So last Thursday we drove up to Castleford to get some practice in for this weekend’s slopestyle Snow Tour comp and for me to enter the 2nd leg of the Westbeach Snowflex Series and it has to be said we had a blinding time. The set up at Cas had a good mix of toys including some ride on boxes and rails which gave me the opportunity to work on some switch tricks (basically riding into the trick the wrong way round – in my case right leg first). You can see how I did in the video I posted in the last post.
Saturday was the day of the comp and we drove over to Halifax to find the temperature slightly chilly but with no real wind, this is always a bonus where Halifax is concerned as the slope is quite exposed and on top of a hill (surrounded by fields full of sheep!). It was also dry, which was a bonus for The Boyf as it meant he could get his camera out and not worry about it getting soaked in a Yorkshire down-pour.
Like last month’s event in Bearsden this was a fun jam session with plenty of time to practice and try out new tricks, and for me it was an opportunity once again to practice my spins and get used the slope. Unfortunately wasn’t quite getting my head turns right so didn’t nail any 180s, although on the plus side I didn’t nail myself either. I did however do some lovely floaty FS90s, so it’s only a matter of time before my coordination catches up with my intent and the concept of spinning on a snowboard finally clicks. In a way I find it quite pathetic that someone who could once do 2 rotations on a set of ice skates and land on a thin strip of metal can’t manage half a turn on a snowboard but I’m convinced I’ll get there eventually, all it takes is for my brain to catch up with itself and we’ll be good!
In the end I came 2nd in the over 16’s category (although technically it was an over 30s since there was no one aged 16-30 that bothered to turn up! Slackers! No doubt they’ll all turn up at Castleford and Milton Keynes for the Snow Tour comps because it’s snow and they won’t get covered in green slime, but for me dry slope wins every time, the fun that I have at the dry slope comps combined with the supportive atmosphere and the chance to ride with the friends I’ve made along the way more than makes up for the fact that I’m riding on plastic and not real snow. I honestly love Snowflex because of the consistency it gives, the kicker is always shaped the same and although the speed may differ depending on the weather at least I know I can turn up at the slope and there’ll be a jump for me to hit.
The progression on kickers that I’ve made over the last couple of months has really been down to the Snowflex slopes that I’ve been riding and I can’t wait to spend 4 days in France next month getting more of the same…who knows maybe I’ll even pluck up the courage to hit the 2.5m high kicker while I’m there! I promise if I do that I’ll get The Boyf to catch it on camera just in case my first attempt goes a little bit skewy.
So much thanks to all at Briton Engineering for developing Snowflex, Wayne & Dee at AKA Snow Skate for starting the Snowflex Series and Westbeach and all the other sponsors for supporting the comp and the dry slope scene……we, the riders, appreciate it!