Wg Cdr Da ve Tozer RAF

CHAIRMAN SNOWBOARD

The 2012 ISSSC was very challenging given the arrival of a large amount of snow. At one point the snowboarders were called intrepid as a result of the low visibility qualification for the Parallel Slalom (PSL).  The only event that had to be cancelled was the demonstration Big Air event which we have scheduled for Friday in the Moon Park.  The discipline of snowboarding, in ISSSC, continues to evolve and develop in line with the ever improving standard of the riders.  The courses and park for this year’s championship  are set to be the best yet – presenting a tough challenge to the athletes.  The Combined Services Team, of which more later, had their best season to date. AET Ross Taylor continues to develop and is now a well-rounded rider who possesses great potential, achieving the three-peat of his slopestyle victory and winning the overall men’s overall championship for the first time. Flt Lt Lindsay Hind just shaded Cpl Vicky Fox of the Army to the Ladies overall championship with solid results in all three counting events. The presence of the ADF was a welcome addition, we hope to see them return in 2014. The ADF ladies made the podium on each of the events, Flt Lt  Amanda Gosling picking up 2 silver medals in the PSL and Slopestyle while Sgt Bianca Kaden took  bronze in the Snowboard Cross.

In the overall Men’s team competition the British Army retained their title winning the PSL and the SBX events.  The Royal Navy Men won the Slopestyle. Year-on-year  the Men’s competition gets harder to predict and evermore competitive.  The Parallel Slalom, the first of three competition results, was won by the British Army with Major Si Gough taking gold after a very close battle with the GB rider Captain Si Nicholson.  In the Snowboard cross Capt Si Nicholson was the out and out favourite and met the challenge head-on riding the cleanest lines but not without the strong opposition of Flt Lt Jude Rushmere, an ex-GB teammate, and AET Ross Taylor who delivered on his potential with his best ever result in SBX . The slopestyle again was the domain of the Royal Navy, AET Ross Taylor put in an exemplary performance; more concerning for the other Services is a the new RN talent of Lt Craig Howie who is already a strong contender earning a silver on his first outing. The RAF picked up the bronze through Sgt Mark Wecki also at his first ISSSC.  It was clear that all the services had put in a great deal of training in the park with more technically accomplished tricks being thrown down on a variety of elements.

The Ladies overall competition was very tightly contested between the British Army and the Royal Air Force. The RAF running out as winners after pushing the Army into fourth place in the final event, the slopestyle, which was won by the Royal Navy Ladies with LPT Lucy McKenna taking the gold .  This year was particularly notable as each of the ladies teams won one of the competition events with the Royal Navy following their male colleagues in taking the slopestyle as their first ever event victory. The Army Ladies won the PSL by the closest of margins with Cpl Vicky Fox of the Army taking her first gold medal. The SBX saw the RAF bounce back taking the victory both as a team and in the individual contest, Flt Lt Lindsay Hind edging out Cpl Vicky Fox of the British Army to take gold.  The strength in depth of the RAF ladies was the discriminating factor, which enabled them to establish a solid lead in the overall competition.

Back