Hi everyone,
2 weeks worth of news coming at you this time round:
Zoe Gillings
Zoe has taken a huge amount from her Olympic experience. She obviously had to get over the disappointment of having her quarter-final run being ruined after Katharina Himmler crashed into her at the top of the course. Unfortunately that is the nature of SBX though and Zoe knows this better than most. The most important achievement for her was to qualify for the ¼ finals which she did against the odds…
The previous night snow began to fall on the course and continued all the way through competition day. This was always going to be a factor for all competitors to deal with, but to the astonishment of all watching, Zoe was sent into a powder field for her first run! She could be heard voicing her frustration on her way down the course and was struggling to clear the knuckles of the hits. Starting at no.2 again for her second run, the course workers had clearly not swept the line since the end of the first heat. Zoe’s chances were in jeopardy of being ruined by the apathy of those workers on the course. After a vocal interjection by her coach word got around that the first batch of riders were going to be disadvantaged by the conditions and delegates began grabbing rakes and shovels to work the line themselves. Zoe was eventually able to ride a partly groomed course and clocked a time 15 seconds faster than her first run!
Zoe’s overall result of 15th makes her performance one of the best a British snowsports athlete has produced at an Olympics: not bad for a girl who’s still walking with a heavy limp.
The viewing figures of the SBX have also been said to have eclipsed the halfpipe, which blew most of the early events out of the water. This further underlines what she has achieved in terms of raising the profile of British snowboarding. But it’s not quite time for her to put her feet up; she will be heading out to Lake Placid for the last World Cup event of the season before kicking on to Japan for the WC Finals straight after.
Zoe is going to be unavailable for the Brits as event dates conflict with her WC commitments. At present she is considering exactly how much she’ll have left in the tank for the Road Trip.
Dan Wakeham
Dan has had a bit of a breather since he left the Olympic Village after the halfpipe.
Dan will be heading out to Lake Placid along with Zoe to hunt for more World Cup points but will be able to spend 4 days at the Brits before he jets out to Japan to catch the WC Finals. After last year’s disappointment at not taking the pipe title he’s clearly returning to the Brits to show the guys how far he’s come in the past 12 months.
Dan will be with us for the Road Trip and will be making an appearance at BUSC for the halfipe Demo.
Noddy Gowans
Noddy’s just made it back from the Verbier Ride where he came a cropper to the judges. He’s disappointed he didn’t get the nod for the super-final and was even given a formal apology! However, on the bright side he has been confirmed as one of the riders who will be featuring heavily in the London Ride.
As mentioned previously, Nodds will be at the Red Bull Snowthrill in March. The competition window is flexible which could mean that there could be some overlap at the Brits. He is confirmed for the Road Trip but heads off to Russia straight after.
Paddy Graham
Paddy’s got a few more weeks on the road before winding up back on his own stomping ground for the Brits. He took a view on the Verbier Ride not offering up much in the freestyle department so he’s moved on to Poland on another quest for silverware. He will also be filming out there with Regime Change Productions for next season’s DVD.
Post Brits, Paddy will be staying in Laax for the Orage Open before shooting over to the Road Trip. Word has it that Paddy’s been spinning a few cab 9s in recent weeks which could well be competition ready for the Brits!
Tom Last
Tom’s got plans to shoot with some top names out in Tahoe before he returns to Europe for the Brits. He’s got wind that the Matchstick (film) crew will be out there filming, and there’s a chance an invite will be extended to him which would be huge.
After the Brits, Tom will have to shoot back to the UK for a week before re-convening in the Dolomites with the rest of the team. He will also be heading on to BUSC to represent along with the guys.
Dolomites Road Trip
At present we have the following confirmed:
Noddy (25th – 30th)
Mark Harris (25th – 30th)
Dan
Angus
Rebecca
Tom
Paddy
It’s still chucking it down out there!
Jimmy
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