Friday 16th December 2011

Just before Christmas, I was so stoked to be invited to attend and compete in the ‘Nike Chosen Series’ big air competition, at the Snowcentre at Hemel Hempstead. This event would see one of the biggest indoor kickers seen in the UK, a lofty 13m to the sweet spot. The invited riders would compete for the evening sessioning the massive kicker showcasing their best tricks.

The size of the kicker!!

My first impression on seeing the huge kicker was how massive it looked in an indoor setting. I have hit bigger kickers on the mountain, but I was a little worried that I might not be able to get enough speed on the indoor snow. With no option to drop in from higher up the slope, I would have to wring every bit of speed I could find.

With this in mind, I waited a little bit to see some of the other riders hitting it and then did a couple of speed check runs. I would ride up to the lip of the takeoff to feel how the run in felt, before actually fulling committing to the jump. With this done, there was nothing left to do but go for it. I dropped in and held my speed and my nerve, as I left the lip of the kicker I felt a little unstable in the air and waved my arms about a bit. But I landed in the sweet spot of the landing and rode away clean.

Having landed my first run successfully I felt more relaxed dropping in for my second. Soon I was confidently pulling off a series of method, nose and stalefish grabs, and finally plucked up the courage to try a shifty followed by a 180 spin. I landed both cleanly and in the sweet spot and rode away very happy with myself.

My fellow Boarders Boards team member Cerys Allen was also invited to compete. Unfortunately she had a very nasty stack on her first run, inverting and hitting the table top hard. Alice Blake the other female competitor was not able to relax on the kicker and I was left on my own to finish off the session.

My determination paid off and I was awarded Best Female and a nice Nike Jacket for a prize. I then had to have a photo session with all the other winners and it felt amazing to have all the photographers taking pictures of us. I then had to do an interview for Nike about how the event had gone.

the Nike Chosen event attracted a lot of attention in the snowboarding media, and I was really pleased that I had managed to do so well.

It was a great evening and I left the event on a real high, I then had to travel with my Mum and Dad straight up to Edinburgh to compete in the Edinburgh Invitationals street event the following morning.

I will let you know how that went soon!

BeXx

Nose Grab

Method Grab