BSS - Nordic

Woodsy claims podium in European Freeski Open with Izzy Atkin 4th, whilst Sarsfield rounds off her season with Europa Cup Bronze

Lucy Mackenzie — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 12:45:37 +0000

14 March 2016

Woodsy claims podium in European Freeski Open with Izzy Atkin 4th, whilst Sarsfield rounds off her season with Europa Cup Bronze

Alpine Ski Cross Nordic Speed Ski Telemark Park & Pipe James Woods Emily Sarsfield

GB Park and Pipe

James Woodsy Woods has secured his best result of the season, clinching a fantastic 3rd place at the European Freeski Open in Laax, Switzerland. Throwing down an impressive performance on the slopestyle course, Woodsy broke his run of 4th place finishes to claim a podium finish against world-class field in the prestigious competition.

In the ladies' competition at the European Freeski Open, Izzy Atkin followed up her recent run of strong results to claim an impressive 4th place in Laax with teammate Katie Summerhayes finishing in 9th in the semis.

The competition was also excellent competition experience for Cal Sandieson and GB Park and Pipe Pathway skiers: Harris Booth, Monty Wright and Chris McCormick.

At the World Championships of Snowboarding in Yabuli International Ski Resort, China, Katie Ormerod finished a solid 3rd place in the Slopestyle semi-finals, taking her through to tomorrow’s finals. After qualifying well for the semis, Aimee Fuller couldn’t quite put the runs in to finish in the top 6, which was the qualifying standard for the final. In the Big Air semis, Katie Ormerod finished in 7th place, narrowly missing out on finals and Aimee couldn’t quite land a clean run after trying her cab underflip. The level was high with two riders performing cab double underflips.

Henry Shackleton and Matt McCormick are in Flachau, Austria, for 2016’s Spring Battle, a World Snowboard Tour Slopestyle event, in which a follow cam jam session is held over the week, with the best runs submitted for judging. Aimee Fuller will be joining them directly from China.

Nine Queens in Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis, Austria, has kicked off, with the action lasting all week. Katie Summerhayes has arrived in resort and is ready to tackle the impressive looking course. She will be joined by Jenny Jones, and also Katie Ormerod who will fly in directly from China.

Delancey British Alpine Ski Team

Dave Ryding was competing in the in the Oberjoch Europa Cup Slalom yesterday In Germany where he came 6th place - +0.73 off the winner.

In Spain Dave will compete in the La Molina Europa Cup Slalom on Thursday, alongside Delancey Alpine team mate Charlie Guest, who will take on the Ladies’ Giant Slalom on Wednesday and Slalom on Thursday.

Dave will then move on to Switzerland to the FIS Alpine World Cup Finals in St Moritz, which kick off today. The Men’s Slalom will be taking place on Sunday.

Over in the US, Jack Gower is competing in the Nor Am Race Series in Aspen, Colarado. Gower finished 13th in yesterday’s Downhill and will compete in the Super G, which runs today, and the Giant Slalom on Thursday.

The Delancey British National Alpine Ski Championships kick off this Sunday, with all the top names in British Alpine Skiing descending on the French resort of Tignes for a week of Senior and Junior racing.

British Ski Cross

Emily Sarsfield rounded off her racing season on a high, claiming a podium in the FIS Europa Cup in St Francois Longchamp, France. After winning the small final to finish 5th in the first race, Emily put in a storming performance to qualify for the final and finish in 3rd position in the second race. A great conclusion to the season.

British Nordic Team

The conclusion of the ‘Ski Tour Canada’ in Canmore saw Andrew Musgrave finish 36th in the overall standings, after an impressive 18th place finish in Friday’s 10km Freestyle. He followed that up with 36th in the 15km Pursuit.

Annika Taylor had a fantastic Ski Tour Canada, finishing 42nd overall, after a 45th in the 10km Freestyle and then 42nd in the 10km Pursuit.

British Speed Skiing

Jan Farrell secured two 8th place finishes at the FIS Speed Skiing World Cup in Grandvalira, Andorra over the weekend. Jan is eager to improve on last season:

"We’ve had two great races in Andorra, with extremely cold conditions and compression in the track. I was 2kmh off the podium on both days so I’m extremely focused on the next race in Vars, where my objective is to beat the British speed record of 245kmh.”

"Last season it was important to gain experience and a better understanding of the top category and although I achieved a personal best in Vars, I’m hungry to exceed expectations and reach podium status this year.”

British Telemark

At the Telemark World Cup in Rjukan, Norway, Jaz Taylor put in two strong performances to finish 4th and 6th in the two Ladies' Sprint races. Alistair Cruz-Mermy claimed the best British result in the mens' races, with 18th place in the Men’s Sprint. Teammate Louis Hatchwell finished in a close 19th position. The second race saw Louis as the fastest Brit, claiming 20th place.

Woodsy through to finals of Silvaplana Slopestyle World Cup, strong results at the Ski Tour Canada, Sarsfield tackles Ski Cross World Cup in Arosa and Ryding back in action

Lucy Mackenzie — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 15:48:34 +0000

03 March 2016

Woodsy through to finals of Silvaplana Slopestyle World Cup, strong results at the Ski Tour Canada, Sarsfield tackles Ski Cross World Cup in Arosa and Ryding back in action

Park & Pipe Nordic Ski Cross Alpine James Woods

GB Park and Pipe

Qualification for the Slopestyle World Cup in Silvaplana, Switzerland started today, with James ‘Woodsy’ Woods qualifying in 2nd place in the first heat and 17 year old Cal Sandieson, in his first ever World Cup, finishing in a very respectable 25th place. Due to cloud coming in and out, the female riders Katie Summerhayes, Madi Rowlands and Izzy Atkin will all have to wait until tomorrow to tackle qualification after it was postponed for today.

At the Burton US Open, tricky snow and weather conditions meant qualifications were cancelled yesterday, so GB Park and Pipe’s Katie Ormerod will go straight through to a 16-girl final taking place on Friday. The action starts at 18.00 GMT and can be viewed on the following link: http://events.burton.com/burton-us-open/

British Nordic Team

This week saw the start of the Cross Country World Cup and the ‘Ski Tour Canada 2016’ with two strong results from both Andrew Young and Andrew Musgrave.

In the opening stage in Gatineau, Andrew Young finished in an impressive 17th place in the Sprint Freestyle finals with teammate Musgrave finishing 44th . Young’s result was nearly matched by Musgrave in Montreal who took 18th place yesterday in the 17.5km Classic Mass Start event, with Young finishing 49th. Annika Taylor finished 54th in the Ladies Sprint finals in Gatineau and 49th in the 10.5km Classic Mass Start in Montreal.

Action continues tomorrow in Quebec City with another Sprint event, followed by the Freestyle Pursuit events on Saturday.

British Ski Cross

Despite heavy snow, Emily Sarsfield is hoping that finals run as planned tomorrow in Arosa, Switzerland, which plays host to the next Ski Cross World Cup. After training was cancelled today, action is due to begin tomorrow at 09:45 CET, weather dependent.

Delancey British Alpine Ski Team

Dave Ryding is back in action this weekend at the Slalom World Cup in Kransjka Gora, Slovenia. He will be aiming to put in a good result ahead of the World Cup Finals in St Moritz later this month. The Slalom takes place on Sunday, with the first run at 09:30 CET.

At the World Junior Alpine Championships in Sochi, Russia, Billy Major has unfortunately had three DNFs in the Alpine Combined, Super G and GS this week. He still has time to notch up a result, however, as he tackles the Slalom tomorrow alongside teammate Charlie Raposo. Raposo unfortunately also DNF today in the GS.

Alex Tilley is currently competing in Nozawa Onsen, Japan at the Far East Cup were she finished an impressive 2nd in the Ladies GS today.

British Speed Skiing

The Speed Skiing World Cup starts this week in Sun Peaks, Canada with Jan Farrell firmly setting his sights on a podium in the unlimited S1 category. There is set to be two races: one tomorrow and one on Saturday. Farrell was the only ski racer to pass the 200kph barrier last season.

X Games bronze for Billy Morgan & 15th for Ski Cross' Sarsfield in PyeongChang

Lucy Mackenzie — Mon, 29 Feb 2016 17:05:31 +0000

Billy takes Bronze

29 February 2016

X Games bronze for Billy Morgan & 15th for Ski Cross' Sarsfield in PyeongChang

Park & Pipe Ski Cross Nordic Alpine Billy Morgan Emily Sarsfield

GB Park and Pipe

GB Park and Pipe's Billy Morgan claimed a prestigious bronze medal at X Games Oslo, landing a backside 1440 triple cork on one of the largest jumps ever built.

After this brilliant result, Billy commented on his success : "I've always seen X Games as one of the biggest, raddest things out there. So to be on the podium and compete with so many riders I look up to is amazing."

You can watch Billy's impressive bronze medal run here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnqaDNA7NJI

Katie Ormerod is back in Colorado ahead of competing in the Burton US Open in Vail. Qualification starts on Wednesday, with finals running on Friday.

Friday sees the start of the Silvaplana World Cup in Switzerland where Youth Winter Olympic Gold Medalist Madi Rowlands and teammate Cal Sandieson will compete in their first ever Ski Slopestyle World Cup. They will ride alongside James ‘Woodsy’ Woods, Katie Summerhayes and Izzy Atkin.

British Ski Cross

Emily Sarsfield took 15th place in the finals of the Ski Cross World Cup in PyeongChang, which doubled up as the Olympic Ski Cross test event. Meanwhile in Grasgehren, Germany, Emma Peters took 16th in the Ski Cross Europa Cup on Saturday.

British Nordic Team

The Nordic World Under 23 and Junior Championships concluded last Friday in Rasnov, Romania, for British Nordic’s Lynne Gray, Annika Taylor, Sarah Hales, Duncan Gibb and James Clugnet. The best results came from Annika Taylor who was 30th in the U23 Ladies 10km Freestyle and 34th in the U23 Ladies 10k Classic.

This week sees the Cross Country World Cup move over to Canada, with the ‘Ski Tour Canada 2016’ running from 1st to 12th March in Gatineau, Montreal, Quebec City and Canmore.

Delancey British Alpine Ski Team

At the World Junior Alpine Championships in Sochi, Russia, Billy Major finished a respectable 49th place in the Downhill on Saturday and followed that up with 56th in the Super G. Billy will compete in the Alpine Combined tomorrow and then along with teammate Charlie Raposo, they will both compete in the GS on Thursday and the Slalom on Friday.

'Inside The Fence' Interview British Xcountry team in Lahti, FIN

Lucy Mackenzie — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 15:59:32 +0000

26 February 2016

'Inside The Fence' Interview British Xcountry team in Lahti, FIN

Nordic Cross Country Andrew Young Andrew Musgrave

Although not known for its Cross Country skiing, Great Britain has produced two of the World's best: Andrew Young and Andrew Musgrave. This latest video from 'Inside the Fence' focus on the British team during the recent Cross Country World Cup in Lahti, Finland. Now both based in Norway, due to the guaranteed snow conditions, the athletes talk fondly, nevertheless, about the opportunities back home in their home county of Aberdeenshire and how they have reached this point in their careers.

The first edition of X Games Oslo kicks off and Sarsfield through to finals of Ski Cross Olympic Test Event in PyeongChang

Lucy Mackenzie — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 13:14:15 +0000

James Woods, photo Nick Atkins

26 February 2016

The first edition of X Games Oslo kicks off and Sarsfield through to finals of Ski Cross Olympic Test Event in PyeongChang

Park & Pipe Ski Cross Nordic Ski Jumping Emily Sarsfield

GB Park and Pipe

Today sees snowboarder Billy Morgan and skier James ‘Woodsy’ Woods tackle the Big Air at the inaugural X Games in Oslo. Downtown Toyen will host one of the largest jumps in X Games history. With heats beginning today, just six riders from each discipline will go through to Saturday’s finals.

Next Wednesday is the start of the Burton US Open in Vail, Colorado, where GB Park and Pipe snowboarder, Katie Ormerod, will be looking to continue her recent success in Slopestyle. Qualification is Wednesday 2nd March with finals running on Thursday 4th March.

British Ski Cross

Emily Sarsfield is in PyeongChang, South Korea, for the Ski Cross World Cup, which is also an Olympic Ski Cross test event. In qualification today she finished in 14th place, making it through to the top 16 final which runs on Sunday.

Emma Peters is competing in the Ski Cross Europa Cup in Grasgehren this Saturday and Sunday, and is hoping to secure a result in Germany.

British Nordic Team

The Nordic World Under 23 and Junior Championships continue in Rasnov, Romania for Lynne Gray, Annika Taylor, Sarah Hale, Duncan Gibb and James Clugnet.

The best results so far have come from Annika Taylor who was 30th in the U23 10k Freestyle and 34th in the U23 Ladies’ 10k Classic. Sarah Hale came 40th and 47th respectively in the same two races.

Other results for British Nordic: include two 69th place finishes for James Clugnet and an 84th and 89th for Duncan Gibb in the Junior Men’s 15k Freestyle and Junior Men’s 10k Classic.

In the Junior Ladies’ 5k Classic, Lynne Gray came in 77th position.

British Ski Jumping

Young British ski jumping twins Robert Lock and Jake Lock have also been competing at the Championships. Robert finished 52nd place and Jake in 56th place.

Delancey British Alpine Ski Team

Downhill training was cancelled yesterday at the World Junior Alpine Championships in Sochi, Russia. The next training is scheduled for today where Billy Major will hope to get some practice in ahead of Saturday’s Downhill race. Then both Billy and Charlie Raposo will compete in Sunday’s Super G, the Alpine Combined on Monday, the Slalom on Thursday and the GS next Saturday.

Success at the Olympic Test Event in PyeongChang & Bronze for Rowlands at Lillehammer 2016

Lucy Mackenzie — Mon, 22 Feb 2016 16:02:25 +0000

22 February 2016

Success at the Olympic Test Event in PyeongChang & Bronze for Rowlands at Lillehammer 2016

Park & Pipe YOWG Aerials Nordic Alpine Ski Cross Madi Rowlands

GB Park and Pipe

GB Park and Pipe’s Katie Ormerod continued her run of amazing results with a 4th place in Saturday’s Snowboard Slopestyle at the World Cup and Olympic Test event in PyeongChang. With the competition being affected by windy conditions, it wasn’t easy for any of the competitors, but Katie put in two runs to put her 4th behind Jamie Anderson, Carly Shorr and Christy Prior. Earlier in the week, after a fresh falling of snow, Jamie Nicholls just missed out on finals with 12th place, and Billy Morgan 22nd. In the Ladies qualifiers Aimee Fuller finished a great 7th place, just missing out on finals at the Olympic Test Event.

Katie Summerhayes qualified into the Ski Slopestyle finals in 2nd place just behind Tiril Sjåstad Christiansen. In the finals she kept her rail line the same as in qualifying: a blind 2 out of the top rail and then front 4 out of the down flat down; but she upped her jumps by adding a switch right 9 japan to left 360 tail grab, and then into the 900 on the bottom jump. She put down three solid runs but not quite as clean as she had hoped which lost her points. In the end Katie took 6th place, which she's incredibly happy with, as it was certainly one of the toughest finals of the year so far. Tiril Sjåstad Christiansen took the win, followed by Maggie Voisin in 2nd, Emma Dahlstrom in 3rd, 4th Dara Howell, 5th Yuki Tsubota and Katie Summerhayes in 6th. Isabel Atkin took 7th which is another incredibly great result for her, and once again shows her consistency.

In the Men’s Ski Slopestyle, James Woods finished 10th in his qualifiers heat, finishing in 16th overall, and teammate Tyler Harding finishing 22nd in his qualifiers heat. Gold and Silver went to Norway, with Felix Stridsberg-Usterud and Oystein Braaten respectively, followed by Fabien Boesch from Switzerland.

The Olympic Test Event had good reviews, and the countdown to 2018 is well and truly on!

This week sees the first ever X Games in Oslo, with James Woods and Billy Morgan taking part. The X Games start on Wednesday, with Billy and Woodsy in action on Friday for the heats in Snowboard and Ski Big Air.

Winter Youth Olympic Games

The action at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer came to a conclusion yesterday.

Golden Girl, Madi Rowlands impressed again on Friday - this time in the Ski Slopestyle, taking a Bronze medal to accompany her Gold from Ski Halfpipe earlier in the week. Rowlands scored 67.20 and 67.80 in her two runs and said after the event:

“I feel so happy at the moment because I didn’t expect it all. I haven’t been on the podium much in my career so it’s definitely that extra bit more special.

“To be honest I didn’t really know what position I was in at the top of the second run. I like to stay relaxed and don’t really get nervous. I guess that helps in this sport.”

Cal Sandieson also got a chance to shine, putting in an amazing performance on the Slopestyle Course to finish in 4th place.

Both Iain Innes and Yasmin Cooper had some strong results in the Alpine disciplines, with Iain Innes rounding off the week with a 20th place finish in the Slalom. This followed his 17th place in the GS and 32nd in Super G earlier in the week. Cooper also finished 20th in the Slalom, after an amazing 13th in Alpine Combined and 19th in Super G.

Watch Jenny Jones catching up with the YOG athletes in Lillehammer on Ski Sunday available on BBC iPlayer here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006v8fc

British Aerials Team

Lloyd Wallace took 28th place in the last Aerials World Cup of the season in Minsk, Belarus on Saturday. With the cancellation of the World Cup finals in Sierra Nevada, Spain, Minsk became the tour final. Lloyd has had a great World Cup season including an incredible personal best of 7th at the Deer Valley World Cup and 16th at the Moscow World Cup.

British Nordic Team

At the Lahti Cross Country World Cup in Finland on Saturday, Andrew Young finished 10th, Andrew Musgrave 56th and Callum Smith 77th in the 1.6km Sprint Free. Yesterday saw Musgrave finish in an impressive 18th place in the 15km Skiathlon.

Meanwhile, the U23 and Junior World Cross Country Ski Championships kicks off today in Rasnov. Today we see the Sprint with Duncan Gibb, James Clugnet and Lynne Gray in the Junior category, and Annika Taylor and Sarah Hale for U23s. Tomorrow the U23 Ladies will compete in the 10k Classic, followed by the Junior Men’s 10k Classic and Ladies 5k Classic on Wednesday. Taylor and Hale will continue to the Ladies’ 10k Freestyle on Thursday, with the Junior Men’s 15k Free and Junior Ladies’ 10k Free seeing Clugnet, Gibb and Gray competing on Friday.

We also have British Ski Jumping twins Jake and Robert Lock competing for GBR in tomorrow’s event.

Delancey British Alpine Team

Action starts on Wednesday for Delancey British Alpine Team athletes, Billy Major and Charlie Raposo, at the World Alpine Junior Ski Championships in Sochi, Russia. Both will compete in Super G, Alpine Combined, Giant Slalom and Slalom, with Billy also doing the Downhill which is the first event, taking place on Saturday.

British Ski Cross

Fresh from her 12th at Idre Ski Cross World Cup, Sweden, British racer Emily Sarsfield will next be in action on Friday at the World Cup and Olympic Ski Cross test event in PyeongChang.

Olympic Test Event in PyeongChang for GB Park & Pipe, World Cup action continues for the British Nordic Team, and Wallace takes on Aerials World Cup Final

Team BSS — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 11:54:58 +0000

18 February 2016

Olympic Test Event in PyeongChang for GB Park & Pipe, World Cup action continues for the British Nordic Team, and Wallace takes on Aerials World Cup Final

Park & Pipe Aerials Nordic Alpine YOWG Ski Cross

GB Park and Pipe

The Ski Slopestyle World Cup and Olympic test event has kicked off in PyeongChang, South Korea with Katie Summerhayes flying through to the finals, qualifying in 2nd place in her heat. Katie did what she did best and smashed the top part of the rail section and then skied very solidly on the jumps giving her a score of 82.20. This performance placed her in 2nd place, behind silver X Games medalist Tiril Christiansen Sjaastad, and put her through to Saturday’s final. Izzy Atkin also put down a very solid run putting her in 7th place, just one place off the top six finalists. Another very consistent result for Izzy who is also one of the youngest girls in the competition.

James ‘Woodsy’ Woods, one of the world’s most consistent freeskiers, unfortunately didn’t make it through to the finals after some uncharacteristic mistakes. On his first run he reverted on his last jump, after going huge on a double right 12, and on the second run he made a mistake on one of the rail sections. Only the top four riders in each heat made it through to the finals.

Tyler Harding, despite being on flying form in training, unfortunately couldn’t land his runs so doesn’t progress to Saturday’s final.

Friday sees the qualifiers for the Snowboard Slopestyle finals, which take place on Sunday. Riding for GB Park and Pipe is Billy Morgan, Katie Ormerod and Aimee Fuller.

GB Park and Pipe Head Ski Coach Pat Sharples said of the Olympic Slopestyle test event course: “Everyone has been raving about the slopestyle course since we got here. Certainly one of the most progressive and different courses to ever be included on the world circuit with so many different options of lines for the athletes to get creative with.”

Next week Oslo will be hosting its first ever X Games, with James Woods and Billy Morgan taking part. The X Games start on Wednesday, with Billy and Woodsy in action on Friday for the heats in Snowboard and Ski Big Air

British Aerials Team

Lloyd Wallace competes in the last Aerials World Cup of the season in Minsk, Belarus on Saturday. With the cancellation of the World Cup finals in Sierra Nevada, Spain, due to lack of snow, Saturday’s event in Minsk will be the tour final. At last year’s event in Minsk, Lloyd made World Cup Finals for the first time, finishing 11th. He will be aiming to match that performance.

British Nordic Team

It is busy times for the British Nordic Team with the next World Cup in Lahti, Finland this weekend and the Nordic Under 23 and World Junior Championships starting in Rasnov, Romania on Monday.

The Lahti World Cup sees Andrew Musgrave, Andrew Young and Callum Smith competing in Saturday’s Sprint Freestyle and Sunday’s 15km Skiathlon.

In Rasnov, competing for British Nordic will be Lynne Gray, Annika Taylor, Sarah Hales, Duncan Gibb and James Clugnet. All will be looking to make their mark at the World Champs which is an important event for the younger skiers.

Delancey British Alpine Team

Delancey British Alpine Team athletes, Billy Major and Charlie Raposo, are getting ready to take on the World Alpine Junior Ski Championships in Sochi, Russia. They are in full preparation mode ahead of the event, which starts on 24th February.

Several members of the Delancey British Ski Team have been competing in the English Alpine Championships in Bormio, Italy this week. There have been wins in the men’s FIS races for Max Baggio, Ollie Davies and Fraser Middleton. For the women, top performances have come from Ella Still, Jess Anderson and Beth Widdup

Winter Youth Olympic Games

In Lillehammer, Iain Innes put in a great performance in yesterday’s GS, finishing in 17th place. He tackles the slalom tomorrow. Yasmin Cooper unfortunately skied out on the GS yesterday, but wasn’t too disappointed after giving it her all.

Cooper said, “I took a couple of risks on the super combined day and those paid off and today they didn’t – some days you win and some days to lose and I know that I won’t progress unless I push myself so I’m proud.” She races in the slalom today.

Ski Cross athlete Isobel Brown unfortunately had to pull out in the third round of the event due to injury. Our Gold Ski Halfpipe medalist Madi Rowlands will compete in Ski Slopestyle tomorrow, with teammate Cal Sandieson who's getting his first taste of YOG experience in Ski Slopestyle. The men's competition has moved from Saturday to tomorrow due to bad weather forecast at the weekend – now running on the same day as the ladies.

British Ski Cross

Fresh from her 12th position at Idre Fjall Ski Cross World Cup, Sweden, British racer Emily Sarsfield will be next in action late next week at the World Cup and Olympic Ski Cross test event in PyeongChang. Action begins on Friday 26th February.

Golden weekend for British Snowsports

Team BSS — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 11:38:23 +0000

Gold in Lillehammer for skier Madi Rowlands

15 February 2016

Golden weekend for British Snowsports

Park & Pipe YOWG Madi Rowlands Aerials Nordic Ski Cross Alpine

Rowlands takes Youth Olympic Gold, Second for Ormerod at Quebec World Cup & Second for Fuller in Sweden

GB Park and Pipe

GB Park and Pipe skier Madi Rowlands (15, Maidstone) made history as she became the first ever Team GB athlete to win a Youth Olympic medal, taking gold in the Ski Halfpipe at Lillehammer 2016 yesterday.

Rowlands dominated the field throughout and put down the best two runs of the competition at Oslo’s Vinterpark, notching up a score of 88.60 in her second run.

“I couldn’t be happier. It’s just so overwhelming,” said Rowlands. “It was nerve-wracking to wait for the others to finish, but I felt like I had done enough. I was so stoked with that first run, and to land it like I did meant I was able to relax more and not be so nervous in the second and third. There are two main competitions I ultimately want to get to, the X Games and then the Olympics. This is a great step towards that and I’m just so stoked to win.”

A day earlier, 18-year old Katie Ormerod had a huge result in Quebec, Canada, taking second at the FIS World Cup Big Air. Beating a world class field, she took second spot with a backside 7 and backflip. American Jamie Anderson was top of the podium. After the competition Katie said: “So excited to be on my first World Cup podium here in Quebec City for the Big Air! Stoked on 2nd place.”

She is now in Korea along with her GB Park and Pipe teammates for the PyeongChang FIS Ski and Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup this coming weekend, which is also a test event for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Aimee Fuller made it a triple success with her second place finish at the Ale Invite Big Air event in Sweden. At the World Snowboard Tour event, which takes place in Alebacken, Fuller was on form, beating a strong field, but sitting just behind Klaudia Medlova from Slovakia.

Delancey British Alpine Team

Dave Ryding and his fellow competitors faced tricky conditions at the World Cup Slalom in Yuzawa Naeba, Japan. After heavy snowfall the night before, then rain and bad visibility on the second run, Ryding did well to finish and take a 22nd position.

Dave said after the event: “22nd was what I could manage in Japan. I had some good sections of skiing but not a whole run unfortunately. I’m glad to take 9 World Cup points rather than nothing, so time to move on to Kranjska Gora in three weeks time. I must say it was a great event in Japan, great people and a fun first week over there.”

Charlie Guest took to the FIS podium finishing 1st and 2nd in the Krakauebene Slalom’s over the weekend, following her personal bests of 17th and 18th in Pamporovo EC Slalom earlier in the week.

British Aerials Team

On his 21st Birthday, Lloyd Wallace put in a fantastic performance at the Aerials World Cup in Moscow. Lloyd put down a clean landing on his triple twisting triple, the lay double-full full and scored a 91.85 to take 16th place.

On the colossal scaffolding hill, specifically made for the event, conditions had been tricky in training with high winds and changing temperatures, meaning the jumpers didn’t get to practice triple somersaults until just before the competition.

Lloyd’s coach Mich Roth said: “This is all good practice for the future. Lloyd keeps a good focus and can perform well at the right moment. We have work to do on his form, but we are seeing steady improvement.”

Wallace said after the event: “It was pretty challenging, especially with several crashes throughout the day, so I was really happy to stomp my landing. It’s been a good birthday.”

Wallace now moves on with the World Cup tour to Minsk, Belarus next week. With the cancellation of the World Cup finals in Sierra Nevada, Spain due to lack of snow, Saturday’s event in Minsk will be the tour final. At last year’s event there Lloyd made World Cup Finals for the first time, finishing 11th. He will be aiming to match that performance.

British Ski Cross

British Ski Cross racer Emily Sarsfield made it through to the last 16 of the World Cup in Idre Fjall in Sweden on Saturday.

On a big and technical course, Sarsfield finished a fantastic 12th place on Saturday. After qualifying into the last 16, she unfortunately took a fall in the finals. Yesterday Sarsfield felt she was ‘skiing better’ but unfortunately didn’t quite make it through to quarter-finals.

She was happy with the weekend though and said it was a good event to ‘rebuild confidence’. Emily will race next in Bokwang/ PyeongChang, Korea in the Ski Cross World Cup and Olympic test event on 26th and 28th February.

British Nordic Team

The British Nordic Team were in Falun, Sweden this weekend at the Cross Country World Cup. On Saturday Andrew Young took 60th in the Men’s 10km Classic and Annika Taylor was 65th in the Women’s 5km Classic. Then on Sunday Young moved up a few places to take 53rd in the Men’s 15km Freestyle Mass-start and Annika was 63rd in the 10km equivalent for the women.

Winter Youth Olympic Games

The action continues at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer following Madi Rowlands Gold medal.

On Saturday, Yasmin Cooper and Iain Innes had their first taste of Youth Olympic competition in the Super-G event. Cooper pushed hard but missed a gate and failed to finish her first run, while Innes fared much better - finishing in 32nd - and the 17-year-old from Edinburgh was delighted with the result. “I thought it went really well today. I made a bit of a mistake coming into the finish and probably lost a second or so but overall really happy,” said Innes.

Then yesterday Cooper had a great ski in the Alpine Combined event, finishing 13th after the Slalom, after a 19th place finish earlier in the day in the Super G. Innes unfortunately DNF in the Men’s Alpine Combined.

Ski Cross athlete Isobel Brown (16, Ashbourne) races today and Madi Rowlands will go on to compete in the Ski Slopestyle on Friday. Cal Sandieson (17, Glasgow) competes in the Ski Slopestyle on Saturday.

Halfpipe World Cup in Park City kicks off, British Nordic Team back in action and Youth Olympic Winter Games athletes gear up for Lillehammer

Team BSS — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 13:17:36 +0000

04 February 2016

Halfpipe World Cup in Park City kicks off, British Nordic Team back in action and Youth Olympic Winter Games athletes gear up for Lillehammer

Park & Pipe YOWG Nordic Alpine

GB Park and Pipe

After all the excitement of the X Games and Rev Tour last weekend, the focus now moves over to Park City where the Halfpipe athletes have already started competing in the next World Cup. For the skiers, action kicked off yesterday, with Murray Buchan finishing in 20th, James Machon 21st and Pete Speight 27th in a high standard men’s competition. Despite skiing well, all three missed out the final with just the top 10 going through.

For the women, Rowan Cheshire finished in 14th place, putting in a solid run, but also just missed out on a finals spot. The snowboard action starts today with Ben Kilner competing for GB Park and Pipe. Finals are Saturday for Ski Halfpipe and Sunday for Snowboard Halfpipe.

After his impressive return to competition at the Laax Open, snowboarder Billy Morgan will now ride in the Air+Style big air event in Innsbruck this Saturday. Taking on the huge jump at Olympiaworld, the GB Park and Pipe star will be hoping to mix it up with the world’s best.

Delancey British Alpine Team

Delancey Alpine Senior Squad athlete Alex Tilley is over in Canada, taking on the North American races over the next week, competing firstly in Mont Garceau in the Giant Slalom, today and tomorrow. Tilley will then head on to Tremblant to compete in the Slalom races on Saturday and Sunday. Fellow team-mates Charlie Raposo and Jack Gower are also over in Canada, competing in the GS races in Mont Saint Anne today and tomorrow, then Raposo will tackle the two Slalom races over the weekend.

British Aerials Team

British Aerials athlete Lloyd Wallace will be competing at the Deer Valley World Cup over in the USA, which starts today and runs into tomorrow. He will take on the 32-man field, hoping to make it make an impression against the best Aerial skiers in the world.

British Nordic Team

British Nordic Team athlete Annika Taylor finished 58th in the Sprint Classic Cross Country World Cup in Drammen, Norway yesterday. Teammate Andrew Young took 52nd in the Men’s Sprint Classic. The team will now move to Stockholm where they will compete in next week’s Sprint race in front of the Royal Palace.

Winter Youth Olympic Games

The five British Ski and Snowboard athletes selected for the Winter Youth Olympic Games will be leaving for Lillehammer on Monday after picking up their Team GB kit at Kitting Out on Sunday. Competing for Team GB in Lillehammer are Alpine skiers Yasmin Cooper (17, Chichester), Iain Innes (17, Edinburgh), Ski Cross athlete Isobel Brown (16, Ashbourne), and GB Park and Pipe skiers Cal Sandieson (17, Glasgow) who will compete in Slopestyle and Madi Rowlands (17, Maidstone) who will compete in Ski Slopestyle and Halfpipe. Action begins in Lillehammer on 12th February with the Games running for 10 days.

Fourth Place for Woodsy in X Games, Muzzy and Young make impact at Norwegian Championships and impressive Europa Cup results across disciplines

Sophie Morrison — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 13:07:24 +0000

Nick Atkins

01 February 2016

Fourth Place for Woodsy in X Games, Muzzy and Young make impact at Norwegian Championships and impressive Europa Cup results across disciplines

Park & Pipe James Woods Nordic

GB Park and Pipe

James ‘Woodsy’ Woods put in a stellar performance in the Ski Slopestyle last night at the X Games, despite tricky conditions with a lot of fresh snow on the course. With his best score of 83 on run two and an overall performance coach Pat Sharples said he was ‘super stoked with’, Woodsy was so close to a podium, just getting nudged into 4th in a contest won by New Zealand skier Jossi Wells. He said afterwards: “I can't explain how much another 4th place at the X Games really, really stings especially due to speed issues, but I have to say how truly happy and proud I am of my good friend Jossi Wells. It is wonderful to be here and it's always a pleasure to be considered among the best in the world. I'm truly grateful and I am definitely not giving up!”

On Friday Katie Ormerod also had some tricky conditions to contend with after an inch of fresh snow fell the night before. In the women’s Snowboard Slopestyle final she finished 6th overall in her first X Games, getting a solid run down at her first attempt. The contest was won by Canadian rider Spencer O’Brien.

The Rev Tour moved over to Mammoth last week. For GB Park and Pipe, Rowan Cheshire put in a great performance in Ski Halfpipe, narrowly missing out on the finals after finishing in 7th place. In the Ski Slopestyle finals, Tyler Harding, who is returning from injury, had a huge result against a strong field, making the finals and finishing in 8th place overall. In the Men’s Halfpipe competition it was a similar story with Pete Speight finishing 13th and Murray Buchan in 15th.

The team over in the US now head on to the Park City Freestyle Ski and Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup with ski qualifiers taking place on 3rd February with finals on 5th. From the GB Park and Pipe Team we will see Pete Speight, Murray Buchan and James Machon in the men’s and Rowan Cheshire representing in the Ladies’. In Snowboard, following his 18th last week in his first World Cup back from injury, Ben Kilner will be competing on 4th February in qualifiers hoping to make finals on 6th.

British Nordic Team

Both Andrew Young and Andrew Musgrave put in some great performances in the Cross Country Norwegian Championships this weekend. Musgrave claimed 4th place in Saturday’s 15km Skiathlon, this was after 7th place in the 15k Classic at the end of last week. He also made it through to the quarterfinals of the 1.5km Freestyle race.

Also in the 1.5km Freestyle race, Andrew Young made it through to the semifinals, eventually finishing in an impressive 12th position.

British Nordic Team athletes Duncan Gibb, Fi Hughes, Annika Taylor all competed in the Cross Country National Championships in Saalfelden, Austria, at the weekend. The best results came from Annika who finished in a strong 5th place in the 5km Freestyle Pursuit and 8th in the 5km Classic. Also in the 5km Classic, Fiona Hughes finished in 20th position. Duncan Gibb took 34th in the 10km Freestyle race and 35th in the 10km Classic.

Delancey British Alpine Team

Delancey British Alpine Team athlete Alex Tilley was so close to making the cut in the World Cup GS in Maribor, Slovenia on Saturday, finishing in 34th in the first run. Yesterday’s Slalom was cancelled as it was deemed the snow conditions were not up to World Cup standard. Charlie Guest was racing in the Ladies Europa Cup Slalom in Sestriere on Friday where she finished in 28th position in a field of 65.

British Snowboard Cross

Zoe Gillings-Brier took a great 6th place at the Snowboard Cross Europa Cup in Grasgehren, Germany on Saturday. She was joined by fellow GBR athletes, Paul Moralee, Kyle Wise, Neil Mclean, Martin Divers, Bradley Gaulter, Murray Koller, Ellie Soutter and Maisie Potter who all competed, gaining valuable Europa Cup experience. Yesterday’s race was cancelled due to bad weather.

British Moguls Team

Three British athletes competed in the Albiez Moguls Europa Cup in France at the end of last week. In the Ladies Moguls Makayla Gerken-Schofield took a fantastic 5th place in the Moguls on Thursday, then 7th place in the Dual Moguls the following day. There were also two 14th places for Thomas Gerken-Schofield in both Men’s competitions, with Will Feneley taking 36th and then he had a DNF in the Dual Moguls competition.

British Ski Cross

In the Ski Cross Europa Cup in Lenk, Switzerland, Emily Sarsfield made it through to the quarter finals on both Thursday and Friday, finishing in 11th place overall on both days. Emma Peters gained some vital Europa Cup experience in Lenk, taking 27th spot in both races.