The Last day of the Season
May 7, 2008 on 11:02 am | In Snowboarding, Skiing | No Comments
The last day of the season at Cairngorm Mountain was Monday the 5th of May, which is one day later that the last day in Zermatt, Switzerland! I was in Zermatt for three weeks to do my BASI qualifications and was well aware that I was missing some great on snow action back home in Scotland as I had spent the previous week shredding some great home grown powder on Cairngorm.
Although Zermatt also had a lot of great snow, I was pretty sad that I could not make the most of the home snow. I was happy however, that I had managed to persuade the largest snowboard magazine in Europe to go and check out the great conditions, at last!!
They arrived in Aviemore to bad weather and mist but the boys up the hill had been busy with the cat and they soon had a monster booter built for the two European pro riders who they had taken over to shoot with. Joining the Euros were our very own Angus Leith and Ben Kilner.
They managed to build a 18m kicker, the largest ever built on Cairngorm and got some amazing pictures of the boys. Keep a look out for them in the first issue of Onboard next season! As well as getting some great riding in the Onboard crew did all the great tourist things you can do from Nessie spotting to Whiskey drinking and all in all had a ball.Meanwhile, back in Zermatt I was hoping the snow lasted at least a few days past my due arrival date home.
My patience was rewarded and the snow lasted long enough for me to get in a couple of great days over the weekend and into bank holiday Monday. The atmosphere up the mountain was amazing and everyone was telling stories of the great couple of months of Scottish ski-ing they had just had and all the adventures they had been on.
There were many very happy faces around and a lot of great tricks going down in the park on the jibs and the somewhat melted down Onboard jump. It was great to see the locals ripping it up though and very impressive to see Mike Jahtzy and Chris Mitchell, the local ski club coaches, throwing huge back flips and corked spins off the big jump while the snowboarders also span and flipped themselves well into the evening.
On the Monday night the lifts ran until 8pm and we watched a beautiful sunset growing over the Spey Valley to end what has been one of the best snow seasons I can remember in Scotland, ever. I for one have never ridden such great powder in Scotland as I was lucky enough to ride at the start of April this year. I hope that you all found some too and had as much fun as I did.
I am now very happy to hang up my snowboard for a while and dig out my surf board! Bring on the waves I say!!! See you in the sea.
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.
So Much Snow
April 11, 2008 on 8:43 am | In Snowboarding | No Comments
Scotland has some fickle weather and most of the time this tends to hinder rather than help in the pursuit of outdoor action but this past few weeks the fickle and large snow showers which have been regularly passing over the Cairngorms have brought a frenzy of fresh track hunters and have helped to put many happy smiles on many faces. It really is unbelievable on Cairngorm right now and also on the other Scottish resorts, so I have heard. I have been too busy getting fresh tracks on Cairngorm to make it over to any of the other resorts yet. Word on the ground is that Nevis Range is the best it has been for many a year and I can safely say that Cairngorm is definitely the best I have seen it for many a year.
Yesterday I rode all the way to the bottom of Coire Louigh-mor to the Ciste Car park. I have not done that since I was a wee lass. The day before that I got some POWDER turns on the head wall. Proper powder turns in Scotland. It was slightly wind effected but only a bit. Today I am heading west into Coire an t-Sneachda to try and get some lines down Jacobs ladder and Aladdins Couloir the former of which I saw Mike Jhachy charge down a few days ago in a very impressive display of Scottish ski-ing. So, get your skis and boards back out of storage and get on the hills. There are fresh tracks to be had a a lot of fun to go around. I will 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.
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.
Glenshee is amazing!
January 14, 2008 on 12:48 pm | In Skiing | 3 Comments
I’ve patiently waited for my ankle to fix itself after an injury last season and I’ve had a few tentative days on telemark skis but when two large parcels got delivered last week it was time to open up a can of whoop a$$ again.
In those parcels were a set of new fat skis and some comfortable booties. Couple that with the massive snowfalls the Scottish hills have been subject to over the last couple of weeks and we’ve got the perfect ingredients for a day on the hill…
oh and did I mention the bluebird skies?!
I’d packed the car the night before, lunch was made, clothes laid out ready to jump into so as to waist no time. Beep beep beep, the alarm goes and I’m into overdrive. Talking of driving; I’m sure skiers should be exempt from speeding fines. [NOTE FROM THE EDITOR; Ben - speeding should only be practised while on the slopes! For the record we DO NOT justify speeding under any circumstances.] Anyway it was a great drive over the Lecht towards Glenshee. As we approached the ski centre the snowbanks rose from the side of the road, sun kissed the tops of the hills and the pair of us couldn’t keep the smiles off our faces or stop bouncing up and down in our seats.
A swift change into ski gear and the reassuring clunk, clunk into my bindings and we were off. Off into Scottish skiing shangra la. The runs were in perfect knick, skies were blue and there was a definate buzz about the place as everyone lapped up the perfect conditions. Our first port of call was Corie Fionn for some fresh tracks.
Oh the sweetness of opening it up through fresh windblown snow! What a hoot!
The sun was moving fast so we headed for the Tiger and spent some time there taking shots. The weather station at the top of Cairnwell was frozen solid and I reckon the only temperature it was recording was ‘bloody cold’. It was a day of amazing snow, exhilarating skiing, and breathtaking views. And when all was said and done we ate lunch when we got back to the car after the sun went down on a perfect day.
After a day like that and seeing the amount of snow they have, things are looking good for the forseeable future so I’ve only three words for you.
‘Get up there!’
Ben Thorburn
http://www.freeskiing.co.uk
Freeskiing and telemarking are my main sports but in the off season it's all about the mountain bike... that and a bit of hill walking and running.
