LINE SKIS UK APPOINT RICK HUTCHINGS AS TEAM MANAGER

We are very pleased to announce that Rick Hutchings has been appointed LINE UK Team Manager.

Rick will be helping LINE Pro riders Andy Bennett, Murray Buchan, Gaute Haaker and Mike Wakefield to build on the success they have achieved over the last 4 years, recently recognised at the UK Freeski Awards when the LINE UK Pro Team won the new UK Freeski Team Award.

Rick be providing our Pro riders with support for their training, development, competition programme etc. He will also be working with our "Young Guns" development programme - upcoming riders like Claire Hughes who are working hard towards achieving full Pro status. All sponsorship enquiries will also be handled by Rick.

Rick is looking forward to his new role: "LINE has the sickest team out there and we'll make sure everyone knows it now! I will be helping our riders get the info and support they need to progress, and make sure the up and coming 'Young Guns' are also able to benefit from my shizel m'nizel."

"The LINE Team is looking really good at the moment. The guys have been working hard on their schedules for this winter, and I know a lot of them have bigger fish to fry this season. It's going to be great seeing their progress and holding down some sick shots with them too."

"We've just hooked up Claire Hughes with ski sponsorship which is laying the groundwork for the 'Young Gun / Development' side of things. There are lots of riders out there who are willing to work hard and learn more about the industry. Claire contacted us and we moved on it. I am excited to see how her riding develops. She will be rocking Shadows and Celebrity skis this winter whilst holding it down for the ladies in Andorra!"

For many years LINE's slogan was "Because Skiing Needs a Future" we asked Rick if that still holds true? "Skiing always needs a future, I am just proud to be part of what realisticly has to be the most progressive company out there."

Who get's Rick's vote, Spiderman or Superman? "Yeah you know, Spidy always takes it!"

If you are interested in LINE UK sponsorship, whether as a Pro or as a member of the Young Guns development team please email Rick Hutchings with information about yourself including your full contact details, age, skiing experience, competition experience and/or riding achievements etc. Please include a picture of yourself and (if you have any film of yourself skiing) a link to film clip(s) online at YouTube or MySpace.

ABOUT RICK HUTCHINGS

Rick has worked for LINE Skis UK for 4 years, helping with sales and promotion, events and Camps. He has long experience in snowsports having worked as a ski instructor (he recently gained an extra qualification while working as a freestyle instructor in Whistler in 2005), ski guide, shop manager and sales manager.

A strong freestyle and freeride skier himself, Rick is passionate about skiing and has an encyclopedic knowledge of ski equipment - we challenge anyone to beat his knowledge of skis! If Rick was invited on Celebrity Mastermind "Snowsports" would be his category - there isn't much Rick doesn't know.

Rick is heavily involved in the Tourparty holidays and Tourparty Camps which are proving so popular after the success of the first Camp in April 2006. For more information on the Camps see the web info at: www.tourparty.com.

Rick is also a professional photographer working for ski and snowboard manufacturers, travel companies and riders in snowsports. To see his work visit his website at www.rickhutchings.com.

[By the way, Rick also has a coach driving licence, an addiction to Nestle's Elevenses bars and sometimes shaves his head. This, together with his heavy Scottish Glaswegian accent, makes him seem a lot scarier than he really is... but we still suggest you don't pick an argument with him about skis!]

Rick in action in the half-pipe in Les Deux Alpes