Henry Shackleton & Ella Fry-Taylor take first place in the British Snowboard Slopestyle competition

The 3^rd day of the British Snowboard Championships saw riders stepping up their game and landing big tricks during the British Slopestyle Championship, regardless of the less than favourable weather conditions. Fighting the poor visibility and sticky snow due to white skies, consistent snowfall, and warm temperatures, it was Henry Schakelton (20) and Ella Fry-Taylor (22) who took home top positions and the gold medal.

Based on athlete input during practice, the decision was made to remove the two bottom kickers from the course. It was determined that this was the best way of ensuring the safety of the athletes who, on top of dealing with poor visibility, were struggling to find the speed needed to hit the kickers back to back. This left the riders both technical rail zones at the top of the course as well as the massive booter to show the judges their snowboarding prowess. Additionally, the poor weather convinced both the athletes and competition officials to base the final score on the best qualifying runs of each rider instead of prolonging the contest with poor weather conditions.

Once the riders took the course, the 65 competitors were still more then able to throw down for their best run. For the men, it was a really tight fight for the podium with a 2-point difference out of 100 between each rider’s ranking. Taking first place thanks to his massive second run was Henry Shackleton (20) with a 50/50 to front 3 off the flat bar rail, a gap to frontide boardslide on the second set, and a big floaty front 7 on the biggest kicker. In second place was Matt McCormack who put down a 50/50 front 3 out on the first rail section, a boardslide fakie on the second set, and a smooth cab 5 in his 1^st qualifying run. Jamie Trinder (20) took home third place with his 1^st qualifying run with a boardslide 270 out on the first rail, a gap boardslide on the second, and a massive front 5 on the biggest kicker.

Upon winning, Henry explained, “It’s been great to win. It definitely would have been nicer with better weather; it would have given us the chance to spin more, go bigger.”

In the women’s contest, Bangers and Cash Women’s gold medallist and Tignes local Ella Fry-Taylor (22) who took home the win with the most progressive run for the girls. Combining technical tricks and amplitude, Ella’s run included a 50/50 tailgrab off the flat bar, a 50/50 boardslide, and massive method over the biggest kicker. Cerys Allen (15), laid down a really smooth run involving a frontside 180 on and off the first rail, a big boardslide on the second, and a front 3 nosegrab on the medium kicker. Rounding out the podium was Coco Merz (23) sending a boardslide on the first rail, a 50/50 on the second, and a big tail grab on the medium kicker.

Stoked on her win, Ella states, “I’m really excited to have landed a couple of runs today. The course was better than last year and it was even alright to have just the first kicker to use.”

This contest wouldn’t be complete with the young guns pulling out all of the stops, already demonstrating incredible style and trick technicality. A good examples is Scott Walsh (12) whose second run involved a really nice 50/50 back 1 out on the first rail, a cab 270 onto the rail and back regular stance, setting him up for a back 3. Harry Waite (15) is another promising rider with a 50/50, boardslide pretzel, and cab underflip placing him in 5^th. Though she wasn’t the most consistent of riders, Amber Cordingly’s big riding style definitely impressed the judges, working on landing 50/50 180 out, and swith 50/50s.

British Snowboard Slopestyle Championships Results

Men                                                                      Women

1^st –        Henry Shackleton                            1^st –  Ella Fry-Taylor

2^nd –       Matt McCormack                             2^nd – Cerys Allen

3^rd –       Jamie Trinder                                     3^rd – Coco Merz

Don’t forget to check out the BRITS 2015 picture galleries at www.the-brits.com, where you will be able to check out the Snowboard and Freeski action from the previous day’s competition.

The BRITS would not be possible without its highly supportive Partners: Tignes, SnowboardClub.co.uk, Whitelines.com, SkiClub.co.uk, Funi, Route One and British Ski & Snowboard (BSS).

Photo credit: Mike Brindley