Last Trip of the year

Will has flown off for his final snowboarding trip of the year ,so he's with the Park and Pipe crew in Tignes, France. Sounds like he's having a great time , doing some mountain skills training and just generally having fun.

Also TSA recently did this little video the first of a series featuring their sponsored riders , and Our Will and Harry Winnard are the in the first episode .. 

Tsa-gangcasts-episode-1

Trip to Lublin Sportival in Poland

So Will was invited a few weeks ago by his sponsors  Dragon and Stance, to attend a new up and coming rail competition in Lublin , Poland. He was due to fly out last weekend  with fellow Dragon Rider ( and UK big hitter) Andy Nudds. Unfortunately at the very minute Andy was'nt able to go, so I was the lucky person to get to go along with Will as a very poor stand-in for Andy.

Lublin was a great city and where the event was staged was spectacular, in front of the old medival castle . The Polish people were very friendly and welcoming to us both.

The rail competition started with practice sessions, and then there were three 20 min heats to qualify  through to the final. Will rode with his usual style against a crew of Eastern European big names including Dragon Rider Ziga Rakovek and the two  Redbull riders Wojtec Pawlusiak and Denis Leontyev.

He was really pleased to get through to the final , where he was competing against the top 9 other male riders ,being by far the youngest rider. In the end of an amazing final with everyone throwing down really stylish tricks, the top riders were Darek Bergman (Czechy) who came first, Wojciech Pawlusiak (Polska) who came second and the very smiley Jessi Blackwell (Norwegia) who came third. 

Through to the Final

The huge Polish crowd took Will to their hearts when he was riding and he also got a great reception from all the other riders. In all , it was a great experience for Will for his first European competition , and it was amazing of Stance and Dragon to make the trip happen. Will was also really lucky to get a new GoPro camera from The Snowboard Asylum. We used it to video some of his riding and this is in the clip below...

Telegraph Ski Snowboard Show

Well its been a really busy few days for Will and the rest of the family. Will has been riding in the Telegraph Ski Snowboard Show again ,down in its new venue of Battersea Park. The Soul Sports guys built a  scary looking big air jump ,and invited Will together with   a crew of rad snowboarders like Sparrow Knox, Matt McCormick and Andy Nudds and Skiers such as little Bradley Fry and Olympian Murray Buchan  to ride it.
In all the weather stayed overcast but fair and the  guys put on a great demonstration of  riding over the four days.
It was a fab show with lots of atmosphere and a good chance to meet up with many of the friends in the snowboarding and skiing industry.

 So coming up there is Will's good friend Jake Binnee's Only Fools and Horses themed park night this Thursday at Snozone and then a potential trip out to Europe to take part in something exciting. Plus a little video blog that Will recorded with the guys at TSA is coming out any day now...

looks quite scary from this angle !

The Brits and Hintertux

It has been an eventful weekend , with the indoor Brits up in Manchester on Saturday . Will rode really well on the day and after 5 hours riding he came away with a bronze medal for coming 3rd overall to friend and fellow  MK snozone rider Jake Binnee's,  well deserved  1st and Scott Walshes 2nd in the men's category .  Really proud of Will as always.

Then it was a quick turnaround to get his snowboard gear dry and packed ready for heading out to Hintertux , Austria today to do some snowboarding with the Park and Pipe crew. Thanks to the guys at TSA for sorting out some awesome merino wool thermals for Will to take away with him so he doesn't get cold out there in the mountains .

Winter's Coming.......

Once again I've left it too long between posts, but to be fair,not a lot snowboarding has been happening. Apart from a great night  last week at Will's home dome when Halldor Helgason and Tor Lundstrom came for the VonZipper night. It was a really great atmosphere as snowboarders came from far and wide and made it a great night for Will and the rest of the MK riders.

Tor Lundstrom and Halldor Helgason with our Will

                 James Streater has taken some great pictures of Will in the last few weeks too.

Photo credit James Streater

Photo credit James Streater

Photo credit James Streater

Photo Credit James Streater

Photo Credit James Streater

So there is some exciting times for Will coming up in the next month or so, He's heading out to Hintertux glacier very soon to train with the Park and Pipe Academy and the Main GB team, and  yesterday he filmed a little interview to appear on the TSA website which will appear really soon  . Plus  there are more other interesting opportunities developing. Its amazing what snowboarding is bringing to Will.

Trip to High Cascade

Scott Stevens, Jesse Burtner, Will and Chris Grenier

Its been a busy Summer Holidays for Will . Just a few days after coming home from the Park and Pipe trip to Saas Fee.Will was off to America to take part in session 6 of the the High Cascade Snowboard Camp in Oregon.

Seattle Needle

Seattle Harbour

We had a couple of days sight seeing  in Seattle before heading down to Government Camp in Oregan.Although the snow was really poor Will had a great time riding with fellow HCSC riders from all over America.As well as making a load of new friends Will rode with Chris Grenier and Scott Stevens as the signature session riders,  as was featured in a little instagram edit by Scott Stevens. Then after a week of rad riding and skateboarding (mainly by Will) we headed back to Seattle. It was there that Will met up with Capita Snowboards Owner Blue Montgomery, for a tour of the Capita base in Seattle and got a sneaky peak at the cool new 2017 board designs. Will came home gifted with a great new Scott Stevens skateboard deck and  armful of Capita tshirts and we were both sad to say goodbye to the west coast of America. Hopefully we'll be back next summer.

Then when we got home there was a great  Edit ofWill and fellow Park and Pipe rider Scott Walsh  released by the Park and Pipe Crew.

Trip to Mount Hood

So we are excitedly waiting for Will to arrive home tomorrow from Saas Fee.
He's been having a great time out there. There weather hasnt always been good enough to get up the mountain snowboarding, but he's been climbing, downhill scootering, swimming , skateboarding and just having fun.

He's stoked to have mastered his 720 spins though , in the little time they've had on the snow. Then its a quick turn around with washing and packing as Will and I are heading over to the States for Will to take part in session 6 of the High Cascade snowboard camp over on Mount Hood.
Its the first time I've been able to take Will away snowboarding as most of his trips are in school time.
I'm unsure of access to the internet though whilst we are out there so it may be a few weeks before our next update.

Saas Fee trip

Yesterday saw Will flying off to Switzerland to spend a couple of weeks with the Park and Pipe team. He sounds like he's having a blast riding the glacier in the morning and then mucking about skateboarding or swimming in the afternoon.
Saas fee is a really lovely place to spend with a bunch of friends having fun. We certainly enjoyed it when we all went a few years ago, so hopefully Will will do so again .

Park and pipe crew on downhill scooters

Summer jumping with a frontside spin

Will new indoor edit

Here is Will's new snowboarding edit filmed by the talented Max Presky on an unusually quiet night at Milton Keynes .

No snow this week.....

as Will has an exciting week with school. Monday saw Will of to Whipsnade zoo on a science trip, and then yesterday he headed away for an overnight adventure trip with a sleeping bag and a pillow.
Thursday see Will back at school taking part in a Saudi Day, and the Friday is a trip to Kenilworth Castle for a history trip. I like this kind of learning . So no doubt the boy is going to be shattered and we've not planned anything snowboarding for the boy.

Last week Will did some filming with the very talented Max Presky and so hopefully  a new indoor edit  will be coming out soon, and then next weekend Will heads out to Saas Fee in Switzerland for two weeks training with the GB Park and Pipe crew.

So lots of exciting snowboarding things to come and plenty for Will to look forward to as the summer holidays get closer.

hey now...

So Will has this great picture taken by James Streater this last Thursday freestyle night in Milton Keynes .Then on Friday down at the EnviroJam in Hemel Hemstead's Snow Dome,  saw Will having a great time . He was pleased  he made the final and won the under 16 category.

Gorilla Grab, photo credit James Streater of Maverix Snowboard Coaching

This is the soap box Will's Dad made him to compete in last weekend's Soap box derby,  where he won the kids category

Soap Box Racing 

Under 16 Cup Winner

Been a bit quiet lately

As theres not been a lot going on snowboarding wise these last few weeks and , him and his dad have been busy with another interest. So they've been making a soapbox to compete in our Brackley Town Soapbox  Derby which is next weekend.

In the meantime Will is heading upto Loughborough University tomorrow to take part in the Park and Pipe Athletic Capibility session which is a requirement  of his membership of the Park and Pipe team membership..

Deeluxe Spring Break Video

Wow  ! The video Will took part in filming with the Deeluxe Boots team is out . It's a great fun edit filmed at Spring Break in Kaunertal , Austria with fellow Deeluxe riders Mary Luggen, Alex Fischer, Julia Baumgartner and Living Legend Tarquin Robbins . Filmed  and Edited by Peter Rossner



 
DEELUXE / Just a couple Runs at the 2015 #snowboardspringbreak Kaunertal from DEELUXEboots on Vimeo.
Just a couple Runs at the 2015 #snowboardspringbreak Kaunertal.

Featuring all generations of Snowboarding.

www.deeluxe.com
www.facebook.com/deeluxeboots
www.instagram.com/deeluxeboots

Riding with Gigi Rüf

Will and his Dad are away at Spring Break in Kaunertal , Austria this week. It's been a real blast for them both and Will has loved every minute . He's ridden  in the winning team for the Whitelines rail jam on Sunday, then on Monday he  came 5th overall and won the under 16 category for the Dragon Methodical madness competition. Will also got to meet and ride with  snowboarding superstar Gigi  Rüf which  he is stoked with ! Overall this trip has been a chance to ride with lots of old friends and make plenty of new ones too.

Photo courtesy of Sam Oetiker OnBoard Magasine

Plus we are also really pleased to announce that Will has a new Sponsor in Deeluxe Boots which he has been riding for the last few weeks and really rates , so he is pleased to represent them and be added to their awesome team

Treelinechalets video edit  has landed ! filmed by Stuart Monk of Reelfunmedia  with fellow GB rider  (and heavy hitter) Jamie Trinder . Thanks to Treeline chalets,TSA and CLWR for a really fun trip for Will riding with an amazing group of snowboarding buddies.


TREELINE SPRING SHRED | 2015 from reelfunmedia on Vimeo.
www.treelinechalets.com
We invited our partners; The Snowboard Asylum, Bataleon, Switchback Bindings & Colourwear as well as GB riders Jamie Trinder & Will Gilmore, over to stay with us in Morzine in April for some end of season fun in the sun! Here's a mini edit from a sunny morning spent in the park with ReelFunMedia! Thanks Everyone!
Dunc | Treeline Chalets

music | alex eveson | www.soundcloud.com/eveson | a blue moon
camera & edit | stewart monk | www.reelfunmedia.com

Sports Aid Award

So Will went up to Nottingham yesterday with permission from school, to collect his Sports Aid award. This is precious money to go towards the costs of Will's snowboard training. It is in recognition of his snowboarding talent and potential and is as a result of Will being nominated by his Park and Pipe coaches.

The day was a blend of workshops on healthy eating and media awareness as well as being presented with his award. The Olympic Gold medal canoeist Tim Baillie was there to chat and give advice to all 32 talented young sports men and women. It was wonderful to see main stream to the more diverse sports being represented by a wonderful group of young people. In all a tiring but rewarding day..

Teaser clip

So Treeline chalets have released a teaser clip of Will and Jamie's trip last week

treeline teaser video

Enjoy

Treeline Chalet Trip

 Will has just come back from an ace week to Morzine as the guests of Treeline Chalets as part of his sponsorship with TSA and CLWR. He went out with Sam Nelson ,Team manager of CLWR and Dragon and rode with fellow CLWR  and TSA rider Jamie Trinder and a whole host of other snowboarding buddies. Whilst they were our there Will and Jamie competed in The Stash Gathering Competition which ended with Will getting first in the under 14 category and Jamie getting second overall .Will had a wonderful time away thanks to TSA, CLWR and Treeline.Hopefully there will be a little edit coming soon showing Will and Jamie riding in Morzine ,France.

Sam and Will

Mayrhofen Trip with the Park and Pipe Crew

So Will has come home after two weeks away in Austria with the Park and Pipe crew. He seems like he had a brilliant time even if the weather was against them and they had very few days on the jumps due to huge powder dumps.

He had a few little edits which I'll try and add tomorrow but here is a cheeky little backflip
in the meantime
backflip vid

New 2016 Capita , Children of the Gnar Snowboard.

Will is really lucky to be sponsored by Capita Snowboards and recently he  received next seasons 2015/16 Children of the Gnar snowboard. He'll take this next week when he goes out to Mayrohfen ,Austria for two weeks riding with the Park and Pipe crew.
His new board is a hybrid cambered board and will give him some extra pop on those kickers. He's stoked with his new board and can't wait to ride it properly out on the mountains.

Media coverage

Sorry its been a while since we last updated about Will. Its been a  busy time for us all. Firstly when Will was travelling back from Italy we found out that Will would be appearing in a small feature in The Times, and then on Sunday, Will was featured in an online article for the Mail on Sunday.

Will's article in Sunday Mail.

Not sure where they got the figures from, I wish we had that kind of money to spend on the boys,but overall it was a positive article.

Much more importantly, Will turned 12 over two weeks ago. Can't believe he's gotten so big ,so quickly. Where oh where has the time gone.Anyway He had a lovely quiet family party and in the end he asked for some more technical lego to go with  his vast collection.

Not long till the boy heads out to Mayrohfen, Austria to train with the Park and Pipe Team , then another amazing opportunity is just at this point looking possible too. Will keep you updated .

Time away in Italy

Well our Will is  travelling home today , after almost 3 weeks away snowboarding. Its the longest he's been away and we are all missing him very much. Sounds like he's had a great time and he's managed to get some much needed practice on the larger kickers ,as that's  the only thing lacking here in the UK.

Its  going to be Will's 12th birthday on Tuesday and so he definitely needed to be home with his family for that, we may have another triple chocolate cake and request for his favourite meal- Peking Duck .

Will's got another 4 to 5 weeks before he's back out on the mountain, we're trying to get Will as much  mountain time as possible without compromising his school work . Back home he has got some fabulous opportunities coming up, ( will keep you posted on those ) including meeting the Red Bull F1 drivers and snowboarding with Eero Ettala at MK Snozone.