Nike ACG Team Blog : News from the snowbard team

It’s been a busy few weeks for the Nike ACG UK Team; they’ve left their mark in Laax at the British Championships, taught over two thousand UK students a thing or two at BUSC in Hinterglemm, and hiked for hours across the backcountry of Pontresina, Switzerland in search of the ultimate powder runs on the Nike press trip…

The Brits – Laax, Switzerland

Team Nike ACG were killing it at The Brits this year – Murray Buchan (16 yrs) set the standard on day 1 by taking home the British Half Pipe Freeski Championship title. He was on fire stomping his run which included a 900, to 1080 and reverse mute alley-oop. Paddy Graham was hot on his tail claiming 3^rd place with some huge airs and a massive d-spin 900.

Zoe Gillings showed us all why she’s one of the world’s top boardercross riders by throwing herself out of the start gate and leaving the other boarders trailing in her wake. She had a solid run and kept her lead throughout to claim the Gold.

Dan Wakeham just missed out on a podium place in the Half pipe, despite scoring the top score on his qualifying run. He was clearly on top form during qualifying, throwing down perfect frontside 10s and proving that he’s still the best pipe rider in the UK. Other notable results were Murray taking second in his age group in the ski slopestyle, as well as runner-up in the carnage that was the Red Bull Home Run – not bad for a wee guy. Paddy on the other hand chose style over speed…

 

 

 

 

BUSC – Hinterglemm, Austria

Whilst some stayed to represent Team Nike ACG at the Brits, others went to join 2,500 British students living it up in the resort of Hinterglemm, Austria. Similar to other alpine resorts across Europe, the snow was still dumping which meant Noddy Gowans could not be held back; he took a crew of eager BUSC students to shred some serious pow, whilst Zoe Gillings spoke about being a pro and riding for the Nike team. We then headed to Tanzhimmel for the Nike ACG party where 2,000 students rocked out to Alps band, Hail Carta.

 

 

 

Nike ACG Press Trip – Pontresina, Switzerland

Having refuelled on schnitzels, we were on the road again, putting the Nike ACG Volvo through its paces, whilst heading back to Switzerland. This season the Nike Press Trip was all about the backcountry so the remote resort of Pontresina was the perfect destination for our shoot.

 

 

The team was reunited in Pontresina near Saint Moritz where we would be based for the next few days. Following a day’s avalanche and off-piste training, we awoke to bluebird conditions and epic powder – the perfect setting for our backcountry shoot and long hike to the remote Mountain Hut (complete with its own hole in the ground – luxury this was not…).

Noddy was in his element, continually searching for cliff jumps and leading the way for the rest of the team. The guys took to the off-piste straight away with Dan and Paddy taking their park tricks to the backcountry, whilst Zoe proved that she was just as comfortable in waist-deep pow as she is on a boardercross course, getting some great shots for next season. The trip and stay in the Mountain Hut was an awesome experience but we were all happy to return to the comforts of our hotel and their motto ‘good food – good mood’.

The full story will be in Document Snowboard and Fall-Line Skiing magazines next season, and if you can't wait until then, there will be videos and shots of the document website coming soon: www.documentsnowboard.co.uk 

Images by Yves Garneau