Orange British Snowboard Championships 2005
Although it was my third trip to the Brits, my head was full of questions as I left for Laax. All I’d ever done in Switzerland before was land at Geneva airport and then head for the French Alps. So as I boarded the plane at Heathrow with various other media types, competitors and their families, there was a lot to think about:
Was the weather going to cause havoc with the schedule like it did last year?
Was I ever going to be able to work out the exchange rate?
Could you buy pickled onion Monster Munch and Irn Bru in Switzerland?
Were there going to be enough sockets in my room to charge the silly number of electrical gadgets I’d packed?
But most importantly – I guess - how was the contest going to fare in its new Swiss home?
At least I didn’t have to worry about whether there was going to be enough snow – we landed at Zurich airport on Saturday afternoon in a snowstorm.
With people flying in from all over the UK and breaking their seasons in Europe and the US to take part, the Brits gathering is a rare chance for Britain’s snowboarders to catch up, ride, drink and play for a whole week.
But since it had barely stopped snowing from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning, some of us hit the sack at a decent hour on Saturday night to prepare for our early starts.
Sunday morning, fuelled up by the muesli from the Plaza Restaurant (which admittedly did look a bit like vomit but tasted mighty good), we headed up the mountain.
Now there aren’t many days when I’m glad that I’m not a good enough snowboarder to enter competitions – well none usually - but on Sunday I was. No need to practice in the park and pipe when there was so much powder to be had all over the mountain.
We took cablecars, chairs and T-bars to get to the glacier at the very top of the resort – sniggering along the way at every sign that referred to a lift or run that contained the word ‘crap.’ Someone, I can’t remember who, told me the resort was actually built on a mountain named Crap but I never found out if they were telling the truth.
The glacier area was a long, straight run flanked by powder fields which seemed to be invisible to the skiers on the piste and only noticed by the handful of snowboarders there.
Blue sky, sun, fields of powder and a restaurant at the bottom of it all – that’s the stuff every mountain day should be made of. If Sunday had been a thing it would have been a 5 kilo box of Godiva chocolates – without the calories.
Naturally we finished it off with beers and powder-tale swapping at the Crap Bar.
 |
| Lesley McKenna meets the press |
Laax is pretty proud of its 120 metre superpipe. It’s a bloody monster. I was scared enough standing close to the edge to take photos – never mind going anywhere near it on a snowboard. Its proportions and apparent iciness on Sunday apparently put some riders off entering Monday’s contest but there was still a full day of action with most of Britain’s best in attendance and on top form.
In the men’s competition it was close thing between Team GB members Dom Harington, and Dan Wakeham with Harington just retaining his title after Wakeham sketched one of his landings. Giving them a run for their money was NZ team coach Tom Willmott with his strong, smooth style, finishing third. All three were executing back to back rotations and inverted tricks 12 feet out of the pipe.
In the women’s final, current champion Lesley McKenna set the pace, throwing down two solid runs with her textbook technicality and 6ft airs earning her first place. Newcomer Kendal Brown kept the standard high and took second place with runs that included back to back rotations. For a teeny-tiny 15-year-old this girl was really pushing it. It was also great to see Jenny Jones back in the medals – taking third place – after time out because of her knee injury.
So after the first prize-giving ceremony of the contest, we hit the gallery bar in the basement of the Rider’s Palace for some drinking and dancing. And if you’ve never witnessed a drum and bass conga in a club before, watch out for it on a dancefloor near you – it’s an experience.
On Tuesday the sun was blazing again and the hangovers were hurting. The riders hit
 |
| Boardercross boys |
the boarder cross course in heats of four. In the men’s final all four racers fell in the first turn. First up was GB World Cup team member and 2003 winner James Foster who then took a clear lead, finishing first with 1.5 second before Tom Wilmot. Last year’s Champion Steve Tolland came in third.
The women’s final mirrored the action of the men’s as the ladies crashed into each other in the very same first turn. Laura Berry was quick back on her feet to take the lead -winning the race with a whopping 8.5 seconds. Mollie Percival came in second five seconds in front of third place rider Pippa Stowell. Luckily none of the finalists were hurt in the crashes – although one of the female master’s competitors was taken to hospital with a broken arm in the morning.
The slope style, however, was a different story in the injury stakes. Liz Osborne, Martin Robertson, Sam Cullum and Sam Gott were all helicoptered off the mountain during the contest. Sam Gott suffered serious back and pelvis injuries and he was definitely in people’s thoughts for the rest of the week.
 |
| Jenny Jones - slopestyle winner |
The slopestyle contained many elements of the course built for the Burton European Open earlier in the season. It started with a set of stairs with a rail down one side and a box down the other. Next was a five metre wallride or a rail and gas pipe option, then a c-box and nine metre down rail. Then there came three sets of kickers - ranging in size from six to 15 metres.
The qualifying rounds took longer than expected because of the number of injury-forced course closures so the finals were held on the Thursday morning before the big air contest.
Jenny Jones took the women’s event with a solid run which included two 360 rotations on the kickers. Mollie Percival took second with the biggest 360 in the women’s competition and taking third with a solid rail run was reining champion, 16-year-old Laura Berry.
In the men’s competition, 2004 runner-up Scott McMorris was on top form from the start. He claimed the title this year with a smooth run of back to back technical tricks, finishing off with a 900 over the last jump. Newcomer on to the British competition circuit Ed Gunn came a surprise second after showcasing a fluid run of stylish tricks and technical jumps. Reigning champion Tyler Chorlton came third.
With the snowboard contests running all day, every day, there wasn’t much time to catch the freestyle ski contests. Their skills proved a massive hit with both snowboard and ski crowds last year but there was just too much action and too little time. The one thing we really should have witnessed this year was Mike Wakefield performing and landing the first ever D-spin 1080 by a British skier in the halfpipe contest. Oh and he won the event – but you probably guessed that already.
So back to the slopestyle course where the riders had moved down the hill to the last line of kickers for the big air contest.
A week of blue skies and sun is great for visibility and goggle tans, but not for the biggest help in keeping the snow fast enough for a good run-in to a 15 metre kicker. The riders were clearly struggling as the snow softened up and then hardened again. Tim Warwood shouted warnings to the guys not to speed check at all on the run-in to the biggest jump to make sure they cleared the knuckle.
Tyler Chorlton defended his big air title by landing a huge switch backside 720 (and entertaining the spectators with a couple of frontflips during the waiting times). Danny Wheeler was only in town for the big air contest – and it was worth his while as he took second place with a 720 and a grab. Si Brass’s 720 earned him third place.
In the girl’s event it was Jenny Jones, Mollie Percival and Laura Berry who dominated the contest. Laura later laughed as she admitted that one of her attempts at a 540 didn’t quite go to plan as she kept rotating and ended up almost landing her first ever 720. In the end she took third place with a clean 360 on the middle jump.
But it was last year’s winner Mollie and Jenny Jones who fought it out for first and second place with their huge 360s off the biggest hit. As with the men’s second and third, it was Jenny Jones’ full grab that differentiated her backside 360 from Mollie’s jump as she was crowned champion for the second time in one day.
Respect has to go to the organisers and the riders for ploughing through two sets of finals in one day. After that there was a monster prize giving ceremony to wrap up the contest then a huge party in the bunkerous Rider’s Palace club – which featured the longest DJ booth/desk I have ever seen.
So what else happened at the Brits then?
 |
| James Thorne - pretty in pink |
Well there was a mighty display of fashion – both on and off the hill. It was apparent from the start that the guys and girls taking part in this year’s Brits had put more than a little effort into their competition outfits. Burton rider James Thorne has some lead the pack with his colour co-ordinated combos – his halfpipe outfit a pale pink creation not unlike a strawberry ice-cream. For slopestyle he chose a burgundy corduroy suit and joined several other riders in sporting a luminous orange beanie. There was also a hefty dose of prints and pinstripes and some seriously bright neon green thanks to Oakley’s Tyler Chorlton.
Competition sponsors O’Neill also kept the clothing on the agenda as they launched their Renegade denim at the event. The jeans – which include a removable liner – are water repellent and designed for snowboarding. O’Neill riders Tim Warwood demonstrated for us by pouring water and red wine all over Adam Gendle’s trousers in the middle of a restaurant. The woman in charge of the eaterie looked on horrified – despite the fact the boys had thoughtfully protected her swirly carpet with a large bucket.
Despite his slight obsession with his new trousers (‘They’re waterproof you know!’), Tim Warwood did a fantastic job on the commentary front – especially given that the MC role had previously been filled by two people - Ed Leigh and Christian Stevenson.
If you’ve got a copy the TSA snowboard movie released earlier this season then you might have seen a home-made music video for ‘We Built This City.’ That was filmed at last year’s Brits in France and, in what’s fast becoming Brits tradition, Tim W and Gendle brought the closing night crowd this year close to tears with their latest creation.
For 2005 they plumped for the Dirty Dancing classic ‘I’ve Had The Time of My Life.’ There were appearances from many of the riders, media peeps and friends and family – all rounded off with a superbly choreographed chorus line and the obligatory slow motion lift at the end. Nobody puts these babies in the corner. Watch out for it on a DVD near you next season.
So many beers and dances later the Brits 2005 came to an end and we all left for Zurich a bit burnt and much poorer (Swiss bar prices hurt just as much as the hangovers).
But what a damn fine week it was – although I never did manage to find any pickled onion crisps.
Remind me to take my own next year. And some SPF 45.
Click below for galleries from the events:
