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British University Dryslope Championships
This is the largest event of its type in the world, with over 650 student competitors last year, involved in a full spectrum of events ranging from traditional race disciplines through to more recent freestyle competitions.
By Donnie Macleod Where do you host an event capable of facilitating the needs of 1,600 student Ski and Snowboarders? What event do you hold there to ensure the limits of dry slope Snowboarding are pushed and suitable levels of carnage achieved? And who do you have as a headline sponsor to secure the enjoyment of all? Ladies and Gents, its time for the British University dry slope championships 2004/05 at Hillend, Edinburgh in Association with the Party Beer CORONA. If ever there was a successful formula to ensure ‘good times’ by all at such an event I think the Guys and girls at Manchester Uni, this years organisers of BUDS, nailed it last Friday and saturday. Let me remind you this is one of the biggest sporting events on the student calendar in the UK and it now has sponsors from a BEER company. Craziness would surely pursue. The event was to be held over a two day period and with record entries and the smallest ever assembled event team, Manchester Uni were about to embark on what could only be an impossible task. Then again I can safely quote the weekends primary mission from speaking to staff was to “Drink beer, dance to live DJ sets, keep hands free from frostbite and laugh at anyone who thought that priorities would actually include riding!” Perhaps they would succeed after all. Unlike previous years however, this years BUDS (as its referred to) set the tone right from the word go, which needless to say at a student event was as near to the crack of dawn as possible, about midday. The Manchester staff had Sparkly new BUSC jackets in a rather apt lime colour, shiny clip boards and sharp pencils and were handing out BUDS edition Magazines that quickly spelled out these guys meant business. Headed by Gareth Owen first impressions of their efforts were good never-the-less it still remained to be seen, given the numbers, if talking the talk would mean walking the walk. I wasted no time on arrival at finding the Corona tent and only appropriately I suppose filled my Ruk sac with bottles that would keep me hydrated throughout the day. Oh, don’t forget the Limes! By two o’clock most Uni’s from up and down the country had arrived and people were spilling out of buses and onto the slopes like ants. Like my self the first port of call for most was the Corona tent. Some would never leave! First event on the Friday was the Team dual slalom. I know what you’re thinking; snowboarders don’t race, that’s for skiers! People are quick to stereotype snowboarders based on their (our) apparent idleness that we all seem to ooze and share at the top of a run. Impact shorts it would seem are bought to give a sense of ‘hardcore’ but worn simply to prevent a cold arse! Secondly, this idleness is only broken by intermittent attempts to throw ourselves off kickers at mach 2 only to stall at such a height and for long enough for the rest of the world to see how fat our pants are and how dope we look in them! Snowboarding is recognised by the masses as a freestyle discipline. Given these truths then the prospect to a snowboarder of doing what those Skiers do and racing may seem absurd and would obviously not be taken too seriously. I couldn’t have been more wrong! This was a chance for University snowboarders to perform as a team and put their Uni on the map collectively by showing that a strong Club can produce many a good rider not just the odd one who looks particularly good in phat pants! Rivalry was rife. From the first call of the teams to the start gate any previous mockery of racing went out the window and things got serious. Riders race head to head using two lanes, a red and a blue. First rider down allows his flag to be dropped giving way to the following rider to navigate the course and keep the lead (at least this is the idea!). There were five in a team but it was only a short, straight fast course so strong teams took less that two minutes to get everyone down. I think Stirling Uni may still be up there though! Favourites Glasgow were knocked out early by eventual winners Leeds who dominated most of the proceedings and were only really challenged my Manchester who finished second. The third place playoff went to Cardiff proving that even Wales has its fair share of talent by beating Kent. Many a lime was thrown, and fingers frostbitten but round one finished without a hitch. Early racing meant I had a good look at who could hold their stuff on the Dry Slope. For those of you who haven’t ever ridden the dry mat you should know it’s a make or break affair. Make it and your riding on snow will improve ten fold, if it gets the better of you it will break you (at least your fingers). Universities like Leeds and Manchester aren’t far from large dry slopes like Sheffield ski village so needless to say there were some boys to look out for from these Uni’s in the next event. And what an event to judge someone’s ability it was. Slope (Dry) Style! “It’s all about avoiding the ring sting” Were the wise words of one of Hillends local heroes and last years Slop Style winner, Jamie Newell (Edinburgh Uni, Syndicate Clothing) The event was set out in a Jam format. Three rails were laid out in line each more gnarly than the last. Riders were free to hit them and JIB all they wanted or until Sketch, the BUDS MC, ran out of abuse to give the brave men and women that were going balls out to secure a place in the Final as decided by the Panel of Judges. According to Sketch”He who butters the Rome rail qualifies”. The challenge was set, yet you only need look at the run in ramp to the rail to see this was a challenge unlikely to be taken up. Much respect goes out to John Russell (Sheffield Hal Uni, IE Clothing) for his valiant attempts however. This was a guy to look out for. So the jam session came to an end and eight males riders and three girlies were given the privilege (yeah, right) of going through to the final. At the top of the run there was plenty of banter as most of the Crammond Crew (the rail makers) from Edinburgh based Uni’s had qualified. Nonetheless, when I posed the question who would win? I was met with silence. Each of these guys could, but who would, win it? Runs that stood out came from John Wittal doing Switch B/S and F/S Board slides, Jamie Newell with some super Smooth B/S board slides, nose slides and 180 on 180 off on the bottom box. Yet by far the most impressive riding of the night and indeed perhaps ever seen on dry slope was by John Russell. Uber smooth and clean this guy was setting stuff alight with F/S nose presses with all the ease and style of seasoned pros. It was his Switch 270 on 270 off that really summed up what he had to offer; “the craziest stuff ever seen at Hillend” according to Jamie. John has local sponsorship back home from a shop called ‘Magic toast’ (looks like we could all do with a bit of that in the morning!) but surely it’s only a matter of time before the industry players picks him up. As for the ladies it was the regular legend Possie Dickson who came out on top with some smooth Nose presses and 50 50’s. However, it was Glasgow’s Siony Owen who I felt deserved the praise. Her man beating F/S board slides to fakie were some of the nicest of the day and on top of it all did it with such conviction it was hard to believe she wasn’t in possession of at least some testicular shaped organs. Definitely a girl to look out for in the future and definitely a girl who warrants sponsorship, like yesterday! So day one came to an end and it was into the night to Edinburgh’s ‘Venue’ where the hydration would continue. There were three floors of madness with top tunes coming from The Audio Afrodizzyaks, DJs Iain Taylor and Phil James. The night was toped off with some wicked break dancing from the B Board crew and MCing from Hasta. According to Tom Francis from Bristol “the harder you party the harder you can play”. I’ll quote you on that tomorrow Tom will I? So day two and this time things really did kick off at the crack of dawn. The individual dual Slalom event meant if you were gonna be in with a chance of winning prizes from sponsors Westbeech, Jansport and Freeze you needed to be up there prompt. Names were called and before long the ‘night before’ started claiming victims. Couldn’t see Tom anywhere either! It was a straight know-out competition so if you lose, you…….go to the beer tent! Favourite to win the event, Blair Aitkin, found himself with beer in (broken) hand after only 3 rounds. This opened things up and as rounds were won confidence in the riders grew. Due to the vast number of racers the event was split down the middle which meant some guys were hanging around for ages waiting for their rounds to start. One such guy was Craig Walker from Nottingham Uni, a Dendex newbie I might add! He heard about BUDS from two complete randoms when he was boarding out in Tignes last year. It would seem the reputation of BUDS precedes itself and quite rightly so. The first half winner was Matt Higgin from Nottingham Uni. Second half winner was David Budd from Kent. This was his last year as a student so said it would be cool to stamp his name on something before he left. And stamp it he did. Winning by nothing short of a mile ‘The Bud’ emerged victorious. Matt said the nerves got to him and having half of the Kent contingent heckling you certainly didn’t help either! All part of the game am afraid. The girls too blitzed through their rounds with no real upsets other than converted Glasgow girl Nicola Cogan, now representing Edinburgh, getting beaten by the ever impressive Siony Owen from Glasgow. That’ll teach her for switching sides! Siony went on to win the dual with second place going to Ele Slade from Kent. Nicola was to get her revenge however in the final race event, the Giant Slalom. In fact her run was that quick she beat 90% of the guys. “Warming up nicely for the Big Air later” she said. Siony did manage a third place however and was quickly becoming, in my opinion, top contender for the BIG Orange give away; a trip for two to Les Deux Alps including flights and accommodation for two weeks. Ahh thank you Orange! The male GS was won by the bullet (with the broken hand) Blair Aitkin from Edinburgh. He scoped himself a brand new Rome free ride board. That aught to make up for hand Blair! Now then, bring out the loud speakers, hook up the DJs, and roll out the red carpet (that is the dendex red carpet) to give those dropping into the kicker a little more weeeeee. This years BIG AIR comp was set to go off. Live sets from Sammy Peeps and DJ Atomic (Shadow Skills) playing some hardcore old school and Drum ‘n Bass got everyone pumped up for would be the spectacle of the event. All uni based riders were invited to session for a good 2 hours like in the slope style to win the judges votes that would see them through to the final for a shot at cash prizes. 1st place man walks will £500, not 60,000 Euros that Sketch would have you believe! A respectable amount of money none the less. Riders were ripping it up. Inverts left right and centre, corks here and cabs there. This was no holes barred and you’d be forgiven for thinking some of these guys were using backcountry beasts to get the kind of air they were getting. It was clear that many riders had come just for this and were doing everything they could to ensure a place in the final. Alex Appleby from Bristol was pulling some monster cork 5’s but was denied a place, as was Tom Francis (who finally made it) up the hill) and still no joy. However, those that did qualify certainly deserved it. Monster Back flips, 1080’s, Cab 5’s and cork 7’s…… can I just remind you that dendex is about as forgiving as concrete! Respect had to be given to these guys. So the big boys (and girls) were out to play. DJ Beebo (Livesigns) was now throwing out the tunes and with it came the finalists. It was a two jump final so most first attempts meant busting big 3’s (Tom Twelvetrees, Sheffield. Posie Dickson, Glasgow) and huge 1’s (Dan Green, Edinburgh, Siony Owen) just to get some points down. That was until Craig Howie (Edinburgh Uni, Capita and Syndicate) stepped things up and demonstrated what needed to be done to win this thing with a massive ‘supersized’ cork 7 tail. Now the men were out to play. Jamie Newell went all crazy and over rotated a 10 attempt and even the Magic Toast man John Russell only pulled a cab 5 out the bag, on his first attempt (only? I think I’ll never jump again). Matt Scrase from Edinburgh was smooth most of the night as was Graham Boardman from Heriot Watt but neither challenged these dominant three Final jump time came, the beers were put down, the cameras were picked up and even the judges stood from their sofa perched nicely on the roof of the Corona jeep. It paned out like this. Tom Vander from Nottingham Trent, out of nowhere, stormed the run in and stretched out a meaty 1080. This secured him a joint (that im sure!!) third place with Edinburgh’s Jamie Newell who on his second attempt stomped a proper inverted 7. In fact, he landed with that much punch the Decks skipped a beat. This left Craig some distance to cover if he was going to lift himself above Jamie’s efforts. And what-do-ya-know pulls a cork 9 with late tail grab. And so it was up to the man of the moment SIR John Russell to devastate affairs and put his final stamp of superiority on the competition. I weep as I write this. He only went and shot out a bestial switch, that’s right switch, B/S 7. Not only had he topped the BIG AIR finals but won the Orange Holiday give away for overall best rider at the event. “Stoked, totally stoked to the mooooon and loving it” were his words at the party that night. John Russell was a happy man and finishing 1st also meant he was walking home with a shiny new Rome freestyle board. The girls BIG AIR was won by Possie Dickson who was sticking some sweet B/S 3 Indy’s with second place going to Nicola Cogan who was also landing B/S 3’s with tail grabs. Finally, third place went to Siony Owen. Overall, some really impressive riding with some truly solid performances coming from several individuals. Next year sees Birmingham Uni running the event so we can only hope they do as grand a job as Manchester have. They really do deserve a BIG UP and if you’ve leant anything from this review about their successes it should be that next year is worth a trip to witness for your self the madness that is BUDS. We've also heard that it's Salford Uni who are running BUSC/BUDS this year not Manchester. Newcastle are running BUSC next year not Birmingham. The British University Dryslope Championships event page can be administered by dunx (Dunx), stu (Stu Brass), spencer (Spencer Claridge) and office (Office). Page views: 10086 |
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