Day 2 of competition at The BRITS 2016 saw the skiers and snowboarders fighting changeable weather.
Ski slopestyle and snowboard cross events were presented today.
The ski slopestyle event was aimed to be judged on two runs, of which the best one counted. After all the ladies had one judged run, the clouds and the fog came in intermittently and made practically impossible to continue the competition, which had to be interrupted for a while. With hazardous conditions, this was a one run competition for women, so serious business right from run one. The few clear-slot in the clouds did not clear the all course, making it impossible to the judges to see the top and the bottom of the course. After just a few of the men had gone down the course, the fairest decision was taken to call off the event for the day and postpone it to tomorrow. If the weather helds a second run will be tempted. So far The Brits never had to abandon an event that has already started.
The snowboard cross event was also affected because of the weather. To protect the course competitors only had a short practice and one qualification run to make it to the finals. The racing was especially competitive. A break through the clouds cleared the starting gates but the riders rapidly disappeared into the mist. Battling with poor visibility and slushy conditions, both Max Thidling and Stephanie Gehrig retain their British titles. A very happy Gehrig commented; “I broke my back in December, this was the first day on snow again! I like the slush, but with my back it was quite tiring. Really I just snowboarded and it was fun!”
Snowboardcross Results
Men Open: 1st Max Thidling, 2nd Murray Koller, 3rd Si Nicholson
Women Open: 1st Stephanie Gehrig, 2nd Ellie Souter, 3rd Izzy Eames
Check all the results and picture galleries of the day at www.the-brits.com
Main image credit – The-Brits.com | Aivars Zee Zarins