Big at Bella

ASC Freestyle Camp

So the start of this week kicked off the first freestyle camp on snow run by Aberdeen Snowsports Club. Many events have been run on snow but not a freestyle camp in this proportion. Neil Cameron came to me a while back now and told me what he wanted to do. I thought this was a fantastic opportunity for the kids and tried my hardest to promote(big it up) to the kids that it would be a benefit to. A lot of the Wednesday Rippers have amazing skills on the drymat but now it was time to take it to snow. Now not only did we have interest from the Aberdeen lot but some of the guys I coach with GPS were keen. In the end we had about 20 kids, skiers and boarders. Great turn out for the first camp run. So 20 Kids, with me(Andy Begg) and Chris Mahony as the coaches. Oh yes! now its time to show these kids how to shred.
So Day 1, left a little later but organising all those kids is a mission. Up to Glenshee, met some guys up there. Time to shred. Went up to the park to check it out. Boarders disappeared??!?! think they went up sunnyside(was ment to be good?!) So anyway, us skiers checked out the park. Twas good, soft snow, good features and low winds, and off and on sun. Went through the park hiking features, getting used to the features on snow and going over safety. Biggest safety point was “Watch out for punters, theres wads of them”. Finish a good days riding, getting used to snow for most. Time to go home. oops we were late, to many pee stops lol.
Day 2, well lets just say it was a wee bit breezy………. 4 runs which took the whole morning(lifts kept breaking) but the glenshee staff were on top of it as best as poss. Went home and some had a slide at the drymat with me and Chris.
Day 3, we had organised the day before to sort out an alternate and I’m glad we did cause the weather was apparently poor(super windy). So we hooked the kids up with and airbag sesh, pizza and a photo shoot. There was coaching on the airbag and on the kicker/tabletop, boxes were out and there’s the quarterpipe also. You could see, even with only a day and a half on snow, most of the kids were stepping it up. Backflips, frontflips, rodeos, corked spins were all getting thrown. My favourite was the 2 youngest rippers age 7 girls, Kirsty and Ramone, hitting the kicker for the first time and landing it.
It was a shame we couldn’t get on snow for the last day but I think the kids really enjoyed their last day. Pictures will be coming from the camp, some from the mountain and from the photo shoot at the dryslope.

I think the camp was a huge success even with the rubbish weather but hey that’s Scottish skiing 😀 I think it’ll be bigger and better next year and i hope to be a part of it again.

Thanks
Andy Begg
Freestyle Ski Coach

Scottish Freestyle Series – Round 3 Review and Photos

Saturday the 15th of January saw the 3rd leg of the SNO!zone Scottish Freestyle Series visit the West of Scotland Snowsports Centre.  For this Scottish Artificial Championships event, organisers Snowsport Scotland made the most of the epic kicker and quarter pipe set up at Bearsden.

Glasgow’s weather did not disappoint (the riders anyway) as it lashed down rain all day.  The mat was running fast and the wind even faster – so the 40 athletes taking part really had to prepare for take-off!  Some riders had practiced and had a clear plan of what they were going to throw down – others like Emilia Vanni just rocked up having never hit the jump and started busting it out.  There was a strong contingent of Bearsden locals there defending their patch from Team Aberdeen, Bellahouston and other facilities throughout Scotland.  Props to our English friends the Robinson’s who also made the long journey up to take part.

The two local MC’s – Mitch and Lewis kept the crowd entertained with their witty banter and tune selection.  They were even busting out some of their own moves in an effort to shake off the Glasgow rain.

The organisers got the comp started following the usual 3 run, best run counts format.   Hector Barbour impressed everyone by consistently nailing rodeo 9’s to take top spot in the open skiing category.  Another local boy who has been dominating the series was Danny McCormick – he pipped Marc McClement to take top spot again this time.  It was a good day out for the Bremner duo, who as part of Team Aberdeen secured a first and second place – with Sam Gardner denying little Keilen a first place like his big bro.   The McCormick trio just about got a clean sweep but Alex Cameron pipped Chris to first place with a 1080.  Shout out to the younger riders (you know who you are) for whom it was their first ever comp – good skills guys we were all really impressed.  The comp finished with Mitch and Lewis throwing out some spot prizes for biggest straight air and some of the riders went HUGE.  There was also a sporty display from the Bearsden train team hitting the jump in quick succession. For the full results check out the link, http://snowsportscotland.org/uploaded/Steven%20/Bearsden%20Results%20for%20Web.pdf

One thing for sure is that the next round of the SNO!zone Scottish Freestyle Series will be a lot drier, as its the Scottish Indoor Championships at SNO!zone Scotland.  We are all really excited about this and looking forward to seeing the set up the park crew cook up for it. This should tee things up nicely for the Highlander events in March & April – with all the Scottish resorts having relatively good cover for January.    Big thanks to all our sponsors, SNO!zone Scotland, Armada Skis, Freeze Pro Shop, Synergy Snowsports & Boax Headwear and to West of Scotland Snowsports Centre for hosting the comp – we will see you on Saturday 19th of February for the next round.

All Photos : Derrick J Photography

Forthcoming Freestyle and Race Competions

The competition season has kicked off to a healthy start so far and this Saturday will see the first of the Scottish Freestyle series here at Aberdeen Snowsports Centre, this year your results in the series will give you a national BST (British Snow Tour) ranking, for more information on this click here.  You can save time on the day by  registering online so follow this link.

Emmet showing off to the judges at last years Lowlander

Next up for the diary there is a double whammy down in Glasgow on 20th November.  For the racers Bellahouston will be holding the Nevisport sponsored Swix Challenge Medal Competition and for the Freestylers Bellahouston will have round 2 of the Scottish Freestyle series.

You should register for these in advance, for the Swiz challenge click the above link,  pick up a registration form from Dave on Thursday Night or at reception, for the Freestyle Series follow the link above for online registration.

Any questions just ask your coaches or email thegoatpost@gmail.com

Laters