European Wakeboard Championships 2006

The UK team has just returned from the 2006 EAME Wakeboard Championships in Vilvoorde,Belguim. We're pleased to announce that out of the possible 9 medals the team could win they did us proud and won 6 in the following categories:

Open Men Gold : Ben Hitch
Open Ladies Gold : Louise Moore
Girls Gold : Nicola Butler
Jr Men Silver : Nick Davis
Boys Silver : Kris Janczuk
Team : Gold medal

This is the 5th occasion Britain has won this highly acclaimed title in the eight year history of the event.
In Total there were 12 countries present with 110 riders over four days of very intensive competition.

For full results visit the EAME website; http://www.wakeboardcouncil.com/index.htm

Globe Bowlbash

On August 26th and 27th the fourth qualification of the Bowlbash will take place at the legendary pool in Algorta at the Basque coast at La Cantera skatepark. The prize money will be 1000 euros divided over the 1st till 5th place, with the five best riders also qualifying for the grand finals and a part in the Globe Bowlbash TV show and photoshoots.

More information: www.globebowlbash.com

New Zealand Free Ski Open 2006

Right: Paddy Graham performs a tweaked-out tail-grab

The southern hemisphere’s largest event of its kind kicked off on the 15th August at Snow Park NZ, with 45 men and women pushing their limits on the massive 150m long halfpipe, impressing judges and wowing audiences throughout the day.

The halfpipe event was followed up the next day by slopestyle. The slopestyle course began with a quarterpipe-style drop-in, down to a custom Snow Park NZ stair feature. Skiers then approached a gap-to-snow box, before moving to a 14m jump, followed by an 18m jump. They completed the course by hitting a flat-down rail and a jump-to-down box, which is the latest craze in free skiing slopestyle and makes for spectacular tricks, such as 900 and 1080 rotations.

Canadian Kaya Turski, who is also a pro rollerblader, picked up the winning title for the women’s slopestyle event. Jossi Wells (16), who is now New Zealand’s top freestyle skier, came first in the men’s slopestyle , pulling a switch 720 double nose grab, a switch 630 before landing successfully on the rail, as well as a switch 1080. UK Nike ACG rider Paddy Graham came 13th in the Men’s Slopestyle event and an impressive 9th in the Superpipe comp.

To keep up to date with the NZ Open check out http://www.freeskier.co.nz

Braehead Orange Aim Series

The 2006 Orange AIM Series delivered the British Indoor Slopestyle Championship event in Glasgow on Saturday 5th August. Premiering at the Braehead SNO!zone, the National Freeski and Snowboard competition attracted over 500 competitors and spectators to the brand new complex at Xscape.
The skiing competition saw Nike ACG rider, Murray Buchan, leading the pack with a switch 270 on along the flat down rail and a switch 270 on 270 off over the box, taking the title of British Indoor Slopestyle Champion at the young age of 14!

Skiing Results:
Women
1st - Shelley Jones, Stoke-on-Trent
2nd - Kerry Daniels, Castleford
3rd - Amber Connors, Milton Keynes

Men
1st - Murray Buchan, Edinburgh
2nd - Charlie Smith, Stoke-on-Trent
3rd - Will Burrows, Sheffield

Snowboard Results:
Women
1st - Laura Berry, Milton Keynes
2nd - Kirsty Taylor, Angus
3rd - Claire Frost, Aberdeen

Men
1st - Jamie Nicholls, Bradford
2nd - Damian Doyle, Castleford
3rd - Gordon Adam, Moray

The next event on the Orange AIM Series calendar is the British Indoor boarder / skiercross championships, plus slopestyle at Milton Keynes SNO!zone on Saturday 19th August 2006. For more info about the series and upcoming dates, check out: http://www.aimseries.com/

The Park and Etnies Girl Party

The Park is a contemporary streetwear trade show held in the Vinyl Factory, off London’s Carnaby Street. Industry people were invited to browse through the spring/summer collections of brands such as gravis, etnies, burton, volcom, es and emerica; with buyers deciding what’s going to be in the stores in the coming months. It’s hard work shopping and networking, so to tie in with the launch of their new spring/summer collection, Etnies threw a party at the CC Club in Piccadilly Circus. A free bar courtesy of Bacardi was a major draw for many of the industry insiders and team riders. The party kicked off with a fashion show by Etnies, with girls dancing to banging beats in their Bon Voyage and Cowboy Junkies collection threads. The party continued until the early morning with DJs from Guilty Pleasures and Sweet Mayhem.

Check out upcoming Park Events at http://www.the-park.biz/
To see the Etnies Girls new collection for yourself http://etniesgirl.com/

Winter Olympics 2010 Funding Package

UK Sport has revealed a £6m package for the cycle up to the next Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, in 2010. This is an overall 20% increase for winter sports, with bob skeleton and curling, which have been Britain's most successful events at the last two Olympics, receiving the bulk of the cash.

However the alpine skiing and snowboarding budget up until the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver has been reduced by almost 50% from £1.72m to £922,000.

As well as cutting the overall budget, Slalom skiers Alain and Noel Baxter will no longer receive Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) individual sponsorship cash because their World Cup and Olympic results were not good enough. Only downhill skiers Finlay Mickel and Chemmy Alcott and snowboarder Zoe Gillings will receive this.

Cockburn, Snowsport GB's chief executive, said “It will be youngsters who are targeting the 2014 and 2018 Games who will see their programmes cut. This means we will have to try and get more commercial income to keep British skiing performing at the highest level."



At 24, Noel Baxter will get his funding cut
before he reaches his prime




Read about the funding package at http://www.uksport.gov.uk/template.asp?id=2382