April snow storms
April 3, 2008 on 12:06 pm | In Snowboarding | No Comments
It very often snows at the start of April and it looks like this April will not disappoint. Last week it snowed a fair bit on Cairngorm and although we have had a few warm days it is forecast to dump this weekend. There is a great base and with some new snow on top the conditions should be pretty good!!! That is great news for me because I am heading back to Scotland tomorrow for a week to get in some home shredd.Right now I am at the British Snowboard Champs in Laax in Switzerland and it is all going pretty well. Unfortunately I did not have two clean runs in the pipe but I still ended up 2nd with Kate Foster taking the win. It was a well fought contest between myself and Kate in very difficult conditions, it was pretty much a blizzard. The men’s comp was also a tough one.
The conditions made it difficult for riders to do their best tricks so it was a very tactical comp. Dom Harrington came out on top with Ben Kilner taking the silver and Sam Cullum the bronze. As well as riding in the comp myself I have been looking after the young Roxy riders, Abi Dempster, Ashlee Smith and Aimee Fuller. They have all been doing very well and so far team Roxy have won 8 medals!!! I am now very much looking forward to coming back to Scotland to get a bit of riding in on the April snow, hopefully with some sun over head as well!!!
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
Snowy Easter!!
March 21, 2008 on 2:28 pm | In Snowboarding | No Comments
The snow is falling on the mountains and it is looking like it will be the snowiest winter we have had in quite a while so get yourself geared up for some great easter sliding around. Word on the ground is that the West Wall poma on Cairngorm is going to be open and that the new snow will make it possible to get some great longs runs in on all the Scottish resorts. As well as some great skiing and snowboarding there will be great fun to be had by all at the quiksilver slopestyle event to be held on Cairngorm on Saturday so when you need a rest from the exertions of sliding around sit back and enjoy the spectacle of the competition, or get involved yourself!!
Here I am flying off the hip in the Cairngorm park a few seasons ago. It was great fun and a really great view too!
If this is not your idea of a relaxing Easter weekend and spectating is not your strong point why not get yourself out into the Scottish back country with a bit of ski touring and enjoy the many great routes within easy distance of the ski resorts. There are many great runs for intermediate to expert level skiers and snowboarders within 20 to 45 mins hike from the main resorts. To inspire you here is a pic of a great day out we had just over the back from Cairngorm a few years ago. My friend Tina is at the top of this rock buttress about to drop into the line below and to the skiers right. 
Hope to see you all on the slopes soon!
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
Good Ol Cairngorm
February 28, 2008 on 5:02 pm | In Snowboarding, Skiing | 1 Comment
I had a good ol weekend up on Cairngorm last weekend in the hope that the wind would drop and we would get the Roxy comp under way. Unfortunately, Cairngorm was living up to it’s character and the wind was going nowhere fast except southwesterly very strongly indeed, gusting 98mph no less!!! I taled to the main weather man up on the mountain and he told me the wind has been exceptional in the last few weeks with the highest ever recorded wind speed of 186mph!!!!!!!!!! a few weeks ago.
The good thing is though, that March brings calmer weather and there is still plenty snow around, especially in the park. The crew at Cairngorm have done an amazing job of pushing the snow around and have saved the pistes there from the worst of the wind. Here is the view from the cat on the way down the M105. There are a few more competitions due to run in the park on Cairngorm in the coming weeks so I am sure the wind will drop for some of those days.
The high winds did not damped spirits though and the night time event still went off with a bang. The theme was retro ski and in keeping with the theme the party was held in the one and only Winking Owl, home of many an Aviemore Alpine night out in years gone by and enjoying a new burst of life this current season. there were a lot of very retro looking bods around and they were all hoping for the wind to die down so they could go and get their shred on the snow as well as the dance floor!!
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
An old legend
February 19, 2008 on 1:36 pm | In Snowboarding, Skiing | 1 Comment
I have just spent a great two weeks in Jackson Hole in Wyoming in the USA with ex pat Scot and mountain legend Davie Agnew. I went to the area to film for the next round of Roxy pod casts and got in touch with Davie, who has lived in the Tetons for the last 35 years to ask if he would mind showing us around a little as I knew he knew the area well. Davie grew up in Glasgow and was one of the first band of mountaineer pioneers to take to ski-ing and use his mountain knowledge to get into the backcountry and ski some untracked powder snow. He worked on Cairngorm for a few years in the 60’s before the European Alps called his name and he moved to Switzerland.
After a few years in Switzerland and the death of his good friend in a climbing accident, Davie moved to Colorado and then on to Wyoming where he finally settled, feeling happy that there were enough unexplored mountains for him there. he spent the next 35 years of his life bagging first decents of many of the ski-able lines in the Tetons and surrounding area and still goes out ski-ing most winter days to this day.We were lucky enough to have Davie as our guide for the trip and he was obviously thrilled to show us around and take us to the good spots.
We hiked around on the Teton Pass in chest deep powder, Davie leading the way and breaking trail for us then watched him very elegantly ski down some of the nicest lines I have ever seen. Davie has been telemark ski-ing for a very long time now and this allows him to use ski skins to get out into the back country. As we were snowboarding we had to follow up hill on snowshoes which made for some pretty tiring days on the hill. The views and snow were spectacular though, and all the hiking was well worth it as we got some great footage. We were also kept going by a constant stream of tales from Davie who has travelled the world ski-ing and mountaineering and made me realize just how large a contribution Scots like Davie have made to the Worlds mountaineering and ski-ing fraternity. I am now back in Scotland and looking forward to getting out on the Scottish hills this weekend for the Roxy competition on Cairngorm. Hope to see you there!! 
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
World Cup happy days
January 31, 2008 on 10:51 pm | In Snowboarding | No Comments
I am just back from Bardonecchia in Italy where I was riding in the 3rd World Cup of the 07/08 season. The event was held in the same pipe as the Turin Olympics were held in so I did not hold out much hope for a good result as this particular pipe has never been lucky for me in the past. I went there with fellow Roxy rider and Norweigan ripper, Lisa Wiik after having been to Kitzbuel for a few days to watch Alain Baxter compete in the Slalom event there. I had been really impressed by Alain’s skiing and was gutted for him that he had such a late start number and therefor little chance of making it into the top 30 and gaining World Cup points.
I was definitely inspired though and as I left Kitzbuel I was very much looking forward to my next World Cup after quite a long break from the World Cup tour. I knew I was riding well after having won the qualification at the Burton European Open in Laax but I did not want to count my chickens before the hatched so to speak and all my past performances in the Bardonecchia pipe ended up in crash results. I got through the qualification round easily and then made it through the semi final round and into the finals in 5th place.
I was very happy to have made the finals and at that point I would have been happy with 6th which is the worst you can do from the finals. I rode well in the finals though, just missing out on third spot and ended up in a very happy 4th place. This is my best result since I broke my ankle nearly three years ago and puts me in 5th place in the overall pipe rankings, the best of any UK alpine athlete this season.
It was generally a great weekend for UK snowboarding as Jenny Jones rode into a very respectable 4th place in the slopestyle at the X-Games and Zoe Gillings also rode into 6th place in the Boarder X at the X-Games. Also at the X-Games, skier Emma Longsdale skied into 9th place in the half pipe ski event. Go the UK Ladies!!!!!!! I am now chilling at home for a few days watching a blizzard outside my window and wondering if I will get in any home snowboarding before I go off to the US to film for a few weeks. I certainly hope so. It is great to see a good Scottish blizzard anyway!!
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
The European Open 2008
January 24, 2008 on 9:07 pm | In Snowboarding | No Comments
Torah Bright in the pipe…
I have been with the Roxy team who spent a very successful and fun week at the Burton European Open in Laax, Switzerland. The pipe and slopestyle were in the best shape we had ever seen and the riding reflected this. The field in both the ladies and mens event was as strong as it gets with riders battling it out for much coveted TTR points as well as points towards the Burton Open Series. With a lot of prize money up for grabs for both the TTR overall title and the Burton Open Title, as well as the BEO prize purse and a brand new Suzuki for the overall male and female at the BEO there was everything to ride for.
The slopestyle was interesting and challenging with good aspects for kicker and rail riders making sure the best overall rider would come out on top. Team Roxy were very strong in the qualifiers with Lisa Wiik and Margot Rozies riding particularly well. They made it through to join Kjersti Buaas and Torah Bright in the semi finals. The general riding from the girls in the semi finals was great. There were 7s and 5s in abundance and a lot of very technical jib tricks were being thrown down. With the girls really pushing the limits, there were a lot of crashes and a few great riders missed the cut due to crashes. Unfortunately, Torah Bright was one of the crash casualties to miss the cut.
She was in good company as the Dutch ripper and one of the slopestyle favourites, Cheryl Maas also failed to land a clean run. In the end it was Kjersti Buaas and Margot Rozies, who was riding better than ever in her home park, who made it through to the finals. Margot continued to ride out of her skin with super solid and flowing runs on the rails and kickers and ended up in a very respectable 5th place. Kjersti had some issues on the jibs and just could not stick her massif frontside 720 cleanly so ended up in 7th. There was great riding from all the girls though and the end result was Jamie Anderson in first, Jenny Jones in second and Sylvia Mittermuller in 3rd.
The competition in the pipe was equally as fierce from the qualification to the finals. I rode particularly well in the qualification round, winning my heat comfortably. I went on to join Lisa Wiik, Kjersti Buaas and Torah Bright in the semi finals. The semis of the pipe mirrored the semis of the slope with a lot of crashing going on due to the levels the girls were pushing themselves to. Kjersti and I just missed having clean runs, although we both rode very well, which left Torah the sole Roxy defender in the finals. She was out to prove a point after missing the slopestyle finals and rode out of her skin putting down cab 9s and switch backside 7s, by far the most technical pipe riding by any girl in the World ever. In the end if was Kelly Clark who piped her to first place though with some of the largest airs anyone had ever seen in a ladies event, or mens for that matter!!!!!! The final result was Kelly Clark in first, Torah Bright in second and Hannah Teter in third.
Team Roxy are now off to the X Games where they hope to ride hard, have fun and clean up, while I am heading back to Scotland to check out the conditions at home. I have heard they are epic and I really can not wait to get up Cairngorm and see for myself!!
Margot in the slopestyle..
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
SNOW!!!!!
January 16, 2008 on 10:17 pm | In Snowboarding, Uncategorized | No Comments
What a bumper start to the season in Scotland!!!! Way to go. I hope you are all getting freshies. I am currently in Switzerland at the European champs but I am heading home as soon as possible to get in some home grown powder. Hope to see you on the slopes!!!!
Here is Abi Depster ripping it up at Glenshee at the weekend!!!
See you on the slopes.
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
Happy New Year!!
January 8, 2008 on 4:56 pm | In Snowboarding | No Comments
There is no better time of year to go for a few drinks with your friends in Aviemore than over the festive period. There are always a lot of interesting nights and this year was no exception. It is nice to see the legendary Woodshed Bar, at Coylum Bridge Hotel, back to full form and even better to see live music playing there especially when it is the local band The Starlings who played in the Woodshed on the 24th to kick off the festive season. It was a great night attended by many local faces and everyone was in the festive mood. As well as getting to see ‘The Starlings’ the lucky crowd got a sneak preview of the Roxy Snow film ‘Labour of Love’.
As well as catching up with my friends over the festive period I got the chance to get out in the chilly highland air. As well as the customary walks around Loch an Eilan and Loch Morlich with my family I took a run up past Ryvoan and Bynack Stable and all the way up to the Barns of Bynack. I had never been all the way up there before and am glad to say that the view was definitely worth it, although it was a bit chilly at the top!! We actually cheated a bit and rode our mountain bikes up to the Bynack stable then ran the rest of the way. It was a good way to do it as the winter light was already fading when we got back to Loch Morlich.
After the festive break I headed out to Morzine for a few days of training in preperation for the next competition, the European Open, which kicks off in Laax, Switzerland next week. Hopefully the rest and recuperation along with the nice bit of dryland training I got in will see me in good stead to start the new year with a good result.
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
Cairngorm Christmas
December 28, 2007 on 7:25 pm | In Snowboarding, Uncategorized | No Comments
There is nothing I like better than to see Loch Morlich covered in ice and some snow, even a little bit, on the tops of the Cairngorms. That is just the view that greeted me when I arrived home in Aviemore for Christmas. It had been cold for a while and the ground was white with frost and the lochs were all frozen hard enough to go skating on. Unfortunately there was not quite enough snow to have a good slide around on but there was enough to get going. It is always good to get up the hill at this time of year and it is not to be forgotten that any skiing and snowboarding in December is always a bonus.
The Ptarmigan tow was running and there was enough snow to get up a good bit of speed!!!
We spent a lovely family Christmas at Rothiemurchus and even managed to get in a bit of skating on the little lochan at the back of Rothiemurchus tennis club. It felt like a proper old fashioned Christmas card scene with the whole of the McKenna and Baxter caln sliding around on the ice. We had big plans for a boxing day hockey match until we woke up the next day to find the weather had gone mild and the ice was now a little on the thin side. We decided to go for a mountain bike ride instead and ended up at the head of Abernethy.
We cycled around by Loch an Eilan, then up to Loch Morlich and then on to the Green Loch and up to Bynach stables. It was a lovely clycle and certainly worked up the appetite for a second Christmas dinner!!
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
That Roxy time of year
December 4, 2007 on 5:39 pm | In Snowboarding | No Comments
The Roxy Girls
it is creeping towards the darkest time of year, when it is totally dark at 4.40 and not light before 8.30. it is cold and wet outside and people in the towns are bustling around, busy with their Christmas shopping. The darkness was certainly brightened up this week by the welcome sight of snow on the hills in Scotland. There was enough on Cairngorm for the Ptarmigan tow to open and what that was there was very nice indeed. Hopefully we will continue to get snowed upon in the next few weeks so at Christmas I can get to ride at home. Before that, however, it is time for the Roxy Chicken Jam. Every year, just before Christmas, Roxy hosts an all girl slopestyle contest which turns out to be one of the most fun contests of the year.
This year the contest will be held in Kaprun in Austria where they have been having a lot of snow in the last few weeks. Girls from all over the world will head out to Kaprun in the next week to get ready for the competition, which is one of the largest all girl contests around. There is a large prize purse and a lot for the girls to ride for. I will be there along with Jenny Jones from Bristol and new comer Aimee Fuller from northern Ireland.
To keep the Roxy theme going, I am planning to host a Roxy film premiere in the Woodshed bar in Aviemore on Christmas Eve, after I have been shredding on Cairngorm, of course. The premiere will start around 7pm and all are welcome.
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
