Salomon Freeski - Insiders

WOODSY TAKES 1ST IN THE FIS WORLD CUP SLOPESTYLE EVENT AT COPPER MOUNTAIN

Salomon — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:58:35 GMT

Salomon and Team GB skier, James “Woodsy” Woods takes to the podium in first place at the men's U.S. Grand Prix Freeskiing event at Copper Mountain, Colorado, on Sunday 13th January. Sheffield slopestyle star Woodsy, claimed his second consecutive FIS World Cup win of the season by utilising bib number one and the last-run honours that go along with it to drop in and give the best run of the day to finish off the entire weekend. Woods' run was a lesson in technical competition skiing, and by the time he stomped his right-side double cork 1260 truck driver-grab over the last jump, he had completed some 12 full rotations on his way through the Copper park. He also won the season-opening World Cup event in Argentina in September - becoming the first Briton to win a World Cup on snow in eight years. This second win at Copper Mountain puts Woodsy into 2nd place in the AFP Slopestyle World Rankings and virtually guarantees qualification for next year's Sochi Winter Olympics, where slopestyle will appear for the first time. Woodsy's Salomon kit: SPK boots - Suspect ski's - STH16 bindings Watch the highlights here: http://www.fisfreestyle.com/videos/freestyle-race-videos.html?id=762 photos by Matt Sklar - mattsklarmedia.com

Winter full steam a head. snow, snow and more snow!

Salomon — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:00:24 GMT

Winter full steam a head. snow, snow and more snow!

So I have just got back to the UK after 2 and half weeks with the GB Freeski team in the US Colorado where we have been training and competing which has been totally amazing! All the British athletes are working so hard and taking their training seriously beyond belief. we have been working close to the GB snowboard team which Hamish McKnight over sees and is also doing a great job with his athletes. This week as most of you will know is the Dew tour in Breckenridge. I prepared the athletes who were competing which included Pete Speight and James Machon for the halfpipe and James Woodsy Woods who is pre qualified for the whole slopestyle tour. Unfortunately I had to leave the day the comps started to get back to the UK but the guys have done us proud and im please with everyones performance. My last day I managed to have a little ski for myself as it was snowing and I got a few fresh tracks all though the snow is still not great in the US but its so good to hear about all the crazy snow in Europe! wow, more snow than they had all last winter which is just crazy, Im super exited by this but also a little scared as I think there will be many avalanches and accidents over the next few weeks over Xmas and New year. All I can say, is be so careful while out skiing off piste guys. enjoy the snow for sure but be smart! So whats next for me? Well im going to hangout with my wife Vanessa and my family for Xmas then its straight to Laax Switzerland for a pre Youth Olympic camp just before the start of the YOWG which im so excited about.

Thanks for reading and if you off skiing in Europe, be sure to grab a pair of Rocker 2s, BBRS, Shoguns or some other big mountain skis as your going to need them!

GB team update

Salomon — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 02:25:19 GMT

So thought is was time for a big blog to explain what I have been up to recently. If you have been reading the past blogs I have been writing you will know I am currently in the US Colorado coaching the GB Freeski team. I took this job on in September and will be working with our British Freeski athletes in Slopestyle and Halfpipe leading up the Olympics in 2014 and beyond and travelling with them to events as well as coaching them full time. I will however be still working for Salomon UK as the Freeski team and community manager which I have done for many years now and totally love.

So this week we have been training and competing at the World cup Halfpipe event which was the first big event of the season and now ere training for the DEW tour which kicks off this week and we have 3 athletes representing us in this. In the Halfpipe qualifiers we have James Machon who is the current British Halfpipe champion and Pete Speight who placed 3rd at the Brits last year. In Slopestyle we have our very own James Woodsy Woods who is now regarded as one of the Worlds best which he has proved on many occasions recently and he has even been given a wold card to compete in the whole Dew tour so this means him not even having to compete in qualifiers this year which takes the pressure off. We have been training in Keystone this week on the BIG jump line where pretty much every big name pro skiers and snowbaoder were also training and getting them selves prepared for the up and coming DEW tour and the X Games which will kick off at the end of January. Katie Summerhayes has also been training with me none stop and she has in extra hard as she is training for the Youth Olympics which will also be in January in Innsbruck Austria and she's still also training for Slopestyle events and she was not holding back on the BIG pro line of kickers the other day! Other athletes out here with us are Murray Buchan who placed in the top 30 in the Word cup pipe event last week, Joe Tomlinson, Peter Speight and Rob Taylor. They have all been training and working so hard its incredible and I could not be more lucky to have such a great group of athletes here with me. Im cooing back to the UK with Katie at the end of the week for Xmas and getting ready for the Youth Olympics which is going to be crazy!

Thanks for reading.

Pat

GB athletes working hard.

Salomon — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:54:02 GMT

Report from the GB team out in Colorado.

So we the last few days of training over in the US have been truly awesome and I could not be happier with the team! It makes such a difference knowing everyone so well and I respect them all massively and the passion they have for the sport is just un explainable! We trained in Copper mountain yesterday as we have the World cup halfpipe coming up and Copper has one of the best pipes in the world. And today we have been hitting the Breck park where there is a kicker line of 3 jumps and boxes and rails. The jumps are not too big as their still building the big kicker line which should be finished soon. Lots of the other nations are all here training which is so good to see. I bumped into Evan Raps who is now the US slopestyle coach and one of the main pioneers of our sport today. He was up there with Bobby (Brown) and some of the other US athletes and we had a good catch up and it was so good to see what he's now doing. Im still trying to get over my jet lag at the moment which seems to have knocked me for six so im going to keep this blog short. Thanks for reading. Pat.

Training day 1. Breckenridge

Salomon — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 23:06:51 GMT

So today was the first official day of training here in Breck. It was so good to have team GB together and getting into the swing of things. Its going to be a busy couple of weeks for me as Im going to be dividing my time between Halfpipe and slopestyle training but im positive it will all workout really well. We have our first WC Halfpipe event in a few days and not long until the Dew tour which kicks off on the 15th. Were off to Copper mountain tomorrow to checkout the Halfpipe so exciting times

GB team training - Breckenridge

Salomon — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 23:21:58 GMT

So this is officially the start of the winter for Team GB and myself. Katie Summerhayes and me arrived here in Breckenridge Colorado late last night after a super long journey and met up with Murray Buchan Rob Taylor and got all settled in to our new winter home base which is awesome! The rest of the team are al on their way and everyone should be here by tomorrow so we already have plans to head up the mountain on the first lift and get stuck into training. Its snowing a little here and im feeling positive that the snow will come hard soon and im keeping my fingers that it will back in Europe too as I know their are a lot of very nervous people at the moment. So I will be keeping you all up to date with little blogs here most days and letting you know how things are going so please keep following us. Thanks Pat

Katie and Woodsy on the new British Freeski team

Salomon — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:29:05 GMT

Since the news that Slopestyle and Halfpipe will be in the Olympics in 2014, there has been a new British freeski team announced which includes are very own Katie Summerhayes and James Woodsy Woods. This is exciting times as last winter both athletes proved they are now some of the best Freeskiers in the world and could be potential medal contenders in 2014. Also, our UK Freeski team manager Pat Sharples has been asked to be the head coach and manager of the British freeski team. Exciting times a head for team GB.

Salomon GB team success

Salomon — Thu, 12 May 2011 12:44:41 GMT

So I think we can safely say the Salomon GB team have had the year of all years this winter! For the last few years the team have dominated the British ski scene and now created shock waves world wide! Katie and Tyler's results at the European open and Austrain open making the podiums and not for getting Katie been the youngest skier to compete in Euro X. And talking of Euro X Games, Woodsy's first time competing there and even taking the bronze medal! Bring on next winter!

World champs - blog day 2

Salomon — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 14:20:41 GMT

So we had our first day of training yesterday and it went great. The Slopestyle set up is awesome all though the athletes did have trouble with the wind as it was blowing up hill which made it hard to get speed for the jumps but fingers crossed it will have dropped off my Wednesdays comp day. The whole team skied really well and Im so proud to be part of team GB. We worked on the rails at the top part of the course so today were going to spend more time on the jumps. Katie was super consistent all day and she is going for it 100%. Woodsy is just on fire and full of confidence and could make a massive impact at this comp for sure. He was defo one of the guys turning heads today. Andy was also proper going for it throwing rodeos off the up rail all though he took some bad slams and he's spending some time with our team physio Gordon now. Our new athlete 17 year old Zach was also not holding back and also throwing rodeo's off the up rail which he only learnt yesterday. The standard here is super high. To be honest it couldn't be any higher! All the big names are here. Bobby Brown, Sammy Carlson, Dumont, Russ Henshaw and I could go on and on. So last night myself and Simon (Ashton) went to the captains meeting which was also an incredible experience. All the coaches from all the different countries had their own seat with their national flag by the side of them. I have to say i was pretty proud to be sitting next to our national flag and representing our country! There is over 80 athletes competing at the World champs and 36 nations involved which were told makes it the biggest freestyle comp ever which is pretty cool. There is a super cool atmosphere here which is hard to put down in words but everyone is really bonding well and proud to be here at the World champs. Our new GB team jackets are awesome too and it does make things that extra special for sure. So I have just finished servicing the team skis which was a bit of a mission as its -20 today so we need a super cold wax for the skis to run fast and hot waxing and scraping this type of wax for these conditions is pretty hard. Well I will let you know how the team get on in training later. Like I said earlier, im super proud of them all and I feel so lucky to be here coaching them at one of the worlds biggest comps.

World champs - blog day 1

Salomon — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 14:15:24 GMT

So as many of you may know, this week Im at the World champs in Deer Valley USA with the British Freeski team. I will be coaching the Slopestyle and halfpipe athletes which im super proud of and we have an amazing team all though we have had a bit of bad luck as 2 of our athletes have injured themselves and are now unable to attend. Leight Powis who is a star in the Poor Boyz movies injured his MCL while filming last week but fingers crossed its not too serious and he will be back on the skis very soon. And Mr Paddy Graham who in now one of Europe's biggest ski stars and has paving the way for other British sklers for years now has also recently injured his shoulder in the Red Bull line catcher. Before his injury, Paddy has been killing it and even won Best trick at the Line catcher competing against the Worlds best so im sad to not have him coming with us as I felt he could have got a great placing in pipe as well as slopestyle! Paddy is on the mend though and will be back soon. So Katie Vanessa (sharples) and me arrived last night after a great trip which went so smooth. I was dreading it as when i came here a couple of weeks ago it took forever and when we arrived at salt Lake airport we didn't have any luggage. I was worried about this as I had Katie and Woodsy's new skis with me and I would of hated missing a day of training due to no equipment. But it all worked out well and we arrived at the hotel at 9pm. Im sharing a room with the GB team manager Simon Ashton who has been super busy sorting everything out and what an incredible job he has done. Katie and Vanessa are sharing which their both happy with as now they can watch Glee together without me moaning about it! Woodsy and Andy are sharing and were just waiting for the rest of the team to arrive. Today were going up to the slopestyle to get a full day of training in. I so excited to see all the other athletes and coaches up there too. The Slopestyle qualifying will be this Wednesday followed by the finals on Thursday then Friday will see the Pipe comp. I need to just say a massive thanks to everyone who has supported us because I can't explain how amazing everyone has been with helping us with this trip. Snow & Rock, thank you so much for supplying us with all the ski servicing equipment that you sen me last week! This is so important that we have the equipment to keep are athletes skis in top condition each day and Snow and Rock have given us every single thing we need. Thanks guys! Also to Salomon who I work with and always support everything I do. I could go on forever of how much they have helped us to get things sorted for this trip but running out of space. And to Scott (McMorris) at Oakley who I also work with for getting me sorted out before I came here. I will stop going on now but will be blogging each day with videos and pics so be sure to keep up to date on the gossip. The World champs will be on Eurosport this week. too.

Thanks for reading. Pat

BBR is seen on World cup downhill podium

Salomon — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:56:31 GMT

I am totally loving this! The new BBR on the podium at the Kitzbuhle downhill last week.

Exciting time for UK athletes

Salomon — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 15:30:21 GMT

I can't explain how excited I am about the World champs in America next week! I really can't explain! This is the first time I will have ever been to a World champs and even though I was never good enough to make it as an athlete back in the day, I think im even more proud to be going as a coach. The team we have selected for the champs is awesome and super talented and its so good I know them so well. Im gutted Paddy (Graham) won't becoming due to his shoulder injury but he's coming to stay with us for a couple of days next week while he's doing some physio and to see a shoulder specialist. So this years world champs team will be Woodsy, Katie Summerhayes, Em Lonsdale, Andy Matthew, Murray Buchan, James Machon and Leigh Powis. As well as the halfpipe and slopetsyle events, there will also be the Moguls where Andy Longley and Ellie Koyander will be representing us and there will also be the Ski - cross too. Were going to be blogging and Vanessa has a press pass to take photos so we should get some great coverage to you. Everyone has been so supportive so a big thanks to you all.

Pat

Katie & Woodsy competing in the World champs

Salomon — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 02:07:06 GMT

In a couple of weeks, our very own Katie Summerhayes and James Woodsy Woods will be competing in the World Freeski championships in Park City USA. Its the first time Slopestyle as been added and its a big step forward to making it into the Olympics.

Salomon UK dealer trip

Salomon — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 01:59:59 GMT

So we have just got back from our Salomon UK dealer trip which was in Park City this year. It was an incredible week even though we didn't get as much powder as we hoped but the conditions were still good. The talk of the week was about the new BBR skis and everyone wanted to try them. The other was the Rocker 2 which was everything we hoped it would be.

Woodsy in the Dew tour

Salomon — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 14:10:07 GMT

So our very own Woodsy is doing the Dew tour qualifying comp today in Breckenridge US. So good he gets his shot of competing against the Worlds best. If he puts down the run he wants to do, he will do super well. Good luck Woodsy!

The Quest competition

Salomon — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:42:39 GMT

Dont forget to send in your Quest experiences to our Salomon UK Freeski facebook fan page to be in with a chance of winning a new Salomon Shadow Jacket. We want to hear all your story's as everyone is getting super excited about skiing again as were coming to the start of the winter.

Pat Sharples - The Quest in Courchevel france.

Salomon — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:30:44 GMT

As we have just launched are new online comp where we want you to send in your Quest experiences, I thought I would put one of my Quests in from last winter when I was skiing in Courchevel France. I added this to the news section a while ago so some of you may have read this, but if not, here it is. Remember, the person who send in the best Quest will win a new Salomon jacket.

I set a quest for myself to hike and ski the Aiguille du Fruit which is the highest and one of the steepest faces in Courchevel. I'd done this a few years ago but never got quite to the top, but was determined this time I would. I had a pair of the Sentinel skis in a 184 and the new Quest 12 boots which are made for doing stuff like this. They have the hiking adjustment on the back which makes it much easier. You should never do things like this alone so I asked around to see if any of my old buddies would be interested in doing it too, but not much luck. In the end it was a guy called Tom who had worked in Courchevel for a season before and was staying in the same chalet as us that decided to give it a go which was great. He brought along one of his friends Tim who works as a ski leader for Ski Olympic and we headed off to the bottom of the Aiguille du Fruit. When we traversed to the bottom of the face I really had no idea how long it was going to take us to get to the top. There was only one way to find out. I set off in front and followed some old tracks up which made it easier at first, but as I got further up the tracks started to fade. That's when I had to start digging my boots in to get a grip, which took up more energy and made me even more tired.

After about an hour hiking I was just passed half way and could start to see the summit. I was a fair way in front of Tom and Tim at this point and they shouted over to say they were calling it a day and skiing down from where they were. I was really impressed with the guys as they did get a good way up and skied some nice fresh snow down to the bottom. They said they'd wait at the bottom and make sure I was okay and if there was any problems. If there were they could tell the ski patrol, which is super important.

I carried on up by myself feeling pretty good and not too tired, but when I was only 10 minutes away from the summit I thought my glasses had steamed up. I took them off to find out that it wasn't my glasses at all, it was my vision! The flat light along with the exhaustion and the height of the mountain had started to spin me out. This was a super dangerous time to be feeling like this. I told myself not to panic and just get my skis on and ski down straight away. My skis were attached to my back pack so I took it off and stuck them in the snow. I have no idea how steep the face was at that point but it was super steep for sure! I lost my balance slightly and grabbed my skis to stop myself falling - only to slice 2 of my fingers open which were deep cuts. Not good! I have to admit, I was pretty scared as I was feeling more dizzy by the second. I managed to strap up my hand with my hat, get my skis on and start to make my way down very slow. My legs were gone as I would normally have chilled out at the top for at least 30 minutes before heading down. My heart was beating fast but all I could think was I need to get down this face before I fell down! I was mentally and physically exhausted. I had visions all week of how I was going to ski this face but it didn't matter now, I just needed to get down and get my fingers seen to as I was losing a lot of blood. It didn't take me long to get down, maybe a couple of minutes or so but it felt a lot longer. Once I got down to the bottom and met up with the lads I thought I was going to pass out and had gone very white. They were great and gave me some chocolate, then got ski patrol to strap up my fingers. So all in all, it was a awesome adventure but it didn't turn out how I thought it would. I'm stoked I did it and learnt a lot from the experience but for sure I'll be more prepared next time I do it.

So did I conquer my Quest? Sort of I guess, but not the way I thought I would. I did carry on skiing that afternoon and had a awesome day. I felt fine after a couple of hours of rest and yesterday I even took my Fiance Vanessa back to the Aiguille du Fruit area where we skied fresh powder all day with no one around.

By Pat Sharples

The Metro ski show in London

Salomon — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 12:56:27 GMT

Not long until the London Metro ski show which will kick off on the 20th October. There will be ski & snowboard demo's everyday which will include Salomon athletes who will also be competing in this years Best of Brits comp and the legendary London Ride. Salomon will have a stand at the show so be sure to come and see us and say hi. You will also be able to checkout all the latest products which we will have on show.

Salomon Expert program

Salomon — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:33:16 GMT

The Salomon sales team are currently touring the country training up industry specialists on the new products coming into the stores very soon. The have visited the Snow centre in Hemel, Tamworth, Manchester and are heading to Glasgow and Leeds.

Katie Summerhayes riding at the London Freeze

Salomon — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:52:32 GMT

Our very own 14 year old Katie Summerhayes has been asked as the only girl to compete at this years London Freeze battle of Britain competition. After showing the world that she is now one of the best at the European Freeski championships this year, the organisers have decided she can compete against the boys. James Woods aka Woodsy who came 2nd last year will also be competing as well as Josh Fawcett from our team. Once again it looks set to be a big event and some of the world biggest names have confirmed they will be there including X games gold medalist Bobby Brown.

Pro pipe quiz

Salomon — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:43:07 GMT

Watch out for our Pro pipe quiz in association with Ellis Brigham coming soon to our Salomon facebook fan pages where you will get the chance to win £50 vouchers every month if your lucky! We will also be posting our Pro pipe promo video starring Britain's no1 Woodsy showing them off.

Salomon UK Quest tour

Salomon — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:36:05 GMT

The Ski Club has teamed up with Snow+Rock and Salomon to present a series of backcountry talks and training sessions at UK slopes this November with mountain guide Nigel Shepherd

The Salomon Quest Backcountry Ski Seminar Tour launches on 2 November at Snow+Rock’s Gateshead store, with five further talks in early November at stores in Manchester (the Chill Factore), Bristol, Kensington, Hemel Hempstead (the Snow Centre) and Chertsey. Hosting the tour will be UIAGM mountain guide and Ski Club’s Alpine Safety Advisor Nigel Shepherd who has also worked alongside Salomon research and development team to create a unique range of backcountry kit, including the Quest ski boots and Sentinel skis. At the talks Shepherd will be sharing first-hand knowledge gained from years of backcountry experience and those attending the tour will also get the chance to find out more about Salomon’s innovative backcountry kit. At the Snow Centre and the Chill Factore there will also be the chance to try a range of the Salomon Quest boots and Sentinel skis in a one hour on-snow session. There will also be some ski touring demonstrations and the opportunity to have a go at skinning up the slopes. The talks at Gateshead, Bristol, Kensington and Chertsey will run from 7-9pm with tickets £5 for members and £7 for non-members. Tickets for the Chill Factore and Snow Centre including the demo sessions and ski testing cost £15, with the on-snow sessions taking place from 9-10pm following the talk.

To buy tickets visit the Ski Club’s online shop. A full list of dates and venues can be found below.

Dates & venues:

Tuesday 2 November – Snow+Rock, Gateshead

Wednesday 3 November – Snow+Rock, Chill Factore,

Manchester (ski testing and touring demo on snow included)

Thursday 4 November – Snow+Rock, Bristol

Tuesday 9 November - Snow+Rock, Kensington

Wednesday 10 November - Snow+Rock, The Snow Centre,

Hemel Hempsted (ski testing and touring demo on snow included)

Thursday 11 November – Snow+Rock, Chertsey

Britains got skiers

Salomon — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:52:17 GMT

You should all know about the competition that Ellis Brighams are running by now! Britain's got skiers is a competition where you have to send in your edits which might feature in this years new movie and the best edit will be rewarded with £500. Not bad hey! The best thing to do is join the Britain's got skiers group on facebook and there you can find all the rules and information about what to do. But the most important thing is to gather up all your footage and getting editing fast as the edits need to be in very soon! I have been working with Grom TV director Pete Cable on the new Salomon team vid which will feature in the extras as will the Oakley grom Games edit. I might also be having a cheeky little section myse

New Salomon Grom website is finally here

Salomon — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:41:41 GMT

We are proud to launch the new Salomon Grom Freeski website www.salomongromcamps.co.uk Here you can find out where we will be running all our events around the UK as well as keeping up to date with all the British Freeski gossip and watch the latest Grom TV episodes.

Happy days - Saas fee blog day 3

Salomon — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 07:28:53 GMT

What a super sweet day on the hill today was. You normally find that after a few days of solid freestyle skiing that most people are pretty tired and ready for a rest but not this weeks campers! The day started off pretty slow and I have to say my group struggled on their first few runs, but after I had a few words with them, the day was ON and they turned it around big time! You have to remember, this was only the 3rd day of the camp but they stepped it up in a big way. We were seeing front flips, 360 mutes, 4 foot out of the pipe and loads of crashes and broken skis and a bit of blood! What more can you ask of a group that are already giving you 101% effort in their training! Dave and Andy's groups were equally going for it and even at the end of the day where no one had any energy left, all the campers joined us for a round of crazy golf and some trampoline coaching where Woodsy worked his magic as he always does each day.

So tomorrow is rest day for the campers and coaches so if anyone wants to party, tonight is the night as they can lay in tomorrow morning. The under 16s can't go partying but they still have loads of energy so im sure they will be on the mountain in the morning. The weather is looking good all week even though there were a few clouds today but it has seemed to have lifted now.

I have to say, im still unsure weather i can be bothered going out tonight as im shattered and getting older doesn't make it easier! Maybe I will pop out for a drink as Im so stoked on how the weeks going and enjoying the awesome atmosphere of Saas Fee.

Thanks for reading.

(Photo - Salomon UK athletes Woodsy, Cal and Pat (me) Sharples taken by my wife, Vanessa Sharples)

It's on! - Saas Fee Day 2 blog 3

Salomon — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 07:23:07 GMT

Today was only our 2nd day of the camps but already everyone one is fully on it and proper going for it! We have 3 groups at this week who are skiing with myself, Andy B, and Dave. Woodsy has been a star and has been running the stretching sessions, trampolining and will be over seeing his own group next week. We also have Paddy back on Friday and were looking forward to seeing him and finding out all the gossip from Canada which im sure there will be loads!

So anyway, I have a group of 7 this week with a few of the guys I have coached before and some new guys who are just ace! Im stoked on how they have all skied so well together and push each other. They are already great skiers but in the last 2 days have reached a really high standard in the park and are not afraid of going for it! I did video analysis this evening and I think they were pretty surprised on how good they are looking.

Andy has a super high standard of riders including scottish rippers Cal Sandieson and Chris Wadsworth. I have to give it to Chris, he has been on a camp in the States before here and he's looking good and he's been learning doubles on the trampoline with Woodsy. Another standout dude is Oscar who has attended Grom camps before and today was throwing backflips for his first time on the kickers which was cool to see.

Anyway, not going to go on too much with today blog as still stuff to do and were just about to do rooms checks and make sure everyone is cool (and not in the pub) and then early night. Pretty tired now as we had a full on game of football this afternoon which has finished me off and want to feel good for tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

Pat

PS - Im using the 2012s this summer which are so good for summer skiing as its super slushy and they just work perfect in these conditions.

Day 1 on the British Freeski camps in Saas

Salomon — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:14:27 GMT

Normally the first day of the kick off to the British Freeski camps is always pretty stressful as there is loads to arrange like but today went really smoothly and we have a awesome group out with us in Saas this week! After we sorted everyone out with passes we made our way up the mountain and had a good stretch off that Woodsy always takes the camp through and I then got everyone into their groups. As always, there is a mixed group of standards from good skiers starting freestyle for the first time to super high level standard and we also have guys on the camp from other countries like Italy, America, Switzerland and Poland which is great and everyone has already connected which is cool to see. So the first day on the mountain is always pretty chilled and everyone just needs to find their ski legs and get used to being in high altitude as well as getting used to the park features. The park is in great condition with more features than normal. The only think that is missing is some real big jumps for the pro's but they might be getting built this week. Even so, there are still good size kickers to work on so everyone is happy! After skiing we had another stetch out followed by Trampoline training which we feel is just as important as the skiing! For those of you have ben on the camps before you will know that our trampoline is based round the back of the Dom hotel where we also have a volley ball court but new this year, there is also a back yard rail jib that the Dim camps have made which is wicked! They were hitting it today and it seems to be working pretty well so I guess we will have our campers on it later in the week. (CHECK OUT THE PHOTO) So tonight is the world cup final and there showing it in the hotel bar so were all heading there but it will be a quiet night as everyone worked hard today and all the campers and coaches are feel a bit tired and we want to feel fresh for tomorrow!

Thanks for reading. Pat

Saas Fee - Summer Freeskiing

Salomon — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:19:52 GMT

So we finally arrived to Saas fee after a very long journey due to bad traffic and road works but now were here it's so good to be back. Saas Fee is really one of my favourite resorts in the World and the resort is always super relaxed. We have great weather and the glacier is in top condition and everyone is raving about the park as there are more jumps and some new rails since last summer. At the moment im just waiting at the hotel Dom for all the campers to arrive and then we will be giving the welcome meeting and letting them know what is planned for the week. The coaches have arrived now which includes Dave Young, Andy Bennett, Woodsy, Warren Smith and myself and Paddy is joining us next week as he's still in Canada on the Camp of Champions which sounds awesome! So each day I will be posting blogs, updates and some videos and keeping you up to date with all the gossip. The camps are really busy this summer but there are still spaces and there is still time to book on if anyone fancies doing some summer skiing on one of Europe's best glaciers. I still haven't unpacked and I have so much stuff as were here all month so I guess I better get on with it before it all gets hectic. This photos is the view from my window. You can see the glacier is still looking really healthy and come pretty low down. Apparently they had fresh snow up there the other day so I will get some shots up on the glacier tomorrow to post.

Thanks for reading.

Pat

British Freeski camps

Salomon — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:59:10 GMT

In less than 2 weeks the British Freeski camps will kick off in Saas Fee Switzerland which looks set to be awesome! Saas Fee has one of the best Glaciers in Europe with a great park. There will also be the Saas Fee ride big air on the 17th July www.saasfeeride.com which attract some of the biggest names in Freeskiing. All the Salomon UK team will be heading out and Myself (Pat Sharples) and Woodsy will be coaching. For more info visit www.britishfreeskicamps.com

Grom Games

Salomon — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:29:05 GMT

On the 17th April at Manchester's Chill Factore, the first ever Grom Games which Salomon Freeski are supporting will be taking place. This looks set to be one of the biggest Freeski & snowboard events ever to come to the UK with all the big names attending. There will be 2 jam sessions through the day for skiers and snowboarders followed by an evening invitational event which includes some of our athletes. Woodsy, Katie, Tyler have all be invited to the evening knockout event and Cal, Josh and Molly will be skiing hard to ensure they are picked from the jam session to compete in the evening event too. I have had a big part of making this event happen but I have not been involved in picking the invited riders as it would not be fare. So much work has gone into the Grom games and im super excited about it all and this is the first event where I have run it for snowboarders as well as skiers. We have 3 times X Games gold medalist Jenny Jones and Olympic hero Ben Kilner coming along as judges which is amazing. Check out www.gromgames.co.uk for all the info.

Salomon UK team - Brits results

Salomon — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:16:22 GMT

So once again the Salomon UK freeski team cleared up at the British champ in Laax Switzerland! The standard was sky high even though their was a few of the big names not attending this year. Katie Summerhayes regained her tittle of British slopestyle and Big air champion and Woodsy also kept his tittle of british big air champ and coming 2nd in the Big air and 3rd in the Halfpipe. Molly Summerhayes won the kids skiercross for the 3rd year running and also came an incredible 2nd plce overall in the Big air only loosing out to her big sister Katie. Tyler Harding proved once again he is the best kid skier in the UK by winning every event in his age category and also making overall finals in each event. Our youngest team member Cal Sandieson made it on to the podium in the halfpipe and slopestyle and also the overall finals in the slopestyle. Josh Fawcett couldn't compete due to him recovering from his injury but he was massively supportive and he looks set to be back in action for the Oakley Grom games. I was the event MC once again and had an amazing week and could not be more proud of our team!

A good day on the hill

Salomon — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:17:40 GMT

I could not resist. Another day in the mountains with perfect weather and great snow. Just having a spot of lunch and a beer before finding some new untracked areas. Im on the 2012s today which I love and they are perfect for these conditions.

James Woods aka Woodsy and Katie Summerhayes qualify for finals in the European open

Salomon — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:03:56 GMT

On Wednesday this week I go the best phone call ever. It was from Woodsy and Katie who rang me to tell me that Woodsy had qualified in 6th place while Katie Qualified in 3rd in the European open. That whole day I was so nervous to find out how they had done but these results were just incredible. The finals is today (Friday) and I so wish I could be there and normally would be but this event has clashed with the SIGB ski test in Italy Bormio which my bosses from Salomon need us all there on hand. There are all the biggest names in the world attending the open again this year including Simon Dumont, Tom Wallisch,Jossi Wells, Kaya Turski and the UKs very own Paddy Graham who got pre qualified. There are also a few Brits competing like Murray Buchan, James Machon, Pete Speight and Joe Hides who also qualified for the finals in the halfpipe yesterday. So excited for British skiing right now and can't wait to hear the final results later on. We will have the news and results up here as soon as we find out. Thanks for reading