British Snowboard & Freestyle Ski Championships 2018, LAAX, Switzerland Kick Off
The BRITS 2018 kicked off in LAAX, Switzerland today with the Picture Organic Clothing Ski Big Air providing a glimpse into the future with six teenagers filling the overall podium places today.
With increasingly windy conditions threatening to impact the standard of a Super Final, organisers instead decided to conduct a straight two-run Final after an hour of practice with competitors having little room for error.
In the men’s competition, the relative experience of Chris McCormick, 19, shone through as he took out the British title. Fresh from his first season of World Cup action and on the back of a pair of slopestyle top 10s in the Europa Cup last month, McCormick set the standard for the rest of the competition with a double-1260 the tail with perfection.
Seventeen-year-old Justin Taylor-Tipton was on The BRITS podium once again, with the 2017 Picture Big Air champion taking second place this year with his double-1260 tweaked mute. Sam Ward, 18, is another skier who hit the World Cup scene for the first time this season and landed himself the final place on the podium with a double-1080 with stylish Japan grab
“It was pretty good that we managed to run the competition,” said McCormick. “It wasn’t meant to be great weather, but It’s great that we got to get things underway and get two runs done. To get a result from that was really fun.
“I got my first run down pretty much how I wanted it. Second run I came in and the wind was picking up a bit, so I opted to just stick with my first run and it turned out to be alright in the end.
“Well done to the rest of the guys on the podium. It’s always good in Big Air to see everyone’s best tricks and everyone killed it.”
The women’s competition was taken out by one of the youngest athletes and a true up-and-coming star, Kirsty Muir.
Last year Muir stood on the Picture Big Air podium next to two-time Olympian Katie Summerhayes, and this year – at just 13 years of age – she was crowned national champion, courtesy of a 1080 safety performed off the large kicker.
“We were hoping that the wind would stay down and luckily it did for two runs and it was really good,” said Muir. “We did practice for an hour and then we got our runs in.
“In practice I landed my 1080s well, and then in competition I landed my 1080. Everyone was doing amazing! Everyone was awesome!”
A British representative at the 2017 Junior World Championships, 16-year-old Connie Brogden claimed second place with a standout super flat 5 Japan, while 15-year-old Olivia Burke’s 720 safety grab was good enough for the final position on the podium.
Fears of forecasted gale-force winds were blown aside as bluebird conditions dawned on day one of competition at the Brits 2018, confining the storm to the Laax cross course and the British Snowboardcross Championships. After an incredible day of racing, it was young-guns Maisie Hill and Huw Nightingale who forewent their age categories to dominate the open event and stole the titles from under the noses of established racers.
The day opened with practice for bumper field of competitors, honing their lines on the Crap Sogn Gion course before timed qualification. Two runs were all the riders had to lay down a fast time and seal a good seeding ahead of the head to head racing. Leading the charge in the women’s field was Olympic Slopestyle and Big Air rider Aimee Fuller, who’s topping of the timesheets mirrored Billy Morgan’s surprise result of 12 months ago. Could GB Park and Pipe riders own the cross course for two years in a row? In the men’s event, Patrick Morris laid down the two fastest runs of the day, making him a formidable number one seed.
But fast times don't always stand up when the elbows start to fly, and today was a day for the racers with both top seeds falling foul of the cross gods. Freestyle superstar Fuller faltered and fell at the final gate, and Maisie Hill stormed to a maiden overall title. In second it was Joanna Szczyglowska who backed up her Armed Forces colleagues incredible 1-2 in 2017 with a deserved silver, and after dusting herself off from her crash, Aimee Fuller crossed the line to claim Bronze.
Lit up by her victory, Hill said “It was pretty cool, because I beat Aimee Fuller – that’s sick!”
In the men’s final, it was another under-18 category athlete who overhauled the top seed to take the win, as Huw Nightingale knocked Patrick Morris into second to seal the national title. Morris claimed silver ahead of Scotsman Glen Ironside.
Reserved but stoked on his win, Nightingale said “Feeling pretty good – it was pretty fun, not too technical but still good fun.”
Outside of the overall categories, things remained heated, as even more Mums, Dads and ex-professionals fought it out for the most talked about titles of the week - the Masters championships. It was a case of déjà vu as Ski Sunday’s Ed Leigh completed the “three-peat” and remained unbeaten since the Brits returned to Laax. Ed’s better half Sian came heartbreakingly close to a second gold of the day for the family, but was denied by the lighting fast Claire Collis who headed up a sizeable Armed Forces team
The final race of the day, saw GB’s adaptive snowboardcross athletes return for a second year to compete for Brits medals. 2017 silver medallist James Barnes-Miller was fresh off the plane from the Paralympics in South Korea, and he showed his race form to take the win ahead of Daren Swift. The prizegiving crowd welcomed them back to the podium with a huge ovation on the Laax Snowfront.
British Snowboard Cross Championships - Results
Men Women
1st – Huw Nightingale 1st – Maisie Hill
2nd – Patrick Morris 2nd – Johanna Szczyglowska
3rd – Glen Ironside 3rd – Aimee Fuller
