Quiksilver Snowboard & Freeski Big Air Championships and Rail Jam

1st October 2007 – Over the weekend of the 29th & 30th September, the British Snow Tour arrived at Dorset Snowsports Centre for the third event of the series and the finale of the artificial events. Over 100 skiers and snowboarders descended on Dorset, showcasing impressive tricks over the huge 8m jump with hopes of winning the highly anticipated Quiksilver British Snowboard/Freeski Big Air Championships.

Quiksilver British Snowboard Big Air Championships
The Quarterpipe Jam was set to kick-start the day’s competition, but due to slow riding conditions the organisers made the decision to replace it with a Rail Jam. Rail king, Jamie Nicholls was on fine form throwing down a floorless gap to cab 270 on and 270 off of the kinked rail, crowning him the mens champ. In the women’s competition, the standard was high with all of the riders making good use of both rails in their runs, but it was Samantha Rogers who secured the top spot with a smooth run consisting of a switch boardslide on the top rail followed by a frontside to fakie off on the bottom rail.

The afternoon was all about big airs and winning the prestigious Quiksilver British Big Air Champion title, as nine men and four women qualified through to a super competitive final. In the women’s final, Rebecca Cullum nailed a big backside 360 indy to take home the gold and the title. Samantha Rogers added some silverware to her collection, securing second spot with a massive frontside 360 whilst youngster Katie Ormerod, who’d been riding super strong all day, took third place. In the men’s final, Jamie Nicholls stomped a big backside 900 on his second run securing him the title, the gold and his second first place podium position of the day! Jack Shackleton came in second place with a big rodeo 540 which he stomped on his final run and Ben Knox came in a close third with a sweet switch backside 540.

Quiksilver British Snwoboard Big Air Championships Results

Women
1st - Rebecca Cullum, Bracknell
2nd - Samantha Rogers, Reading
3rd – Katie Ormerod, Halifax

Men
1st - Jamie Nicholls, Bradford
2nd - Jack Shackleton, Berkshire
3rd – Ben Knox, London

Rail Jam

Women
1st - Samantha Rogers, Reading
2nd - Rebecca Cullum, Bracknell
3rd – Gemma Marshall, Sheffield

Men
1st - Jamie Nicholls, Bradford
2nd - Sparrow Knox, London
3rd - Chris Bratt, Dorset

Salomon Best Un-sponsored Awards went to Sam Turnbull and Charlotte Kierle, winning them a brand new Salomon set-up. Jamie Nicholls was faultlessly pulling off the biggest and most impressive tricks all day long, not even falling over once!, securing him the Nike 6.0 ‘Killing It’ award and winning him loads of cool Nike 6.0 goodies.

Quiksilver British Freeski Big Air Championships
Day two of the Quiksilver Big Air Championships made way for the UK’s finest freeskiers, with the Rail Jam kick starting the day’s competition. In the men’s final, with several of the UK’s best rail riders all competing, it was a close call for a podium position, but it was Charlie Smith who beat off stiff competition to take first place, with his solid riding and pulling off a 270 on and 270 off on both of the rails. On the female side, youngster Katie Summerhayes took the women’s title with a grind to switch off on the box. A special shout out goes to Ben Hawker and Paddy Graham, who kept the crowds entertained and in fits of laughter with their series of synchronised skiing along the rails!

In the afternoon’s Quiksilver Big Air Championships, the skiers continued to push the limits, throwing down switch spins and inverts in the hopes of making it through to the top 8 men and 4 women final. Youngster and newcomer to the tour, Katie Summerhayes, firmly secured her spot as the ‘one to watch’, winning her second, first place podium position of the day and the coveted Quiksilver Big Air Championship title, after nailing a huge 540. Second place went to Shelley Jones with a 360 mute, whilst Katie’s younger sister, Molly, claimed third place with a perfectly landed 360. In the men’s final, standards were very high and it was an extremely close call for a podium spot, but it was Murray Buchan, who clinched it with a massive switch 900 tailgrab to take home the gold. Paddy Graham came in a very close second with a misty 900 and Andrew Longley nailed his signature d-spin 720 to take third place.

Quiksilver British Freeski Big Air Championships Results

Women
1st – Katie Summerhayes, Sheffield
2nd – Shelley Jones, Stoke-on-Trent
3rd – Molly Summerhayes, Sheffield

Men
1st – Murray Buchan, Edinburgh
2nd – Paddy Graham, Sheffield
3rd – Andrew Longley, Sheffield

Rail Jam

Women
1st - Katie Summerhayes, Sheffield
2nd - Chelsea Prince, Berkshire
3rd – Charlotte Prince, Berkshire

Men
1st - Charlie Smith, Stoke-on-Trent
2nd - James Woods, Sheffield
3rd – James Webb, Bracknell

Faction Ski’s ‘Step-up’ awards were presented to Robbie Debbage and Molly Summerhayes winning them a pair of handmade ski’s and entry into the grand prize draw to win a year’s contract.

The British Snow Tour schools team, accompanied in this area by Ride Snowboard’s Ben Knox and Faction Ski’s Ben Hawker, continued their pursuit to introduce and inspire new comers to the two sports, stopping by at two Dorset schools on the 27th and 28th September, presenting to over 600 pupils. The team did a great job of signing the kids up to the FREE beginner ski/snowboard lessons, courtesy of Quiksilver, with over 200 enthusiastic beginners taking to the learner slopes over the weekend.

The next event on the British Snow Tour calendar will be the Animal Slopestyle Championships at Castleford, SNO!zone on the 6th October.