Nike ACG Team Blog : News from the snowbard team

UK team riders Paddy Graham, Murray Buchan and Angus Leith have taken the Brits by storm.

Held last week in sunny Laax the Brits is a 3* TTR event (for the snowboarders) and a top-class line up of UK skiing talent. Not to mention a proper late season bash for everyone...  

The ski events were officially 'owned' by the Paddy and Murray show. First up on Monday was the pipe comp, savaged by the pair. Padds dropped into every run with insane amounts of flair not to mention a fair bit of showmanship. Defending his title in his 'hometown' pipe he was not to be outgunned and lived up to his billing as clear favourite by throwing down some epic 9s and a whole range of 7s, sw 5s and even a couple of leg spreads in amongst some spins. Cheeky.

Padds had company on the podium though in the shape of Murray. Muz has seen as much time on snow this season as he and his Dad have been able to blag off his School and it’s clearly paid off. He was blasting out of the pipe and showing a range of technical tricks that drew massive props from everyone in attendance. His 2^nd place was well deserved and at 15 years old he’s got a lot more to look forward to.

There was no let-up for the lads though with the Slopestyle starting early doors on Tuesday. It was another good day in the office for Padds who laid down some mental variations on the rails before stomping switch and regular 9s off the kickers. It was a class display and enough to bring home his second title in 2 days. Standing next to him on the podium later that night was a new face to the UK ski scene... Marco Eydallin, under the stewardship of Rita was laying down sw 10s and pushing Padds hard all the way. Marco’s English Mum makes him eligible for UK comps and meant another Nike ACG clean sweep.

Wednesday was SkiX day and pipe for the snowboarders. With Dan in Stoneham for the World Cup finals Angus was left to lead the ACG charge in the Laax super-pipe. He didn’t disappoint. Angus’ performance in the pipe 12 months ago was a real milestone for how far he’d come after a season with the GB team and another season on, he looked every bit the pipe master. Busting some huge airs and super polished 7s (fully corked) he managed some super styled and technical runs to be crowned champion. By tradition the Brits pipe has always been the most fiercely contested comp of the week (underlined by the fact that the TTR award 3* status to the pipe and the Slopestyle & Big Air forge a combined score) and Angus duly banked his 550 points and was off the radar for a good 24 hours. Next time ring your Mum big man so she doesn’t worry about you!

Thursday meant hangovers for one particular rider and the final day of competition for the rest. Padds and Muz were again amongst the front runners for the skir Big Air title. Padds was gunning for the full complement of freestyle ski titles but it wasn’t to be. Having qualified 1^st for the finals he was narrowly (and I’ve seen the video and it must have come down to personal hygiene on the day) denied at the last. His sw 10s looked tight enough to show off in a Borat swimming costume (go see the film). However, breathing down his neck again was Muz who had his own sw 10s on show- not bad for a wee 15 yr old who doesn’t see much snow… It was 2^nd and 3^rd for the guys this time round.

Before I round up this report I should also mention Muz’’s surrogate sister for the week- Rebecca Cullum. Becky managed to step on the youth podium 4 times over the course of the Brits (SBX champ, 2^nd in pipe and Big Air & 3^rd in Slopestyle) and did superbly well. Still only 16 (and dodging school) she mixed it up with the senior girls across all disciplines and can be super proud of what she achieved. Well done to all the gang. More photos (from the actual comps) to follow soon I promise- with a bit of luck I’ll get hold of some before they go up on the Brits website…

Jimmy Goodrich