’s long been a grumble of top sportswomen that they’re simply not getting the opportunities, recognition or salaries to match their male counterparts. While premier league footballers take home a six-figure pay packet each month, ladies with comparable skills on the field have to work two jobs just to fund their passion.

However, the world of freesports is setting out to bring women’s sport up to par. With whopping contest prize purses, girls-only events that get women carving up the surf, skimming down the slopes and shredding up the skate park, and fantastic clothing and apparel lines for the ladies, now seems like a pretty good time to be an adrenaline junkie at the top of your game.

Nike recently brought the issue of women in sport further to the fore with a new exhibition in London. The ‘Changing the Game of Women’s Sport’ art show, curated by Nike, celebrated and elevated the profile of some of the country’s finest sportswomen, showing their strength, passion and individuality. The exhibition coincided with recent debate regarding the current state of women’s sport in the UK, where there are currently no women playing team sports professionally and less than 5% of all sports media coverage is dedicated to women’s sport.

“There are lots of women in every sport but they’re not recognised as much as the men,” says Nike dance athlete Clara Bajado. “Women are not paid the same for doing the same job – in any other industry this would be unacceptable but it seems to be accepted in sport and I’d like to see that attitude change. It’s also really hard for women to get exposure, especially when sports such as women’s football get aired at 3am while men’s football is prime time TV.”

Research released by the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation earlier this month shows more than 80% of women are not doing enough physical activity to benefit their health and 16-24 year old women are half as active as their male counterparts. Through their recent exhibition, Nike aimed to inspire through athletes’ stories and motivate women to get involved in sport to experience the strength and confidence they can gain from doing so.

“Part of the problem is that sport is male dominated; everything is geared towards men and that doesn’t encourage women to take part,” says Nike athlete Jane Wake. “My mission is to help redefine sport so that it’s for everyone. Women shouldn’t feel intimidated, they should find something that interests them, then go along and try it out. Simply taking part is the most important step, whether it’s a netball team, an aerobics class or a run for charity. Just get out there and do it.”

Profiled athletes in the exhibition included marathon runner and record-breaker Paula Radcliffe; UK Junior 100m record holder Asha Philip; Snowboard Champs (and Cooler bloggers) Rebecca Cullum and Zoe Gillings; Snowboard Slalom champ Claire Frost; Arsenal Ladies team players Emma Byrne and Lianne Sanderson; and the full Nike dance athlete squad.

Nike athlete Sonja Moses teaches 20 dance and aerobics each week, including sessions for women in young offenders institutions. “I want to encourage as many women as possible to get into sport,” she says. “It’s not only great for fitness, it’s also great for confidence and self-esteem. It can be a really good release; a real means of escape.”

“In order to make sport appealing to young girls and communicate the strength, both physical and mental, sport brings to your life, we felt we needed to champion some the UK and Ireland’s top sportswomen as positive role models,” said Lindsey Sexton-Chadwick, Nike Women’s Marketing Manager. “The exhibition is the first chapter in a series of activities we have planned to encourage young girls to become and stay more active.”

Think women are underrepresented in sport? We’d love to hear your thoughts on our forum.

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How To Ride Rails

November 14, 2007 @ 10:46 AM - Features: Sports

Don’t be afraid of the park. Nail the rails this winter with a little help from the snow pros...

Silva Mittermüller

The Pro

Name: Silvia Mittermüller

Age: 23

Nationality: German

Main sponsors: Oakley, Vans, Ratiopharm.

Years riding: Nine.

Best achievements: Silver Medal X Games Slopestyle 2005, Best Trick Abominable Snow Jam 2006.

Fave place to ride: Breckenridge has the best parks in the world.

Favourite trick: Anything smooth and clean that feels easy in the air.

Before you hit a rail on board, find a short, wide straight box that you can hop on to easily. A 50/50 on a box is a very easy trick. The key is not to put any weight on your edges. As soon as you’ve figured out your 50/50, and you’re comfortable riding fakie (switch), move on and learn your first proper jib trick on a box – a backside board slide.

Silva in action

The approach

Approach the box straight with little speed, and lower your weight by bending your knees. This helps you to ollie on to the box easier and safer.

The pop up

When you reach the lip of the take off, pop a little ollie from your back foot and jump on to the box square. Your shoulders should lead this little 90-degree turn – the back arm moves to the side while your shoulders turn in a way that you face forwards when you land on the box.

The follow through

Now for the trickiest moment in this trick: to position your weight correctly on the box while you land and slide. Most people tend to put too much weight on their heels in the
beginning and slide out on their butts. To avoid this, it helps to bend your knees loads to lower your weight. A lower centre of gravity will help the balance. Also, leaning forward
will help you not slide out.

The landing

Once you have the right balance in the slide, the end of the box will appear very quickly. As soon as you lose the box under your feet, get your board straight again so you don’t catch your edge in the snow. If you do a proper square board slide, it will be easiest for you to land this trick fakie – you already bring some kind of spinning motion with you from the take off, so keep this momentum and go to fakie on the end of the box. To do this properly, you need to turn your shoulders in the new direction and your body and board will follow. When you land, bend your knees again, look forward and concentrate to keep going straight. Ride out switch and smile. Well done. You just did your first backside board slide.

How to… progress

Once you can do backside and frontside board slides on straight boxes or rails, move to a curved box. A c-box is a little trickier – through the curve you have to position your
weight differently and more exactly not to fall off. When you frontside board slide a curved box, it’s easiest to do your slide on your inner foot and put the majority of your weight on to that foot.

Approach the c-box with a little more speed than for a straight box, so you don’t fall off. Pop on and jump on to your back foot and lower your weight on to it as soon as you
land. Look over your outside shoulder while keeping all your weight on the inner foot. If your speed and position are fine, you will reach the end of the box and should go
back to a regular stance as you have been looking over your outside shoulder which is your front shoulder. Land it, ride away, and be stoked. You just did a frontside board slide
– a Smith – all through the c-box.

Caja Schöpf

The Pro

Name: Caja Schöpf

Age: 21

Nationality: German

Main sponsors: Oakley goggles, Völkl, Peak Performance

Years riding: I was born in the alps so a long time!

Best achievements: 1st Kaunertal Opening ’06

Fave place to ride: Zugspitze, Germany

Favourite trick: 180, rails

To learn to rail slide on skis, start on an easy, straight box first. There are some simple rules you have to follow for rails, but don’t be scared; sliding a box is probably the easiest way to start your freeskiing career.

The approach

Make sure you have enough speed and approach the box straight on. If you jump on a rail from the side, you’ll probably fall off the other side.

Caja in action

The pop up

Pop up and turn your body 90 degrees in whichever direction you prefer to slide and land smoothly on the box. It is important that the skis are exactly 90 degrees to the rail and the box is right under your feet.

The follow through

As you slide, keep your knees, upper body and hips bent. your arms should be in front of your body pointing to the ground. Don’t be too stiff; an upright rail slide is just not
cool. look at the end of the box to keep your balance.

The landing

To make the rail slide a little more difficult and stylish, end the trick by landing switch rather than just forward. All you have to do is turn your body another 90 degrees and land clean and smooth. Have fun trying, and don’t be disappointed if you have a little slam once in a while. That’s just normal. After lots of practice, you’ll make this trick look like
it’s the easiest thing in the world.

How to… progress

Once you’re happy on straight rails, take the next step and move on to curved rails. The easiest form of curved rails is the c-box and for your first c-box trick, try the rail slide
to fakie. C-boxes are pretty funny and not as difficult as they look. The key is to get the perfect amount of speed. Too slow makes you fall off on the inside, too fast and you’ll
fall off on the outside. If you’ve got different curved boxes in your fun park, you can choose if you’d rather slide with your face outside or inside the curve.

Approach the box straight on and pop up on to the c-box. Land with your feet directly over the box and your skis at 90 degrees. Lean your body a little into the curve. Now it’s all about the monkey stone again: your knees, upper body and hips are bent and your arms should be in front of the body pointing to the ground. In this position and with the right speed, you’ll reach the end of the box smoothly.

Nose and tail presses are kind of easy on curved boxes and make your trick even more stylish, so try those too. When you get really confident, try a 270 off a c-box. Sometimes, even 450s are possible. But now I’m starting to daydream! Good luck.

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High Altitude Hollywood

November 05, 2007 @ 12:06 PM - Features: Sports

Think you’re the next big thing in snow business? Want to know how to produce, or star in, your own powder porn movie? Cordelia Brabbs goes behind the lens.

Whether you’re into girls, boys or a bit of both, there’s a movie to suit your tastes, of the snow variety, that is. Fancy an hour of sick, unadulterated riding? Like your
tricks mixed with travel documentary? Want to laugh out loud at riders pulling dumb stunts? No problem, just Google PoorBoyz, Teton Gravity Research, Robot Food, Mack Dawg, Kingpin, Lockdown Projects, Absinthe, Chunkyknit, Matchstick Productions and Misschief Films and you’ve hit the top shelf of powder porn.

It was a different story a decade or so ago. Unimaginative ‘ski porn’ with slow-mo powder action and scant storylines were the norm and, of the old-school movies, only the occasional production smashed the mould, most notably Glen Plake’s The Blizzard of Ahhhs and the highly-acclaimed Afterbang and Afterlame.

The past five years has seen a rapid improvement in every aspect of snow movies, from the standard of riding through to the quality of production and editing. ‘Now we’re seeing complete lines, less slow motion, and riders stomping their landings,’ says award-winning filmmaker David Kvart.

There have been big advancements on the technology front too. High definition cameras produce stronger colours and crisper pictures, and the drop in product prices has brought in a wider range of creative talent. Whereas producers were spending £160,000 on equipment ten years ago, they can now spend nearer £1000. Inevitably, not everyone’s
happy about the developments: ‘Anyone can get their hands on a DV cam now, so a lot of poor movie productions are out there, which is bad for the image of the sport,’ says Nicolas Falquet, pro-skier and co-founder of Flk Films.

Despite a few recent duds, plenty of slick flicks have recently been released. Chunkyknit’s all-girl offering, Last Winter, and Une Nuit D’Hiver by Flk Films, part one of which
was shot entirely at night, are fine examples.

Girls on Film

Sadly the new school revolution hasn’t brought about gender equality, and the number of guys producing and riding in action sports movies continues to far exceed the girls. It was only in 1999 that US snowboarders Sky Rondenet and Tiffany Sabol released empress, the first chick flick featuring girls ripping it up on surf, snow and skateboards. After a good response they formed XX productions and launched Our Turn in 2000 and Hardly Angels, the first all-girl snowboard movie, in 2001.

A year later, Josie Clyde and Lesley Mckenna decided XX’s one-off movie wasn’t enough, and Chunkyknit productions was born. 2004 saw the release of Dropstitch, a celebrated feature-length documentary giving an insight into the lifestyles, personalities and awesome riding skills of the top female pros like lisa Filzmoser, Victoria Jealouse and Kjersti
Buaas. In 2005, the follow-up, Transfer, received equal praise.

Across the ocean the same year, US all-girl crew Misschief Films released its first movie, As If!, featuring world-class riders Leanne Pelosi, Alexis Waite, Laura Hadar and Gretchen Bleiler. While Chunkyknit chose a documentary-style format, Misschief stuck to the more traditional ridersection style in an attempt to compete with the big boys. Its 2006 release Ro Sham Bo continues on that theme. Whatever the format, the bulk of female pros agree that all-girl movies inspire girls to ride harder.

‘All-girl fi lms motivate more girls to push the limits, because it’s easier to identify with other girls,’ says Roxy’s Kjersti Buaas. ‘They have the feeling of “hey, I can do that too”.’

And it’s good for riders too, who often feel under pressure to prove themselves to the guys. ‘If I’m filming with guys, they don’t want to waste their time on some small, silly jump that I’m comfortable on,’ says Natasza Zurek. ‘So, instead of hitting a 50ft jump I may be faced with a 100ft death gap, which I just wouldn’t do.’

Segregating the sexes has, of course, sparked debate. While riders like Victoria Jealouse and Cheryl Maas continue to hold their own in boy movies like Lines (Billabong)
and That! (Forum) respectively, there is still a sense that they are token females. ‘I think it’s time to have boy/girl movies with equal coverage,’ says O’Neill pro snowboarder
Jessica Venables. ’Guys are just as stoked to see a girl killing it on the snow.’

Mo’ Money

One issue that might affect the future production of all-girl movies is financial backing. A big-guns production with helicopter filming, an all-star cast and travel expenses can cost more than £250,000. Although Chunkyknit spends a significantly smaller £60,000 – £70,000 on its films, it’s still difficult to raise cash from sponsors. ‘The companies who have backed us have been brilliant, but across the industry there’s still not enough money for all-girl productions,’ says co-founder Josie Clyde. ‘We expected it in our first two years but it’s still the same now.’

So if you dream of making a fortune in girls’ snow movies, check in to the real world. The only income is from DVD sales, and if you’ve gone over budget then most of that can go on clearing debts. It’s definitely a case of doing it for the love, not the money.

Highs and Lows

You’ve also got to be prepared for the hard slog of filming. Despite all the messing around that makes the final cut, the reality isn’t as much fun as you might think. For Chunkyknit regular Lisa Filzmoser, it’s a routine of ‘working hard, waiting, eating, waiting, sleeping, working hard, waiting’, and that’s before the crappy weather, injuries, endless packing, and the frustration of not being able to land a trick on film that you know you can normally do.

This can be frustrating for the camera guys too. ‘There’s nothing worse than waking up early to spend three hours building a jump, then no one lands anything,’ says Adam Gendle, co-founder of Lockdown Projects (LDP).

But the highs more than make up for the lows. Working on snow movies can take you to some world-class terrain, and you get to ride as part of a tightly-knit crew.
‘I love it when there’s a powder day and I get to build a jump with friends and have a session with the cameras shooting,’ says Filzmoser.

Then there’s the satisfaction of creating something that gets people feeling stoked. ‘It’s great to get positive feedback from the girls who we made it for – girls who just love snowboarding,’ says Clyde.

But perhaps the biggest plus is the freedom. ‘You’re in the best workplace in the world,’ says Tim Warwood, co-founder of LDP. ‘No matter how cold your hands are or how tired
you are from hiking in metre-deep powder with 30kgs on your back, you just can’t help thinking that this is the best job ever.’

Must-See Movies

‘Afterbang made me want to go snowboarding more than any other movie.’ Tash Green-Armytage, organiser of Protest Jib-Vid.

‘Afterlame, because it moved away from the boring part-to-part format by being a travel movie.’ Per-Hampus Stålhandske of Actionhorse.

‘King Size was good for the quality of production, super-tight shots and killer soundtrack.’ Gian Simmen, snow pro.

‘Matchstick Production movies have the best quality images and use innovative techniques for their shots.’ Guido Perrini, Snow Films Director.

‘TB4 is the ultimate classic. It was the first one I watched that made me want to make films.’ Tim Warwood, Lockdown Projects.

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B Girls

September 25, 2007 @ 12:50 PM - Features: Sports

You don’t need bulging biceps to breakdance. B-girls are taking over the breaking scene – and they’re doing it with style.

Words by: Emily Murray

The ceiling is a whirl as I spin around on my back. Finally I grind to a halt and wait until the world does the same. Sweat is trickling down my face into my hair and I can feel a
bruise developing on my back, but I’m elated. In one hour I’ve learned the basics of breaking – and it feels good.

B-girl in action

I have to admit it’s not what I’m expecting. When I entered this, my first ever breakdancing class, I thought I’d be in a room full of lads spinning on one arm while I fell on my
head in the corner. I was half right; some of the B-boys here in london’s pineapple dance studio are performing gravity-defying stunts, flipping themselves around and spinning
on their heads. But impressive as these boys are, it’s the girls who hold my attention. They’re breaking to the beat in a fluid, sexy, kinda way, and they’re looking street-cool in baseball caps, loose tracksuit bottoms, Adidas hi-tops and funky tees.

‘Girls hold the beat better than guys,’ says class teacher Skam. A former graffiti artist, Skam has been breaking since 1981 and teaching in Europe for the last 10 years. He’s noticed increasing numbers of girls attending his classes, from teenagers to those in their early thirties, and today there are more ladies than gents rocking the beat.

One is 16-year-old Tammy Clark. She came along today with a B-boy mate, and is getting stuck in learning the steps. Together the class has mastered (attempted, in my case) the ‘top rock’ dance step and the ‘six step’ floor move (where your feet scurry in a circle round your hands), and we’re starting to get a feel for the hip-hop rhythm, encouraged by our classmates.

‘I thought breaking would be all about power holds and strength work, but it’s more about footwork and dance, which is great,’ says Tammy. ‘I’ll definitely be back.’

Girl Power

So is one class all it takes to be a B-girl?

‘Definitely not,’ says Skam. ‘This is just a first step. To be a B-girl – or a B-boy – you’ve got to eat, sleep and breathe breaking.’

Peppa is a fully-fledged B-girl who battles with the boys. She’s danced for stars such as Gwen Stefani, and in ad campaigns for the likes of Red Bull and nikita. When I speak
to her, the 30 year-old LA superstar is hanging with B-girls and B-boys in Stuttgart, Munich and Salzburg as part of a hip-hop exchange programme. Peppa tells me she’s hyped by
the standard of breaking she’s seen in Europe so far and wants more girls to get involved.

‘Don’t let anyone discourage you just because you’re a girl – there are so many amazing breakers all over the world to learn from,’ she says. ‘But it’s a real mission and takes
time, dedication, pain, sweat and passion.’

Proof of breakdancing’s revival – and the part girls have played in its comeback – can be seen everywhere from B-girls rocking the stage at queen-of-cool Madonna’s world tour,
to Nike’s ad campaign starring French B-girl Sophia. Now there’s even a film about a female breakdancer. Called B-girl, it stars legendary breaker lady Jules as Angel, a young dancer who earns her place in the male-dominated world of breakdancing (bgirlmovie.com).

B-girl director Emily Dell, who spent months hanging out with breakdancers, says that girls are sometimes intimidated by the competitive side of breaking and can find the upper-body strength moves tough. But she has seen increasing numbers of girls getting involved and beating the boys at their own game.

‘B-girls have a lot more style in their dancing; sometimes guys just go for the big power moves and forget the style,’ says Emily.

Stylish Sistas

Having style in what you wear is also a big part of being a B-girl.

‘If you’re gonna rock the spotlight in a cipher (breaking battle), it’s best to look fresh in your threads – it adds to the artistic effect,’ says Peppa.

Nowhere is style more apparent than at the big breaking events. One of the biggest in Europe is the B-Boy Championships at London’s Brixton Academy. Crews come from around the world to take part and hooch, a former DJ who started the contest in 1996, reckons the B-girls and B-boys get better every year.

‘The B-girls we see here are dope,’ he says. ‘They don’t want special treatment – they can dance with the best of the boys.’

Burn Baby Burn

Aside from the sense of achievement (I never knew my body could do those things!), breakdancing burns 400 calories an hour and is a full-body workout.

‘The freezes require balance too, which builds your core strength,’ says top personal trainer Kathryn Freeland.

So same time next week I’ll be back to learn the next set of moves, but for now I think it’s time to straighten my fresh B-girl threads and settle down with a bar of chocolate.

THE MOVES

Baby Freeze

Most of Peppa’s weight is on her arms; her head is used mainly for stability. This freeze is not as hard as it looks. The knee locks into the opposite elbow, which helps fix the position and adds style. Holding this pose after some fast footwork shows you’ve got attitude.

Footwork Freeze

Peppa also calls this move an ‘ankle sprainer’, which is what can happen if you lose your balance, as she discovered. All her weight is supported by one hand and one foot
and her back leg is locked in tight behind her front leg. This hold uses Peppa’s stomach, arm and leg muscles.

Elbow Freeze

A very impressive-looking pose, but one that’s hard to hold for any length of time. Peppa either kicks up into this freeze like you’d do a handstand, or transitions straight
from a shoulderstand. What’s really cool is how she manages to style her legs while she’s in the air.

The Venues

Nike Rockstar Workout, across Europe

Nike is running hip-hop dance workshops in cities all over Europe, from Manchester to Munich to Marseille (nikewomen.com).

Pineapple Dance Studio, London

The Foundationz Cru run breaking classes on Mondays (for beginners), Thursdays and Saturdays (pineapple.uk.com or 020 7836 4004).

Break Station, London

This dedicated street-dance studio runs breaking classes to suit all abilities and styles (breakstation.co.uk or 020 7613 5770).

Battle of the Year, European-wide

‘Battle’ has been running since 1991. Regional finals are across the UK and Europe. Finals are held in Braunschweig (battleoftheyear.net and botyfrance.com).

Evolution Europe, Europe-wide and USA

Newly-established European comp. Winners qualify for the international Evolution breaking contest in the US (evolution-europe.com).

UK B-Boy Championships, London

International breaking battle held every October at London’s Brixton Academy. See the illest skillz you’ll ever see (bboychampionships.com).

Bboyworld.com

An international forum for B-girls and B-boys across the world to exchange views and tips on breaking, and to arrange breaking sessions with people in your area (bboyworld.com).

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How to Bunny Hop

August 17, 2007 @ 1:32 PM - Features: Sports

Master the bunny hop and you’ll hit the trails knowing you can jump over anything.

Compiled by: Amanda Maclean

Rider: Rachel Atherton

Photos by: Robin Kitchin

Ready to kiss goodbye to the days of slamming on the brakes to get around obstacles in your path? A bunny hop is a key skill in mountain biking that will get you over obstacles, not around them, and will open the doors to a new level of confidence and riding. It’s a fun trick to perform and, once you’ve sussed it, you can bunny hop over bigger logs at higher speeds and keep up with the boys.

The set up

Find a small log, or use a cardboard box. Place the obstacle you’ve chosen to bunny hop over on a clear and flat surface, making sure you have enough space around you.

The approach

Ride straight at the log, keeping your hips, shoulders and head facing forwards. This will stop you from messing up too badly. Approach the log at about jogging pace, not too fast, not too slow. When you are roughly a bike’s length away, crouch your body low into your bike, bending from the knees and elbows. This crouched position will give you more height to get over the log.

bunny hop

The pop up

Spot the obstacle, and where you want to go, and pull up on the bars with your arms in time to go over the top of the log. At the same time lower your hips back and down,
as if you were pulling a wheelie. Your front wheel should be right above the log to guarantee that you will clear it.

The follow through

Making sure the movements flow together, throw your hips and the handlebars forwards at the same time, bringing your feet up towards you. Your back wheel should now leave the floor. If it doesn’t, keep trying and make sure you put all the steps together in one smooth movement, the key to pulling the back wheel off the ground. If you are still finding this hard you can use the lay of the land to help. Try finding a slight rise or mound in the ground and use this to help you take off.

The landing

Hopefully you should be in the air now, over your obstacle. Next thing is to spot your landing and you want to land with both wheels at the same time or the back wheel first, ever so slightly. Land as smoothly as possible by soaking up the jolt with your legs and arms. Ride out with a smile on your face and then find something bigger to clear.

How to… progress

Once you can hop things confidently you will find that your sense of balance and awareness on a bike will have improved greatly. This will help you to jump bigger jumps, ride steeper and harder tracks and in all weathers too. If those slippery wet tree roots make you crash, just hop over them. Enjoy!

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Snow Patrol

July 24, 2007 @ 9:30 AM - Features: Sports

Adventure, adrenaline, risk… Freeriding delivers the dream rush, but the payback can be brutal. In the Alps last winter, 105 people were killed in avalanches, the highest death toll on record, and many more were injured off piste. Cue Cooler’s guide to playing safe in the backcountry.

Words by Amanda Maclean and Matt Barr

Mountain Awareness Part One: The Signs are There

The rules

Before snowboarding took off, going off piste was the preserve of expert skiers. It took years for them to develop their skills, which meant they honed their mountain awareness
and experience at a similar rate. Then along came snowboarding. Compared to skiing, snowboarding in powder was such a cinch that novices with little or no mountain awareness started venturing off piste too. Fat skis followed snowboards, which opened the powder gates for intermediate skiers, and hence we’ve arrived in a new and dangerous era where an alarming number of riders – both skiers and boarders – are ducking under ropes, ignoring signs and playing blind off piste.

On or off?

So what exactly do ‘on piste’ and ‘off piste’ mean? Pistes are groomed slopes marked out by the resorts as areas to ride on. Off piste is any area out of these marked slopes, be it the ungroomed sections to the sides of pistes, areas between the pistes, or larger areas outside the main ski area, known as backcountry. In some resorts there are also marked, but ungroomed runs called itineraries. Chamonix’s Vallée Blanche and Verbier’s Tortin are famous examples. Generally, off-piste areas are not patrolled (looked after by pisteurs) unless they’re within the ski area boundary. Check your insurance to make sure you’re covered. It’s a misconception that the more dangerous parts of a ski area are difficult to get to. In reality, a slope between two pistes can slide just as easily as a backcountry bowl if provoked, or be laden with hidden crevasses if it’s on a glacier. Any off-piste area has inherent risks, so be aware that when you duck under a rope you’re riding in dangerous territory. Minimise the risks by reading all the signs: the warnings, the weather and snow conditions and your own ability.

warning signs

Busted!

Laws and attitudes towards off-piste riding vary around the world, and often from resort to resort. The litigious nature of the US and Canada means that their resorts have strict
rules on mountain behaviour, and ducking under the rope is likely to end with your lift pass being confiscated, or in extreme cases in which your actions lead to other people
being hurt, a manslaughter charge. Europe, in general, has a more liberal attitude, with the onus being on the rider to take responsibility for themselves. However, with
the increasing number of off-piste accidents in recent years, some ski patrols are taking a tougher stand and arresting riders who they think are putting themselves or others at risk.

The weather and snow conditions

Both the weather and the snow conditions can change incredibly fast in the mountains, so when you plan any kind of backcountry riding, get informed. First off, check the avalanche hazard rating at the main lift station. The 1-5 scale (5 being the greatest risk) will help you assess potential dangers. There’ll also be flags displayed at popular backcountry routes. Yellow and black checked flags denote an avalanche risk of 3 or 4 and black denotes a risk of 5. Ask a ski patroller if you’re not sure, and don’t just follow the next rider. In some countries, you can tune in to national and regional avalanche bulletins on the radio or internet. The Swiss federal institute for snow and avalanche research in Davos, for example, has daily avalanche danger forecasts and snow conditions on its website for the whole of the swiss alps (www.slf.ch).

Next, check the local weather forecast. Heading off into the backcountry if there’s a storm approaching is foolish, and if it’s going to rain your chances of riding any powder are out the window anyway. Mountain weather forecasts are by no means infallible, but have an idea of what to expect, and dress and pack for all eventualities. You can usually find the local weather forecast in the tourist office, the mountain guides’ office, on the radio or on the resort’s website.

Snow Patrol

Wind, temperature and sunshine are major governing factors in the stability of the snowpack, so the risk of riding a particular slope will change throughout the day. A slope’s aspect – which way it’s facing – is a major consideration. ‘North-facing slopes can have a dramatically different snowpack to south-facing slopes, and riders need to be aware of that,’ says Warren Smith, a leading freeskier and director of the Warren Smith Ski Academy in Verbier. ‘If you’re riding a south-facing slope, do it in the morning, as early as possible, as the snow will normally change before lunchtime due to heat from direct sunlight. Slopes that have been battered by the wind are best left alone. The wind slab snow layers are prone to avalanching and often slide over a wide area.’ Also get into the habit of asking and listening to local experts who know the backcountry better than you do, and if they tell you a particular slope is dangerous, don’t go there. ‘Knowledge and advice from a local guide on the area you are riding in is always worth knowing and listening to,’ adds Smith.

If you’re riding in unfamiliar off-piste terrain, the safest option of all is to hire a uiagmqualified mountain guide. A guide will steer you clear of danger, show you the best routes, and find the best snow. Just make sure you give an accurate description of your group’s ability before you head out for the day. Prices vary from country to country, resort to resort, but it’s money well spent when you split the cost with a group and wind up having your best day’s riding ever.

International Scale of Avalanche Hazard Rating

This 1-5 scale (5 being the greatest risk) will help you assess the potential dangers of avalanches:

1. Low: natural and human triggered avalanches are unlikely.

2. Moderate: natural avalanches are unlikely, human triggered avalanches are possible.

3. Considerable: natural avalanches are possible. Human triggered avalanches may occur and therefore freeriders should use extra caution, especially on steeper terrain. Avalanche danger is localised, in these areas/pockets the risk can be considerable. These can be dangerous especially on lee slopes (subject to rapid snow accumulation during storms or windy weather) where wind slab may have built up.

4. High: natural and human triggered avalanches are likely. Off-piste skiing and boarding is not recommended.

5. Extreme: human and natural avalanches are certain. Stay on piste or in the bar. Going out to the backcountry is not brave, it’s crazy.

Your ability

How to snowboard in powder, by Ruth Leisbach, Three-Times Winner of O’Neill Extreme Freeride contest in Verbier

Riding backcountry

To be safe off piste you need to ride the piste well and in control. No matter how trained and well equipped you are, have a big respect for the mountains and understand that the mountain still makes the rules, not you. Be humble and listen to your feelings. To ride powder, put your weight more on your back leg and turn from there. If you put too much weight on the nose of the board you’ll flip over. You need more speed to turn in powder, so try to make quite big turns and push with your back leg at the end of the turn
to make a big spray and to slow down a bit so you can check the terrain and where’s best for the next turn. Try to float and be light on your board. You can lean more into your turns in powder, but don’t bend from your waist. When you fall in deep powder, it’s sometimes hard to get up again. Get back up on your frontside edge and press the snow around
you. don’t lose your motivation if it doesn’t work straight away. Try again on easy stuff.

1. Feel it and enjoy it.
2. Be properly trained and equipped.
3. Weight on the back leg.

How to ski in powder, by Andrea Binning, World Freeskier

Powder skiing is the ultimate experience and something every skier should strive to achieve. When you get good you’ll be able to ski steeper lines more aggressively because the powder will slow you down. To ski off piste you need to be a solid parallel skier. Skiing powder is different to skiing piste. You need to have your feet under your body and not too far forward or behind, so keep your weight central, and not forward, and your weight evenly distributed over both skis. Turning in deep powder is all about finding your own rhythm. Aim for a bouncing motion where you flex and bend at the waist, ankles and knees at the end of a turn and then extend as you come out and into the next turn. Enjoy!

1. Use fat skis to ski powder.
2. Don’t have your weight too far forward.
3. Don’t give up!

Mountain Awareness Part Two: Avalanche Safety

Without a doubt, avalanches are the biggest danger faced by any rider venturing into the backcountry. In many ways, they are beautiful forces, showing nature at its most primal. But make no mistake: they are hugely powerful and destructive, capable of transforming the landscape from a scene of tranquil beauty into one of utter carnage within seconds. Even more frighteningly, they do not defer to experience. Each year, hugely competent riders are killed along with those who are blissfully ignorant of the inherent dangers. ‘An avalanche doesn’t know whether you’re an expert or not,’ says Andre Roch, a key figure in avalanche research in Europe.

Snow Patrol

For newcomers to off piste, be aware that dangers are everywhere, and it’s often the mellower slopes, with gradients of 25 degrees or less, that are the real killers, mainly because riders look at them and think, ‘That’ll never go!’ but they do. And often.

So why do they happen? Typically, they occur when layers of snow build up, causing one layer to release and trigger a slide. The sudden cumulative effect of this weight of the snow and the force of gravity very swiftly causes the slide to increase in power and destructiveness. There are different types of avalanche, from the harmless ‘sluff’ caused by surface snow on the snowpack, to the deadly ‘slab’ type. These killers can be hundreds of metres wide and several metres deep and once they get going, they don’t stop until they reach the bottom, taking out everything in their path. ‘A typical dry snow avalanche travels at around 60-80 mph, often reaching those speeds five seconds after the fracture,’ says Jimmy Oden, UIAGM mountain guide and author of ‘Free Skiing, How to Adapt to the Mountain’ (www.freeskiing.nu)

Risk assessment

Avalanche risks can never be completely eliminated, only minimised. This means that good backcountry practice is about arming yourself with the knowledge to make sensible judgments, so you can avoid being in a situation that you can’t easily escape from. ‘The first step is to understand why avalanches happen, where they’re likely to happen and
in what conditions,’ says Ewan Wallace, a pro snowboarder with years of experience in the backcountry. ‘Forewarned is forearmed.’

Wind, temperature change, the type of snow crystals, the gradient of the slope are all indicators of how likely a slope is to slide. Has the sun been on the snow all day, loosening the grip on the layers below? Has the wind whipped the top layer into a hard complete crust? Does the slope you’re on lead into a narrow funnel that looks like an avalanche route? When did it last snow? ‘Knowledge and awareness of what can happen is really important. Knowing where your safe exits are and where the exposure is are all factors that are going to help you if you’re caught in an avalanche,’ says Binning.

If you’re serious about minimising the risks go on an avalanche safety course. You’ll learn about the snowpack – the layers of snow that have built up over the course of the
winter – and the importance of recent local weather conditions. The Ski Club of Great Britain reported that last winter’s spate of deadly avalanches was due to how the snowpack formed during the season. Little snowfall at the start of winter meant only a thin snowpack formed, so when extremely cold temperatures hit in January large ‘depth hoar’ crystals formed weak layers on top of the thin layer. Heavy snow then fell on this unstable snowpack in February and March, hence the high avalanche risk. ‘It was like putting a large,
heavy weight on the top of a load of ball bearings,’ said Fiona Sweetman at ski club.

Digging a snow pit is the best way to learn how to ‘read’ and assess the snowpack and work out how risky the slope you’re about to drop in on really is. It’s common practice for
guides or pros filming deep in the backcountry to dig before they ride. ‘You learn a lot about the way snow behaves, and it could save your life,’ says Stuart Pitches of Facewest.

Buddy Up

Once you’ve evaluated your chosen line, it’s still important to take precautions, so get in the habit of riding smart. Always tell people where you’re going, and never go off to tackle any pow runs on your own. Three is a good-size group, as sheer weight of numbers on a slope can also trigger a slide. Never cut above somebody and drop in one at a time, rather than spread yourselves out and be compromised. ‘Have everyone’s eyes on you when you’re riding so they can get to you straight away should the worst happen,’ says Binning.

Avalanche!

If you do trigger a slide, the usual advice is to try to keep above the snow by ‘swimming’. If you are buried, be aware that the snow sets solidly as soon as the slide stops, so clear space around your airwaves if you can to enable you to breathe as you wait for help. 75 per cent of people who die in avalanches die of suffocation. ‘The only failsafe way to avoid an avalanche is not to drop in at all. If in doubt, turn away,’ says Wallace.

Avalanche safety

Take a hike

Any proper excursion into the backcountry involves a lot of hiking, but what many people don’t realise is that hiking is often as dangerous as the riding itself. To minimise the dangers going uphill, apply common sense and some rudimentary mountain awareness. The defining characteristic of an avalanche is that there’s a large amount of snow
all together, so it follows that if you avoid areas where there’s lots of it you’re less at risk. For this reason, ridges are the best route, because snow never gets the chance to build up. If you’re hiking a ridge, know what you’re letting yourself in for. Be sure of the ridge’s course from start to finish, and don’t even begin if you’re not happy about any section on route. Find out from a local guide what the conditions are like underfoot, and make your assessment before you start.

Snowboard and ski boots don’t have the best grip on icy or rocky sections, so crampons or snowshoes are a safer bet. Have your skis or board on your pack to keep your hands free for hiking. Ridges are exposed, so be prepared for wind chill. Other obvious points are to avoid standing on cornices, and avoid hiking underneath them. Convex slopes – that bulge outwards – are also particularly at risk of avalanche, so look at the lay of the land and if you see a alternative route past it. Don’t hike up very exposed slopes with cliffs below them; if the slope were to slide, you might get swept off. Hiking is pleasant when you’re properly prepared. ‘Take plenty of food and water, and wear layers that you can strip off if you get too hot. Bring sunglasses as your goggles will steam up, and apply sunscreen frequently,’ says Wallace.

Courses & Clinics

If you’re heading off piste this season, ride smart and attend an avalanche safety and mountain awareness course.

• Ski Club of Great Britain is holding two avalanche awareness weekends in Argentière, France, this season on January 11-14 and March 15-18. It is also running a series of avalanche awareness evening talks in November at Snow & Rock stores throughout the UK. Visit www.skiclub.co.uk

• Mountain Awareness is running avalanche safety 1-day courses in Verbier every Wednesday from December to the end of January, and on weekends on request. Also look out for their Transceiver search and practice events taking place in Verbier and St Anton, where you can test out off-piste gear and enter competitions. Visit www.mountainawareness.com

• Practise using your avalanche beeps at the new avalanche camps in Meribel and Courchevel, France this season. Special zones at the bottom of Suisses chairlift in Courchevel 1850 and at the bottom of the Plan des Mains chairlift in Mottaret have been set aside for avalanche training. Local experts are on hand to help and answer questions on off-piste safety. Sessions are usually free and open to everybody. Visit www.s3v.com and click on avalanch’ camp.

• Facewest runs backcountry training courses in the UK, particularly aimed at seasonaires. Visit www.facewest.co.uk

• McNab Mountain Sports runs comprehensive backcountry snowboarding courses in Chamonix. Visit www.mcnab.co.uk

• Chocolate Freeride runs big mountain ski camps in Verbier. Visit www.chocolatefreeride.com

• Mountain Tracks runs avalanche awareness courses based in Leysin, Switzerland. Visit www.mountaintracks.co.uk

• Wendell’s Mountain Skills runs avalanche awareness training courses in the Cairngorms, Scotland. Visit www.hillskills.co.uk

Mountain Awareness Part Three: Search & Rescue

What to expect

If the worst case scenario does happen and your buddy is buried in an avalanche, try to stay calm, because you’ll need to think before you act. The ongoing minutes will be crucial but highly stressful so you should let the most experienced member of the group take charge. If you have enough manpower, send somebody to get help. To help narrow the search area, try to remember where you last saw your buddy and estimate the speed of the slide. Mark the spot with a board or skis, and scan the surface area for debris, or an arm or leg sticking out of the snow, to see if you can affect a search without having to use your transceivers.

Snow Patrol

How to conduct a search

This is where the importance of having done an avalanche course and regularly practising search procedures becomes paramount. Everybody in the rescue party should turn their transceivers on to ‘receive’ and ensure their transceivers are at maximum sensitivity. It is important to act quickly and efficiently, as the chances of finding an avalanche victim alive diminishes rapidly the longer the search takes. After five minutes, 90 per cent of avalanche victims are found alive. At 30 minutes, it’s less than 50 per cent.

Using rescue equipment

Ideally, the group must be no more than 30m apart, although a bigger slide will mean the snow must be searched in sections. Battery power, the cold and interference often combine to reduce a transceiver’s effectiveness, so keep this in mind. The searchers go forward slowly, taking care to cover every area with their transceivers until a signal has been picked up. At this point, only the most experienced searcher should move until they also pick up the signal. They then proceed with the search until they make contact while the other members ready themselves with shovels and probes. Once the signal is strongest on minimum sensitivity, mark the position with a probe and begin the ground search.

Emergency first aid

Probe until you make contact with the victim, and leave the probe in place as you dig around it. Have one digger making the hole deeper and another clearing the snow away from the top. be sure to use your probe to make sure you have the right position as you dig deeper. They come into their own here. When you reach the victim, clear the head immediately and make sure the airwaves are open. First aid, pre-practised and learned before this moment, could always makes sure she has a good first aid kit to hand. ‘Make sure you always have a medical kit with you so that you can treat, or be treated, immediately,’ she says.

The victim will be in shock, near to hypothermia and might have sustained injuries from snow and rocks. Protecting them from the elements as help arrives is the priority here. If you’re near the resort, help should arrive soon but, if not, you will need to plan the next course of action, bearing in mind you and your friends are in a position of extreme avalanche danger. ‘Sometimes the safest thing to do is stay put until the situation improves. I have been stuck in a refuge for three days waiting for the snowpack to stabilise after a 2m snowfall. Better to be late back than to risk being killed,’ says Stuart Pitches of Facewest.

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Ride out of the Rut

July 23, 2007 @ 12:30 PM - Features: Sports

Can’t spin on a board, fear the big kickers on skis, yet to ollie on a skateboard? We’ve asked the experts to get you unstuck from the rut and riding at the next level.

Snowboard Expert

Katrin Eckerstorfer, camp director and head snowboard coach at Girlie Camps (www.girliecamps.com)

Vital stats: 25-year-old Katrin started snowboarding when she was 10 and coaching when she was just 18. Although she competed in big air and boarder x comps, her calling so far in life has been to teach girls to ride and have fun. Katrin has been the camp director at Girlie Camps since 2004.

Q: ‘I’ve been snowboarding for four weeks now, but I’m still not brave enough to spin. My friends can all do 180s and 360s and they look so cool jibbing around on the piste. It looks wicked fun, and I want to join them. Can you help?’ Emma

A: First of all, don’t feel stressed about being scared of spinning. It took me a while to get over it. The most important thing is that you feel confident on your board. If your aim is to hit the park, start to play around on the slopes, rather than just hitting cruise control from top to bottom.

Start Jibbing

Ollies are the building block for spins and tricks, so practise them over every little bump you see. Approach the bump flat, load up the tail, pop up in the air, bring both legs up
and stomp down flat. Second thing is to get confident riding switch, not just two linked turns in a flat part, but carving down switch on a steep slope. Practise enough so that it feels natural riding normal and switch. The better you are at these skills the easier it will be to nail harder tricks later on.

Start Spinning

Before you start spinning in the park, be happy doing frontside and backside 180s on the slopes at a normal speed. The more you practise on the pistes the easier it will be over the kickers. So, instead of doing just an ollie over the next bump you see, go for a backside 180. The most important thing to remember for this trick is that your body will always follow your eyes. With this in mind, keep your board flat on the approach and bend your knees low. When you hit the bump, spring off your toe edge and look in the direction you want to go (i.e. behind you!). As you start the rotation your arms will support you and your body will follow your head. Look between your legs for your landing spot and then plant or ‘stomp’ your board flat, bending your knees low to complete the spin. Look ahead and ride out switch.

Now, try a frontside 180, springing off on your heels as you hit the bump, and looking ahead to make the turn. Practise these spins over and over on the slopes at a normal speed until you feel ready to hit the bigger kickers. If you go to the park too early, you’ll end up getting frustrated or hurt, so just enjoy jibbing and taking the time to build skills.

Park and Ride

Start with a couple of straight jumps off an easy kicker in the park and get a feeling for the take off and landing, then try a frontside 180. If you bend your knees on the approach, look in the direction you want to go, and let your body follow your eyes, nothing can go wrong! The more confident you feel, the bigger you’ll go. Try backside next.

Pimp Your Style

In snowboarding, style is everything. Pimp your 180s by doing all kinds of grabs. For the indy, grab the middle of your board with the back hand. For the mute, grab the middle
of your toe edge with the front hand, or try nose and tail grabs. Watch park riders for tweaking tips.

The natural progression from a 180 is the 360, where your body follows your head in a full circle. For the 360, it’s very important to put more power into the take off and be
really active when you rotate.

Top Spinning Tips

1. Get good at jibbing first.

2. Stomp plenty of spins at full speed on the slopes before you hit the park.

3. Look where you want to go and your body will follow your eyes.

Emma, play around on the mountain, become a good jibber, and the rest will come by itself. Good luck for the season and see you out there rocking!

Katrin

Ski Expert

Sandra Söderin, camp manager and ski coach for Girlie Camps.

Vital stats: 29-year-old Sandra lives in Åre, Sweden, and has been skiing since she was five. After a brief spell snowboarding in her teens, she returned to two planks, got sponsored and lived life as a ski pro for most of her 20s. Sandra’s now an instructor with Girlie Camps.

Q: ‘I’m a confi dent skier on the piste, but as soon as I hit the park, my legs turn to jelly. Can you help me attack a kicker with confidence, and really stomp it!’ - Kamila

Hi Kamila. You’re a long way from being a beginner, and you clearly have plenty of confidence and good technique on piste, so try to focus on these qualities when you ride the park. Also, to help you feel less intimidated, bring some friends with you. Laughter is your best friend to overcome fears.

Easy Kickers

Some resorts have beginner parks while others have terrain parks with lines of blue (easy), red (difficult) and black (expert) kickers, marked by flags. Head to the easy kickers, so you don’t scare yourself or get injured on your first go. Ideally, start on a table-top jump where the take off and landing are at the same level. Ride right over the tabletop – without getting airborne – to become friends with it first. If there’s no tabletop, choose an easy kicker.

Ski Tip

Learning to Fly

You want to approach the kicker with the right amount of speed so you clear the table-top and land on the downhill part, not the flat part, of the jump. Look at how fast other skiers are hitting it and try to match their speed. Don’t look at the daredevils! It’s easier to keep your balance if you hit the jump straight on, so be brave and don’t do any speed check turns before take off. On the approach, bend your knees, not your hips, to help you stay balanced. As you take off, keep your head up, your knees tucked and look at the end of the kicker, or the landing if you can see it. Keep your body together as a neat little package, and try not to throw your hands up or stretch out your legs in the air. Spot the landing and hit the ground smoothly with your knees bent and your weight evenly over both feet. Ride away with a big smile. Try to avoid bending from the hips as you land. If you land on your toes or your nose, that’s why!

Grab it, tweak it!

When you’re cruising the small kickers as comfortably as you are the piste, you’re ready to hit the big kickers. Use the same thinking and approach, but now it’s even more important to bend your legs so you don’t get hurt. Keeping your knees bent makes it easier for you to bring your skis up to your hands, so get grabbing as soon as you feel confident. An easy grab is to twist your legs slightly towards the left or right side of you, and grab just under your foot or behind the binding on the ski. Or maybe go for the Japan-air, where you stretch out your left leg and bend your right leg in under your body so you can grab under your right foot with your left hand.

Top Tips for Big Airs

1. Look at other skiers to get the right amount of speed for the landing.

2. Bend your knees.

3. This is not a matter of life and death, so have fun!

Best of luck!

Sandra

Skateboard Expert

Kristina Westad, etnies skater girl

Vital stats: Nicknamed the viking, Kristina from Molde in Norway, was this year’s runner-up at the etnies Push Jam European Open in Munich. Although she’s been skating ‘forever’, the 17-year-old queen of kickflips is a relative newcomer to the pro circuit and is loving life as an etnies girl.

Q: ‘I’m comfortable riding my skateboard, but am keen to bag some cool tricks. I want to nail the ollie, but just can’t suss the technique.’ - Lisa

Skate Tip

Hi Lisa. The ollie is the most basic trick you can learn on a skateboard (besides turning, pumping etc.). Once you’ve learnt it, the skateboarding door is open and you can use it for every kind of trick. The ollie consists of making your board join you while you jump straight up into the air.

Ollie Up

First up, make sure your feet are placed in an ollie position on your board. Your back foot should be at the end of the tail and your front foot should be right behind the back bolts of your front truck (pic 1). To start the ollie, bend down and get ready to jump, then push your back foot down at the same time as you lift your front foot up. At the moment the tail of the board hits the ground, push your ankle up against the nose. This movement makes your board pop into the air. Keep your body and feet centred over your board when it’s off the ground, and on the landing bend your knees down low.

Flip Tricks

Once you’ve got the technique down, a whole bag of tricks can be yours. I’d move on to the fliptricks. For the kickflip, you do the ollie, but instead of pushing your foot straight
against the nose, you kick your foot out to the side of your board to make it flip.

Nose Slides

To learn frontside noseslides you need to be able to do an ollie and, at the same time, do a 90 degree turn against the curb or ledge. When you’re in the 90 degree ollie position, move your foot up to the nose and keep it there until you hit the curb or ledge. When you hit it, push your front foot down to lock the nose on the curb, and keep that position while you slide.

Top Tips for The Ollie

1. Trust your board

2. Have confidence in yourself

3. Freakin’ do iT!

Happy riding!

Kristina

Skate tip

Back to Basics

If you’re just starting out on a skateboard, here’s how to escape the ruts early on.

The most important thing to learn when you want to go fast is that your front foot should be pointing straight forwards on the board as you kick with your back foot. This gives you more control and makes your board go straight. Then, when you put your back foot on your board to skate, turn your front foot across your board. Again, this will keep you in control. Don’t use your front foot for kicking, that’s what’s called “mongo”. You can’t go as fast, you lose control and it seriously looks bad!

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Roller Revival

July 18, 2007 @ 8:43 AM - Features: Sports

Roller disco is back and so are the legwarmers. Make like Madonna and rediscover the retro appeal of rolling on eight wheels.

Words by Emily Murray

Illustration by Katie Wood

Roller Disco

In a dark, run down back street in London’s seedy Kings Cross something strange is happening. A large, excited crowd of neon-clad 20-somethings is eagerly awaiting entry into a nightclub. But this isn’t just any club. This is Roller Disco.

Step, or roll, inside and the buzz hits you instantly. Five hundred girls and guys on retrostyle four-wheel roller skates are slipping, sliding, jumping and jiving on the dance floor. A few are slumped on the surrounding sofas, sipping beer and chatting with mates. These are the lucky ones. Such is Roller Disco’s popularity that organisers are now turning away more than 200 people a night.

At this Roller Disco, skaters are treated to three separate rooms each with different music – disco, house and R&B. Styles suit different abilities: beginners can pick up those all-important dance steps in the slower-paced R&B room, while divas can head for pumping house and whirl around the rink in a blur.

‘There’s such a vibrant atmosphere here,’ says 26-year-old regular Kate Hilder. ‘It’s more of a sport than a nightclub but it’s also great for music lovers like me. And of course, with the feel, the music and the setting it’s like walking into 1985!’

Tom Realey, 21, has been a Roller Disco regular for the past two years and thinks it’s the perfect venue for meeting – or bumping – into girls. ‘When you’re roller skating the easy way to break the ice is to accidentally fall on top of someone,’ he laughs. ‘There’s such an open, easy feel to the place that no-one ever gets angry.’

I Will Survive

The man who’s led this roller revival is 72 years young Tony Askew. Askew was so convinced roller disco was due a second heyday that he splashed out £12,000 on roller skates so people could hire them at the door.

‘At first I was told I was wasting my time,’ says Askew. but once he’d got the skates and found the venue – the Canvas nightclub in King’s Cross – roller disco was reborn and the risk quickly paid off. ‘We began with roller disco nights on Thursdays, now they’re every Thursday, Friday and Sunday,’ he says.

Thanks to Askew, skating nights are mushrooming across the UK and Europe. Top shop even called on him to set up a roller disco rink in its flagship London store as part
of the summer’s Miami-themed celebrations.

Skate Wicked, in Middlesex, opened its doors in February and has been pumping out its “high rollin’ soft feeling, fun havin’ music” every Tuesday night since to the delight of up to 100 roller dudes and dolls.

Disco funk and urban sounds get the party started at Video roller disco in East Grinstead’s Billie Rox nightclub, attracting around the same numbers as Skate Wicked. Outrageous outfits add to the Thursday thrills and prizes are handed out for best fancy dress.

Roller Disco

City Skaters

Partying on roller skates is just as popular in Germany and France as it is in the UK. The twist is that these parties happen in the streets rather than in rinks and clubs.

Billed as one of the largest night skate events in Europe, the Löwenbräu Blade Night in Munich rolls through the city every Monday evening. Guys with ghettoblasters skate alongside to get everyone grooving. Food and drink booths provide refreshment while DJs and the local radio station keep the 12,000 partygoers entertained. The fantastic atmosphere attracts loads of young skaters, from trick-tastic professionals to girls who just wanna have fun. Fancy dress is encouraged, with various themes such as Oktoberfest.

Over in Paris the 30km city-centre skate event, Friday Night Fever, claims to gather together the largest number of roller skaters in the world. Roads are cleared especially, and the atmosphere is one big social whirl. ‘It’s a great way to catch up with friends while improving your skating technique, although it took me a while before I could stop without crashing into shop windows,’ says 24-year-old Christina Cleron.

Buff Bods

While skaters are busy having fun, learning new moves and whirling around the city streets, dance floors and roller rinks, they’re also burning a huge amount of energy. According to personal trainer Becky Soppitt, 31, eight-wheel skating recruits your abs, inner and outer thigh muscles and your bum, and it burns an impressive 400 calories an hour.

So what are you waiting for? Get your skates on!

The Venues:

Roller Disco at Canvas, London

Every Thursday, Friday and Sunday night, for over 18s. Visit www.rollerdisco.info or call 0207 630 6625.

Skate Wicked, Middlesex

Over 18s only from 8pm to 12am every Tuesday. Call 07944 692591 or 07719 004965.

Video Roller Disco, East Grinstead

Every Thursday from 7.30-11.30pm, over 18s only. Visit www.candutickets.com or www.billierox.com or call 01342 317597.

Roller World, Colchester

Fridays 7-11pm, Saturdays 7.30-11.30pm. Ages eight to 80 welcome. Visit www.rollerworld.co.uk or call 01206 868868.

Roller City, Welwyn Garden City

Dreamskate on Thursday nights 8.30pm-10.30pm is best for party animals. Visit www.rollercity.co.uk or call 01707 357000.

Löwenbräu Blade Night, Munich

From 9pm every Monday evening. Visit www.muenchnerbladenight.de.

Friday Night Fever, Paris

Starts at 9.30pm every Friday at the bottom of the Montparnasse Tower. Visit www.pari-roller.com.

The Disco Diva Kit

The Little Bag

Dazzle the roller rink with this 70’s inspired disco bag from Joe Browns. £11.00, www.joebrowns.co.uk

Leg-Warmers

A must for retro-chicks, legwarmers also help to visually balance out the hips. These knitted numbers in white, pink, grey or black, look great with leggings and a loose top. £8, www.sweatyBetty.com

Skates

Go retro with the rio roller girl skate, great for novices and for those who love pink. From £35. Or go disco diva with the La Lights Quad skate, and watch the wheels flash as you whirl. £40, both from www.prolineskates.com.

Wristbands

will give your look a street-savvy appeal and protect your joints if everything goes pear-shaped. £6.95, from Nike.

Smart Moves

Infinity Rolls

From a standing start, lean on your inside foot and let the outside skate roll around you in a semi-circle. Gradually shift your weight to your outside foot (which becomes your inside foot) and repeat with the other leg. Keep going – you shouldn’t move from the spot.

Side Surfing

Skating backwards is so 1980s! Instead, surf sideways by keeping your feet turned out like a ballerina, and propel yourself along by moving your trailing skate backwards and forwards.

Power Slide

Not for the faint-hearted. While skating forwards, swivel your back skate round by 180 degrees, bend your knee and put weight on to this foot, while twisting to face sideways. Your front skate should be at 90 degrees to the direction you are going. You will eventually grind to a stylish halt.

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Girls on Top

July 16, 2007 @ 1:51 PM - Features: Sports

They’re ripping up the freesports scene and taking the women’s game into uncharted territory. Even the boys are taking notes.

Cheryl Maas, Snowboarder

Cheryl Maas

‘Cheryl is currently on a boat in the Maldives surfing with Terje,’ I’m told when I can’t get hold of her. That’ll be Terje as in Haakonsen then, one of the most influential snowboarders of all time, and he and Cheryl are kicking back in the Maldives after a busy winter.

It’s a situation that perfectly illustrates where Cheryl is in the world of snowboarding right now. This year, after only a year of riding pipe, Cheryl represented Holland at the Olympics in Turin finishing 11th overall. A couple of months later she took first place at the Roxy Chicken Jam, in St Moritz, throwing down a kicker transfer frontside 720, a trick involving two full spins and a lot of time in the air. No girl had ever landed the trick in competition before and it secured her a place at the top of the Ticket to Ride World Tour, ahead of 152 of the world’s best female snowboarders.

‘She’s the most naturally talented rider I know,’ says an admiring Jenny Jones, who took second overall in the TTR. ‘She’s got my favourite style – really smooth, solid and in
control.’

Jenny is not the only rider to sing her praises. Cheryl is considered the undisputed number one on the European circuit by most, if not all, of her fellow pros. Lesley McKenna, who represented the UK at the Turin Olympics, puts Cheryl’s success down to her combination of talent, judgement and temperament and her canny way of sussing out what she can get away with. ‘She’ll take big risks but not stupid risks, which is hard to find in a snowboarder,’ says Lesley.

But Cheryl wasn’t always so confident in competition. Until friend and fellow pro rider Stine Brun Kjeldaas helped her believe in herself, Cheryl got crippled by nerves. ‘I used to get really nervous before a comp and that really screwed up my riding. I knew I could do better but I could never do anything I wanted to, and never had much confidence in myself, but I do now,’ she says.

Park goddess

At only 21 and having learnt on the dry slopes in Holland, Cheryl’s already at a level far beyond most of the European girls in both pipe and slopestyle and now she’s beating the US and Canadian riders, too. But, despite being so successful and admired on the world competition circuit, winning is not all-important. At the first Eastern European Roxy Jam in Czech Republic earlier this year, she stomped a massive 900 in practice, a spin that got even the guys talking. ‘It felt so sweet to land that trick. I didn’t care about the competition after that. Other than the support you get from riders, competitions aren’t that important to me. I like keeping it fun,’ she says.

Cheryl Maas

Cheryl’s big passion is filming. She’s had two stand out parts in the Chunky Knit all-girl movies, Dropstitch and Transfer, where her (some might say masculine) style on rails and over kickers drew gasps from the audience at the premieres. This year, she’ll be making a big impression in Chunky Knit’s new chick flick Last Winter, and in the new Volcom and Forum films, in which she co-stars with some of the world’s top male riders.

So does she get scared nailing new tricks and going big with the boys? ‘The first time I hit something I’ve not jumped before I’m scared because you don’t know if you’re going to make the landing. It’s a judgment you’ve got to make and you’ve got to do it right,’ she says.

In the park, Cheryl is still a huge fan of the backside 540, a trick she was stomping after her first season in Mayerhofen at the age of 17. She also rates the frontside boardslide on rails and the Hacken flip in the pipe when you turn upside down. ‘It’s a very technical trick that I just learnt last season,’ she says. Cheryl is currently working on getting her backside 900s dialled. Watch out for them – and more – at this season’s TTR tour.

I won’t travel without: Music. It’s the best company when you’re travelling alone.

i-Pod playlist: Dutch rock and roll band Anouk (www.anoukmusic.com)

Best beauty tip: Don’t worry about what you look like when you’re travelling, just get to your destination and then freshen up.

Cheryl’s trick tip: Backside 360Take the same speed as if you’re doing a straight air, then slightly bend your knees as you’re getting close to the take-off. Take off straight with a little pressure on your toes. As soon as you pop, look over your back shoulder. Keep looking around until you turn 360 degrees, and then spot your landing, stretch out your legs a little bit, land and bend your knees.

Kirsty Jones, Kitesurfer

Kirsty Jones

It’s girls like Kirsty that make you sick. Not only is she a successful model and megatalented kitesurfer, windsurfer, surfer and yogi (yeah yeah, we know), but she’s also got a big heart. So big that in May this year she did a world first long-distance kitesurf from the Canary Islands to Morocco – 140 miles and nine hours of non-stop kitesurfing – to raise money for charity.

‘I left Costa Teguise beach in the morning with light winds, kitesurfed up towards North Morocco for five hours, then changed course and came on a downwind leg for another four hours before coming into the special village of Tafaya where the charity, villagers and president were waiting to greet me,’ she casually recalls.

Queen of the ocean

Since 2001 Kirsty’s been podiuming in nearly every event on the kitesurfing circuit, including being crowned Ladies Kitesurfing World Wave Champion in 2004. But she actually started her career competing at a national level in surfing and windsurfing, and has managed to keep up both sports at a worldclass level ever since. Just last year she won Red Bull Master of the Ocean in the Dominican Republic beating her male rivals in the surfing, windsurfing and kitesurfing events.

‘I really enjoy competing,’ she says. ‘I love the adrenaline and the way competitions push you to your maximum. But I don’t like the way they can make you a bit egocentric and obsessed with being the best. One thing I have realised is that it’s much more important to be a good person and a good ambassador for the sport than winning competitions.’

Kirsty Jones

Egocentricity isn’t something that Kirsty suffers from. What the modest 26-year-old won’t tell you is how gutsy she is. ‘I’ve seen her go out on her smallest kite in extremely windy conditions in Cape Town, South Africa, with only a couple of guys on the water, and tuck into the biggest swell,’ says fellow pro kitesurfer Emma York. ‘She’s so determined that she will go out in anything to get the best waves and to have the sickest session.’

For all her obvious gutsiness, Kirsty has a nurtured spiritual side. Her perfect day, she says, would consist of surfing with dolphins, listening to Jack Johnson and doing yoga at sunset – experiences that she can enjoy regularly as a professional kitesurfer. Kirsty is so passionate about yoga that she is taking an instructor’s course in Baja this year so she can run kite, surf and yoga courses. ‘Yoga and surfing help to keep me balanced and calm, and they keep me grounded when things get a bit hectic,’ she says.

Away from competitions, Kirsty travels to exotic locations for photo shoots with her pro kiteboarder and photographer boyfriend, Richard Boudia. Her photos have appeared in top freesports and fashion magazines all over the world. Home is in West Wales and she heads back there as often as she can to catch up with family, friends and dog. One of life’s certainties is that Kirsty will forever be an action girl on the constant lookout for new highs. ‘I recently tried snow kiting in the Alps, which I definitely want to do more of!’ she says.

I won’t travel without: My Island Tribe sunblock gel, Redken Extreme leave-in conditioner and my yoga mat.

i-Pod playlist: Pete Murray, Wire Daisies, Jack Johnson, Foo Fighters, Snow Patrol, Ancien Spirit, The Neptunes, 50 Cent, The Doors, The Smashing Pumpkins.

Best beauty tip: Never go in the sun without sunscreen, and invest in a good moisturiser and eye cream. My favourite products are by Dermalogica.

My favourite things: Sunrise and sunset surfs, nature, animals, yoga, good food, music, kitesurfng in waves, surfing with dolphins, happy days!

Kirsty’s trick tip: Back Loop This is pretty easy to pull off once you can go along comfortably on the water. Edge with your heels, look for a little bit of chop, take the kite a little higher in the window, then throw yourself around. Lift your front foot up and look over your front shoulder and that should be enough to spin you round into a back loop.

Kristi Leskinen, Freeskier

Kristi Leskinen

It takes a lot to be a Cooler cover girl. It’s not just about being gorgeous (although Kristi is undeniably hot), it’s about talent, attitude and going that one step further for your sport, which is what makes this 25-year-old a perfect cover girl for Cooler. A pioneer of the women’s newschool movement, Kristi was the first female ever to enter the US Freeskiing Open and ski with the guys, and the first girl ever to pull a rodeo 720, her favourite spin because ‘it’s the coolest feeling trick, it’s like floating through the air on your back,’ she says.

Since her arrival to the pro scene six years ago, Kristi and best friend and fellow pro Sarah Burke have worked tirelessly to get girls accepted in the freeskiing arena, whether that has involved bugging organisers to let women compete or stripping off for FHM to show the world that female freestyle skiers do exist. ‘Without our presence as forerunners at contests like the US Open and X Games women might not be in X Games today,’ Kristi says proudly.

Kristi’s hard work has paid off. In 2005 she came 3rd in the X Games, swiftly followed by a 2nd in the US Open, 1st in the Gravity Games and 2nd in the World Championships. The year before she was selected for the cover photo of the 2004 Powder Magazine Photo Annual and, in 2003, won the award for Female Ski Segment of the Year at the Powder Video Awards, her proudest career moment to date.

Shortly after her spate of 2005 wins, Kristi had a freak accident out skiing, which led to a brain hemorrhage followed by months out of action. ‘It’s strange,’ she begins, ‘I never even got knocked out. I fell, and at first I thought I was fine, then I got to my car and could hardly drive and by the time I got to the hospital I could barely walk.’

When Kristi finally hit the slopes again at the end of 2005, she was knocked back once again, this time with a torn ACL ligament, the skier’s nightmare. Good rehab and determination produced a remarkable comeback and in January this year she took 4th place at the Winter X Games. An invite to Snowboarder Magazine’s Super Park event soon followed, a public announcement that Kristi was back. ‘As a skier, it was an honour to be included with the whole of the women’s snowboard scene. It’s cool that ski and snowboard are considered equal now.’

More motivated than ever for this upcoming season, the freeskiing queen is currently working on switch 7s and 5s. ‘Fear’s a big part of the sport,’ she says. ‘Being scared and then overcoming your fear and finally doing the trick or the jump is the reason these sports are so exciting.’

But does the pressure of being the best sometimes get too much to handle, especially when you’re expected to pull off your hardest tricks after injury? ‘This year, it got to the point where I had to remove myself from all the people who were putting pressure on me,’ she says, ‘because the second you start doing it for someone else you’re going to get hurt.’

Off the mountain, Kristi’s ‘happy place’ is strapped to her wakeboard on the marina in Pennsylvania where she grew up. In fact, Kristi nearly chose wakeboarding over skiing until, as a teenager, she visited the US Open in Vail and spotted a group of professional skiers sessioning a rail. They had the kind of freedom she’d always looked for in a sport and from that point on Kristi knew it had to be skiing.

I won’t travel without: My pillow. No matter where I am, I sleep much better and feel much more at home with my own pillow.

i-Pod playlist: I listen to a little bit of everything besides techno, which makes me crazy!

Best beauty tip: Wear sunscreen every day. Goggle tans are for ski patrol! I always use at least SPF45.

My favourite things: My pink teddy bear, my houseboat on the marina, wakeboard, and dirt bike.

Kristi’s trick tip: Frontside/backside 360 A 360 is much easier than it seems. The key is to wait until you jump to start the rotation. At the same time your legs are leaving the jump rotate your shoulders 90 degrees, then keep your head and shoulders turning at the same pace. The best technique tip is to watch someone do the trick you would like to do in person. Follow them very closely and do exactly as they do.

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Summer Cycling

June 15, 2007 @ 9:18 AM - Features: Sports

The summer months are here, the weather is dry, and going green is the new trend so why not get out and explore the countryside on a bike ride and feel the wind in your hair. Based in Cardiff I set off to explore the Taff Trail which runs between Cardiff and the Brecon Beacons, for some 55 miles on well sign-posted and maintained paths.

Even if you don’t own a bike there are no shortages of places to rent from. I rented a bike from Pedal Power, a business run by the council and situated at the Cardiff Council Caravan Park. For the very reasonable sum of £11, a top quality mountain bike and safety helmet come as standard, along with the, hopefully unnecessary, puncture repair kit.

You really don’t ever forget how to ride a bike. The ease of it means after just a few minutes I was looking for little jumps and off-road tracks to get the most from the bike. The trail passed beneath my wheels with a pleasing sense of speed, as walkers and fellow cyclists offered a cheery nod or a snatched “morning” as we passed in opposite directions – a respect for being out and about on such a fine day.

I headed on to Tongwynlais, a little village at the bottom of the step rise which leads you up to Castle Coch. The climb up to the castle was painful. I have to admit I had to get off and push to make it all the way up - but you’d have to be in training for the Tour De France to make it all the way without getting off. The pushing can seem defeatist but once you behold the view that greets you it all seems worthwhile.

Stretching away to the horizon is a busy scene of the Welsh landscape and man’s intrusions too. You can see as far as Flat Holm Island, just south of Penarth in the Bristol Channel, which then turns into the concrete sprawl of the city. The Millennium Stadium cuts high into the sky and the M4 snakes its way through the landscape laden with traffic.

The view is beautiful respite. But there are more hills to climb. The next isn’t quite as steep but is still a struggle. As each turning of the pedal became a Herculean effort, my legs were struggling until I remembered a very important maxim used for showbiz, shares and now cycling: “What goes up must come down.”

Standing atop the hill behind Castle Coch, some 150 metres above sea level, I couldn’t help but beam as I saw the path descending away before me. I let the bike begin to move under gravity. The wheels turned faster each time and soon dust and dirt was flicking up. Sticks and pebbles were bouncing away and I concentrated my eyes on the path ahead, looking for large rocks and possible jumps.

Inside my head a child-like voice was urging me to shout out. Feeling young at heart and hurtling down this mountain trail, I couldn’t resist and yelled out, “Yahoo!”, my face grinning madly as I continued my descent.

The route levelled out and I cycled on, admiring the scenery and taking the odd photo. By 2pm I was a good 12 miles away from Cardiff and feeling as if I could cycle forever, but I knew I had to get my bike back so reluctantly turned around.

Heading back into the city I passed many other cyclists heading in the opposite direction. I couldn’t help but feel superior having already notched up some 25 miles before they had even made it out of the city. I pedalled into the caravan site and pulled to a stop. Chris put my trusty stead away for me as I worked out how to use my legs for walking. “Good time?” Chris asked, “Brilliant,” I replied.

After such an exhilarating and enjoyable day exploring under my own steam I promised myself I would try and leave the car to gather dust and get on a bike whenever I could…

Dos

- Take a hat, gloves and a spare change of socks – Wind chill is multiplied when moving at speed while your feet will thank you no end for a clean pair of socks for the journey back.

- Pack lots of water and energy foods – Dehydration can be fatal so don’t tempt fate and high energy foods like Mars Bars help you power through the final miles home.

- Check the weather before you go – Unless you’re the most hardened biker you’re not going to enjoy cycling in the driving rain.

- Look for paths off the beaten track – Make the experience even more extreme by leaving your own tracks.

- Stop and enjoy it! – You’re out and about in the beautiful countryside, make sure you stop and just admire the scenery.

Don’ts

- Leave it late – Set off early to get the most of the day and appreciate being out of the city.

- Go mad at the start – Pace yourself, it’s a long day.

- Forget the rules of the road – stay on the left and give way to pedestrians.

- Forget a camera – There are plenty of opportuniies for some great snaps of you and your friends out and about.

Words and images by Dan Worth

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Stretch Yourself

June 14, 2007 @ 10:42 AM - Features: Sports

Word by Femke Colborne

My right leg has started to wobble furiously. Balancing with my arms stretched out in front of me and my left leg extended in what’s meant to be an arabesque-like pose but probably looks more like a drunken attempt at Superman, I suddenly wish I’d paid more attention in ballet class when I was four.

Luckily, most of the other people in this yoga class are more concerned with improving their strength than looking like ballerinas. That’s because I’m at Manchester Climbing Centre, one of the first British climbing centres to offer yoga tailored specifically to the needs of climbers.

Yoga

From the start it is clear that this is no ordinary yoga class. Yes, there are mats and candles and scented oils; there’s chanting and posing. But the first thing instructor Kelle Link does is hand around a fact sheet with pictures of different bones and explain how they allow for different levels of flexibility in different bodies. “People who are into action sports tend to be competitive and we don’t want anyone getting injured because they’re trying to stretch further than the person next to them,” she says.

Manchester Climbing Centre has been offering three yoga classes a week since February, and they have proved so popular that it plans to introduce even more come the end of the quieter summer season. According to Link, who developed the classes with fellow yoga teacher Jane Craggs, yoga can help climbers to build strength and flexibility and help with injuries – and that’s not to mention the relaxing psychological benefits.

“Yoga can help you to develop the muscles that you can’t see, and that’s really important for balance and core strength,” she says. “A lot of climbers are very strong but if you just use force and your technique doesn’t improve. Some climbers are so built they are too heavy to pull themselves up – they’re climbing like Buzz Lightyear when they should be like Spiderman.”

Link grew up in New York, where she started practicing yoga seven years ago. She started climbing after she moved to the UK in 2003, and it seemed only natural to her to combine her two passions. According to Link most climbing centres in the US already offer yoga, and she thinks it’s only a matter of time before the trend catches on here.

Yoga

Manchester Climbing Centre offers three different types of yoga: Vinyasa Flow, Dynamic Flow and Yin. Dynamic Flow is the most physically active class, but according to Link it’s actually the lower impact exercises that often offer the greatest benefits. “People want the dramatic poses but there are so many exercises that don’t look so impressive but go really, really deep,” she says.

Holding a simple stretch for up to five minutes can be just as beneficial as more demanding poses, says Link, as this starts to stretch the connective tissue as well as the muscle. That’s part of the reason yoga can also help with some injuries, particularly in the knees and lower back.

It’s also good for building upper body strength and flexibility: “A lot of climbers are very tight in the shoulders and exercises like the back bend and downward facing dog [resting on all fours with your legs straight and your bum in the air] can really help to open up the shoulders,” says Link.

Jenny Harrington, a 22-year-old student from Fallowfield in Manchester, has been climbing for three years and started attending yoga classes at the centre four months ago. “I wanted to do something that was more of a complete workout and would get me into shape, but also help me to relax,” she says.

Harrington says the biggest benefit has been to her upper body strength: “Overhanging routes are definitely easier on my arms now because my strength has improved. The classes work really hard on your arms.”

But it’s not all about the physical benefits. “Climbers don’t really have a way of de-stressing,” says Link. “Yoga is great for that because you don’t have time to think about what you had for dinner or what you’re doing later. You’re relaxing and focusing on your breathing.

“Climbers also often have to deal with fear, and yoga and meditation can help with that,” she adds.

That’s providing you can concentrate hard enough to forget about the fact that you feel like you legs are about to collapse underneath you. But regular yoga quickly starts to build up strength - and who knows, you might learn to get your body into positions you never thought were possible, which could benefit more than your climbing.

www.manchesterclimbingcentre.com

www.janecraggs.co.uk

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Mountain Boarding for Beginners

June 07, 2007 @ 11:31 AM - Features: Sports

Words and Images by J Severs

I lifted my left foot and confidently positioned it in the binding at the rear of the mountain board. The front wheels rose rebelliously into the air, the board seeming to grin at some impending danger. Oblivious, I put my right foot into the front binding and pushed down.

The front wheels hit the mud hard and the board immediately began rolling on its four pneumatic tyres, slowly at first but soon trees were rushing past me like water and I felt the fresh cool air on my grinning face. Cheers echoed around me and the adrenalin began to surge around my body as I threw out an audacious wave –just because I could. This was what I lived for, I was doing it, I was boarding, I was…I was…falling off unspectacularly. After just four yards. For the sixth time.

Mountain Boarding

Mountain Boarding, also called All Terrain Boarding, has been around in basic forms since the 1970s but it wasn’t until the 1990s that the sport properly began to take off. The history is a little sketchy but most sources attribute the sport’s origin to America where snowboarders who wanted something to do in the summer months attached wheels onto their boards. It gradually seeped into the public consciousness and is now a firm fixture at extreme sports festivals.

“The take-up was a little bit slow at first because people didn’t know what they could do, or even what they were!” Nigel explains. “Now they are getting more popular. There are people jumping shopping trolleys, logs, rocks, doing it all.”

Nigel is part of the Be Unlimited Crew, a Mountain Boarding group in South Wales. For my maiden voyage he brought me the essentials: elbow guards, wrist guards, kneepads, padded shorts and a bright yellow helmet. I pulled on the arm protection and plonked the helmet on my head thinking I looked as cool as the other riders. However, as I reached for the kneepads I caught a glimpse of myself in Nigel’s yellow VW “Surfbus”. Where the BU Crew looked like they belonged at an extreme sports festival, I looked like I’d just wandered off the set of Gladiators, that ITV entertainment masterpiece of the 90s. That wasn’t on.

“I’m alright Nige,” I said, shrugging in my best attempt at bravado. “I’ll just stick with the arm and head protection.” They looked at me as if I had just told them I was going to do a bungee jump without the bungee rope. I smiled and they shrugged. I would learn.

The board itself is just under a metre long and is made of fibreglass and maple. There is a foot binding at each end and four nine-inch wheels. It’s basically the love child of a skateboard and a snowboard, and very pretty it is too. As for riding it: “Put your feet as far into the bindings as they will go, keep your weight in the centre but lean to turn. To stop put pressure on the back of the board. If your going to fall off, fall of backwards – it will be less painful. Right. Off you go then”

Easy. Off I went. And down I went. “Ha ha,” I offered. “Whoops.”

Mountain Boarding

I got up. Went through the motions again. And fell off. Again. This time my laugh was less hearty. The others were bombing around, skidding to turn, grinding logs, and traversing through the trees. The two youngest, both 14 years old, had only been boarding for 9 months but were buzzing around like bees. They did fall over – obviously. But, unlike me, that wasn’t all they did.

“Fear is the first thing to overcome, once you have fallen off a few times you get used to it and the fear goes a little bit,” Rob Court, 30, tells me. The BU Crew website has some impressive pictures of him back flipping and doing 360s, “Once you do make it the feeling of that is awesome,” he says.

I don’t get to the point when I’m doing back flips – far from it – but I do begin quite quickly to understand why the sport is so addictive. You are not only locked in a battle with your surroundings, but also with gravity and your own body. Little shifts of balance, for example, have big impacts. Mastering the technique so you can roll just a few yards down a track becomes a monumental achievement that fixes a grin permanently in place on your sweating face. What is great is that you are cheered for this as much as you would be for doing a 360 spin off a 12-foot jump – even at competitions.

“A mountain board allows you to do anything,” Steve Eccles, a rider of five years, enthuses. “You can go on the streets, parks, you can grind anything, go over anything, its like surfing on land. It’s very easy if you have had some board sports experience and it’s easy to pick up if you haven’t.”

This accessibility is making the sport increasingly popular. It is for any age, any gender, or any persuasion. There isn’t the male-club clique you can encounter in Skateboarding, nor the frat-boy mentality that can arise with snowboarding. Instead, the Mountain Board community is a chilled out, all-encompassing one where your willingness to have a go overrides everything else.

There are Mountain Board Centres popping up throughout the UK, but Nigel doesn’t see the point in handing your money over: “You don’t need a centre; all you need is a board, some pads and you can get out on your own. That’s the beauty of the board: you don’t need to pay that man!”

This accessibility is the secret to its growing success. You can simply step out of your front door and the city or countryside is your playground. So hire yourself a board, and get boarding. By the end of the day even I was making it down the easiest of the precarious slopes. I fell off at the bottom, but by this point I was falling off pretty damn spectacularly.

LINKS:

UK Governing body: www.atbauk.org

Scuz Magazine: www.mountainboardmag.co.uk

Manufacturer: www.groundindustries.com

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Adventure Calls

June 04, 2007 @ 1:50 PM - Features: Sports

Fancy an adrenaline-laced fitness challenge? Step out of your comfort zone and into the world of mud, sweat and cheers. Your first adventure race starts here!

Words: Jessica Eveleigh

Adventure racing

The clock is ticking, your mind is focused and adrenaline is rushing through your veins. You know where you are, but you’re not sure of the route to the next checkpoint. With no time to procrastinate, you have to make a decision quick, cover the distance, complete the next task and finish ahead of the cut-off time. Welcome to the world of adventure racing.

Adventure races are five-hour to five-day – sometimes even longer – multi-discipline events that test competitors on every level. Each one is an emotional, mental and physical journey that demands fitness, technical skills, endurance, strength, speed and team work.

Most races take you off road and into the wilderness, others are urban adventures that utilise the city environment. Running, mountain biking, kayaking and navigating are integral to most, but there is always a strong element of surprise. You won’t know the course details until shortly before the start and, along the way, you may have to scale slippery climbing walls, shimmy under cargo nets, try parkour, or learn survival skills.

“You may have to scale slippery climbing walls, shimmy under cargo nets, try parkour, or learn survival skills.”

“I love AR because you get all the highs and lows of a long-term expedition condensed into a manageable time frame,” says Anna McCormack, 35, who gave up her job working with a youth expedition NGO in Africa to pursue AR full-time.

McCormack is now sponsored by Nike ACG, competes internationally and captains UK women’s squad Buff ENDURE. She is just one of a growing number of action divas who race at elite level in all-girl and mixed teams.

“One of the great things about AR is that so many people from different backgrounds come together in one big melting pot,” says McCormack. “Buff has a multi-sport and
mountaineering background, while other teams have backgrounds in orienteering, fell running or triathlon.”

Team work during AR

GETTING STARTED

You don’t have to be a world-class athlete to do AR. A number of race series are open to beginners and women are positively encouraged to compete in all-girl or mixed teams.

“AR is very much a team event and involves strategic planning in order to succeed,” says Jim Mee, organiser of the Rat Race Urban Adventure Series. “The girls really
help the guys out with this. The lads want to charge off, but girls plan the route to take in checkpoints more effectively.”

And, there is every reason to give it a go. Training and racing can be the ultimate boost for your body and mind. “Because AR involves a range of disciplines, different muscles and skills are utilised in training and on race days,” says top London personal trainer Jamie Baird. “Cross training for different sports helps reduce the risk of injury, keeps the mind
motivated and is a great way to increase overall strength and cardiovascular fitness.”

Baird also says that women are much more likely to push themselves when they’re competing outdoors in a team environment. “Expect to get a much better workout doing an AR than you ever would in a gym.”

Planning a race

Your first adventure race will almost certainly expose your true colours. According to sports psychologist Dr Paul Dent, adventure racing is a surefire way to discover more about who you are and where your personal strengths and weaknesses lie: “Working in a team you acquire leadership skills, develop the ability to make rash decisions and evaluate situations quickly,” he says. “You learn to believe in yourself. As an individual, you will begin to understand how you react to stress, how strong you really are under pressure, the processes you go through when faced with important decisions and your ability to support others.”

So, have you got what it takes to enter an adventure race? Of course you have. As performance experts say, success is 15 per cent ability, 85 per cent attitude.

TRAIN RIGHT

Anna Sloan, member of Scottish all-girl squad Team Columbia SALT, says the secret to AR training is to achieve a good level of fitness, to work on specific skills and to keep it fun.

“You need basic fitness. That means the ability to run 10km, but it doesn’t matter how fast, and to cycle for a couple of hours without stopping,” she says. “The key is enjoyment. Your team is not going to enjoy the race if you aren’t fit enough to cope. Experience also counts for a lot and the only way to get more experience is to have a go. Basic navigation skills are a must. Get in touch with your local orienteering club, or just pick up a map and go for a walk or ride, following a route as you go along.”

Build up your fitness levels at a realistic pace, practise all the disciplines in the race, and don’t just focus on what you’re already good at. Try two sessions in one day – morning and evening, or back to back – so your muscles are prepared for multi-tasking on race day.

AR Cycling

“Your body will cope with two training sessions in one day,” says Baird. “It didn’t complain when you were playing all kinds of games as a kid, so it won’t now. Just make sure
you’re not always training at a high intensity. For example, balance a hard run with a gentle bike, or a hard bike with an easy kayak.”

Baird recommends complementing cardiovascular training with two 40-minute strength sessions per week. It’s also important to pick training routes with similar terrain and conditions to what you’re expecting on race day.

“Pavements and roads aren’t comparable to dirt tracks and moors,” says McCormack. “It’s crucial for girls to work on their technical skills, too. The guys can power through, but the girls can’t compensate with strength in the same way.”

EAT LOTS

As training hots up you’ll notice your waist shrinking but your grocery bill expanding. Get ready to eat more than you’ve ever eaten before! Good nutrition is key and it’s wise to experiment with your diet to see what works best for you.

“I’m a vegetarian, so I have to think carefully about balancing my diet,” says Jackie Lee, 31, who competes with Team Saab Salomon. “I eat plenty of porridge made with soya milk, seeds, brown pasta, tofu, raw vegetables with houmous, yoghurt and free-range eggs. I also try to eat organic. Feed your body with things that make you feel great.”

Adventure racing

TEAM UP

Get a team together before you start training. Gather a group of friends, team up with fellow running, cycling or triathlon club members, or head to the forum at www.sleepmonsters.com and find some mates online. You can also contact event organisers to see if any team entries need an extra. Train together if you can to build your individual and group strengths. Good communication is vital on race day.

“However good you are as individuals, if you can’t work as a team, you won’t win,” says Mee.

BE PREPARED

Allow plenty of time to gather the right gear and learn how to use it. If this is the first time you’ve used a hydration pack, fill it up, strap it on and go running with it. Check that you have everything on both the mandatory team and individual kit lists. As race day approaches, eat well, sleep well and stay hydrated. Buy a store of nuts, raisins, malt loaf, energy bars and drinks to keep you fuelled on the day, but test out what goes down well, and what doesn’t, in advance of the event. Then, the only thing left to do is race.

“Remember, the view is always better from the top,” says Sloan. “Keep smiling!”

SO YOU WANT TO RACE?

You can find out about adventure races in your area by clicking on the calendar at http://www.sleepmonsters.com. The best beginner races include:

Adventure Racing

TrailPlus/Helly Hansen Adventure Challenge Series

With no navigating involved, just 6-7 miles’ running, 12 miles’ mountain biking, a kayak sprint and some hidden surprises, TrailPlus events are the perfect tasters to the world of adventure racing. Enter in an all-girl or mixed team and expect to finish inside five hours on a massive high. Start training now and enter at www.trailplus.com.

Ace Races

With checkpoints to cover on foot and bike these one-day events are a great introduction to real AR, so have your compass at the ready. Once you’re over the beginner wobbles, try a two-day event, which includes kayaking and more navigation. Visit www.aceraces.com

Questars

In these one-day adventure races kayaking is an optional extra on top of trail running and mountain biking. Novices with a base level of fitness can enter the rookie races with teams of a similar standard, while superfit and experienced ARs compete in the masters category. Events are held throughout the summer across the UK. Visit www.questars.co.uk

Rat Race Urban Adventure Series

Geared towards newcomers and experts alike, these two-day urban jungle events take place every summer in the UK cities of Bristol, Edinburgh and Manchester. The courses are tough and varied, so take guts and a good level of all-round sports fitness with you. Visit www.ratraceadventure.com

WATCH THE ELITES:

Raid World Champs (www.theraid.org)

Wilderness Arc (www.wildernessarc.com)

Primal Quest (www.ecoprimalquest.com)

MY FIRST ADVENTURE RACE

Jessica Eveleigh writes…

When I signed up for the two-day Rat Race Urban Adventure in Bristol with my super-fit flatmate Diddy and surf buddy Silke, I had never even entered a 5K. I like running and biking in the woods near my Bristol home, kayaking in Wales and surfing in Devon, but doing sports competitively scares me, especially when it involves competing in a team.

As it turned out, I’d never been so motivated about training. It was difficult fitting it all in. Each week I aimed for three runs, a 2.5km swim and daily yoga, plus long sessions on the bike whenever I could. We neglected the kayaking. And navigating and orienteering? Oops, forgot about those, too.

Diddy pushed us on the bikes and taught us technical skills. Silke is a fast runner, I’m a plodder, so she forced me to pick up my pace and feel the benefits. An added bonus was that my surfing improved dramatically, because I had greater strength for paddling out and popping up on bigger waves.

Finally on race day, having rested and carboloaded for 72 hours, we were totally psyched up for action. at 7pm, we joined the line up for the start of the first day’s event, a three-hour foot race and the prologue to day two’s 12-hour multi-sport extravaganza. As part of the navigational challenge, we’d been given maps and checkpoint locations only an hour before the start and had got the values just minutes before. When the start gun sounded, we dashed across the city ticking off as many checkpoints as we could find on route. Paddle races and parkour were thrown into the mix to make it more fun. We romped home with plenty of energy left in the tank for Sunday’s main race.

Sleep that night was impossible as our brains and bodies were buzzing. At the 6.15am briefing, we all picked up maps and checkpoint locations and then assembled at the start line for the 7.30am kick off. 12 hours later when we crossed the finish line at last, we’d run round the harbour, covered 80km on bikes, waded chin-high through a lake and climbed a crane via a wire-rope ladder, and somehow still had smiles beamed across our faces.

It’s amazing what your body can do when it’s given the chance – and when you’ve eaten more energy bars than you ever thought possible. Go on, have a taste!

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Wakeskating

January 08, 2007 @ 11:04 AM - Features: Sports

Stef Tor

Fancy trying out a new extreme sport? If you’re a water baby and crave some serious adrenaline, then wakeskating might be the new hobby for you. We catch up with wakeskater Stef Tor to get the low-down on this hot new trend.

What is it?

Wakeskating is skateboarding on water, I like to call it water dancing… haha! You are not attached to anything. Holding onto a handle from a 60 to 70 feet rope attached to a boat pulls you across the water at 18-23mph . A wakeskate made of wood or composite is approximately 15 inches wide, 39 inches to 43 inches long with either grip tape or foam top. Any type of skateboard shoe is worn for better traction while doing tricks on your wakeskate. Wakeskating has been on the Pro Wakeboard Tour now since 2003 so it is newer to the action sports industry than most of the other board sports.

How did you get into it?

I tried wakeboarding where bindings are attached to the board to keep you connected while you ride. That same summer I tried wakeskating and got hooked right away. I really like the technical feeling of wakeskating… it felt more like my style, as if I was skateboarding on water.

I started competing in the mens division because that was all there was. I won the 2004 World Wakeskate Championships in the mens Amateur division and I have been pushing for a womens division to happen ever since. Women finally got their own division this past summer and three divisions in the biggest events for the 2007 season.

Wakeskating

How do you start out?

I would say best way to start out is to take a lesson from a camp or to attend one of the many clinics out there. Maven is the women’s division of Liquid Force that offers clinics free of charge all over the USA and Canada.

The clinics provide all the most recent equipment and expert advice from professional riders to teach riders of every level who want to learn. Then from there you can take your skills to wakeskate behind any type of jetski, or boat… the possibilities are endless.

What kit do you need?

Rope and handle, old skate shoes, wakeskate, a PWC (please water craft), a good friend to drive you, swimsuit/boardshorts and of course a PFD (personal flotation device). Oh, and lots of petrol to ride all day!

Wakeskating

Any good organizations/websites to check out?

www.liquidforce.com

www.alliancewake.com

www.prowakeboardtour.com

www.wakeskating.com

www.thechickflick.com

www.thechickflick.com

www.rockstar69.com

www.buywake.com

www.jetdock.com

www.liquidforcemaven.com

www.undergroundproducts.com

What are the big comps and contests?

WakeGames Orlando, Florida (April 26-29, 2007)

Nationals Kenosha, Wisconsin (June 20-24 2007)

WakeStock Abersoch,Wales (July 20-21, 2007)

Worlds Reno, Nevado (August 23-26, 2007)

Tige Pro/Am, Mexico (Oct)

Words and Pics by Stef Tor

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Skier Cross

January 02, 2007 @ 9:33 AM - Features: Sports

Emily Sarsfield

Hi my name is Emily Sarsfield and I’m Britain’s No.1 Ski Cross skier. I compete in a new extreme event called Skier Cross which has just been announced by the International Olympic Committee to make its debut in the Olympics in 2010. Since I heard this news a change of focus has had to appear in my schedule. I am now training for Vancouver 2010 and being the first British athlete to compete in this event.

Skier Cross is the new extreme event shaking the mountains! Exciting and spectacular, Skier Cross greatly appeals to skiers in search of big thrills: the riders start in heats of 4 (sometimes 6) and pass a course with moguls of all descriptions, banked turns, speed sections and big jumps. The first 2 (or 3) in each heat qualify for the following run. Being an extreme event it is about sheer determination and guts. Strong legs and superb balance are essential for the transitions and obstacles thrown at you in the course. This event comprises the speed and energy of alpine downhill racing going around slalom gates but adds the unknown thrill from the obstacles placed on the course with a head to head race making it the exciting event it is.

I started skiing early at the age of three on family holidays and never looked back, being in the fresh air in the mountains is paradise to me…I love it!

I started competing in Ski Cross 18 months ago at the World Uni Games after a coach suggested I gave it a shot… so not one to hold back, I gave it a go and finished 6th. Before Skier Cross, I competed in Alpine skiing (Downhill, Slalom, etc) I really enjoyed it and had so many great experiences, but the buzz of Ski Cross is so much more fun!

I was so excited when I heard the decision of Ski Cross being included in the 2010 Olympics. I am starting my 2nd full time season on the World Cup circuit, and hopefully by 2010 I will have all the experience, ready to perform at my best in Vancouver!

The Olympic decision brings greater recognition for the event, and hopefully it will help with funding. Unfortunately at the moment I don’t receive any funding and have to rely on sponsor support to cut costs down, making it rely hard to compete with the world’s best!

I would therefore like to thank my sponsors: Animal, Less Bounce, Futur-3 and Atomic.

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A Beginner’s Guide to BMX

December 12, 2006 @ 3:19 PM - Features: Sports

Words by Stacey Mulligan

It is seen that freestyle BMX is one of the last extreme sports to get an interest from girls. I have heard many girls say that it is very intimidating. That is because you have a 35lb bike with you that you are using to go really fast and high. Then going fast and high is associated to crashing, and crashing with a bike may seem inescapably painful. Although this may be the first impression that scares many girls away from wanting to ride BMX, I want to show how it is actually one of the most fun. If the proper steps are taken into riding freestyle BMX, it can be awesome for every girl…

Stacey in action

The most important thing a girl should do to start riding is ride a bike preferably a BMX bike but any bike will do. This will help with getting some bike control when it comes to braking, turning, and speed. I remember I would go to a skate park and ride other people’s bikes to get comfortable with just riding the bike. This also helped me see if riding BMX was what I really wanted to do before I went out and spent the money on buying a bike.

Once you feel comfortable riding a bike around (and with that I mean that you can pedal fast, pedal while standing up, turn corners easily, and stop quickly), you can consider buying a BMX bike and also some pads to ride with. Pads are really important when you ride and especially when you first start out so using them will save you. The most important is your helmet because you only have so many chances that you can hit your head so why not reduce a bad concussion by wearing one. I also suggest that beginners wear shin guards because you will be hitting your shins a lot with the pedals. So if you don’t want to have leopard printed legs with bruises then you should think about buying these. Elbow pads and kneepads are important as well so starting out with all pads is a good way to stay injury free for longer and reduce pain from any crashes.

Now you’re ready to find the perfect bike to start out with. I find that in the first two years of riding you don’t tend to ride as fast or go as high since you are still learning the basics. With that I think that finding a bike that is strong and fits you well is that most important. You don’t have to go out and buy the most expensive top of the line bike because you really don’t need to waste the money. There are great complete bikes out in the BMX market that are perfect those just starting out. Companies that I suggest are Federal Bike Co. (www.federalbikes.com) or Eastern Bikes (www.easternbikes.com) for their complete bikes because they are great frames with good components at a good price. The average price for a complete bike ranges from about $375 to $575 depending on what you’re willing to spend. I also think that ordering your bike through a mail order company such as Staff (www.staff-bmx.com) is a good idea because they tend to have lower prices. You can also buy your pads and helmet through the mail order companies such as Staff as well.

Stacey Riding

When it comes to choosing a bike you also need to see what size frame and bars are right for you. I suggest going to a bike shop and sitting on some bikes to see how they fit or go around to a skate park and ask if you could try someone’s bike out to see what’s comfortable. I am 5’6” and I ride a 20.5” size tube top, which is the length of top of the frame. This normally comes in sizes ranging from 20” to 21”, going up a quarter of an inch each size. Bars should also be considered when buying your bike because there are so many different styles. Some people tend to like really wide high bars that give them a wide grip, which is good for riding trails or airing. Other people like to use smaller bars that are easier for tricks such as bar spins and x-ups and are good for if you choose to ride brakeless. Some other things to consider are the sweep of the bars, how light they are, and if they are two-piece or 4 piece bars. By going to your local bike shop you can check out all different types and test them out to see which feel the best.

After you have all your pads and your bike you are ready to move on to riding freestyle BMX. I think the best places to start out learning are at a skate park and outside in front of your house or a parking lot. Skate parks are great because normally there will be other riders there that can help you learn a lot of basic tricks and tips. Don’t ever feel hesitant to ask for help either. With all of the years I have been riding, I have always asked questions and I have never had anyone be negative to me about it. Also, with skate parks you can work your way up from small ramps to bigger ramps. Then there is riding in a parking lot or in front of your house, which is great to working on bike control and the basic tricks and skills you need to ride ramps, trails, or street better.

Some of the first tricks you should consider learning are how to bunny hop, manual, pump ramps, and rolling over wedges or box jumps. By riding in parking lots or at your house you can easily practice bunny hopping or manuals. With bunny hops you should ride at a place with curbs and practice trying to get you and the bike up the curb by hopping. Then with manuals I always would try to use the lines with parking spaces to see how many spaces I could go. Next when you go to the skate park you should start off by just riding the ramps. Try to learn how to carve and pump around on quarter pipes and mini ramps and then move onto riding up and over box jumps before you actually try to jump it. Once you get manuals good on the ground you could even try to roll over the box jumps by doing a manual while on top.

Good luck and keep riding!

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The Snow Junkies

October 27, 2006 @ 2:44 PM - Features: Sports

Words: Carmela Fleury

THE FASHION DESIGNER

Heida Birgisdottir, 36, founder of Nikita Clothing, began designing clothes ‘for girls who ride’ with one store in Reykjavik, Iceland in 2000. Today Nikita is sold in more than 28 countries.

‘ I’m doing what I’ve always enjoyed doing - designing clothes - and I’m making a living out of doing it. I think Nikita’s success is down to having a clear vision of what I wanted to do and putting in a lot of hard work to make it happen.

My family, especially my parents, and friends always believed in me and never had any doubts that I could do what I wanted, as risky and optimistic as it must have sounded.

I started off with a snow and skate shop in 1995 with my boyfriend Rúnar (who also manages Nikita). Back then we used to go snowboarding every day or night that the mountain was open. And, when it was closed we’d be skating or surfing. We’d close the shop when the snow was at its best, or go surfing in the morning before opening the shop, even though it meant waking up at 6am and driving for an hour out of town and back.

Now I don’t get to go as often because I’m so busy with Nikita, but when I do go it’s usually to better places like Chamonix, St. Anton or Squaw Valley for a week of powder.

In this job, I get to meet a lot of very fun and interesting people who share our lifestyle of snowboarding, skating and surfing. I can go on a snowboard trip and call it “work” and that’s a serious perk of the job!

Snowboarding in powder is still on the top of my priority list. If you know the feeling, you know what I mean.

Inevitably it has been a lot of work starting an international clothing brand, so there are a lot of deadlines to meet, and deadlines create stress. Then again, I work best under pressure and I love to be busy, so I’m not complaining at all. I love what I do and I wish everybody was as lucky. The way we do business is pure pleasure, with amazingly fun, yet super-professional people we work with all over the world.

Snowboarding in powder is still on the top of my priority list when work allows. If you know the feeling, you know what I mean.

The feedback from all the ‘girls who ride’ around the world has been super positive and very important to me and really kept me going. The support from people around me who believed in me was also important.

I am now expecting a baby in December and I have no worries that my career will be an issue. It will just be fun!’

Heida’s tip: ‘I chose to do a snowboard season rather than attend a fine arts school and I truly believe that in the end, if your mind is not sure, gut instincts are the best way to make decisions. By that I don’t necessarily mean that people should always go for the flavour of the day, changing their mind constantly and blaming it on ‘gut feeling’, but I think we should listen to our heart at least as much as our brain. Don’t worry too much about the future - it will be here before you know it, so just focus on enjoying every minute until it arrives.’

www.nikitaclothing.com

THE EVENT ORGANISER

Tina Birbaum, 30, is a professional snowboarder and event organiser who set up girls-only snowboard contest The Roxy Chicken Jam. She is from Switzerland but lives in Chamonix.

‘I started snowboarding back in 1986 because I saw someone on the slopes with a snowboard and thought it looked incredible - what I’d been searching for since forever!

As I progressed and turrned pro, rather than just sitting back and waiting for things to improve, I really wanted to actively do something for women’ s snowboarding,. So I decided to set up the Chicken Jam - a women’s snowboarding jam in the US and Europe.

The girls are all stoked they finally have an event where they are the main attraction. It’s great that girls are getting more attention, because I had to fight against male domination all the time at the start of my snowboard career.

It can be very stressful handling so much responsibility with the Chicken Jam Being the organiser means doing everything: finding a location, finding the sponsors and finiancial backing, dealing with invitations and the press and much more. I sometimes wonder how I actually get it all done. I guess you just have to start somewhere and get on it - and it helps to be pretty good at talking!

It’s great that girls are getting more attention… I had to fight against male domination all the time.

The job is at its worst is when the weather is bad during the event, because there is absolutely nothing can do about it. But, as long as the riders are having a good time and enjoying it, I’m happy.

The atmosphere is always great. The girls have fun together and are so stoked for every other girl doing a new trick or having a good run. There’s been no competitive thinking yet. I think it’s much too serious at the guys’ events and the girls approach it with much more fun.

Generally I snowboard professionally and organise the events at the same time, so I have to just do things as they come up and whenever I have a bit of spare time.
My next project is to try to integrate some female freeskiers into the Chicken Jam and do a demo with them at the event.’

Tina’s tip: ‘If you want to be an event organiser, really get to know the snowboard or ski scene and make sure you have effective strategies to deal well with stress.’

www.chickenjam.com

THE SNOWBOARD PHOTOGRAPHER

Natalie Mayer, 25, snowboard photographer had her first photo published in 2002. She works all over the world, but calls Jersey in the Channel Islands home.

‘I’ve always loved travel, people and adventures. Once I started getting interested in photography, it led to me working on the editorial side of snowboard magazines, and the rest just kind of happened.

I studied photography at university and started work at the bottom, becoming an intern at Onboard magazine. That lead to me being offered a position as editorial assistant on a UK snowboard magazine called Document, where I am now a senior photographer.

I worked hard at meeting the right people (this involved going to loads of parties) and eventually knew enough riders who wanted to shoot with me, and enough people willing to publish my photos.

The good times are so good that is really is easy to forget about the bad. I really can’t imagine what could be more fun than travelling with a group friends and documenting it at the same time, so that I have thousands of memories to keep looking back on. I love to read about a trip that I was on in a magazine, and know that I will have that memory preserved in photographs and writing, and sometimes video, for the rest of my life.

Photography wise, any job where the weather isn’t playing the game can be a nightmare. It kills the motivation of the riders, and can also play havoc with equipment, especially flashes. I hate the fact that I am reliant on a bunch of mechanical equipment. Having a shot in mind and not being to produce it purely cause of some little technical glitch is incredibly frustrating. But I’ve learned that it is all part of working in such extreme weather conditions, and the more I shoot, the more ways I find of getting round problems.

In the beginning I found it hard to approach snowboarders to ask if I could shoot with them. However, once I realized what a bunch of camera-loving show-offs snowboarders really are, I soon lost that initial shyness.

I do about seven months of travel, spread over the year. Surprisingly, the summer is also a pretty busy time for snowboard photography, with close-to-home summer camps on the European glaciers, and long haul trips searching for powder in the southern hemisphere. Wherever I’m shooting becomes my office for that day. Last week it was a rainy glacier in Norway, and right now it’s a crummy apartment in Les Deux Alpes in France.

THE FILM PRODUCER

Josie Clyde, 28, started ChunkyKnit Productions in 2003 and launched the first all-girl snowboard movie Dropstitch.

‘From an early age I wanted to be either a photographer or a physiotherapist but at school they told me I couldn’t do either because I was no good at science. Well I eventually worked out you don’t need to be a scientist to mix a bit of developer and water together. I really got into taking photos when I was about 13.

I was working for a photo library that specialised in supplying ski and snowboard photography, and I started taking photos of British pro snowboarder Lesley McKenna, my childhood friend. I was doing bits and pieces of snowboard writing as well but I had quite a naïve approach to it all. I didn’t know anything about all the politics involved in the snowboard industry.

I asked Lesley why there weren’t any girls snowboard films yet as there seemed to be lots of guys’ films produced every year. She thought about it and decided the girls’ level of riding was about right to make a film. We spent about four months talking to people and feeling the ground and then in May 2003 we jumped right in and did our first trip so we could make a teaser to take to potential sponsors.

It’s great to feel like we are creating something new for snowboarding. And I’ve really enjoyed starting a new career - from photographer to producer -for myself. I think it has taught me that if you keep working at something and keep believing in it, then you can pull it off.

If you keep working at something and keep believing in it then you can pull it off.

Getting a good crew together and travelilng to a new place together is definitely one of the highlights of making a snowboard film.

It can be quite daunting because you invite the girls along and there is always a lot hanging on the terrain/snow/weather being good. If any of these three things are lacking then morale can slip quite quickly.

The lows of this job are injuries. Although every girl takes responsibility for what she does, I can’t help but feel a tiny bit responsible when one minute we have been filming and the next they are sitting there with a broken bone. It makes me sad because injuries damage the riders psychologically just as much as they do physically. And I can’t really deal with the thought of someone else in pain.

With our first film, DropStitch, we were on the road for about 150 days and with Transfer it had been about 120. Next year I’ll probably try and spend more time working from home instead of travelling so much. Although travelling is a definite perk of the job, but even with laptops and wireless internet, I can’t work properly when I am on the road. As a result when I come home it’s always a total nightmare trying to catch up with all the paperwork.’

Josie’s tip: ‘Take what you know and what you really enjoy and somehow turn that into a career. At least that way you know you are doing something you enjoy.’

www.chunkyknit.com

THE PROFESSIONAL SNOWBOARDER

Canadian Natasza Zurek, 25, has been riding professionally for seven years. She is sponsored by Burton, Nikita and Anon and lives in Vancouver.

‘I started snowboarding in 1992 because it looked like the greatest sport in the world.

I’d love to have as much control over the rest of my life as I do in snowboarding. My idea of absolute happiness is to be able to ride down the slope and do every trick I want when I want and how I want and land it every time.

When I first started riding I made a goal to become the best snowboarder that I could be. That hasn’t happened yet, so I keep me riding year after year. It will come close to happening once I’ve landed all the sevens.

Even though I ride so much, I get the fear a lot from a lot of different things. I have to just ask myself a question - is the fear really a valid, legitimate fear, or am I just being a pussy? If the answer is that it’s too dangerous or out of my league, then I won’t do it. But if I know I can do it but am just scared, then I will block the fear out of my head by thinking about rainbows, gold, and happy things.

I’ve never really thought it was any harder for a good female snowboarder to get recognition. That’s because there didn’t used to be many good girl riders out there, so whenever someone came along who could even do a backside 360, everyone would freak out and want to sponsor her. Nowdays the standard has got higher. Now, it takes a girl who can land a frontside 540 for everyone to start claiming her as the next big thing.

It’s fun to be at an all girl event and good that they are out there now, but it’s still good for the progression of the girls to ride with the guys.

The highs are great: learning new tricks and progressing; getting my first sponsor and my first photo in a magazine was very special and winning the US Open halfpipe in 2000 and 2001.’

Natasza’s tip: ‘Always remember why you started snowboarding in the first place.’

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Girls’ Guide to Getting Air

October 12, 2006 @ 1:57 PM - Features: Sports

Main photo by Raynald Tanny, http://www.intergirlactik.com

Technique photos by Anna Barry

Girls Guide to Getting Air

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve teetered on the edge of the terrain park, too terrified to go in and make a fool of myself among a bunch of 13-year-old rippers but too tempted to leave.

Why is it us girls have such an issue about embarrassing ourselves and getting hurt? If you’re confident cruising on the piste, taking it to the next level with on-piste pops and blink-and-you’ll-miss-it jumps is much easier than you think. Everyone has to be a beginner some time, so swallow your worries, stop your wobbles because we asked Fiona Duncan, head coach for New Zealand’s Snowgirls (http://www.snowgirlsnz.com) for a step-by-step guide to the best confidence-boosting beginner tricks.

Practise on the piste or in the beginner park, dig into Cooler’s bag of tricks and prepare to get some air.

Riding switch or fakie

‘This is a great way to get balanced on your board,’ says Duncan. ‘All you really need to do is switch to your new front foot, slightly move your hips towards this leg and put more pressure on the new front foot. You’re away! It may be a killer at first but practice makes perfect, and the benefits will rub off in the end.’

Box or small rail

‘Boxes and rails are total fun but you need to remember our mantra here at Snowpark NZ - “speed is your friend, look to the end”,’ laughs Duncan. ‘The other important thing to remember is to keep a flat base all the way along. Whether the rail or box is on an angle or flat, your board needs to be flat. Be sure to blunt edges so that you don’t take a slam too.’

Frontside 180

‘Using a similar size jump to the straight air, or even just as you are sliding on the piste, approach slightly on your heel edge with your arms slightly towards your back foot. This will aid your rotation,’ adds Duncan. ‘As you pop off the lip (or the ground if you are on piste), rotate your hips, swing your arms slightly in the direction of rotation, sucking up your legs so you land centred, then ride out switch.’

Ollie

‘Pick your spot or a feature that you would like to ollie, or jump, over and approach it on a flat base,’ advises Duncan. ‘Using your board as a spring, load up the tail so you can “pop up” in the air, bringing both legs up, then down, together to land with a flat base.’

Straight air

‘Start with a small jump initially,’ says Duncan. ‘Check the jump out first, so you can be sure the landing is safe and you can estimate how much speed you’ll need. Watching someone of a similar height and weight to you is always a great indication of how fast to go.

‘Ride up to the table/roller/drop with good speed, keep low on your take off and make sure your base is flat to the snow. As your board begins to leave the ground suck your legs up, keeping a nice balanced position while in the air. Your hands should be right there to grab your board for a more advanced air. As you spot the landing just place your legs down and ride down the transition with good speed.’

Where to learn

Why not freeride all winter then hone your park skills next summer in New Zealand? Fiona coaches at Snowgirls in New Zealand, which runs camps, snowboarding and freestyle skiing sessions. Check out http://www.snowgirlsnz.com. Also down under in NZ, Nikita runs sessions for girls who ride at any level. See http://www.shift4.biz.

Closer to home, Girlie Camps runs week-long camps that cover park riding and tricks. Check out http://www.girliecamps.com for details.

Check out the type of lessons resorts offer before you book your trip. An ever-increasing number of resorts now offer park-specific lessons - it may even pay to have a one-on-one private lesson to get you started.

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Eco-Friendly Action Sports

October 02, 2006 @ 12:53 PM - Features: Sports

Words by Charlotte Davies

Photos by Mike Weyerhauser

Play Clean

The ocean, mountains and green spaces are our playgrounds. They’re where we ride, climb, bike, run, love and live. They magic up waves, powder, rock faces, forests and ice at which we hurl ourselves with delightful abandon, time and time again.

But with reckless abandon, the human race has also been busy trashing its playground. Global warming and pollution have become headline news and loom permanently on the horizon like big black clouds.

So should you throw down your kit in despair? Will a day come when your future kids look at pictures of you pulling off 360s in pure powder or swimming in clean ocean waters as though you’re from outer space?

It’s difficult to separate the facts from fiction and figure out just what kind of fate is in store for our favourite spots. The one thing we know for sure is that we will all have to adapt.

Encouragingly, there are more and more people and organisations fighting back in order to safeguard the future of our environment and as both consumer and outdoors junkie, there’s plenty you can do to make sure you play clean and green.

The Facts of Life

‘You are always more aware of the environment if you are doing sports like surfing or snowboarding,’ says Elissa Koskinen, Hossegor resident and member of the Girlie Camps team. ‘You spend so much time in the ocean and the mountains, so unlike someone just working on their tan and sitting on the beach, you get a lot more concerned about all this stuff.’

There’s no disputing our planet is warming up. A conservative estimate, by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is that temperatures will increase by 1.5 degrees centigrade this century, but some experts argue it could be by as much as 6 degrees, a rise which would mean whole coastal areas and islands wiped out and see our weather go shaken up.

You certainly get the impression that mother earth is protesting loudly. Recent years have seen an increase in hurricanes, floods, droughts, earthquakes and tsunamis worldwide, all of which are affecting our natural environments. There’s little doubt among experts that the human race is increasingly to blame. The Intergovernmental panel on climate change states that ‘most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities’.

‘The evidence that, since the 1980s, the impact of man has taken a lead in impacting warming, is overwhelming,’ says Professor Dr Werner Schutz, who heads up the Davos Observatory and World Radiation Centre.

The warning bells are ringing loudly. Our local beaches, mountains, parks and forests are feeling the effect of global warming...and our dirty habits. Increasing levels of travel, goods transportation and other emissions are pouring more fumes into the air and temperature changes are tinkering with delicate eco-balances, affecting green spaces and wildlife.

‘Litter left on beaches really irritates me, especially if it’s plastic or glass bottles or beer cans,’ says Candice O’Donnell, Newquay resident and Roxy longboarder. ‘Plastic bottles take 450 years to break down in a beach environment. Rubbish kills wildlife - animals and birds can get entangled, suffocate or even die because they’ve eaten rubbish. I realise we can’t have a pristine environment but I would like people to be responsible for their own rubbish.’

Ocean Deep, Mountain High

Mountains and oceans are the “edges” of our world. They also act as environmental sentries, sending out warning signs if things are going wrong. What binds them together? Water of course. From the snow, which nourishes and holds together mountain ranges, to the waters running in rivers down to our oceans, all sustaining huge eco-systems.

Water, in all its forms, is under threat. ‘The snow seasons are getting shorter,’ states Sonia Wipf from the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF). ‘And, since 1975, maximum snow depths have decreased by 40cm and spring temperatures are rising by 0.9 degrees centigrade per decade’. The result? More avalanches and rock falls due to more extreme weather and an unstable snow base.

It’s also getting more scarce. Water shortages are more frequent, with mountainous countries like Austria and Switzerland putting into place major water conservation programmes.

Our H2O is getting dirtier too. Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) claims that the equivalent of 80 Olympic swimming pools worth of sewage is deposited every day into the sea in front of Brighton, UK. Mountain areas - ski resorts, forests, lakes and national parks - are also susceptible to pollution due to a combination of narrow valleys and thermal inversions, which act together to trap smoke.

In Austria, where restrictions on trucks travelling through the Bremner Pass were lifted a few years ago, the effect is striking, as Stuart Knowles, a long-time Innsbruck resident and one of the founders of Himaya (makers of sunscreen for outdoor enthusiasts) testifies. ‘Ten years ago the valley was crystal clear,’ he says. ‘Now there is a permanent brown tinge of smog and cases of bronchitis and asthma have increased greatly at the local hospitals’.

In the Chamonix valley, protests against the thousands of trucks that pass through the Mont Blanc tunnel every day have been going on for years, but they’re still rumbling through in huge numbers.

Clouds and Silver Linings

No more snow at low altitude, more avalanches, more rockfalls… in 30 years, your time in the mountains could be radically different. Experts predict that there will be far less glacier to ski on and some of your favourite resorts (Kitbuhel, Gstaad, Morzine and Megeve are all below 1,100 metres) could be heading for wind-down.

According to a report by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), in three decades the snowline in the Alps will rise by 300m. Terrifyingly, it estimates that 50 per cent of all resorts in Europe may have to close in the next 50 years. Melting snow will trigger more avalanches, landslips and floods as we lose permafrost (the base snow layer that provides stability). What terrain there is left to ride, will have to be crammed into a shorter time as the seasons shorten.

The same report states that if action is not taken to adapt to rises in sea levels, wetlands and lowlands will be displaced, shorelines eroded and there will be far more storm flooding. This will affect some of our beaches and impact on water quality. ‘There will more intense rainfall in summer and winter,’ says Richard Hardy, Campaigns Director of SAS. ‘We are concerned that sewage treatment works won’t be able to cope with this and are challenging government to put climate change at the top of the agenda for water treatment’.

Worldwide, surfing and diving spots are in danger from more extreme weather (the 2004 tsunami disaster was the largest on record) and pollution from oil spills and sewage.

As long ago as 2000, Greenpeace released a study, which predicted that the Pacific Ocean could lose the majority of its coral reefs by the end of the century due to global warming, which would devastate the region’s fishing and tourism industries.

But, it’s not all doom and gloom. Climate change could also mean more snow at higher altitude and open up new areas to skiing (although we’d rather you hiked up than campaign for yet more high-altitude resorts).

The buzzword will be adaptability, which can’t be a bad thing. You’ll have to get sharper and work harder for your kicks; maybe snowshoeing for powder when it strikes unexpectedly in areas that have closed down their lifts. With resorts adapting too, your time in the mountains could finally be due a clean-up. Eco tourism is growing fast and recycling and reduced energy usage is becoming de rigueur as more governments, businesses and even ski resorts (not known for their cleanliness) adopt more sustainable practices.

Some 71 ski resorts in the US have signed a letter backing a climate change bill and many now use bio-diesel fuel in piste-bashers, solar panels for heating and hydro-electricity and wind energy for power. Some regions benefit from existing regulation, which restricts overdevelopment. For example, surf meccas Biarritz and Hossegor are located on fragile marshland, which demands a balanced approach to development. In Sardinia (a mecca for climbers and windsurfers), strict building regulations and an emphasis on using local building materials has meant a more minimal tourist impact.

Snow Facts

* 1990: NO snow in the French Alps between the beginning of December and the end of January below 1,700 to 2,000 metres.
* 1999: Massive snowfall in February (described by some as a 500 year event), causing huge avalanches. One in the Chamonix valley killed 12 people in their beds.
* 2005/6: Bumper snowfall in European Alps, Canada and the US. The highest number of avalanche deaths in the French Alps for 20 years (54 by the beginning of April).
* In the European Alps, around 50 per cent of the original glacier ice volume has been lost since 1850, according to the IPCC.

Water Facts

* The Pacific is getting warmer and more acidic as it absorbs more carbon dioxide. At the same time, oxygen and resources for building plankton are diminishing.
* In the UK over 300 million gallons of sewage (either untreated or only undergone minimal treatment) are discharged to sea each day, say SAS.
* In 1991, a survey published in the British Medical Journal, showed that surfers were 80 per cent more at risk of becoming ill (illnesses range from hepatitis to fevers) by entering the water than those who stayed on the beach.
* By 2020, the average water supply per person worldwide is expected be a third smaller than now, according to the UN.

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Slope Sisterhood

September 28, 2006 @ 3:41 PM - Features: Sports

Words by Jojo Cook

Pics by Mike Weyerhauser

One sunny bluebird powder day in Chamonix, I met Simone, Stephanie, Mags and Bryony. I’d seen them around, they looked like too-cool-for-school tough chicks - confident, gorgeous, girls about town.

On the chairlift, we clicked instantly. On the run down we did too. I found that riding with them opened up a whole new level of confidence and enjoyment. The same speed, the same level, the same sense of humour – suddenly snowboarding was taken to a new dimension.

It was hysterics on the lift then whooping through tree runs. No longer were we chasing after the guys, feeling pressurised to keep up, suddenly we were liberated; we were a gang.

Free to pick our own lines, to hike where and when we wanted, free to call the shots and to hoon down the side of the mountain, glistening snow spraying over our faces. Whooping with the buzz. Like when you’re on a rollercoaster and it pauses just before plunging down with its occupants laughing and screaming - that’s what riding with the girls felt like.

At the end of that most adrenaline-fuelled day, we hit the bars and partied hard in our snow gear. It was a legendary day, the first and most fantastical day when we rode as a pack.

It was the first of many times, with many more girls coming and joining us. It wasn’t so much a cliquey thing, any girls with spunk and speed were welcome like sisters to our hood.

Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t about feminism or dissing the guys – we love the male race. What this is about, is having a solid girl gang to share fun, riding and special days with.

Girl Power

Women learn faster when there are no guys around. There tends to be more support, more self-confidence and less testosterone, which is why women-specific ski and snowboard clinics have been opening up at a rate of knots.

‘Girls tend to be much more relaxed without guys around,’ says Elissa Koskinen at Girlie Camps. ‘They can progress at their own tempo, without feeling intimidated and take it easy until they are 100 per cent sure. Girls are also really supportive of each other and push each other in a way guys never would. Guys push each other on a different level and much harder.’

With more women than ever taking to the hills to ski and ride, there are more pals to choose from to enlist into your posse. Riding in a gang of girls is about support and camaraderie. And, although riding with the boys undoubtedly raises the standards and helps us push limits, watching other women’s achievements is sometimes even more powerful, because it suddenly seems achievable.

‘When the girls see another girl doing a trick, they think “Wow, if she can do it, why not me?”,’ explains Elissa. ‘If a guy did the same trick, the girls would just think “Ah, that was a guy, I’ll never be able to do anything like that anyway.”’

When you ride with the girls, intimidation gives way to support and encouragement making it easier to easier to confront self-doubt and fear.

Girls are also less likely to be constantly competitive, so feel less peer-pressured into taking risks when riding with other women. They help each other learn new tricks and support each other in making decisions, rather than feeling like they have to take that line, even if looks avalanche prone, or launch off that kicker, even if the landing looks flat.

A group of girls will tend to be as brave as the ballsiest girl in the group. The reason we ride faster and push ourselves more in a group, is because in groups, we feel more inclined to take risks. “If you get a bunch of individuals together, their attitudes towards taking risks are more extreme than if they were alone,’ says Professor Maule, a Psychologist specialising in group dynamics at the University of Leeds, UK. ‘This is caused by what’s called group polarisation, where the need to conform is very strong and people feel they have to be as risky as the riskiest person in the group.’

This concept isn’t unique to snowboarding or groups of girls, but riding with your girl crew will not only help you improve your technique and your confidence, but the shared experiences and adrenaline will live with you forever.

So if you do one thing this season, get a group of girls together and get out there for first lift on a powder day. And of course, it’s not all about snowboarding, friends you make on the slopes can become friends for life. All now living busy lives in separate countries around the globe, my gang and I still make time to meet up every autumn in Indo for a girlie surf trip, where the waves are our mountains and the giggles are good.

The Freestyle Gang

Meanwhile, over in Les Deux Alpes, France, a very different group of girls exist. Vicci Miller, Sonia Shaw, Gilly Seagrave and Alexa Hohenberg (all from the UK), Rita Comi (from Italy) and Mirjam Jaeger (from France) meet for summer camp every year. With sponsorship from companies like Option, Roxy and Oakley, these girls spend half the year travelling from competition to competition, specialising in big air, slopestyle and half pipe.

Although independently based for the winter season, their lives are half on the road, living our of their snowboard bags, with duties to fulfil to their sponsors, who fund their enviable lifestyles. The summer is their chance to chill, hang loose, polish old tricks and perfect new ones - and have a damn good time while doing it. ‘Its always good to meet up with the girls in summer,’ says Vicci. ‘There’s a good atmosphere - everyone comes here to play and learn tricks. There’s good music, barbecues, cool people, lots of reggae parties and ragga dance lessons, plus loads of cute skier boys into riding for fun.’

‘It’s not only about the riding, it’s about the melting pot of the people here,’ says Sonia. ‘Also, the kickers are nice, with a good progression of jumps from baby to intermediate to pro, so you can build yourself up here quite nicely. And afterwards we play tennis, hang out at the pool, at the lake...’

Roxy pro halfpipe rider Rita Comi loves joining her gang to spend her summers here.

‘We all have different skills, some are better at kickers, some at rails or pipe, so we can all help each other out,’ she explains. ‘They all help me at jumping, I help them out with the pipe, another friend helped me out with rails today. It’s just great to share the love and the skills you have with your girlfriends - it really makes you bond.’

This girl gang knows all about how to support and encourage one other and help build each other’s confidence up to progress. ‘That’s how it was with me the other day,’ enthuses Gilly. ‘I came up and really wasn’t sure, than I saw you lot and ended up nailing a new trick on the box – learning something I didn’t even think I could ever do!’

So who’s the gutsiest girl in the group? With her love of leathers, big kickers and Duccati motorbike, that’s an easy one. ‘It’s Vicci,’ laughs Mirjam. ‘She’s crazy, she’s always got a smile and she’ll try anything.’

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Girls’ Guide to Surf Science

September 26, 2006 @ 4:42 PM - Features: Sports

Words by Jessica Eveleigh

Photo by Nathan Smith

Weather, eh? There’s no controlling it. Sod’s law says the surf will be like a millpond when you’ve spent months planning that trip to the coast, or the wind will be a mere whisper for that long-lusted after windsurf trip.

Well, you may not be able to control it, but brushing up on your watersports science will mean you can at least plan around it and will greatly enhance your experience in the ocean.

‘From huge onshore storm waves to beautiful glassy peelers, waves are beautiful,’ says Dr Paul Russell, reader in coastal dynamics at the University of Plymouth. ‘The more you watch them, the more you’ll understand.’ Whether you’re taking the plunge every day at your closest break or exploring new territory, there are two main ways to check conditions. The first is to tap into technology, using online webcams and surf forecasts; the second is to follow the weather yourself. Best is a combination of both.

But before you start, there are a few things you need to know…

A Wave Is Born

Your ride begins as the story of a wave ends. You can feel its power and harness its energy, but where did it come from?

‘Waves are born when the wind ‘rubs’ on the surface of the ocean, imparting its energy from the air to the water,’ says Professor Tony Butt, co-author of Surf Science: An Introduction to Waves for Surfing (Alison Hodge, £18.50). ‘As the water surface becomes rough, the air is able to ‘grip’ better, allowing the waves to grow more quickly.’

Depression

No, we’re not talking about that sinking feeling when you realise that it isn’t happening for you because the surf is too small, too big, too messy. A depression is a meteorological term that helps us predict surf.

The tempestuous winds in the Atlantic are down to changes in air flow. The sun heats up the earth’s surface causing warm air to rise and the pressure to drop. As this happens, cooler air from areas of higher pressure whooshes in to fill the gap. This movement is wind. Got that? Good. It’s about to get more complex.

Since the world is not static and is spinning on an axis, the air movement is affected by what’s known as the Coriolis force. In the Northern Hemisphere, the air circulates anti-clockwise; in the Southern Hemisphere, clockwise. Remember the plug hole experiment at school? It’s the same thing.

When a mass of cold air meets a mass of warm air, a depression (or region of low pressure) starts to form. This generates a lot of wind and often a storm. You can see depressions, or lows, forming on a weather chart.

Look at the isobars (the thin squiggly lines with numbers indicating pressure) beginning to circulate around a central depression. Another larger number over this area tells you the pressure. The isobars also more or less mark air movement, when they’re closer together the waves are likely to be bigger and stronger.

Ideally, what you want is closely packed isobars around a depression in the mid-900s some way out in the Atlantic that’s generating sizeable waves heading in your direction.

Swell Time

When the waves leave the stormy centre, they become ‘free-travelling’ and result in swell. The air has ceased its shimmy with the water surface and the swell propagates of its own accord towards the coast.

As it does so, the waves become more organised. This is when we watch and wait for corduroy lines on the horizon and pumping surf. Start waxing your board.

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Girls on Film

September 24, 2006 @ 2:44 PM - Features: Sports

Words by Cathy Struthers

Photos by Neale Haynes

The best adventures are always touched by a little bit of magic. This adventure, a story of pioneers, freedom and friendship, is no exception.

As I sit here on the Icelandic coast waiting for the cast to arrive, I am surrounded by it. From the sparkling glacier sitting high up on the volcano to the black lava fields which run down to the craggy cliffs, this place oozes pure magic. No wonder the girls chose to end their adventure here.

The location is the Snaefellsness peninsula, Iceland. The cast is a posse of Europe’s finest female snowboarding talent - UK big air champ Jenny Jones, Swiss superstar Tina Birbaum, gutsy Brit chick Vicc Miller, Austrian ripper Lisa Filzmoser and Britain’s best grom, 16-year-old Laura Berry.

After 120 days on the road, miles of film and countless hours of jetlag, they’ll meet up again on this remote piece of paradise in the early hours of tomorrow morning to put the final touches to their second all-girl snowboard movie.

When they arrive, the population will increase six-fold. Just 30 people live in the tiny village of Arnarstapi - 30 people and hundreds and hundreds of birds. Filling the sky and the silence with their swooping and screeching, it is the Atlantic terns who rule this place. Along with the volcanic moonscape, the 24-hour daylight and Hobbit-like, turf-roofed houses, the birds lend this land a distinctly otherworldly feel.

The full on snow park that’s been built by the Iceland Park Project team on the glacier atop the volcano that rises up behind the village, adds to the surrealism. It is the perfect backdrop. The scene is set.

Touched by Magic

I can see it in Tina Birbaum’s eyes the next morning at breakfast (or is it lunch? Time, in the eternal sunshine, is an outdated concept). Iceland cast its spell on her the last time she came to film for the girls’ first movie, Dropstitch. Her blue eyes sparkling, her cheeks glowing and her face filled with excitement and anticipation, this girl knows they’re guaranteed to get magic on the mountain later.

‘The landscape is so magical. The night sessions are amazing - riding in the middle of the night is quite an extraordinary thing.’

‘I’m so excited to be here,’ she grins, between mouthfuls of cereal. ‘ This is my favourite stop on the tour. I love the atmosphere and the landscape - it’s so magical. Even if we don’t ride well, you just know you’re going to get good shots here because everything else is so amazing. I want to do a night session later - riding in the middle of the night is quite an extraordinary thing .’

Later, she confides, ‘There are really are no words for my personal feeling about this place. I met someone very special here two years ago and I love Iceland for that.’
That someone special is boyfriend and fellow pro snowboarder, Johno Verity, who is also behind the camera lens capturing Tina and the rest of the crew on camera.

After breakfast, Johno and the girls show me around the village. With so few inhabitants, there’s not much to it, but what there is is breathtaking.

We brave the dive-bombing terns (they really do rule Arnarstapi and hate it when strangers invade their space) and walk out along the coast to the stunning black cliffs where Johno films the girls getting photographed for Cooler. With most of the footage for the new movie already in the bag, the girls can afford to relax a little and they talk me through the 120 days on the road during the making of Transfer.

‘There is something about the simplicity of snowboarding and filming here. It’s light all day and light all night, so you just ride when you want to.’

‘We’ve had a very tight crew this year,’ says Josie Clyde, who produced Transfer and its prequel DropStitch. ‘ We had a very open door policy, so that any female pro rider who was keen to film was welcome, but they understood they had to be committed and motivated to make it work. Whereas DropStitch was more about showing the girls’ snowboard scene as a whole, we hope Transfer will show each girl in her own right: her personality, strength and character.’

As Tina and Jenny collapse in heaps of giggles after a contest to see who can make the ugliest face (Tina’s gurning ‘Dumb and Dumber look just clinches it), it looks as though their personalities will certainly shine on screen.

‘We love coming to Iceland to film,’ continues Josie. ‘There is something about the simplicity of snowboarding and filming here. It’s light all day and light all night, so you just ride when you want to and there’s no stress of having to get up the hill first. The park is compact with no lifts, so everyone can see what’s going on and I can interact with the riders and filmers, rather than just watching the riders do lap after lap. Off the hill, there is nothing much to do apart from walk on the beach, surf or have a barbecue. It’s all about relaxed summer time things with chilled snowboarding thrown in. It creates just the right vibe for doing what we do.’

Midnight Sun Sessions

As our watches tell us night has fallen (the sky is telling us it’s more like 6pm), we hop into the swish new XC90s provided by Volvo for the Iceland Park Project to whisk us up to the glacier. The road up is a true test of these all terrain tigers - rocky, muddy and filled with potholes, the track up disappears entirely at some points.

From the base of the glacier, it’s a quick two minute snowmobile ride up to the beautifully-sculpted terrain park. As we wait for the snowmobile to shuttle back, I chat to Burton rider, Lisa Filzmoser and Transfer’s youngest star, 16 -year-old Brit Laura Berry.

‘It’s a pretty cool life!’ grins Lisa as she takes in the awesome scenery that surrounds her. ‘Life on tour is definitely fun. It consists of hanging with the girls, riding, cooking, relaxing and partying. You get to travel all over the world, to snowboard in unusual places and to meet so many people and see new cultures. I think all that helps you better understand who you are and what home means.’

And is riding with just girls bitchy or bonding?

‘To start with it felt a bit odd riding with just girls as it’s not really what I’m used to,’ explains Laura. ‘But, after a while you just get stoked on it and it’s funny watching all these girls making the guys go “wow!”, rather than the other way round.’

‘If you ride a lot with someone you become friends,’ adds Lisa. ‘Maybe you won’t see each other again for the whole year, but every time you meet up you know you have a real friend. Iceland is especially great for us all to come to together. I love the silence, the landscape ruled by volcanic stone, the noisy birds and the sea.’

She straps her board on and proceeds to wow the pants of everyone around, getting down some amazing footage of big airs silhouetted against a dusky pink sky.

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Ice Ice Baby

September 21, 2006 @ 1:45 PM - Features: Sports

Dread driving into a ski resort on treacherous hairpin bends? Don’t fear, we asked Olympic halfpipe contender Lesley McKenna to come to our rescue with top tips for winter driving.

• Check with the local police or the internet whether your route is passable. A lot of mountain passes close after a heavy snowfall - don’t get caught out.
• Ensure you have winter tyres - not all weather tyres or full-on studded ones (these are banned on European motorways), but tyres with a heavy duty winter tread. My Volvo XC90 has brilliant winter tyres which make a difference
• Avoid sharp breaking as this will cause you to skid and loose control. If you do skid, try not to panic and, instead, steer into it.

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Yoga for Action Girls

September 19, 2006 @ 12:14 PM - Features: Sports

Words: Cordelia Brabbs

Photos: Charley Smith and Neilson

Poses modelled by surfer Sarah Bentley wearing Roxy

Photo of Valerie Cowie by Kirsty Maguire

With thanks to Columbia (http://www.columbia.com)

When the ancient Indian yogis developed a system of postures and breathing techniques to help with their meditation, they’d never have dreamt it would be used 5,000 years later by action girls like surfer Rochelle Ballard to give them the edge in their sport. Yet in surfing circles, and increasingly in other action sports, the practice is now widely recognised as a means of increasing strength, flexibility, grace and fluidity, along with total mental focus and inner stillness. All pretty handy when you’re dropping into a barrel, charging the mountain or tackling a steep bike trail.

Many action sports yogis also find that yoga helps them tap into the same sense of inner harmony and balance that freesports can bring. ‘Both are about being fit and feeling free,’ explains Peggy Hall, creator of the Yoga for Surfers DVDs (featuring Rochelle Ballard and Taylor Knox). ‘They each demand absolute concentration and commitment and totally complement each other.’

Freeride snowboarder Bibi Pekarek, who placed third in this year’s O’Neill Verbier Extreme, believes the increase of yoga’s popularity in the action sports world is down to recognition of the physical benefits. ‘People are seeing that yoga not only makes you fitter, but also helps you relax after an exhausting day on the mountain or in the ocean,’ she says. Most of us might see yoga as a fitness session of flexing and stretching on a brightly-coloured mat, but in its traditional form it’s an holistic system to create benefits for body, mind and spirit.

Each pose or Asana (often given the name of an animal, like dog, crow and cobra) was designed to bring an internal or external physical benefit, including stimulating the lymphatic system for immunity, massaging the internal organs for a detox effect and releasing blocked energy from the muscles. The posture sequences were supplemented with a healthy vegetarian diet, chanting, breathing exercises (pranayama) and philosophical study, all to support the main goal - deep meditation practice.

Yogic Trends

We might not all chant ‘Om’ as we try and make like rubber bands, but we’ve got seriously hooked on yoga - in the US more than 15 million people now incorporate some kind of practice into their exercise regime. Much of this staying power can be put down to the variety of options that are available to yogi-wannabes. Looking for a gentle class that ends in a relaxing meditation? Head for a session of Hatha. Want to get super-strong? Opt for Ashtanga. Fancy sweating while you stretch? Head to a hot room for a blast of Bikram.

Yoga has also stayed fresh with a constant stream of adapted forms and yoga-based exercise systems. One of the most interesting new developments for action girls is Sun Power Yoga (http://www.sun-power-yoga.co.uk), developed by British yoga instructor Anne-Marie Newland to create a system designed to help prevent sporting injuries. The challenging postures, a combination of Hatha, Sivananda, and Ashtanga, have helped professional surfers, snowboarders, skiers and footballers to reduce injury and improve performance.

Another new form in Europe is Jivamukti Yoga, which already has a huge following in New York and Germany (the London centre has only been open for eight months). A revamped version of traditional Ashtanga practice, Jivamukti comprises 75 minutes of unbroken flow from pose to limb-wrenching pose, and 15 minutes of traditional chanting and meditation (http://www.jivamuktiyoga.co.uk).

Not all the new types of yoga involve stretching on a mat. Gyrotonics is a yoga-influenced method that involves working out on a pulley tower against even resistance weights, a system originally designed to help dancers lengthen and strengthen their muscles without adding bulk (it was originally named “Yoga for Dancers”). And just heading over from the States is Budokon (“Way of the Spiritual Warrior”), a hardcore combination of martial arts moves, yoga poses and mind-focusing meditation that celebrities like Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox have been quick to endorse.

All Action Asanas

With all these new breeds of yoga available, athletes and sporting associations are increasingly acknowledging the benefits of bending, and everyone from tennis champ Maria Sharapova to the Manchester United football team are shaping up with sun salutations.

But according to Anne-Marie Newland, Europe is well behind the US. ‘A lot of my clients, especially footballers, are still reluctant to say they do it in public, while in the States even the most macho of sports like American Football are open about it,’ she says.

The same couldn’t be said about the action sports world - any surfer girl could tell the footballers how much yoga helps with focus and fitness. Turn up half an hour before a surf contest and chances are you’ll find the pros dotted around the beach limbering up in downward dog pose. ‘Yoga and surfing go hand in hand,’ says Irish surf champ Easkey Britton. ‘I see people practising it on the beach before a session, and at our Animal surf camp in Morocco there were post-surf yoga classes every day.’

‘Training camps for sponsored surfers incorporate a lot of yoga now,’ agrees Robyn Davies, O’Neill and Extreme Channel surfer. ‘It’s recognised as an essential part of the sport.’

Balance Ball

The physical benefits include increased strength, stamina, flexibility and balance - all essential for board sports. ‘The poses will make your general posture and balance so much better, and your body will become strong and supple, leading to less injury and better performance,’ explains Rodney Yee, yoga expert and creator of Gaiam’s Yoga Conditioning for Athletes DVD (http://www.yeeyoga.com).

‘Yoga is a great compliment to more active cardiovascular workouts or extreme sports,’ adds Diane Lee, a yoga instructor who runs Neilson’s Yoga Weeks. ‘The posture-based forms build endurance, strength and postural awareness.’

‘Yoga is so great for surfers because it is core strengthening, keeps you limber and less prone to injury, and allows you to use your power with softness instead of pushing too hard with strength,’ adds Ballard.

Even the hybrid forms of yoga like Gyrotonic have massive physical benefits for action sports. ‘You develop very strong core muscles with Gyrotonic, as you’re constantly working from the centre of your body,’ explains Penny Withers, Gyrotonic instructor and director of the Penny Withers Studio in Glasgow (http://www.pennywithers.co.uk). ‘This really helps with core-centred sports like surfing and snowboarding.’

You won’t have to wait long to see the benefits either. Commit to practising yoga regularly and within a month you will notice your balance, flexibility and core strength improving. Roxy team surfer Sarah Bentley, who modelled our workout, noticed the change in her performance within weeks of starting. ‘My turns got more fluid, because I began using my whole body and not just my legs and feet,’ she says. ‘I felt totally in tune.’

Robyn Davies got hooked on yoga with a surf trip to Australia, where she flexed and flowed for three hours a day. ‘It made an unbelievable difference to my surfing,’ she says. ‘It gave me so much confidence and I felt like my body was able to do so much more.’

Combining yoga and actions sports is something that ice climber Valerie Cowie knows all about. She runs her own company, Leadhership (), in which she teaches personal development and yoga, and mastering key yoga techniques has helped her to conquer the mountains. ‘For me, remembering to breathe is where yoga and ice climbing meet,’ she says. ‘The ability to focus with the elements around you and continue to climb with strength and mental focus through breathing, has, over the years allowed my climbing to become enjoyable, confident and not a strenuous chore. In the midst of the ice, rock, spindrift, cold and steepness, my ability to not be flustered and stay calm has given me the enjoyment of true climbing. ‘When you reach the bottom of a climb, Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward facing dog) is especially good for balancing your body and hormones,’ she adds. ‘Finish off with an easy twist Sukhasana Parivritta (sitting crossed legged and twisting to each side) which allows your spine to stay supple and prepares your body for food!’

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Free Flow

September 15, 2006 @ 12:07 PM - Features: Sports

Lost your skateboard? Tired of running in a straight line? Get a taste for parkour, a ninja-style way of getting your daily exercise hit in a radically different way.

Words by Charlotte Davies

You’re walking home from work. There’s the usual mass of suits moving along at funeral pace. From the corner of your eye, you see a flash of red dart from the crowd. It’s a girl running: looks like she’s running for her life. She heads towards a high wall and strides up, grabs railings, vaults over and you’re transfixed. You follow her line as she pours herself along the pavement, jumping effortlessly over benches, dropping from ledges, spinning off lamp-posts, tipping into rolls. Now she’s climbing like a monkey onto a low rooftop; perching, dropping, leaping to the next one. Moving relentlessly, effortlessly, gracefully she slips out of sight. She’s gone, but your heart won’t stop thudding. Welcome to parkour.

Glimpse parkour once, and you won’t forget it in a hurry. A visually stunning phenomenon, that basically involves getting from A to B in a creative, almost gymnastic way, it’s also a serious movement with a fascinating history rooted in France and a highly appealing philosophy behind it.

The term ‘parkour’ comes from the French noun parcours which, roughly translated, means ‘route’ or ‘course’. The verb, parcourir, means ‘to go all over’, ‘to run through’. ‘Traceurs’, the name given to the athletes who practise parkour, vault over walls, leap over gaps between buildings and turn somersaults off high walls, all with the grace and deftness of a cat. To an onlooker it looks like skateboarding without the board.

Now parkour, or freerunning, is emerging from the underground as one of the fastest-growing urban sports. And it’s no longer just for the boys, with some gutsy girls starting to make their mark.. If you love pushing your body in the great outdoors and enjoy pushing your mind into a higher gear, then parkour could be just what you’re looking for…

Go With The Flow

You know that feeling you get when everything clicks into place as you find rhythm in your surfing or snowboarding? Parkour provides that same ‘flow’ feeling. But this time there’s no board involved - the flow is being created by your body alone.

As well as the physical freeflow feeling (and the fabulous fitness benefits) parkour also appeals on a deeper, more psychological level. Getting from A to B may be a simple concept, but it is highly individual and very creative.

Flow: to move or progress freely as if in a stream; to hang freely or loosely in continuous progression

Former gymnast Emily Rogers, 27, was immediately drawn to the artistry she saw in parkour. As well as developing her creative side, it’s also reintroduced her to genuine play, taking her back to being a kid and playing around outside - the antithesis of the 9-5. ‘Parkour is totally different from anything I’ve ever done,’ she smiles. ‘There are no restrictions, it keeps me young and there’s no pressure to compete or conform.’

Karen Palmer, 27, who has a martial arts background, agrees that parkour stretches you both physically and mentally. ‘It teaches you that there is no such thing as an obstacle - that it’s simply something to be overcome. It’s almost like reprogramming your mind and your body. It’s more than just recreational.’

‘Using your body to express yourself is really enjoyable,’ adds Meghan Pike, 23, a student from Edinburgh. ‘I’m not too bothered about the philosophy aspect. There is a lot of talk about it on the internet forums. But I think people should just get out and do it.’

Parkour Power

So where does parkour come from and what exactly is this mysterious ‘philosophy’ its fans attribute to it?

Parkour is ‘new’ in the sense that it’s only recently gained wider public recognition, following a steady build-up of media attention, captured by the big jump element of free-running. In the UK, two documentaries: Jump London (which featured Sebastien Foucan, one of the French founders of parkour) and Jump Britain (which again showed Sebastien and a group of early UK freerunners called Seidojin) brought parkour to a wider audience as word of mouth spread, mostly via the Internet. You might also have noticed freerunners in car adverts and music videos, catapulted into the limelight by their physical prowess and jaw-dropping moves.

But, parkour isn’t just about crazy moves hyped up by the media. The philosophy behind parkour is strong. It can be traced back to a French military man called Georges Herbert, who developed the first obstacle course - the “parcours de combattant” - around 70 years ago. Herbert was passionate about fitness and the outdoors and devised what he called the ‘Natural Method’. This involved combining different ways of moving - running, jumping, balancing, swimming - all in as natural a setting as possible. He also linked his method to moral and emotional empowerment - a vital factor in the development of the strong philosophy behind parkour.

It’s not just a game, it’s a discipline.

Fast forward to the 1980s and George’s influence had filtered down through the generations. David Belle and Sebastien Foucan trained with David’s military father in the basics of the Natural Method and, importantly, were taught that with dedication they can reach their dreams.

‘He spoke like you don’t have limits. It’s very important for me, this kind of vision’, says Sebastien. Living in the Parisian suburbs and using their urban environment as both playground and training ground, David, Sebastien and their friends gradually developed and refined a new way of moving, drawing on Georges’ Natural method.

As they grew older and stronger, basic moves like vaults, jumps, climbs and rolls became more daring. Set names naturally evolved for some of these, like ‘saut de bras’ (catleap, a jump using the arms) and ‘passe-muraille’ (a way of getting over walls). That was when the group coined its own term for this new way of moving, calling it ‘parkour’ instead of ‘parcour’ to mark out their own path.

The movement’s inevitable rise has meant media hype, money and glamour and this has caused rifts in the parkour community. With parkour’s rapid rise from the underground to the big screen, the media has tended to emphasise the big, extreme jumps rather than the underlying philosophy - overcoming life’s obstacles, both physical and metaphorical. ‘It is not just a game,’ insists Sebastien, ‘it is a discipline because it is a way of facing our fears and demons that you can apply to the rest of your life.’

Fighting the Fear

While women are now firmly making their mark in sports like climbing, surfing and snowboarding, parkour is a much younger sport, with female participants still few and far between.

Herbert himself wouldn’t have approved of this. He didn’t agree with the inactivity forced on women historically and believed that, via his rigorous training, women could develop just as strong a level of self-confidence and athletic ability as men - a view well ahead of its time.

The fear factor (diving onto concrete doesn’t appeal to everyone) and the physical factor (’I’m not strong enough to do that’) are the two biggest obstacles that put girls off parkour. But the beauty of parkour is that you can play on your own strengths. Because parkour emphasises individual expression, girls can take basic techniques and adapt them. It’s not all about brute strength. In fact, when climbing is involved, us girls often have the upper hand because we’re lighter and more flexible. And overcoming your fears and self-doubt is what this sport is all about.

‘Parkour is like reprogramming your mind and your body,’ says Karen. ‘Even if you’ve previously done a lot of fitness or other disciplines like martial arts, you’ll find parkour is different. It’s more than recreational, more stimulating. It teaches you that there’s no such thing as an obstacle. An obstacle is simply something you overcome.’

You need to overcome the immediate fear of being hurt… getting your head around it is the hardest part.

Lana, 26, teaches break-dancing and came across parkour when she saw the Urban FreeFlow crew doing their stuff at a show in the UK this year. She was immediately drawn to it and has a natural aptitude, enhanced by her break dancing training, but admits it’s totally different to anything she’s done.

‘Parkour is much more of a mental challenge,’ she says. ‘You need to overcome the immediate fear of being hurt. For example, if a jump is too high, you might break something. Getting your head around it is the hardest part.’

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The Winter Olympics Uncovered

December 01, 2005 @ 4:04 PM - Features: Sports

Compiled by Jojo Cook and Jo Fairweather.

When snowboarding made its debut at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan it was surrounded by controversy and strife.

Snowboarders had hardly been queuing up at the International Olympic Committee’s door (unlike curlers, who petitioned to get their sport in). But, recognised as the world’s fastest growing sport, snowboarding was invited, leaving the riders divided as to whether it would be good for their sport.

Things stepped up a notch when legendary Norwegian snowboarder Terje Haakonsen announced he would be boycotting the games because of the IOC’s decision to appoint the International Ski Federation (FIS), rather than the International Snowboard Federation(ISF) to oversee. The snowboarding community was split over the debate, and Terje’s sponsors, Burton, backed him up.

Then, as the games got underway, the real controversy struck. Canadian gold medallist Ross Rebagliati was stripped of his half pipe gold after traces of marijuana were found in his blood. Rebagliati won his appeal when he argued successfully that the drug traces came from second-hand smoke - marijuana used by his friends at a going-away party in Whistler. After intense negotiation between the IOC and FIS, Rebagliati was awarded his gold medal back.

About 7,500 spectators can watch the whole course and 650 judges and referees will participate in the Games.

As contentious a beginning it was (it certainly wouldn’t have happened in curling), snowboarding certainly made its mark on the Olympics. As next February’s winter games approach, riders still sit on either side of the Olympic fence. But one thing is certain - we are set to see the highest competitive standards yet, particularly among the women.

The three disciplines (half pipe, slalom and, for the first time, boarder cross) will be broadcast on prime time TV all over the world. Behind the scenes, there will be lots of action too - come take a look…

Goddesses of the Games

In the ancient Games, women were forbidden from taking part or even entering as spectators, upon punishment of death! So they created their own Games dedicated to the goddess Hera, the sister-wife of Zeus (the ancient Olympics were dedicated to Zeus). The only sport in it was a 158 metre ‘foot race’, as it was then called.

When the Games were re-introduced in 1896, even the founder did not agree with women’s participation, an issue that remained hotly debated until the 1900 Games in Paris when women were finally allowed to enter tennis and golf.

Crowds & Condoms

• The Olympic motto is ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’, Latin for ‘faster, braver, stronger’, but universally accepted to mean ‘swifter, higher, stronger’.
• A total of 84 medals will be given out.
• Olympians are a randy lot. In Albertville the condom machines were re-filled every two hours whilst in Salt Lake City the athletes got through 250,000. Compared to the 90,000 used at the summer games in Sydney, it seems winter athletes have more need to, er, warm up. Swimmers are reportedly the most toned and horny, while the French are apparently the most promiscuous, although they only do it among themselves.
• Some 2,500 athletes and 2,500 officials from 85 national Olympic Committees will be housed in three Olympic Villages, Torino, Bardonecchia and Sestriere.
• More than 10,000 journalists and media are expected to attend.
• The Olympic Rings were designed in 1913 to symbolise the five continents. They are regarded as the most potent of all global marketing symbols above McDonalds, Shell, The Red Cross and Mercedes.
• The newly built Olympic halfpipe in Bardonecchia was first used in the World Snowboard Cup 2004 when Gretchen Bleiler took first place.

Winning Fitness

Reaching optimum Olympic fitness takes time and discipline. Brit hopes, Zoe Gillings and Kate Foster, both adopt a daily cardiovascular routine of running, cycling and swimming, topped up with weights, core training and plyometrics.

‘I go to the gym for an hour and a half every day,’ says Kate Foster. ‘I do upper and lower body weights, go home and then jog for around 5kms through forest and hills. Core training is important too as it helps with your rotations in the halfpipe.’

Core training and plyometrics are still a fairly new introduction to high level fitness but are important tools in honing the most powerful body possible. Core training works the deep ‘core’ muscles that wrap around your trunk like a muscular corset. This is especially important for pulling off rotations and spins. Plyometrics concentrates on explosive jumps and acts to improve speed, strength and stamina. The idea behind it is that it allows the athlete to exert the highest possible force in the shortest possible time and each exercise can be adapted to mimic the sport in question. For example, when trying to get fit for the coming season a good exercise would be to stand on some soft grass with your feet together and place a cereal box (nothing too big or heavy) to your side. Bend you legs and jump over the box, trying to keep your feet together at all time. Do 10 each way. Eventually you should find that the more you practise, the more powerful and stable your ollies will become.

‘Key training exercises tend to be very specific to both the discipline and each individual athlete,’ says Church. ‘For snowboarders, squat movement patterns are important, both single and double leg, which are good for both stability and strength on the board.’

In Boarder Cross, the upper body gets worked a lot, so exercises like bench presses, shoulder and tricep dips will specifically help riders get out of the gate quickly.
‘Core training is important,’ adds Church. ‘They need to work on their abdominal and lower back strength.’

What about the all-important warm up before the race? ‘Generally speaking athletes will focus on the quads, hamstrings, lots of rotational stuff around the torso and neck, control in the pelvis and abdominal region and neck mobility too.’

Most athletes will start their warm up with physical preparation then switch to mental, taking around 30 minutes, aiming to get their body and mind in perfect form to compete.

‘The aim is to get as fast and reactive as possible,’ explains Church. ‘It’s a very different warm up to one you would do in the gym. It starts off very controlled then gets highly dynamic. The race is only very short but it’s very explosive so the riders have to be as focused as possible. They need to be in what we call a “not too heightened state” - as calm as possible and ready to go.’

Gold Medal Nutrition

If you’re going to go for gold, you need to fuel up on the right stuff. Snowboarders aren’t exactly known for their pre-competition nosh (you only have to head into a bar the night before a big contest and you’ll see that the only carbo-loading many athletes do is of the liquid variety), but once you hit Olympic level it pays to take nutrition notes.

“The pre-Olympic breakfast depends on the athlete, but ultimately before the race they need something high in carbohydrates for energy and some form of protein for recovery,’ says Marques Church, team strength and conditioning coach at the English Institute of Sport.

‘The parties will all happen in Turin, including the opening and closing ceremonies.’

‘For example, cereal, fruits and toast, for the carbohydrate, with milk, yoghurt and eggs for the protein. It should also be relatively low in fat because you won’t use a lot of that in racing. Some athletes have certain things they eat on race day which may not be nutritionally perfect, but they feel it will help them - superstition then comes into it as well.’

Complex carbs such as whole grains, pasta and vegetables are a good option, because they are absorbed slowly and release energy throughout the day, unlike the temporary sugar boost of simple carbs like fruit and sweets. Carbohydrates should make up the bulk of an athlete’s diet, while proteins are vital for the growth and repair of body tissues and are found in fish, meat and eggs. Some fats are also needed to encourage cell repair.

For Zoe Gillings, UK boarder cross champ, nutrition is a vital part of her training. ‘For breakfast I’ll eat a bowl of cereal, two pieces of fruit and a boiled egg. ‘Then I’ll probably have a baked potato and tuna for lunch and pasta for dinner, like spaghetti bolognaise.’ ’

Where to Watch, Party and Shop

Where: The three Olympic villages will be in Turin, Bardonecchia and Sestriere but the snowboard events will take place in Bardonecchia, 90kms from Turin, near the French border on the Italian side of Frejus. The nearest airports are Turin and Milan.

Your best bet is to stay in Turin as there is very little accommodation in the resorts where the events take place. The parties all happen in Turin too, including opening and closing ceremonies (February 10 and 26 respectively) at Torino Olympic Palasport in the Stadio Comunale Area.

When: The opening ceremony takes place February 10, with snowboarding held on 11-12 February.

On the hill: With 140kms of trails, mostly on intermediate blue and red pistes, the Milky Way ski are is the largest ski area in Italy. Buy the Milky Way ski pass, which links several resorts, including Sauze D’Oulx and Montgeneve in France. But, be warned, Italians don’t like snowboarders riding off piste.

Off the hill: All the 30 hotels in the area have been assigned to the organising committee of the games, so try looking online for B&Bs, private appartments and hostels in the surrounding areas and in Turin itself.

Shopping: Bardonecchia has been gearing up for an influx of snowboard fans and is even transforming shops into ‘snowboard lifestyle stores.’ For high class luxury, designer names and fur check out Turin’s designer boutiques and furs. Europe’s biggest open air market is held daily at Piazza del Republica in Turin.

Partying: Try the Filanda restaurant in Turin for excellent hospitality and pizzas made before you or Momo is good, a 10 minute walk away so maybe less busy. Bar Torino is the local hang out, good for tourist into and hanging out with ski guides or find the Nouva Trau, which is more lively than it looks.

Useful contacts: Tickets for the winter Olympics are available from http://www.torino2006.ticketone.it.

Bardonecchia Tourist Office: + 39 (0)122 99 137

www.montagnedoc.it

www.turismotorino.org

www.torino2006.org

www.fis-ski.com

Pipe Music

In the halfpipe, each rider is allowed to choose two ‘signature’ tracks for their halfpipe runs.

In Salt Lake City British rider Lesley McKenna chose Pump Up The Jam by Technotronic and Groove is in the Heart by Deee-Lite, while Norwegian Kjersti Buaas chose Last Night by the Strokes. Winner Kelly Clark dropped in to Welcome to the jungle by Guns n’ Roses. In Nagano 1998, Canadian Maelle Ricker who took fourth place controversially chose Fool’s Gold by the Stone Roses.

The girls to watch

Dorian Vidal FRA, 29

Discipline: Halfpipe

The 2006 games in Turin will be Dorian’s second winter Olympics. In 2002 Dorian won the silver medal in the pipe. With lots of experience in high profile comps, she is Europe’s hottest contender and as this is her last Olympic opportunity, she’s hungry for it.

They say: ‘Dorian is tough, and I don’t mean girl tough. She kicks sand in the faces of most boys who choose to ride the pipe in her presence. She’s got the pop and the style to make it go bang,’ Danny Burrows, editor-in-chief at Onboard magazine.

Kate Foster GB, 20

Discipline: Halfpipe

Best achievement: ‘Winning my first Europa cup with the Brits, standing on the podium with a black eye, scratched up swollen nose and cut up lip after a face plant into the bottom of an icy pipe!’

Silvia Mittermuller GER, 22

Discipline: Halfpipe

Silvia is one of these technical riders who is simply good at everything, whether it be rails, half pipe or the big air. With a trick arsenal that includes 7’s, Switch reputedly now 9’s, it’s no wonder that she was invited to X Games.

Achievements: Vice junior world cup champion 2003, 4th Van Triple Crown 04 and 6th US Open 04.

Zoe Gillings GB, 20

Discipline:Boarder Cross

It’s been an amazing year for Zoe. In September 2004 she won her first world cup in Chile and at the end of the 2005 season she was placed 4th in the world at Boarder Cross.

My fears: ‘I’m worried that everyone is going to expect me to do well when due to the nature of snowboard cross you never know.’

Gretchen Bleiler US, 24

Discipline: Halfpipe

The leader in the world cup standings after winning the X Games and the 2004 women’s world half pipe (held in the Olympic pipe). She regularly throws cripplers and 720s – a very strong contender with her sights set on gold.

She says: ‘I know the town, I know the halfpipe and I have a good feeling for both.’

Lesley McKenna GB, 31

Discipline: Halfpipe

Lesley has been on the world cup circuit since 1998 and has had endless top five results since. She was the only Brit to compete in the 2002 winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and has been ranked amongst the top 5 in the world.

Sophie Rodriguez FRA,17

Discipline: Halfpipe/Boarder Cross

Until recently Sophie was only old enough to enter the junior competitions, but man, what a finale. In April 2005 Sophie became double junior world cup champion in both the boardercross and the halfpipe. Now a veteran, the ladies better watch out!

Cheryl Maas NED, 20

Discipline: Halfpipe

In 2005 alone she has notched up some envious contest results, including 2nd at the Candy Jam in Sweden, 6th at the Roxy Chicken Jam in Switzerland and 1st in the straight air session at the Artic Challenge.

They say: ‘She’s the crazy one.She can kick anyone’s ass and is probably the biggest raw talent of the bunch,’ Youri Barneoud, senior editor, Onboard.

Kelly Clarke US , 21

Discipline: Halfpipe

Has won just about everything, including gold at the 2002 Olympic halfpipe in Salt Lake but came second to Gretchen in the Bardonecchia halfpipe at the world cup in 2004.

She says: ‘It was the most amazing, most breathtaking, indescribable moment of my life’ - on winning halfpipe Olympic gold in 2002.

Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas NOR, 23

Discipline: Halfpipe

Hailing from Trondheim, Norway, Kjersti is notoriously fearless and die-hard in the pipe. She just missed out on a medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics At Park City, with 4th place and won third place in the Vans Triple Crown in 2004.

She says: ‘I think the Olympics are great. Everything is set up really well for all the competitors and the conditions are always their best during the games! ‘

Headshots: Dorian Vidal by Nicolas Joly; Cheryl Maas by Josie Clyde; Kelly Clarke credit Burton snowboards

Past winners

2002 winners – Salt Lake City, USA

Women’s Half Pipe:

Gold - Kelly Clark (US)
Silver – Doriane Vidal (France)
Bronze – Fabienne Reuteler (Swiss)

Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom:

Gold – Isabelle Blanc (France)
Silver – Karine Ruby (France)
Bronze – Lidia Trettel (Italy)

1998 winners – Nagano, Japan

Women’s Half pipe:

Gold – Nicola Thost (Germany)
Silver - Stine Brun Kjeldaas (Norway)
Bronze - Shannon Dunn (US)

Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom:

Gold - Karine Ruby (France)
Silver - Heidi Renoth (Germany)
Bronze - Brigitte Koeck (Austria)

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