In spite of another challenging weather day the 3rd day of the British Snowboard Championships saw riders landing big tricks during the Ski Slopestyle Championship and the Snowboard Halfpipe Championships regardless of the less than favourable conditions.
With tricky weather over two days, the women were able to complete one run on Wednesday on the full Slopestyle course, with GB Park and Pipe athlete Katie Summerhayes claiming the Champions’ crown. With the weather closing in, the men weren’t able to complete their run, meaning competition rolled over to Thursday.
The conditions were still not permitting to ride the jumps, so the slopestyle competition having to change to a rail jam, the riders hitting a choice of three rails at the top of the Slopestyle course. The skiers had to be creative and show a variety of tricks. This last-minute solution was lot of fun, there was amazing skiing across all age categories, with the riders pushing each other to the next level.
After winning the British Champion title, Harris Booth said: “I don’t think I have ever beaten Tyler before so I am really stoked. I have been based in Laax this season, so I know the jumps well, so it shame we couldn’t hit them today. Saying that, we got to have three runs so I think we did the best we could today despite conditions.”
Pumped about getting another BRITS title, Summerhayes commented “I am stoked to be back in Laax. The last time I was here was when I was 16 I was British Champion then, so it is great to come back and win again! With the weather I just put my safe run down, so I thought Madi would be close to me. My run wasn’t super clean, I haven’t skied this course in 5 weeks. But props to the other girls cos that course wasn’t easy.”
The weather conditions make things any easier. The organization tried everything possible to make this happen these last two days.
In the halfpipe competition judges want to see the athletes to push their run to its maximum, with a lot of amplitude, consistency, and tricks well executed.
What started off as a cloudy morning quickly evolved into a beautiful day in the early afternoon. All the Snowboard Halfpipe competitors had one judged run before the competition was intrrupted because of the weather becoming foggy again. Due to the delays, as well as regular spells of thick cloud, each rider only had one run to lay down their overall score.
The pipe was in perfect condition, allowing Olympian Ben Kilner and slopestyle champion Katie Ormerod to put together incredible runs.
Ben commented “Laax did an amazing job shaping the pipe. I was very surprised at this time of the year when it’s harder. The guys had a lot of fun, even though the conditions were tough. It was a great day’s shred”
In the women’s contest, the new slopestyle champion Katie Ormerod was first to drop and locked up a second title: “I’m really stoked to win the British halfpipe champs. I never really ride halfpipe but I was having so much fun
Ski Slopestyle Results
Women Open: 1st Katie Summerhayes, Madi Rowlands, 3rd Jodie Grant
Men Open: 1st Harris Booth, 2nd Tyler Harding, 3rd Chris McCormick
Snowboard Slopestyle Results
Women Open: 1st Katie Ormerod, 2nd Maisie Hill, 3rd Cerys Allen
Men Open: 1st Ben Kilner, 2nd Jamie Trinder, 3rd Rowan Coultas
Check all the results and picture galleries of the day at www.the-brits.com