Snowboard Club 
| Create a free SCUK account and get access to the forums and our regular newsletter. | May 26, 2012 |
 AIM Series, Indoor Championships
The sixth and final AIM Series events before the British Championships includes all disciplines, but will feature the Indoor Big Air Championships.
[Our review] It was another early morning as I set off to MK to meet up with Laura Berry and Jules Chappel, two of the MK regulars hoping to show their stuff off at MK's new sister slope in Castleford. They slept on the way up and I yapped as usual. This was my first chance to actually ride the Castleford slope and by 'eck (I think that's right), it was pretty fast, the hire boards were great and the bindings a painful torture. The arrival of Orange as three year sponsors of the AIM Series was very evident. New bannering and loads of Orange people wandering around giving out stuff. In my opinion, the deal is good for the AIM Series and the promotion of snowboarding to a new audience in the UK and to increase our standing in the world. The jump was created overnight by Soul Sports Events from polystyrene blocks and was probably not quite as big as last year's jump at MK. However, jump designer Spencer Claridge said that had been intentional, to give more people the chance of attacking it. The fast snow and the smaller jump saw people clearing the knuckle considerably more easily than last year... or perhaps the level of riding was just higher. In the end the MK regulars and to a lesser extent the SnowDome regulars, took many of the podium places, particularly in the younger categories. Big Air events aren't that interesting to watch or compete in. There's lots of waiting around and "another snowboarder jumping", but the competitors had their few practice jumps and did their best on an excellent kicker and table top. There were no injuries to speak of. Where the event did fall down was on atmosphere. Tim Warwood once again did a great job as MC, but nobody on the slope could hear his comentary. That was reserved for people in the enclosed bar area upstairs, an area reserved for competitors and VIPs. Being enclosed there was no feedback from them apart from the occasional wave if Tim asked if they could hear him. The public had no such luxuries and had to queue for a short view of the competition from the bottom of the slope. Nobody clapped and the whole thing was pretty sterile; the complete opposite to the Halifax Big Air a few weeks earlier, which had a great atmosphere and was my favourite of the series. What this is like for competitors I don't know, but it wasn't much of a show, which was a shame as there was some great riding and a great jump. There was only a men's super final and James Thorne deservedly took overal first from Dom Harington and junior Vic Boys. The women's placings were decided in the heats and saw Jules Chappel and youth Laura Berry beaten by Nicola Cogan. Jules also took best unsponsored rider and Laura won her age category ('cos she's the only one in it). I taught them everything I know on the journey up and that probably explains why they both fell asleep just past Northampton. The series will now move on to the mountains in January when a new event - the Orange British Slopestyle Championship and a feeder into the Quiksilver Slopestyle Ticket To Ride event - hits the slopes of Les Deux Alps. More on that soon from Soul Sports Events. March will see the British Championships at L2A and if last year is anything to go by, some great riding and great entertainment will all be part of the package. [Official Review] As the Orange AIM Series 2003 moved into the all new Xscape snozone in Castleford, for some real snow action, UK’s top snowboarders and Freestyle skiers took to the slope for the Orange Indoor Big Air Championships. 60 Freestyle skiers got fresh tracks in the mornings ski championship, hitting the 10 metre purpose built jump at up to 30 mph, the skiers impressed the 3,800 spectators with an array of extreme stunts, launching them 3-4 meters into air. In the women’s field it was Teri Spencer, Halifax, who put in a show of girl power, with her continuous high airs and smooth tricks. Teri was announced champion after landing a perfect Big-360-Ironcross, which is amazing for a girl who only started skiing this year. In the men’s competition it was a tight battle between the UK’s top three skiers, Yorkshire locals Mike Wakefield, Wakefield, Paddy Graham, Sheffield and Andy Bennett, Nottingham. In the end it was Mike Wakefield who took the Champion’s title after landing a super clean D-Spin-7 before Andy Bennett second and Paddy Graham third. Board action took over the afternoon with 100 snowboard competitors from all over the UK hitting the jump. It was the high profile pro’s, used to bigger jump sizes that shone through. Nicola Cogan from Glasgow performed a Big-Melon off the main kicker, which awarded her the champion’s title and proved how far women’s snowboarding has come in the last couple of years. The men’s final got the adrenalin flowing with Big-Frontside-540’s being the trick of the day. Taking it a step further was one of the favourites James Thorne from Norwich who stomped a solid champions run with a Cab-Cork-540-Tailgrab. All winners at today’s National competition have now qualified into the Big Air Final at the Orange British Snowboard and Freestyle Ski Championships out in Les Deux Alpes, France in March 2004. The AIM Series, Indoor Championships event page can be administered by dunx (Dunx), stu (Stu Brass), spencer (Spencer Claridge) and office (Office). Page views: 7113 |
|
All logos and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owner.
The comments are property of their posters, all the rest (unless stated otherwise) is © 1997-2012 by Snowboard Club Limited
Partner/Advertise | Contact Us | Website T&Cs | Membership T&Cs | Forum Rules | Privacy Policy
