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TOURPARTY SKIING & SNOWBOARDING SUMMER CAMPS & HOLIDAYS BRITS 2008 MARCH
WINTER CAMP / HOLIDAY REPORT - LAAX, SWITZERLAND (EUROPE)

REPORT ON THE TOURPARTY BRITS 08 SNOWSPORTS CAMPS MARCH 2008

Our first Winter Snowboarding and Skiing Camps/Holidays to be held in Laax, Switzerland over two week in February, during the traditional February half-term period, were a huge success, so we were pleased to be returning to Laax for the BRITS 2008 week.

Many thanks to all the Coaches (Rick, Glen, Mark, Chris and Rob) and all those who participated!

Also there are some great photos (by Camp Director and professional photographer Rick Hutchings) of the week now available in the Galleries. To see all the photos just click on the link below, then click on the thumbnails for a larger version of each picture:

• Click on the link to view the Skiing and Snowboarding Camp March 2008, Laax, Switzerland - Tourparty @ BRITS 2008.

The following is a brief report about the BRITS 08 Camp by our junior Coach Chris McGuire to give you an idea what went on, but much better you book and come out yourselves to experience it and to have an unforgettable holiday!

For full details of 2009 dates and locations please see the homepage for skiing or snowboarding and click through to "Booking Step 2" where you will find dates and information on our holidays and camps in Laax, Switzerland (January to March 2009) and Les Deux Alpes, France (April 2009).

Don't miss out on a place, book now!

TOURPARTY SKI & SNOWBOARD HOLIDAY - BRITS WEEK - 29 MARCH TO 5 APRIL 2008 - LAAX, SWITZERLAND

The week began as always with a huge amount of excitement, anticipation of the week ahead and the warmest of welcomes from Laxx.

Everyone arrived safe and well in resort on the Saturday and spent the afternoon and evening relaxing and waiting for the next morning, eager for the riding to commence!

Sunday was the first day on the hill and at 7.30am we all sat down for a good breakfast in the Hotel Casa Selva in preparation for heading up the mountain. Once we all had our lunches, lift passes etc we split into small groups and made our way to the base station. - at last we were on snow!

In their groups everyone spent the first morning warming up and finding their bearings (and legs) around the hill. While cruising the mountain with their groups the coaches found that the level of skill was exceptionally high.

By midday everybody was ready for some lunch and all the groups headed to the "No Name" cafe for some food and a bit of a chill. After lunch everybody continued to shred while Chris headed down to collect Lenie and Diana who had been having some lessons on a different part of the mountain.

On Monday a lot of people were looking slightly nervous but very excited as some of the skiers on the Camp had decided to enter the BRITS Halfpipe competition and snowboarders Patrick and Kyle had decided to enter the Boarder X. Patrick and Kyle completed clean runs but unfortunately did not make the finals but it was a great attempt for their first ever comp! The skiers also had a great time competing and those who chose not to compete had a good shred around the hill and began hitting the freestyle park. Once in the park all the riders began to impress and James, who had never hit a box or rail before, showed great natural ability.

With Tuesday came two of the biggest events of the BRITS Championships - Skier Slopestyle and Boarder Big Air. Most of the skiers on the Camp decided to enter the slopestyle and did very well with some even winning medals! Kelly managed to scare us all by falling on a backflip but she recovered quickly after a check-up and managed to win a first medal. Chelsea, who was almost hyperventilating with nerves before the competition began, also did very well and walked away with a third medal.

Glen and Chris spent a lot of time in the Skier X preparing another participant in the Camp, Mel, for Wednesday's event. Despite a pretty brutal crash she still managed to ski very well and built confidence ready to compete the next day.

Once again Patrick and Kyle showed good skills over the jump in the Boarder Big Air and even though it was one of the biggest jumps they had hit they still stomped it cleanly!

Every evening after a great dinner at the Hotel Casa Selva and a review meeting we headed out to the BRITS presentations to see competition winners collecting their prizes, and also to catch up with all the other riders in resort on another great day's riding, with the chance to party on into the night for those old enough and with energy still to burn! It was great seeing so many people on the Camp stepping up on the podium at these presentation sessions - a real highlight of the week!

On Wednesday we woke up to rain in resort and what looked to be a white-out up the mountain so everybody wrapped up well and we climbed on the lift, to find that at altitude it was snowing (a lot!) and was freezing.

The skiers had the Skier X and the boarders had the Halfpipe competition. Most of the skiers had entered, some for serious competition and others for the fun of competing, but the snowboarders decided not to try the powder-filled halfpipe but instead to ride the fresh powder that had been falling all day. Despite the harsh conditions Harry walked away with first place prize in his category and Mel got second place in her category, both great results.

Thursday brought not rain but a massive dump of snow all the way down to resort and even though the visibility was poor everyone was hyped to ride in the fresh new snow.

When we got to the top of the gondola we found that the lifts higher in resort were closed and so we could only ride one lift due to 80 mph winds!

Unfortunately all the day's events were cancelled as a result but this was no problem as even at the half way point there was boot high pow!

Everyone rode until lunch time and after Harry and Andy had tried a few front flips and it looked like the lift would never open most skiers on the Camp decided to head down to warm up etc leaving just Glen, Chris and Harry on the mountain. Their perseverance paid off however as when the lift did finally open they were able to find hip-high powder that was totally untouched!

The boarders who had stayed up were also rewarded with some nice deep powder on the backside of the hill... the first time many of them had ridden in such deep powder, resulting in smiles from ear to ear!

Friday was the final day of the Tourparty @ the BRITS Camp and proved an absolutely perfect almost-bluebird powder day!

Also there were still some competitions to run after the cancellations the previous day... with the Boarder Slopestyle and Skier Big Air which Andy, Chelsea and Charlotte decided to enter while everyone else went and rode the powder!

This combination definitely lead to an unforgettable end to an unforgettable week with everyone doing well in the Big Air, especially Charlotte who got Third place in her category and also won the Faction Step-up award getting her a year's sponsorship from Faction Skis.

The amazing conditions gave everyone else the perfect opportunity to brush up on their powder skills and we totally took advantage of this having loads of fun, ripping up some amazing lines; Kelly and Harry even tried backflips into the deep, fluffy and soft powder!

Finally it was tie for our own presentations ceremony with everyone presented with their Tourparty Camp t-shirts, coaching reports and awards... a great way to end a fantastic week.

As always our thanks to everyone who came on the Camp for making it such an unforgettable time!

So until next time... KEEP RIDING!

Who are Tourparty? How do you contact Tourparty? Click on the link to find out all about Tourparty.