FREESTYLE & FREERIDE CAMPS PROFILE FOR ROB

LOCAL SLOPE: Norwich Ski Centre, Norfolk

STARTED SKIING: November 2003! (I thought it would be fun to do my PE GCSE in skiing!)

SKIIED IN? Italy, France.

TRICK BAG: Front flips, slow 180’s, underflips and backflips.

AIMING TO LEARN HOW TO: Mute 7s, switch spins and 270 on/off rails.

FAVOURITE PRO RIDERS: Muzza… soooo funny; Slavemonkey… super steezed, great guy!

FAV CARTOON: Family Guy!

LINE SKIS HOLIDAY & CAMP, APRIL 2006

DIARY BY ROBBIE

Day 1 - Friday 31st March

After being picked up from Peterborough around 5pm we set off towards Dover near an hour behind schedule but with Matt driving we were soon back on track (we put it down to clear roads!).

Leg room in the rusting mini-bus was non-existent and worse when Joe and Craig joined us, and a rusted hole in the bottom of the door made warmth an issue during the night, but it was all part of the adventure. The weather at Dover was quite cold and overcast but people still began to mix from the two minibuses and get to know one another.

After a rather boring ferry crossing we boarded the mini-buses and set off for Les Deux Alpes. Driving through the night stopping occasionally for fuel and well-needed leg stretching and toilet breaks.

Funny bits - cramming Tom in the midget hole.

Good bits - the rest stops as we could stretch our legs.

Bad bits - the severe lack of leg room.

Day 2 - Saturday 1st April

I woke this morning to a cramped transit screaming its nuts off up a small hill, what a brilliant alarm clock! We finally arrived in the resort around 2pm Saturday morning, but couldn’t get into our rooms till later.

We killed a couple hours in town and returned to unpack and have a much needed shower. Our first meal in the hotel wasn’t quite British Standard but was sufficient to fill a hole, although lacking in the taste department. After dinner we all met in the room beside the restaurant and had the evening meeting where we all got to know each other and a bit about our background, including our favourite cheese!

Funny bits - the meal

Good bits - getting to know everyone

Bad bits - lack of sleep during the journey

Day 3 - Sunday 2nd April

Yes, the first day skiing and it was one to remember. I don’t think there was one person who didn’t fall at least once, especially the 1st powder run of the week; it must have been a sight for any punter watching 15 kids bomb it down a steep slope in around 2ft of powder and about 12 of them eating it within just a few metres!

Although most fell it had a really positive effect on everyone as we all felt relieved that we weren’t the only people to fall, and immediately the pressure of not falling went and everyone relaxed and had a laugh.

For the morning everyone followed the Coaches, but not in one of those lame snakes which was what I had been used to for the past 2 years, and we skied all over the mountain to familiarise ourselves before lunch.

In the afternoon everyone skied Pipe at least once then skied the Fun Park. Unfortunately the light conditions weren’t brilliant but there was enough to see the kickers and rails. Today I got well worked over barely landing any tricks, and injuring my legs, but was able to get back up and keep going because of my T-Pro body armour!

James and Charlie set about doing 3’s over the kickers and Hazza got straight in there on rails, he’s a dope little jib monkey. Pro skiers Muzza, Paddy, Theo and Tom arrived today as well. It was amazing watching them all ride.

After skiing it was back for a quick shower and change of clothes before heading out to the BUSC opening comprising of a ski racing demo and the ACG sponsored Big Air. James Webb was also involved in this and landed front flips and almost nailed the 9 but his skis slipped out on the landing.

Funny bits - watching everyone fall in the powder

Good bits - watching the BUSC opening that evening

Bad bits - eating it on almost every jump that day

Day 4 - Monday 3rd April

Today I really felt the consequences of yesterday on my shins so I took a couple of ibuprofens and off we went! Skiing was a lot better today than on Sunday as we were all used to the difference between plastic and snow.

To warm up we hit the Skier-X course which claimed several naive young skiers on the insane 8ft high rollers that just dropped off, leaving you high and dry, before the next corner where a seemingly harmless roller leading into the corner turned out to be a large drop off sending unsuspecting punters and freestylers 20ft up and into the banked turn the other side of the course!

After a good hearty laugh at other’s misfortune, and my own, Glen, James, Tom and me found a wind lip below the chair lift that acted as a good kicker into some soft powder. Naturally, James sent me on as the guinea pig (the common theme of the week on most new features) and I stomped a front flip. James then stomped a Misty 5 followed by Glen who ate it big also trying a Misty 5, and then Tom stomped a 3.

Unfortunately after this punter groups, mainly schools as well as punters in general, thought they’d have a go and ruined the landing!! So off we trotted for a session on the step-up and kickers beside the Slopestyle course, before hitting the Half Pipe and stopping for lunch.

Sketch, the BUSC MC, was killing it on the mic with some awesome tunes and the BUSC Big Air competition to watch. Some of the tricks being thrown down by the Uni students were incredible, but the best was the “Medic Air”, which paddy turned the megaphones siren on for.

In the afternoon Chris showed everyone a fence jump he’d skied so we all headed up there to try it out. He was right for a change, it was wicked. A natural lip gave enough air over a fence with a large drop afterwards into more powder. After a couple of runs at this we headed off to preserve it for later in the week. (We knew punters didn’t have the balls for this jump luckily, so it wouldn’t get destroyed.)

Funny bits - watching Glen eat off the powder jump

Good bits - getting to hang out with Slave, Gav and Paddy whilst they judged the big air and get an insight into what judges are looking for in a trick

Bad bits - a lack of sleep again that night as Chris was to hyped up

Day 5 - Tuesday 4th April

Today was awesome as I skied my first ever real off-piste lines with Gav and Craig. It was incredible you just flow through the powder making long arched turns. What an experience. However, the feeling didn’t last long as soon after we were skiing back to the hut for lunch when a rather red faced Frenchman halted me after Gav and Craig had skied past (I was following them), and immediately set about asking me “Where are you from?”, but when I asked him politely to repeat the question his face turned to a rather deep shade of maroon and he bellowed the question at me and called me a “wonker” which I assumed to mean “wanker” in English!

Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to answer “England” as he erupted and demanded me to present my lift pass, when I showed him he attempted to rip the clear pocket from my jacket and tried to tear up my lift pass! Maybe he needed glasses as he failed to notice the velcro opening that would allow the lift pass to slide out, but either way I pulled my jacket away from him and questioned his intentions.

Apparently I had skied down an area reserved for “customers, spectators and media”, surely if I’ve purchased a lift pass then I’m a customer? And this “reserved area” was the platform of a Halfpipe that was empty at the time, as I had already checked.

Fortunately for me our adopted mascot Nike ACG rider Theo from Tignes hurried over to my aid, worked his 12 year old French magic and Pepay le Pew hopped off for a quick garlic break. Merci beaucoup Theo!

After coming close to losing my lift pass on the 3rd day I steered clear of powder for a couple of hours before hitting the fence jump and the Fun Park. Later that afternoon Rick headed off with James and I to take a couple photos in the Slopestyle course, with going in as the guinea pig again!

The fist hit was the big kicker, which I had never hit before so a simple straight air did the job, whereas on the 2nd kicker I did a 1 over it but landed on the knuckle and shot out of my bindings. James hit both kickers and stomped the tricks. Next up was the Double kink / Flat-down-flat rail. Again I was the guinea pig but we had both hit it previously, so we knew roughly what to do. I had three hits at this rail and stomped it once, the other 2 times I either came off the side or fell on the down section. James hit the rail repeatedly until he got the shot he was happy with which was on about the 6th or 7th try. All the while Rick was snapping away and got some good shots of both of us.

The final feature was the flat rail on the top of the Halfpipe. Rick wanted us to stall on top of this and pop back in the Pipe. James went first but didn’t quite get the required speed, leaving it to me to hit. I did stall on the rail and Rick got the picture but unfortunately I had carried too much speed so my ski slipped over the edge of the rail and caused me to fall backwards into the Pipe. But I got the picture! James then proceeded to slide the rail before landing in the pipe.

All in all it was a good day and the meal wasn’t half bad that night. So after a couple glasses of coke, the evening meeting and a game of pool it was off to bed to get rested for the day ahead.

Funny bits - watching Pepay’s face change colours

Good bits - skiing powder lines for the first time, and getting some good pics with Rick and James

Bad bits - wasn’t one

Day 6 - Wednesday 5th April

The weather was really bad today, the cloud was covering the town and most of the mountain, making visibility quite poor and it was pouring with rain. Most people stayed in town due to this, and watched some films before hitting the town, whilst the Scottish lads donned their gangster clothes, flat peaked caps and bandannas and made their way down to the arcade to bust a few caps on Time Crisis 3.

For me, today was a rest day from skiing and a break from painkillers - my legs hurt so much without them, it was a mission to walk! James, Charlie, Tom and small group of others ventured out on to the mountain, praying the Park was above the cloud; but alas their efforts were in vain as they found flat light. Although upon their return to the hotel around midday they were still smiling but were a little bit soggy.

That afternoon, once the rain had stopped, Muzza and some others tagged up the town with about 2 packs of LINE fist stickers, they’re everywhere!

That evening Muzza, me, Chris, Tom, Miles, Danny and some others went in the Hotel jacuzzi for some relaxation before the evening meal and chat. After which we all went bowling which was great fun, with every one tagging everything and the staff constantly peeling them off, but they never found my bowling ball tag! Muzza moon walked down half the bowling alley and did the worm back up but unfortunately the lanes weren’t polished like in Ol’ England they had some sort of grease on them which made them no fun for sliding down. In the end Cammy won one game and I got the highest score in our’s, except for Rick but only by a few points!

Funny bits - tagging the bowling alley

Good bits - jacuzzi, really relaxing

Bad bits - leg pain, I’d been instructed not to take any painkillers

Day 7 - Thursday 6th April

A quick warm up on the mountain and it was straight into the Skier-X course. James and Charlie found it fun to do spins off the rollers, whilst I raced Tom down, but after the crash I had last time I backed off towards the bottom section and over the rollers, those things are dangerous! After a couple more runs over the step-up and through the Pipe, James hit the Deux Alpe photo jump and surprised everyone, especially the punters, with a really sweet front flip.

Pat, Slave and Paddy arrived back after being away at the Fat Face Rail Jam on Wednesday (Paddy came second!). Chris and Tom had spotted a small rock drop earlier of about 10ft into some powder, so I took Pat and Slave up to film it but unfortunately Chris and the others had already moved elsewhere. Gav hadn’t though and was still at the rock drop with a couple of guys so Pat and Slave set up the gear and filmed me and Gav hitting the drop. Having only done a rock drop once before I played it safe and simply dropped it and rode it out, but Gav did a switch 1 off the drop and rode it out as well.

Next everyone met at the Halfpipe and worked on doing one big hit so Rick could take some pictures, then work our way down the Pipe to keep practicing. On my first hit I didn’t get the grab early enough so I had to do it again. On my next hit I went much bigger out of the Pipe but my tails hit the lip of the Pipe and I fell from the top to the flat and landed on my face! This did have some benefits though as it gave me an excuse to sit down for a bit, whip out the wife beater top and catch some rays on my lily white arms!

After some tough sandwiches for lunch I headed up to the hip with Slave and worked on my air to fakies, then Rick came over and joined us for some pics so I ended up hiking up and down the hip and Halfpipe area about 4 or 5 times. I was knackered. After several hits on the hip and Halfpipe, Muzza and the others joined us from the Slopestyle course. Rick spent the rest of the afternoon at the big air kicker with Pat and Chris, so I went to join them. Some of the tricks the guys were doing were incredible, for example LINE rider Gaute Haaker (“Norwegian Steve”) did Switch corked 5 true noses; they were amazing.

When we got back to the hotel James and Charlie were off out again with Glen to build up some urban rails they’d spotted earlier in the week, so they could let them set and then hit them Friday night. We also had video analysis again that night and we had some big laughs at the day’s crashes, as well as Pat talking us through the clips of tricks saying what was good and bad about them and sometimes how funny but painful the crashes looked.

Also that night it was Slave’s 20th birthday party, and from some of the stories and peoples faces the next day, it was nuts, especially when Slave had to be carried home around midnight!

Funny bits - Slave being carried home - enough said!

Good bits - hitting the rock drop as I’ve never done one before

Bad bits - falling in the pipe as it hurt my neck

Day 8 - Friday 7th April

This morning on the way up the mountain on a simple blue run Cammy dropped off the 1 metre ledge on to the piste below but fell and everyone else crashed into him, Lee ended up shooting off the side of the piste down a steep hill covered with powder, followed swiftly by me as I fell off the same ledge avoiding Chris who had skied where I was going to land! Me and Lee then rolled and flipped about 15-20 metres down the hill with skis left sticking up out of the snow on the way down! It was hilarious. We then had to hike back up through deep powder that slipped on the ice underneath it. Although we were covered in snow it was a good laugh and great warm up.

Pat, Slave, Chris and Rick did loads of videoing and photography today, on almost every feature in order to gain enough footage for the analysis as well as the week’s video. Everyone was giving it their all today as it was our last full day of skiing, so many wanted to stomp the tricks, hit the rails and conquer everything still left. We did filming of the fence jump, the step-up, the Halfpipe, the rails, hip and kickers. Me, James and Charlie all hit the down rail that Rick wanted us to. James did it first and won a beer off Pat for being first to complete it then Charlie completed it, but unfortunately I came off halfway down and broke a buckle off my boots!

The next feature was the S-rail which was to prove to be a right arse. Again I was sent as guinea pig but came off time and time again. There was something about facing down on the rail I didn’t feel comfortable about, and eventually I crashed, chunked my ski and hit my head on the rail, then on the icy floor!

James was able to complete the rail time after time and even stomped a 270 out. Charlie also completed it, whilst Glen kept falling off on the first curve in the same place as me. Later on Glen was helping me with my 3’s and I eventually stomped a grabbed 3 which I was really pleased about. After this Glen stomped a Misty 5 off the kicker, which was incredible as you were only able to get about 2 foot of air off the kicker to clear the table with before you hit the landing.

As Rick was in position for another flip of some description I thought I’d try a front flip, which until now I had only ever done into soft powder or on an airbag, but how do you learn otherwise?! I stomped the flip and was told by Rick that me and Glen had a “one way ticket to Huckville!” I was so stoked.

Later on I was sitting beside the big air kickers taking a break when James tried his first corked 7 and stomped it which was sick but he then over rotated on his next attempt and ate it. I spent the rest of the day here and watched Pat, Chris and Rick do the videoing and pictures. This was really educational as I could hear the comments Pat was making on each of the tricks people did. This helped loads as I then realised I had been making a lot of the same mistakes so I was then able to improve my tricks through this.

After another great day’s skiing we all headed down and got showered and began packing, before doing all our last bits of shopping before tea. At the evening meeting we had the prize giving presented by Eddie “Slavemonkey” Thelwell.

The first prize awarded was for “Most persistent”, which I won! I got a LINE back pack which was much needed as the bag I had been using was too small, so I was well pleased; as they say… “no pain, no gain”. James also won a backpack for Best Trick, and Craig got one as well for Most Improved. Everyone also received an “I Am A Skier” t-shirt. Cammy and I also won a LINE headband each for the bowling Wednesday night.

Funny bits - crashing off the side of the piste with Lee

Good bits - winning the back pack and headband - thanks guys

Bad bits - damaging my ski and boot

Day 9 - Saturday 8th April

Some people decided not to ski today for various reasons, but the dedicated lot hit the slopes again for the last time of the week. We found that we were unable to use the hip today as it had collapsed the night before, or so it looked, instead we hit the step-up, which had been reshaped making it higher and with a drop off after the landing, and the Fun Park.

After watching everyone else hit the big kickers I decide that I had to hit them at least once or I’d regret it. So I looked down the run in and watched James’ approach and gauged his speed, giving me a rough idea of how fast I’d need to go to clear the landing. As I looked down to Rick and Glen I saw Rick start laughing as if to say “Oh my god here we go!” and then Glen looked up and just looked away! This didn’t exactly fill me with confidence but gave me determination to stomp it, and I did!

Off both the big and smaller kickers I did a straight air with a grab to get a feel of the ramps before trying a 1 off the smaller one. I got the grab, position and the slow spin but I landed slightly on my tips and my bindings ejected me down the landing on my backside. Oh well, at least I’d tried it which finished off a fantastic week in the best possible way, leaving a good feeling inside!

At lunchtime me, Cammy and Pat headed down to the hotel, leaving the others to keep skiing. In the afternoon I showered, finished packing, and did the last few bits of shopping before we loaded up the wagon (actually a “mini-bus”… a “wagon” is probably faster!) and headed home. Within an hour of leaving I was already asleep and Charlie followed shortly after, but this time I had some leg room and Charlie was in the corner.

Funny bits - cramming 2 midgets in 2 midget holes

Good bits - hitting the big air kickers

Bad bits - having to leave, the week was so good just wish we didn’t have to go!

Day 10 - Sunday 9th April

After a much needed snooze I woke up not far from Calais, which didn’t seem to take anywhere near as long to reach from the resort as it took from the port to the resort! When we got into the ferry place we were asked to pull over to the Immigration office to have our passports checked. Many feared a quick probing, but the guys didn’t even check some of the passports. We found out later that Murray had asked one of the staff if he actually liked living in France, to which he replied “Yes, because I’m French” whoops!

Once on the ferry everyone made their way to the food court for a real British fry up, after which James, Charlie, H and me left the canteen and found a spot in the lounge area looking out across the English Channel; but this experience was short lived as a member of staff asked us politely if he could shut the curtains as it was interfering with the navigation up-stairs! Of course we agreed and he left. A little while later we saw a grey, balding member of staff, wearing a shirt that was too small for him, strutting over.

Already we were confused as to what we had done, so when he arrived and began with an aggressive tone, threatening us that there would be big trouble if we “touched the curtains again as you’ve been told 4 times already and ignored them the warnings”. Ok like, what?!

We had only been asked once and hadn’t touched them since, we’d been watching videos on James’ phone! So we tried explaining this to the guy and asked him who had allegedly told us 3 other times but he refused to answer and got even more aggressive with us. Oh well stuff him! After that the bar man was watching our every move, so we gave him the occasional wave and smile and continued chatting. Then the beefy security guys came in and sat at a table a few metres away. From time to time they’d glance over hoping to catch us touching the curtains so they could chuck us out!

Finally, the call came and we made our way down to the busses. Danny decided to play one last prank on some unsuspecting Europeans by standing in the doorway of their luxury double decker coach and telling them “This isn’t your coach, your coach is over there!” steadily a crowd of gullible Europeans gathered outside the different coaches trying to work out if Danny was for real and what language he was speaking.

Whilst he did this the rest of us were just metres away in fits of laughter watching these girls get confused, looking around for “their” coach. Eventually a stubborn group forced their way through and the European girls began dragging Danny up the stairs as well; fortunately we able to retrieve him!

Next came the swapping of phone numbers and emails addresses between all of us on the Camp before the goodbyes and boarding of our busses. Just outside the ferry port James, Paul and Joe were the first off as they had their car at Dover. We then made our way up to Peterborough with only one stop en route to drop off Gav at the station.

Next it was Chris, Tom and my stop. We unloaded, said our thanks and the bus left. We heard the next day that the bus had finally given up the ghost at the last stop in Nottingham (well timed!); apparently Matt had to call in the AA!

Funny bits - Watching Danny confuse the Europeans

Good bits - the memories of the past 10 days

Bad bits - having to say goodbye to everyone and leave

The Camp

This week was fantastic, at the beginning no one really knew anyone else but by the end of the week we had all become good friends, and looked out for one another.

For me there wasn’t just one good bit, it was the whole week in general, but getting to ski with loads of people of different levels and everyone working together and helping each other out was brilliant.

I loved being able to talk to people like Murray, Paddy, Tom and Norwegian Steven like I’d known them for a while, as I had preconceived ideas that they’d be doing their own thing and wouldn’t really have time or want to talk to people who were not as good as themselves.

Also I was surprised at the level of the coaching and the abilities of many of the riders on the trip. For example when we got one of the letters it sounded like everything was going wrong and it wasn’t going to be anywhere near the standard initially expressed, however when I got there it all worked out fine and the coaches were a lot younger than I’d expected given the extent of their experience.

I think I have learnt a lot from this trip, not only about myself and my own capabilities, but also what it takes to become a Pro and the level of commitment you have to put in.

This was definitely a superb life experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone thinking of going on a Freestyle ski camp. Thanks again Matt and everyone else that made the trip possible.

Rob