SCOTTISH HOPE FOR OLYMPICS SUCCESS

LINE UK Mountain Command Pro skier Murray Buchan, 15 years, has just been featured in the Scottish Press following his success at various competitions in Europe this season.

Here is an article from the Edinburgh Evening News (published 24 April 2007) available online at: www.news.scotsman.com, by Hazel Mollison:

"HE COULD BE THE NEXT EDDIE THE EAGLE… EXCEPT HE’S QUITE GOOD"

A TEENAGER is bidding to follow Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards into Winter Olympics history.

But unlike the hapless Edwards, Murray Buchan could have a genuine chance of bringing home Britain's first-ever ski jump medal.

The 15-year-old freestyle skier has just returned to Scotland after winning one of Europe's top competitions in the sport, which involves performing breathtaking acrobatics in mid-air.

Murray, who lives in Colinton, learned to ski at Hillend, where coaches soon realised he was like no other youngster they had ever seen. He plans to become a professional skier, and has already set his sights on Olympic glory in Vancouver in three years' time:

"I really want to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics," he said. "I think I'll be about the right age for it, as I'll be 18 then."

Murray spent much of the winter in training and competition in Switzerland, where he has enjoyed his most successful season.

He won his age group in the Austrian Open, beating competitors from across Europe, and came second in the full British Championships, held last month in the Swiss resort of Laax.

He also finished an impressive 15th in the FIS World Championships, in Airol, Switzerland, and was Scottish junior freestyle skiing champion last year.

Encouraged by his parents Mike and Gill, Murray began skiing lessons when he was eight. Aged 11, he turned to freestyle skiing, an acrobatic form of ski jumping which involves performing somersaults and backflips in the air, as well as scoring points for a perfect take-off and landing.

He said: "My dad's very keen on skiing, and he thought it was important that I learned to ski.

"I started teaching myself jumping just for fun at first. Now I prefer it to the skiing side, as I can do things how I want. It's a lot more technical, and you can put over your own style.

"At Hillend, everyone was much bigger than me, but they were all very encouraging. I decided to write to Line and ask for sponsorship when I was 12, and they said I should try entering competitions."

Murray won sponsorship from LINE Skis, the ski equipment supplier, and Nike, and began competing. He now juggles training in the Alps with studying for his Standard Grades at Firrhill High School.

He said: "My teachers are really cool about it. I have to take work away with me, and stay after school.

"My friends make jokes about me being away all the time! But when I'm at home, I just like hanging out with them. We don't talk about skiing. My family's been very supportive, I'd never be able to do this without them."

Murray is currently training at the Braehead Snowdome in Glasgow, ahead of the Saas Fee Ride in Switzerland this summer - the sport's unofficial European championships.

Graeme Chalmers, a ski and snowboard coach at the Midlothian Ski Centre at Hillend, said Murray was the best young freestyle skier he had ever seen.

He said: "What they're doing is not just jumping. They're doing backflips and somersaults at high speed over a great distance. It's much more technical than jumping. It's more like skateboarding or snowboarding.

Murray is very stylish and confident. When he was seven or eight, we realised this kid had something. He was just way ahead of everybody else."

He said freestyle skiing is likely to be included in the Winter Olympics for the first time in 2010. "I think Murray has a very good chance," he added.

[Photos by Rick Hutchings, taken at the Tourparty Easter Camp, Les Deux Alpes, France in April 2007. See more of Ricks photos at: www.rickhutchings.com.]

Murray in action on the Tourparty Easter Camp, Les Deux Alpes, France in April 2007