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 Natural Born Riders - Rd3
Snowboard only competition. The event is also the Document Snowboard Magazine Christmas Party.
[By Kat Miller] Saturday 11th December saw both the Natural Born Riders Tour and the Document Christmas party converge on Tamworth Snowdome for the evening board session. Oakley Team members Jenny Jones and Ewan Wallace were in attendance with Jenny providing plenty of encouragement to the riders and Ewan regaining his snow legs along with SCUK’s Stu Brass who’d already visited Castleford for the SCUK party earlier in the evening (luckily he’d left his one-piece behind!) After a brief warm-up the judging of competitors started with over half the slopes users having registered for the comp the judges were treated to some sweet moves from girls and guys alike. The slope was crammed with a good range of toys and comprised of the 2 Boardwise kickers, straight rail, gas pipe, rainbow rail, Vermin fun-box, and the Burton S-rail and silver Flat-down kink, not forgetting of course the ¼ pipe which was due to see some action later in the evening. The riders were reminded that they were being judged on cleanness and style so there was a good mix of tricks from 1’s, 3’s and 5’s to some old school grabs like Roast Beefs. After about an hour riding the competitors moved over to the ¼ pipe for the Oakley Big Air challenge. Some really stand out riding was seen here with local Vermin riders Kat & Michelle being the only girls to hit it in the big air session. Note worthy mentions have to go to “Peanuts” so named after Jenny Jones commented on his attire (tight white t-shirt in sub zero temperatures ;o) ) who was pulling McTwists and Vermin’s own Steve O who finally won the comp with a nice 540! The finalists for the 2 run final were then announced before everyone adjourned to the bar for some well earned beers whilst the mid-session groom took place. Here the Document crew could be found touting their wares and enjoying the atmosphere of the evening. After the break the slope remained closed to all but the finalists to give them the best chance of getting some good lines and pulling some outstanding tricks, so a huge thanks to the crowd who stayed out in the cold to support and encourage the riders. The final was a 2 run affair with the best run counting and kicked off with the girls first run. Unfortunately the girls struggled to manage a clean 2 trick run, with Jules Chappell slipping on an icy patch after the Vermin box, Kat Miller getting caught in cat track and missing the kink and Michelle falling after her 180 when her binding popped open. This changed with the 2nd run though as Kat Miller pulled off her best run of the evening with a Roast Beef off the top kicker and 50:50 on the flat-down kink (the only girl to hit it that evening). The under 18 and over 18 men’s finals were dominated in number by the local Vermin crew with 4 of the 6 over 18’s final places going to them. Special mentions here should go out to junior Vermin Chris Kightley who gapped to boardslide on the flat-down kink, Steve O for his 360 spin over the rainbow rail followed by the S-rail, Dan Deacons switch run and Mike Austin’s corked spinny thing (not sure what it was but it looked good!) A great night was had by all and I can’t wait for the final at Castleford! [By Natural Born Riders] Saturday night saw the second snowboard leg of the Nokia Natural Born Riders at the Tamworth Snowdome. Around 100 riders turned up for the freestyle night with most of those signing up for the competition. Those who didn’t enter took the chance to take some tips from the pros in attendance. These included Ewan Wallace from Animal and the ever lovely, although a little naughty, Jenny Jones from Oakley. Jenny also helped out with the judging so a big thanks to her for that. The regular jam session kicked off at around 10.30 and the standard was looking pretty good meaning hard work for the judges. Judges always get a lot of stick and after watching the jam for a while it is easy to see why but the guys did well and there were no complaints this time! Standouts in the jam included Kat Miller and Michelle Evans for the girls, in the Animal Ice Maidens Category, with Kat building herself up and eventually hitting the big flat to down rail. In the Magic the Gathering Under 18’s section there was some impressive riding from Greg Moore, Chris Kightley and peanut smuggler John Rees. John rode the whole night in just a t-shirt! How I don’t know as I was cold enough in full gear! In the Neilson Active Holidays Over 18’s comp Steve Owen was killing it closely followed by most of team Vermin. During the jam the Oakley Big Air Challenge also took place on the Quarter Pipe. All the guys and the girls were flat lining to hit the sketchiest obstacle in the park and special mentions have to go out to James McElvaney for his MacTwist efforts and although he did not make one he did make a front flip which was sick!!!! However the prize of a pair of Oakley Wisdom Goggles went to Steve Owen for consistently smooth 540’s, lip tricks and the highest airs of the night. After the jam the judges picked the finalists for the two run slopestyle format finals. The girls went first and in third place was Emily Richardson, second went to Jules Chappell and first was Kat Miller. Kat’s winning run included hitting the flat to down rail again and proved a worthy winner, picking up an Animal Board Bag full of gear for her efforts. The under 18 boys were next and in third was AJ Cambell with a one footer over the big kicker, second was Chris Kightley, who had the most cheering during his runs, and in first place taking the Magic the Gathering title was Robin Mann. Robin was consistently stylish all night and a deserved winner. Then onto arguably the main event and the competition was fierce. In third place was Darren Coxon, second went to Mike Austin, who took third at Xscape but in first place and no surprise really due to the night he was having was Steve Owen. Steve, having been the standout of the night during the jam, killed it on his final run with a 270 on and then off the rainbow rail. It was sick especially as not one other person had hit it all night. All in all the second snowboard leg of the Nokia Natural Born Riders Tour was a success. A big thank you to all the sponsors including Nokia, Oakley, Magic the Gathering, Animal, Armada, Neilson Active Holidays, Sapient Snowboards, whose beautiful new boards were on display for all to see, Natives.co.uk, Fall Line and Document Magazines and a special thanks again to the Tamworth Snowdome. Well that wraps things up for the Nokia Natural Born Riders for this year. Fun has been had by everyone and we are all looking forward to the final leg at Sheffield Ski Village and the finals at Castleford Xscape. So a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all and see you all in March for the finals. Later!!! The Natural Born Riders - Rd3 event page can be administered by dunx (Dunx), stu (Stu Brass), spencer (Spencer Claridge) and office (Office). Page views: 10998 |
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