Nike ACG UK Weekly Update W/E 04/02/06

Hi all,

Here’s the rundown on the team since my last update:

Dan Wakeham

Dan’s been catching his breath since cramming in a World Cup, Europa Cup and the O’Neill Pro the week before. Based back in Morgins last week he was looking to add another trick to his repertoire during training: a 1080.

Yesterday the team uprooted and headed over to Italy to join the thousands of other athletes converging on the Games.

Needless to say, the media has heightened its focus on the Olympics and Dan has been picked out by numerous national titles. In addition to the Independent piece last week, he appeared in the Metro (London) on 7 January. Whitelines also made a point of dedicating a major part of its news section this month to acknowledging Dan’s qualification.

We’ve also just had word that Snowboard UK (SUK) are printing an 8 page feature of Dan in their upcoming edition.

Zoe Gillings

Zoe spent last week training in Morgins along with Dan and is now similarly preparing in Bardonecchia. The clock is ticking until the opening ceremony gets underway on Friday (BBC2 coverage from 6pm – 10pm).

The BBC have also just added the ‘Zoe Gillings Snowboard Masterclass’ to their site. Zoe introduces basic techniques to viewers as well as demonstrating them herself. Click here to view: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/winter_sports/video_and_audio/default.stm, -- you will find Zoe’s video at the bottom of the screen, under the Academy banner.

Mark Harris

Mark’s snow-dancing is clearly well below par: he’s still waiting for a proper dump of snow over in Zermatt. In the meantime he and the boys are going to jump in the car with some photographers and check out other options in Switzerland. He’s had his eye on Engleberg to hit some cliffs but the chances are that without more snow it won’t be worth risking.

Murray Buchan

Murray’s itching to get out on snow again. With not much more than a month to go to the Brits he’s got his season’s climax in sight. Murray’s determined to get as much practice in as possible prior to the events kicking off and will be arriving in Laax a few days ahead of the rest of us to get familiar with the park and pipe.

Noddy Gowans

Noddy’s Italian shoot went by without a hitch and he got back to Serre Chevalier just in time to catch another snowfall.

However, he will also have a keen eye on the conditions in Gressoney (It) which is to stage the next Red Bull Snow Thrill. Noddy is one of only 20 riders worldwide to have been invited and will be amongst some formidable company. Snow conditions dependent, the comp is due to take place between 27th Feb and 1st March.

Noddy will of course be on the scene for the Brits, but will be leaving for a month long ‘mission’ to Russia soon after. We will secure him for as many days of shooting as possible before he goes.

The British Universities Snowsports Council (BUSC)

Nike ACG are working closely with BUSC this year to help deliver their best ever alpine championships. Having taken ownership of the halfpipe events at their ‘Main Event’ in April we will be guiding an innovative partnership that will reinforce the brand’s credentials to a substantial network of 18 – 24 year olds.

The association has kicked off with an online competition which we thought we should share with you. Students have been asked to submit a photo of their riding that shows them pushing it to the limits. Check out some of the entries below. We will be doing more work with them via http://www.buscevents.com/ in the run up to their championships which take place from 1st – 8th April in Les Deux Alpes.