Well guess what, if you don’t speak up or provide feedback things never improve, if the organisers don’t know that there’s a problem then how can they fix it?

Which brings me on to the point of this post. After my last blog post and some comments I’d littered around on Facebook the team at Soul Sports approached me to hear my side of the story, subsequently I have put myself forward as a self-appointed unofficial rider rep/agony aunt/bitching post and if at all possible, positive feedback provider on behalf of the snowboarders and free-skiers that compete in the UK.

I know from experience and conversations that I have had with a lot of the riders/parents/overseas outcasts that are involved in the UK scene that not everyone is happy, that many of us have issues and a range of things we think could be done better or differently, but do accept that we are not aware of all the considerations that affect the organisers decision-making. I also know that a lot of you don’t want to say anything to the event organisers/powers-that-be because you are concerned that it might affect your competition placings or the potential for you to gain sponsorship.

So what I want to do is give you the opportunity to vent your respective spleens and contact me with your feedback. I can then act as the middle-man and pass this feedback on to Spencer Claridge in a way that if you wish to remain anonymous you can, but also giving them the opportunity to get some constructive feedback from you. They will then respond by way of an FAQ so that they can a) clarify the reasons behind the decisions made, b) inform us about the issues organisers and staff face, and the work put in, c) share with us ideas that they have for the future, and d) ultimately, improve the events for all concerned.

This is your opportunity to speak your mind and hopefully get something done about it. I have warned them that I won’t be censoring the emails but please do try to be constructive and not abusive. I’m not doing this on behalf of Soul Sports I’m doing this because I think it’s about time we quit bitching and actually set about informing those in charge of the things that annoy us. I’d like to add that this is not solely about the British Snow Tour but the wider UK snowboarding & free-skiing scene, so if you have things you want to say about other competitions, events etc. then I’m more than happy to pass that on as well. If you would rather go direct to Spencer then I know he’d be more than happy to hear from you.

Please use the form below as a starting point, I’ve included fields for contact info in case you want me to contact you for a more detailed chat/email conversation but I won’t pass on any name or contact info unless you expressly give me permission

I spent last night pondering it with Jools and we’ve come to the conclusion that I’ll get more out of doing the Snowflex Series than I will the Snow Tour.  I may still be able to do the MK Big Air leg of the Snow Tour but based on the last 2 years, the kickers won’t be to my liking and I’ll either kill myself on the large kicker again or feel like a complete wuss for stepping down to the mini-size, so we’re leaving that pencilled in as a maybe and we’ll go if we have the spare cash at the time.

It’s such a shame that with such a great scene in the UK that the comp organisers can’t work together to get comps on seperate weekends, I can understand smaller local comps clashing with those at slopes at the other end of the country but when there are two main, established tours in existence and two out of 3 legs clash with each other it does make the conspiracy theorist in you conasider whether it’s been done on purpose.

So what’s made me choose the Westbeach Snowflex Series over the indoor legs  of the British Snow Tour?  Well I realised that despite the TTR ranking points I would get from the Snow Tour there’s very little else about the competition that will benefit me.  With minimal practice time and 2 competition runs I just won’t get the riding time to progress as much as I will do in the Snowflex Series which is a jam format with a 2 run final.  Add into that the consistent nature of Snowflex kickers and I’ll at least be able to use them as day-long practice sessions even if I don’t manage to beat the kids to the finals. Of course there’s also the issue of prizes!   Thankfully the Snow Tour is doing a dry slope weekender with all 3 disciplines at the Norfolk Snowsports centre in Norwich so I’ll be able to shred some plastic and pick up some ranking points at that instead.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the Brits this season as well.  With people already talking about not returning if it goes back to Laax (it’s quite costly) and others wondering whether they’ll go no matter where it’s held (for a range of personal & political reasons) it will be interesting to see whether the dates are announced quickly in a bid to get people signed up and committed or whether they’ll wait to see what other camps, competitions and gatherings are advertised before they make their move.

If you want to register for the Westbeach Snowflex Series you can do so here.  I’d post a link for the Snow Tour as well but their site’s not sorted yet.

As ever work is pushing my snowboarding to the back-burner, so it’s a good job I love the work I do and truly believe in the ideas behind Synuron. Having worked on the project for almost 18 months before it got canned it’s great that those of us with nerves of steel and the guts for hard work are pulling together and pooling our resources to try and make a success of it.

So while a lot of the people I know are looking forward to a summer of glacial snowboarding and weeks sunning themselves, I’ll be splitting my time between work, more work and as many snowboarding competitions as I can get to. Hopefully I’ll reap the rewards as the business takes off but in the meantime I’ll be working on technology implementations, demos and account management while I try to help organisations in health & social care improve their HR and recruitment processes, in turn helping them save money, improve patient care and focus on what they need to to get their jobs done without unnecessary distractions and administration. So if I’m a bit quiet on the blog front I apologise, but don’t sit back feeling neglected, leave me a comment and nudge me into action.

The Chatham crew had filled their large slope with almost all of the toys they own, although luckily they’d only put half of their long box out meaning they were able to do a quick swap for the other half when someone fell on it and went through the top. It was the usual chaotic mix of kickers and rails with a good mix of lines, some feeling quite natural to ride, others requiring a more random approach line but everyone was having a great time. The day saw an improved turnout amongst the snowboarders with 27 hitting the slope, and the day saw a good mix of seasoned locals used to the Permasnow surface and those who were new to dryslope or who were used to the (IMHO) more ride-able Snowflex surface of Warmwell. Some stuck it out and got the hang of it while others decided to enjoy spectating rather than struggling to ride but the day was fun for everyone.

Once again the competition ran as a jam session, fun throw-down hour and a 2 run final and it kept to time as well (something that’s a bit weird for a snowboarding comp) . There were too many good boys hitting the toys for any girls to make the overall final this time round but we put in a good showing nonetheless. I finished 4th in the over 14 women and 11th overall in the snowboarders so I was pretty pleased.

Unfortunately for me the edge was taken off my enjoyment by having to ride Permasnow in the hot weather, having had 1 board ruined by the stuff and seen friend’s boards and skis also die in a session I wasn’t really able to get into the flow. Thankfully Ryan at Humanity’s special base construction that he’s used on my board held up and my Plastictastic has survived and is now raring to get down to Warmwell for the series final on 12th June. I can’t wait to get back on their Snowflex kicker and if the final is half as organised as the first 2 legs then it’ll be a great day.

Once again a massive shout of thanks has to go to the Southern Freestyle Club for trying to spur on a dryslope revival….long may it continue. I had a great day and it was even better to see some new people getting hooked on plastic!

Here’s a slideshow of Jool’s shots from the day, if anyone wants a copy of the shots just drop him an email at JoolsSmithPhotos

He also managed to fit in some videoing and Branny from [shred]punk! got busy editing the footage yesterday and you can view it in the [shred]punk! 3 videocast

Ep 3 – Southern Freestyle Jam – Chatham from branny on Vimeo.

Episode 3 of the UK’s Grass Roots Podcast Series
Another short one capturing a load of the sun, fun and slams at Chatham for the second leg of the Southern Freestyle Jam Series.
Thanks to Jools Smith for the footage
Tunes used under creative commons licence
The Priscilla’s- Timing

Permasnow is like riding ice, it’s hard to get an edge on and almost impossible to stop or speed check without falling over and it took me about 5 runs before I could find the biting point (I find it much easier to get used to Snowflex & Dendix if I haven’t ridden them for a while).  It was quite funny seeing the non-local riders making their first runs as we were all falling over and looking like beginners.  We soon got the hang of it though, and the weather was pretty much perfect for dry slope, light drizzle meant it was running at a good speed and the cool temperature meant my board didn’t get melted and ruined (as happened to my brand new board a few years ago).  I’m really impressed with the base the guys at Humanity Snow have put on my Plastictastic, it rode well throughout the comp and I was really glad it’s sturdy base coped well with the surface.

The comp itself was quite quiet on the snowboarder front.  The Chatham crew were in Las Vegas so there were only 9 of us.  This was more than made up for by the skiers though so overall there were about 40 competitors, cheering each other on and laughing at the slams.  It was definitely the most fun comp I’ve been to in ages though, it was great to be back on dry slope where people are supportive, encouraging and welcoming to all (something I think can be lacking in the indoor snow scene).  It was also great to have a comp that ran to time, had riders briefings and a structured judging system.  For once it seemed that riders felt they shouldn’t have been placed as highly as they were rather than all the other competitors questioning the positions of the winners.

The comp was run as a 90 minute jam session giving us all a chance to ride the multiple lines of the course and try and get a good mix of tricks down.  It was great to be able to try some new stuff without worrying about falling over, just getting back up and trying again until you’d got it nailed and then moving on to the next bail.  Then it was the fun trick throw down with the judges handing out Haribo and other prizes in exchange for some good tricks on each of the sections.  I wasn’t sure that filling Jake Terry with sweets was a good idea but it seemed to have done the trick, not only did he win the under 14 men’s category but he made it through to the top six eventually finishing 2nd overall out of all the snowboarders.

The final itself was run as a best of two run final, giving those that qualified the opportunity to show if they could perform under pressure as well as in a more relaxed jam format.  The top 6 skiers and top 6 snowboarders regardless of age or sex made it to the final and it was great that out of the 6 boarders there were 2 girls in the final.  Unfortunately I slammed on both my runs so despite finishing 2nd in the over 14 girls group I failed to beat the boys and finish in the top 3.  I’m not going to complain though, I think the right people ended up in the right positions and we all had a great deal of fun doing so.  A big shout out has to go to Sabrina, the girl I was up against, as it was her first dryslope comp and apart from a session at Calshot (which if you’ve been there will know it doesn’t really give you a chance to really get that dry slope feeling) her first time on dry slope.

The prizes were brilliant, ranging from boots to helmets & jackets and I came away with a helmet, shoulder bag and snowboard bag, so that combined with the fact that I got 5 hours riding for my £15 entry fee made it more than worthwhile!

I had a really great day so thanks to everyone involved in the organisation, sponsorship & judging.  I’m really looking forward to the next legs at Chatham (22nd May) and Warmwell (12th June).

I have just one request, please can we have less drum and bass and more hip hop in the decks?  Thankfully I was wired for sound via my iPod and i360 headband but I know that the majority of riders and spectators I spoke to didn’t really enjoy the tunes.

Thanks to Brian Miller (Dad) for capturing some of my slams…..as you can see I haven’t lost my touch!!

It’s also been great to give my 156 Plastictastic a really good test and I’ve been really impressed with how it performs. It’s been great on the kickers,which at 12-14m tables have been much bigger than I’ve been hitting indoors on my 150 but it’s also felt great in the pipe (much better than I’ve been feeling in it, that’s for sure!) and it’s been cutting through the slush and choppy snow as well.  So it’s certainly turned out to be my perfect all-mountain park board.

Tomorrow is the first day of competition, and so I’m hoping the super speedy base helps me get to the front of the pack in the boarder-cross, or at the very least lets me olly over anyone that falls in front of me.

I can’t wait to get back out to what is probably my favourite resort (followed closely by Mammoth) for a week of coaching followed by the British Snowboard Championships.  I’ll be competing in all 4 disciplines, boardercross, big air, half pipe and slopestyle and I’m looking forward to giving my Plastictastic 156 a proper testing as so far it’s only been used on a 135m slope and that’s really not enough distance to allow it to really get up to full speed!  I’m hoping it will help me quickly get used to the difference in speed required for the larger kickers I’ll be faced with (the Brits course is based on the course used for the Burton European Open).

I’ve had 3 excellent practice sessions recently, I’ve been lucky enough to have some more coaching from the crew at Maverix and it’s been good to get back on a board after a 12 week break.  I’m looking forward to trying to convert what I’ve learnt indoors to the bigger park in Laax.  If you want to read a bit more about the Maverix courses then take a look at this article from Cooler magazine.

I’ll do my best to keep you all updated on how I get on while I’m out there.

Here’s a slideshow of the photos I added to the group:

Funnily enough the first camera I bought Jools was a Powershot G5, and it was that that started him on the snowboarding photography, so it seems almost fitting that I’m now using its bigger brother.  Here’s a slideshow of the shots I’ve taken with it today, I hope you like them as much as I do.

Work’s been really busy, I’ve been travelling all over the place on visits to NHS Trusts to tell them all about the NHSE Membership scheme and that’s left me feeling tired and not really myself.  Sales isn’t something I love doing, I’m great at information transfer but actual closing of sales is something I struggle with.  Thankfully what I’ve been doing has been more on the info transfer side and because I really believe that the membership will make a difference, not only for the HR teams but the Trusts as a whole I think that that has come across in the meetings and I’ve managed to get quite a few Trusts on-board.  It still doesn’t stop me feeling a bit nervous and stressed going into the meetings though, and as January looks to be more of the same I think I’ll need to stock up on some more Bach’s Rescue Pastilles to try and take the edge of the fear off a bit.

Which brings me on to the New Year, yes we’re about to enter 2010 and I’d planned on it being filled with snowboarding and fun and big competitions, but as ever circumstances change and being a grown-up (well I try to be one sometimes) Jools and I have cancelled our unpaid month off in Laax this January and are staying at home to work instead.  This means no week of coaching and no Burton European Open (I guess 2nd time lucky just isn’t) for me.  We’re both pretty bummed out about it but I’m a strong believer that everything happens for a reason and so once 2010 officially hits I’ll be looking to the bright-side and making sure I get plenty of English shredding done so that I’m ready for the British Championships in March.  I’m going to miss being out there with all of my friends but to make up for it Jools and I are going to have a weekend break in the UK for his birthday.  It’s something we’ve been meaning to do for ages but never got round to so I’m hoping a weekend of fun and good food will perk us both up!  We’re also thinking that we might finally make it out to the board test this year, something else that’s been on the eternal to-do list but never quite made it to done.

In addition to exercising my body with snowboarding, Sports Active on the Wii and maybe even venturing back to the gym, I’m planning on exercising my brain a bit more too.  So I’m signing up to do a couple of short courses with the Open University.  I’m not sure if I want to do a full degree, I think I’m a bit lazy and not studious enough for that, but I like the fact that I can pick n mix a couple of subjects and who knows what will happen if I really get hooked.

As the New Year, and I suppose, new decade starts I won’t be making promises or resolutions to blog more or anything else really, what I will be focusing on is being happy, healthy and enjoying my life!

I’m starting this post on my iPod Touch while I travel 18 stops westbound on the District line from Upton Park to Victoria, skipping from one meeting with an NHS trust to another. It’s this skipping that’s kept me from following through with my bright idea to partake in NaBloPoMo, that combined with busy-ness, tiredness & laziness anyway. Last Monday should have seen post 2, instead I took the train from Chelmsford to Liverpool Street station, tubed to Paddington and trained to Chippenham. Then it was a taxi to Devizes and back for a trust visit before training to Birmingham via Bristol. I then spent 3 days on my feet at the annual NHS Employers conference talking to trusts about the benefits of joining NHSE as Full (paid) members before finally heading home.
It was my intention to type a post after dinner on Monday night but sleep got to me first and I just never found time to chill and blog at all all week….then it was the weekend so I slept instead!
I could have blogged yesterday as I took the train to Newcastle and back but I was playing catch up and dealing with 200+ emails so now that I’m underground with a flat Blackberry battery I’m trying to make amends.

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I’m home now, too tired to do anymore but at least I’ve got an initial excuse post out of the way!

I’m adding people to lists as they appear in my stream, so if you’re not listed yet don’t be offended.  Not all of my list names are obvious either as this Tweet from @Allix shows.  Depending on how the general feeling about lists goes with my friends I may end up turning them all back to private lists, except perhaps my sponsors list.  I’m not sure if when you follow someone else’s list you automatically end up following everyone in the list.  If that’s the case people may well prefer not to be included so as not to be mass added by spammers…..I need to dig a bit more on that I suppose.

For me the benefit in lists is personal, being able to find someone relevant to a question or a ponderance, or even something work related.  My initial connection with them might be because they’ve appeared in one of my keyword searches or maybe because they shared a conversation with a friend but I like to follow people I’m interested in not just someone who shares a similar interest (not sure that makes sense but what I mean is just because you snowboard doesn’t mean I will find you interesting as a Twitterer).  Therefore, just because someone I follow has categorized everyone they view as being a snowboarder, or a geek doesn’t mean I want to follow all of them.  So I can see lists meaning that your follow list gets out of control and you lose the value.  At this point who knows, it’ll be interesting to see how things go over the next few weeks.

I’m stoked to announce (in a slightly more official way than this Tweet) that I’m now sponsored by i360.  They’re a US company that are just moving into the European market and they design music infused apparel.  So I should shortly be rocking headbands & beanies that not only hold my iPod and pump music straight into my ears but I’ll no longer be tangled in wires while I shred!  It also means that one of my reasons for not completing my Couch to 5km running course is now invalid (I can’t do it because my headphones fall out and it interrupts my stride).  Of course I’m sure I’ll find another reason not to run (it’s dark at night, I’m tired after work etc) but maybe I’ll get at least one run in before I go back to slacking.  So a huge thank you to them for hooking me up.

I also managed to hit the snow this weekend, Jools had to head up to Hemel to get some photos of some of our friends so I had a chilled session on their boxes practicing some presses and spins while giving my new Laurus face wrap a proper test.  It was a great session and not only did I stay snuggly in my new jacket (cheers Sputnik) and facewrap but Jools got actual photographic proof that I held a tail press!  I was so pleased he managed to catch it because although I’d been able to press my Plastictastic on the flat I felt like I wasn’t really committing on the boxes.  It turns out I am!  So it’s good to know that the flex on it is as good as I thought.

Apart from shredding things have been insane on the work front, I’ve been travelling the country to visit NHS Trusts and tell them about the NHSE Membership I’ve been working on for the last year and I’ve also been working on the presentations we’ll be giving at the first of our Discovery Sessions next week and then the NHSE Conference the week after.

I’ve also submitted my application for a slot in the Burton European Open, I got a place last year but had to pull out due to injury so I’m hoping I get a place again this year.  I really want to give it a go and as I’ll be out in Laax anyway I’ll be pretty gutted if I don’t at least get to ride the qualification round.  I should hear at the end of the November, so until then I’ll just be practicing as much as I can.

DSC_7147, originally uploaded by plasticsnow aka Kat.

Jools & I were invited to the recent night shoot by Maverix Snow Camps to get some shots of the instructors while they did some videoing for their promo movie.

Acting as flash-monkey for Jools I didn’t get a chance to ride but I did use it as an opportunity to test out the face wraps I’d just been sent by my latest sponsor, Laurus.  Not only were Jools and I both kept toasty warm while in a giant freezing fridge but even when the snow blowers were running the fleece lined wraps managed to avoid getting soggy and freezing to our faces.

Here’s one of Jools’ test shots of me in my Uni-Sexy Swagger Long wrap.

The shots he took for James of Maverix can be found on Maverix Snow’s Facebook profile

At this point I should admit that I hate being the first person to hit a toy, in previous years I’ve been able to rely on Jamie Nicholls or one of the other kids acting as a test rider and I can bow to their judgement with regards to speed, how the kicker’s riding etc, unfortunately though they were all riding in the 2nd qualification group so if I was going to step up and hit it I’d have to do it on my own. I looked again and after a bit of banter with Shiner the Technical Delegate for the day where we argued over the size (I said as far as I was concerned it was 9m as that’s what the plan said, he said 14.5m) I decided it was definitely doable, took a deep breath and dropped in. Straight off the drop in ramp, over the first lip, straight into the kicker (good girl, no speed checks) and up into the air……..oooooops! Yes the kicker was way whippier than it looked and the moment I was in the air it started to feel a bit wrong, my weight was too far back and I was tipping in the air. Anyone that’s been in this situation will know that at this point time slows down, I was a long way up and I realised that my best chance of surviving this was to tip my weight so I was going to fall on my front not my back, bring my arms in, relax and wait for the impact. It seemed like I had a long time to wait as I took up my “frog” position and started to plummet, then the ground hit, I bounced on my front, hitting my chin and then I must have bounced onto my back because I came to rest half way down the landing with my head pointing down and my feet back up towards the kickers. I wasn’t in pain, knew I wasn’t broken but I was totally winded so when I looked up to see people rush in to check on me I signalled I was ok and let them unstrap my board so I could roll over and get off the landing. A huge thanks to the First Aider, Col Mytton and Jools Smith who were all over to me pretty much the moment I’d landed. A pretty impressive feat for Jools considering he was on the run in side of the kicker capturing these shots…..

..he then had to pelt round to check I was alive! Thankfully I was and once I got my breath back I was back up the top grabbing a drink of water before getting back to it (all be it on the 5m kicker). I was quite gutted not to have landed it but I think I impressed (and scared) everyone by giving it a go. For a while I doubted myself and wondered if it was my mistake and whether I’d misjudged my ability, it turns out I hadn’t though as over the course of the 2nd qualification when the guys were hitting it, it became apparent that it was too whippy a kicker and a lot of people came a cropper much worse than I had. Numerous guys ended up visiting the local hospital and quite a few more admitted to being scared. These weren’t poor riders but the cream of the UK and it’s a shame that a quarter of all entrants took a bad fall on the main kicker! I count myself very lucky to have escaped with a slightly scraped chin and some aches from the impact.

All in all it was a fun session, even with the aches I was feeling and I was stoked to qualify for the final in 3rd place. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to hang on to it so finished 4th overall and 1st in Masters, still I figure I can live with being beaten by a 12 year old, a 14 year old and an under 30 year old!

To wrap up the day nicely I had a really nice message that put the icing on the cake and I’m pleased to announce I now have a new sponsor, Laurus. Laurus make handmade face wraps, and I’m looking forward to wearing them over the course of the Winter, not just on the slopes but on my commute to work if it gets cold enough!