Rider News

Anyone thinking of heading off piste this winter can get some good advice from an expert before leaving home by attending one of the Salomon Quest Backcountry Ski Seminar Tour dates which are taking place across England in the first half of November.

In several cases there’ll be the option to try out specialist equipment in indoor snow centres.
International mountain guide Nigel Shepherd will host the seminars in Snow+Rock stores around England. Following an intro from the Ski Club of Great Britain, "Shep" will talk about his experiences in legendary off-piste and touring spots around the world, the kit needed and his role in the development of Salomon’s new Quest boot.

The seminar ends with a session on Snow Safety and Avalanche Skills.

The tour kicks off on November 2nd at Gateshead, then moves to Manchester’s Chill Factore indoor snow slope, one of the venues where ski testing and on-snow touring demos are offered. On November 4th it’s Birmingham, on the 9th Kensington and on the 10th Hemel Snow Centre – the other real snow venue. The final date is November 11th at Snow+Rock’s Chertsey store.

Tickets cost from £5 and £15 for The Snow Centre, Hemel Hempstead and Chill Factore (including on slope demo sessions).

www.salomon.com/uk/minisites/quest

Tim Warwood (Swim), Scott McMorris (Run) and Ben Kilner (Bike) tried their hands at the London Triathlon.

MPORA Teaser

Oakley Armchair TV: The London Triathlon Teaser >>


MPORA - Oakley Armchair Part 1

Oakley Armchair TV: The London Triathlon Part 1 >>


MPORA - Oakley Armchair Part 2

MPORA Action Sports >>

On July 2nd it was my 12th birthday and my Mum and Dad put a little comp for me, at The Snow Centre, Hemel Hempstead to celebrate. As it was my birthday, I asked a my sponsors and some of our friends in the industry, if they could give me some goodies to give out on the night. They included Buff, DC, Flow , Electric, The Snow Centre and my friends at Burton, Monster Energy, Westbeach, Skullcandy, Forum, Eleven, Whitelines, FBBB, Bern and SCUK. So a big thankyou and many, many thanks for sending me out outerwear, stickers, hats, t-shirts, hoodies and loads of other lovely goodies.

Cyclists from all corners of Britain will ascend on the Cairngorms this September as part of a brand new 70 mile charity cycle challenge, taking in stunning ‘Monarch of the Glen’ scenery from Ben Nevis to Cairngorm Mountain in aid of Disability Snowsport UK (DSUK).

Participants will soar to dizzy heights of nearly 2,500ft over the course of the route with a challenging 1,000ft ascent alone in the last 6 miles representing a real ‘sting in the tail’. They will be rewarded with breath-taking scenery and the satisfaction of knowing they have raised much needed funds for Disability Snowsport UK, the sole charity in the UK which caters for enabling disabled access to snowsports in the UK and overseas based at the Chill Factore, Manchester. Sean Rose, Anna Turley and Tim Farr, members of the British Disabled Ski Team which is managed by DSUK, and who took part earlier this year in the winter Paralympics will complete the route on hand bikes as part of their summer training.

Chris Boardman Olympic cyclist and MBE, speaks out in support of the Peak 2 Peak cycle challenge:

‘Disability Snowsport UK is a fantastic charity with their main focus on raising funds to enable anyone with any disability access to the slopes the same as able bodied. When I heard the Peak 2 Peak event was taking place, I really wanted to offer my support to encourage participants to join in this challenge to raise funds to support skiers with disabilities.

‘This is an amazing opportunity to take part in an event of this kind. It will be a unique experience for all involved whilst raising much needed funds for Disability Snowsport UK.’
Anyone is welcome to join in as long as they have a bike and are ready for the challenge ahead. Entry to the event is just £15 and each cyclist is asked to raise a minimum of £100 in sponsorship. With plenty of scheduled rest and water stops en-route and help all along the course, participants will have a memorable and personally rewarding day’s biking. There will be a well earned barbeque loch-side for participants after the event and a chance to catch up with those met along the way.

Fiona Young, CEO of Disability Snowsport UK

‘This is a very exciting fund-raising event for us on several levels: it’s the first time such an event has happened here and the first time we have put on a cycling event. It’s a great opportunity for us to do something completely different. Local community support has been terrific and we look forward to a fabulous day.’

Please note that places are limited and allocated on a first come first served basis so to guarantee your place, please contact us today for your registration pack. Registration enquiries should be made to the fundraising team by emailing fundraising@disabilitysnowsport.org.uk or calling the team on 0161 749 2290.

Boardwear brand Protest has signed seven times British Champion Ben Kilner to its growing team.

Ben, 21, has joined Protest as their first male UK snowboarder following a highly successful year. He took part in the recent Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver as part of Team GB and has also twice been named Young Sportsman of the Year.

Ben lives in Banchory, Scotland, and has amassed seven consecutive British Championship titles.

Protest country manager, Paul Wilkinson, said; “We are serious about supporting the Protest brand in the UK and Ben is the perfect ambassador to do this. We identified him as a British athlete with huge potential and hope that we can help Ben develop further as a rider in the coming years,” he said.

“Ben will become integral to UK marketing campaigns in 2010/11 on the winter side of the business - Protest is looking at further winter marketing opportunities which will support the brand and its retailers. Further sponsorship deals are expected in the coming weeks.”

Ben is delighted to have signed on outerwear with Protest: “I can't wait to be part of the new team and work with them on the development of the brand."

Snowboarding is a progressive sport. Adaptive Snowboarding is probably the most progressive expression of it I've ever seen. Just imagine the devastation of losing a limb and having to find the energy and the motivation to start everything from the beginning including, of course, snowboarding.

Full story at World Snowboard Federation.

Transworld reports that California legislature have passed two ski and snowboard helmet bills.

In a 21-13 bipartisan vote, the California State Senate resoundingly approved a bill that would require all children under 18 to wear a helmet while skiing or snowboarding on the state’s slopes. According to SB 880, authored by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), parents of helmetless hooligans would be subject to a maximum fine of $25 and resorts would be required to post signs and information about the law.

The 2009-10 ski season at Sunshine Village near Banff in Alberta, Canada is still going for another week at least to Monday 24th. Currently 9 lifts and 60 runs are operational with a 135cm (4.5 foot) base.

Sunshine will hold its second annual Bikinis for Breast Cancer event on Saturday (May 22) to raise funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

The event is open to all women of all ages and all participants will ski or snowboard down Strawberry Face at the same time in an "S" formation and finish in the village area.

To enter, omen must raise a minimum of $125 in pledges through friends, relatives, co-workers or make a donation themselves. Pledges or donations that are collected can be as little or as much as an individual wants to give, just as long as your total is $125 or more. There will be lots of prizes including top fundraiser so we encourage you to raise as much money as you can!

For more event information, to register to take part in, or to donate to Bikini's for Breast Cancer e email events@skibanff.com. All registrations must be in by May 20th.

www.skibanff.com / www.cbcf.org

Vivo, Endeavor, Amel, Dr.Zipe, d30, TSA Irish rider: Tim Russell

Tim Russell arrived at the highest ollie comp with the bar set just cleared at 37inches then got lifted to 38inches.

After a frantic fog clad showdown Whistlers finest and tallest threw down with nobody beating the 38inch mark until 4th try Tim Russell cleared it then stepped it up to make it count cleared 40inches first try.

E-man Anderson and Andrew Geeves were trying their best but couldn't match it. The bar had been set and the Vivo Team TV crew moved on to the next 'Search and Recover' throw down spot hidden further in Whistler park L line under a blanket of thick wet fog. Pros and competitors arrived at the last spot cursing who ever threw down such a high ollie with some bitching about having to just limbo under the bar.



Video: http://fresh.snowboardermag.com/video/grenade-games-day-1-video-by-vivo-headwear/

News: http://www.snowboardcanada.com/HeaderPage?news_id=1178&uniqid=1536

[News update by Tim Russell]

After the Brits, the DC crew took off for another week away. Here's what they got up too.

Good news! Three and a half months after he was admitted to hospital in a critical condition, Kevin Pearce has been released. He will now continue his treatment as an outpatient.

Had enough? Well, the Natives job fair might just give you a new lease of life. 26th June at the Novotel Hotel Hammersmith. It's free and will give you a chance to talk direct to potential employers.

On the 1st February 2010 Contract Snowboards launched the ‘Battle for Britain’, a unique photo and video competition created to find a promising UK shredder to join the Contract ‘Support Young Shredders’ development team. Tons of entrants were whittled down to a select 10 riders whose pictures impressed the panel of judges. Now, after 10 weeks of fiercely fought video warfare, Contract Snowboards have chosen a winner.

With a video edit including Underflips, a smooth as you like Backside Rodeo, mind blowing rail tomfoolery and an insane double backflip, Luke Pompa’s submission was deemed so standout by the team at Contract that it had to take the top spot. Contract is stoked to award Luke his SYS wings and add him to a team roster that already includes some of Europe’s most promising talent. For the 2010/11 season Contract will be equipping Luke with the Contract team’s go-to freestyle board, the Cobra featuring patent pending Snake Transition and T.R.I.P technologies. Luke will also receive a set of bombproof Contract bindings and some steezy soft goods which should compliment Luke’s smooth riding style. You can see Luke's video edit at www.contractsnowboards.com/shredbattle

2nd and 3rd placed runners-up Jason Molyneux and Kyle Wise also raised the bar and impressed the team at Contract. Jason’s section of Underflips 720s, a huge backside 720 and bucket loads of natural rail slaying in the Stash, Morzine narrowly missed the mark and achieved a solid 2nd place and Kyle’s edit, tearing apart the Whistler park beat off some seriously dope video productions to place 3rd. Contract will be shipping some gear out to these guys and keeping an eye on them in the future.

It’s fair to say the Contract Snowboard’s ‘Battle for Britain’ competition’s unique and politics free format has unearthed a huge vein of undiscovered talent in the UK and Contract are really excited about Luke joining the team. Keep shredding and believing and who knows, next year it could be you joining Luke on the Contract SYS team.

It has been one of the coldest winters in the UK on record, with snow falling metres thick across the Scottish Highlands: ideal circumstances for avalanches which can sweep climbers and skiers away in an instant.

But how do you find someone buried in an avalanche?

To find out, Nick Higham joined the volunteers of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue team and spoke to the team's instructor, David Rutledge, and the deputy leader, Simon Steer.

Jenny Jones is a 3 time X-Games Snowboard Slope Style Gold medalist, a feat no other British athlete has acheived before. She deserves recognition in the mainstream media for this accomplishment, and even a nomination for BBC sports personality of the year award would go a long way to this.

The award nominations are collated in November, at which point the end of the football season, world cup and formula 1 will be fresh in peoples minds.

Get behind Jenny and show your support, just click and become a fan, she deserves this.

While resorts around the world have largely sought to minimise lift ticket prices or even hold charges frozen, one ski area in New Zealand has gone one further and announced it will cut lift ticket prices in 2010. Treble Cone has announced it is reducing its day passes by up to 8% for the forthcoming southern hemisphere 2010 winter season.

In line with its season pass price freeze providing value for frequent visitors, casual visitors will also benefit from the new price structure, paying $91 (NZ) for a day pass. Children’s passes are reduced by $4 to $46.

Family day passes remain a key part of the lift pass offering saving a family nearly $30 on a day visit plus the learners area at the base of the mountain is free of charge making a family’s introduction to skiing as easy as possible.

Treble Cone chairman John Darby said, “Treble Cone is a critical part of the Southern Lakes winter offering and with this new pricing structure we believe we are well placed to cater to a wider section of the snow sports market and introduce more skiers and boarders to the wonders of skiing at Treble Cone.”

www.treblecone.com

Ten people, mostly snowboarders from Russia and Germany, have been killed in an avalanche after the helicopter they were riding in to access remote terrain in the far east of Russia was hit by a huge avalanche.

Reports from Russia's Emergency Ministry said the helicopter, carrying 18 people, was hit by the avalanche soon after it landed on Russia's Kamchatka peninsula on Saturday.

Four bodies have been recovered, but six are still buried under the snow and the two helicopter crew were among the dead. The helicopter itself was completely destroyed and the snow was reported to be up to 15 metres (50 feet) thick.

The accident is at least the third this year in which 10 or more have died in a single avalanche following disasters in Afghanistan and the Indian Himalayas.

Love him or hate him, the ginger kid is one hell of a famous person, snowboarding aside.

Check out the second breakout from the first TV Show on the 09/10 TTR Bundle: Ever wondered how snowboarding became one of the biggest winter sports? This is story of Snowboarding, the people who progressed it, and genesis of the Swatch TTR World Snowboarding Tour. This part takes you right the way through from the inception of the Oakley Arctic Challenge, the Ticket to Ride system, all the way to a 6star stadium events and a the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour. And with interviews from world class snowboarders like Terje Haakonsen, Reto Lamm, Shaun White and Torah Bright you know your in safe hands.

History of Snowboarding and the TTR - Terje, White (Part 2) from ttrworldtour on Vimeo.

Check out the latest breakout from the first TV Show on the 09/10 TTR Bundle: Ever wondered how snowboarding became one of the biggest winter sports? This is story of Snowboarding, the people who progressed it, and genesis of the Swatch TTR World Snowboarding Tour. Taking you through from Sherman Poppen through to the beginnings creation of the renown Oakley Arctic Challenge after snowboarding became an Olympic sport in 1996. With interviews from snowboarding legends Terry Kidwell, Jake Burton Carpenter, Terje Haakonsen.

History of Snowboarding and the TTR - Burton, Haakonsen, Kidwell (Part 1) from ttrworldtour on Vimeo.

Help homegrown Chill Factore snowboarder Thomas Robinson, aka Tomski, win a place at the European Winter X-Games as part of the Quiksilver Radar competition.

9 year old Tomski only took up the sport 7 months ago with the aim of tackling a hip disorder which made it difficult for him to continue skiing. Tomski has amazed all that have witnessed his immense skills on the slopes and we wish him well in his quest to be the best.

Submit your vote for Tomski to represent the UK by clicking here. Voting should only take a minute, no need to fill out any details and it will mean the world to Tomski to have your support.

Please note voting closes on 7th March 2010!

Torah Bright likes to laugh and who wouldn't when there's this much powder around. This is a supposed to be an instructional video for riding in powder, but we can sum Torah's tips up with "go fast, lean back and just turn". We think the video is worth it for the infectious giggling.


More Snowboarding >>

12 year old TSA team rider Rowan Coultas is taking part in Quiksilver Radar programme. We need your help to get Rowan sent over to the European X Games so he can compete in the Quiksilver Radar comp. All you need to vote on his video and we can have a British grom representing.


Show you support and vote for Rowan.

You may have already spotted this in the forum, but check out Jamie's mad skills.



I have already told him I can't do that sort of thing myself, but wondered whether he might teach me the single corked 5...

Tomski is a well known character at Chill Factore. Here's great article from the Daily Mail about how his hip condition stopped him from walking and how snowboarding has led to a dramatic recovery.