Paul Gordon

 
 

Can a 9 year old be trusted with an ST550?

Friday, November 20th, 2009

My little girl embarked on an adventure  of a lifetime, but before she left I handed her my very much loved ST550, I wanted to find out if it was just me or was this little puppy as intuitive as I thought. Being a technofile, I’d pretty much worked my way around the settings after 10 minutes, but I didn’t tell her anything about the settings. Mwah ha ha.

Off she went and here is her story and pictures!

euro-disney110

Hi, I’m Amira and I went to Euro Disney for my birthday on a very fast train, I couldn’t believe the station was so close to Euro Disney, helpful people carried our bags to the hotel while we carried on straight into the Toon Toy park. It looked so realistic just like the telly. We went on a spinning car ride with Lightning McQueen and Tigger was right next to us, making a wheeeeeee sound, when Tigger asked for it to go faster Nannie was enjoying it so much she had tears of fun in her eyes.

Getting away from the baddies

Getting away from the baddies

We had a new camera to try out, it was easy to use and I like that was able to get the screen on the front to work. My first picture was a bit blurry, but after that I got the hang of things and really started to enjoy taking pictures. I worked out quickly how to check if the pictures I took were blurry or not.

When we were in the Phantom House ride I let my mummy take the pictures because I was worried that I might drop the camera when frightening things happened, first a spiders web appeared, then it got larger and larger and the train we were in went right through the yucky sticky web, with the spider still in it! Skeletons kept appearing from the walls , going “woooaaaah” our ghost train rocked from side to side, I cuddled grandad, closed my eyes and put my hood over my eyes.

Scarey Ghost Train

After a skeleton tipped a bucket of spiders over us we thought the scary ride was over, the ghost train went down a big dip making my tummy tickle my tonsils. We tried lots of rides on the first day and laughed at all the fun we had over dinner in the Hotel. Tigger came up to the table, I was excited to see him from my Winnie the Pooh books which are my favourite. I was even more excited about the next day and even dreamt of Winnie when I finally fell asleep.
When I woke up, I ate yummy Pain Au Chocolate for breakfast. Later I watched as Mummy, Grandpa and Auntie Danella went on Space Mountain, after the ride Grandpa felt really ill and looked pale, he went back to the hotel for a lie down and mummy couldn’t stop laughing. The rest of us went to the Parade which was amazing, the floats were colourful and all my favourite Disney character were taking part in the parade

euro-disney054

Indiana Jones was just like the movie, Auntie Dan was very brave she was the only one who went on the ride, we were relieved that we didn’t have to go on it to and cried with laughter. Thunder Mountain had boats that went on the water, it was perfect. On Friday we went to the stunt show, it was amazing there was a shootout and stunt men fell from the highest roof , one stuntman even caught on fire but the flames were put out by a fireman, everyone cheered like mad.

This was by far the most entertaining holiday I’ve ever been on and I would thoroughly recommend it to other children as it really does bring the family together, with laughter entertainment, surprises and a few scares.

Thank you for reading my first ever blog.

Amira

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Gimpl Reigns in London

Monday, November 16th, 2009

The spectacle that is the LG Freeze event set up on the banks of the Thames, with the formidable Battersea Power Station forming an impressive background.

Sequence of 3rd placed rider

Shot with GX20, Manual Mode, shutter speed 180, F9, ISO 100. Using Sigma 18 - 50mm Lens, and an ND Grad filter, managed to get up on the judges gantry for some eye level shots

The onslope action lifted the 15,000 spectators, all craning skywards to glimpse their snowboarding heroes in action;  Ben Kilner, Nate Kern,  Jamie Nicolls and Jack Shackleton were sent out to defend our nations pride against the World’s best. Back in the dark days when Skiing was the only wintersport, Eddie the Eagle flew the flag for us and we applauded and cheered mediocraty.

Jack Shackleton UK

Shot with GX20, Manual Mode, shutter speed 180, F9, ISO 100. Using Sigma 18 - 50mm Lens, and an ND Grad filter, managed to get up on the judges gantry for some eye level shots

Thankfully those day are banished to history with a vengeance, as a host of talented British snowboarders nurtured through the Brits Snowtour, climb up the World Rankings and look set to light up the Olympics in Vancouver in little more than two months time.

This competition, the UK leg of the FIS World Cup Big Air is a qualifier for the Olympics, so the stakes were high for all the UK riders entering with lofty olympic aspirations. The Brits didn’t disappoint, Nate Kern for a while looked like he would make it to the final, with a super-massive first round air, the Scandinavians sensing an upset, went all out in the second round, with experience and weight of numbers the Norwegians, Swedes and Finnish riders came good in round two. Stefan Gimpl, winner of the Nokia Air and Style 3 years running, an Austrian legend, launched his challenge for the crown early, with an unbeaten first round air.

Stefan Gimpl's Qualifying jump

Shot with GX 20, Manual setting, F9, 1/180sec, ISO 100, Tamron 70 - 300mm telezoom lens

In Heat 2, Jamie Nicolls UK stepped up to the plate, this young man made his World Cup debut last year but was disappointed and frankly lucky to be alive when his small frame, despite flatlining it from the top of the drop in, didn’t have the mass to propel him beyond the dreaded knuckle of death. Since then, Jamie has been gorging himself on whole chickens, buffalo steaks and little people - let’s not kid ourselves, launching yourself hard and fast into the sky to land 30 m away is not easy, to do it with grace and style takes practice, lots and lots of practice.
Jamie (UK) stomping a 720
Drop in time, with the introduction by Ed Leigh and a massive cheer echoing up the ramp, Jamie went high and true, spinning and grabbing a 720 for a mid table score, first round safe air out of the way Jamie went one better in round two landing a grabbed backside 900 to claim 27th place, his ascent as a professional snowboarder continues, meanwhile his compatriat Ben Kilner another young gun who at 19, has a little more experience, demonstrated that he is a force to be reckoned with.
Ben Kilner Inverted at Freeze
A first round air that had the crowd cheering in disbeleif as he threw down a huge stylish 900, that left him rubbing shoulders with the top riders, if followed up with a clean safe air, a place in the final awaits (Ben Kilner clean fresh air, are you kidding !!?) ”Death or Glory Kilner” went inverted  and just failed to stick his landing 14th place and the highest placed among the Brits was his consolation. good work Ben.
Gian Luca powers to 2nd place

Shot with GX20, Manual Mode, shutter speed 180, F9, ISO 100. Using Sigma 18 - 50mm Lens, Pentax TTR power pack and AF58 flash operated remotely,

As the light went down the big boys came out to play, the  format for the final was simple: 10 riders, each have 3 jumps and the best 2 count. Roope Tonteri FIN with a double backflip, then Ulrik Badertschaer NOR with a 1260 looked like early candidates for the podium, but in competition format Gimpl, the chirpy and dimunitive Austrian, is unstoppable and landed the best trick of the contest in round two. Gian Luca Cavigelli of Switzerland and Domen Bizjak, Slovenia’s finest, pushed Stefan close, but the crowd’s favourite and birthday boy took a well deserved win in the London leg of the World Cup big air series. Congratulations Stefan.

Austrian raid is successfull

Shot with GX20, Manual Mode, shutter speed 180, F9, ISO 100. Using Sigma 18 - 50mm Lens, and an ND Grad filter, Pentax TTR power pack and Pentax AF58 flash gun operated remotely

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Red Hot

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

brands-hatch 2009

With access to the Track and Pit Lane for the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, I was like a kid in a candy shop.

This prestigious Festival of Racing is a tough testing ground for the potential future world champion’s. In 1998 the newly crowned FIA F1 driver Jenson Button stood on the podium taking top honours, with naked ambition and reputations to enhance, the Sports 2000 and the BRSCC Formula 3 Championships represent significant rungs in the ladder to Formula 1 success.

Knowing I couldn’t compete with the seasoned Action Sports Photographers who were lugging camera’s with telescopes attached to them around, I with my relatively piddly 300mm Lens decided to bring a bit of Happy Glam to the party in the shape of Lauren Dunn.

Lauren Wrenching a nut

We teamed up with AH RACING who were slightly flabbergasted, but very willing to allow us access to their cars and tools for our inpromptu photo shoot, the team started competing at Brands Hatch 4 years ago, now running with 3 cars in the Duratec and Pinto classes driver Mike Johns achieved his and the team’s best result to date with 3rd overall in the Historic Class.

The Historic Class may not sound hardcore, but driving with no ABS or traction control at breakneck speed, with 20 other speed freaks tearing after you is certifiable so AH RACING we salute you. Starting his career in Formula 1 stock cars, mechanic Alan Henderson then progressed to historic touring cars working on BMW, Lotus and Cortina’s, motor racing has been a life-long obsession, we hope we brightened up his day and thank him sincerely for his co-operation, let’s hope his missus doesn’t read this.

As we set up Alan whipped out his phone camera and joked “I’ll tell the missus we have a new pit crew member” as Lauren started to get warmed up, he then piped up “Actually I’d better not, she’d never let me come back!” we all fell about laughing for a couple of minutes, except for the mechanics of the other team sharing the pit, who were all still stood open mouthed not quite sure what to do with themselves.

Lauren brings the polish

We toured the entire complex and managed to get up to the TV Gantry, this is where Lauren came into her own, wearing 6 inch red stiletto’s is challenging at the best of times, (not that I’d know…….honestly!) doing it while balancing precariously on a stainless steel hatched floor while throwing down vogue moves is the mark of a true professional.

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UK Big Air Competition

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Action from the Day

Brits Indoor Big Air Final 2009
2* TTR Rated World Tour Snowboard Event

With DJ Tony B cranking out some quality snowboarding anthems, snowboarding personality James Thorne compering and Ben Knox, Jack Shackleton, Andy Nudds, Sparrow Knox, Sam Turnball, Sam Rodgers and Lottie Kierle all chucking down hammers through the practice and qualifying heats, The Brits Indoor Big Air 2009 was shaping up to be an epic battle of the titans.

Clear the 16 meter gap, or at your own peril bring the knuckle of death into play.

Ben Knox was first to drop in on the biggest kicker ever seen in the Brits Snow Tour series (Fact!), on the top of the slope the atmosphere is decidedly edgy, a whippy kicker had seen several riders catapulted out of contention and consciousness, encouraging cries escort Ben to the kicker, flat lining from the top Ben went huge with a Safe Air, landing nicely on the sweet spot, the tension breaks up top, riders start chatting again,  Andy Nudds looking focussed gets a fist from Ollie Jackson, then throws down a perfectly stomped 720 to set the bench mark high, Sparrow Knox drops in switch, spins a 720 and clips the knuckle, a huge Invert from Jack Shackleton saw onlookers diving for cover as he drifted out of the landing zone.
Sam Turnball is an upcoming talent who hit the knuckle in the worst way possible, (head first) fortunately Sam’s shiner will enable him bragging rights for a few weeks, already milking it hard in the bar, the other Sam, Sam Rodgers of the female variety decided not to be outdone, over cooking a frontflip spinning 540 degrees on the wrong plane to also land on her heid, wait as I come to think about it Kat, Lottie and Emily all landed upside down at some point, the ladies competition really was a battle of attrition as the runner up shown here, face replete with an Ice burn chin pays  testament to.

 Women's Winner

 As the men’s competition wore on, Sparrow’s huge and technical airs ensured a podium finish, Jack Shackleton got his eye in, stomping an inverted 540, ( he claims he didn’t mean it) Andy Nudds continues to step up under pressure, and after the qualifiers it was apparent that anyone trying to wrest gold from his grip would have to pull something very special out of the bag. Ben Knox tried, going all out on both his runs, but Sat 19th Sep was Andy Nudds’s day and this youngsters progression through the sport continues apace, part of the victorious “Battle of Waterloo 09” squad, Andy Nudds is a Big Air specialist, set to take it to the International stage.

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Look out for Jack pictured above and Nuddsy joining
the other UK Challengers for the LG World Cup Big Air
Takes place @ Battersea Park on the 30th October.

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Girls Can Box !!

Friday, September 18th, 2009

What’s the argument,…… there is none, having attended the ABAA awards at the Heart Of Portsmouth Boxing Club and photographed the younsters in action (girls and boys), it was stupendously obvious that some of these girls were dedicated ambitious and talented.

Madelaine Fires off a stinging jab

Q Shillingford is a legend within Amatuer boxing circles devising the courses now being run throughout the UK, his determination and drive have seen an exponential rise in the number of schools and community centres embracing the ABAA boxing discipline and has provided employment for a growing number of newly qualified boxing coaches.

Providing children with the tools to lead a positive and healthy lifestyle is a cause worth backing, so I was honoured when Q asked me down to capture the action.

“Kerthump, Thump Thump Kerthump Thwack”,
Hayley is a real prospect
Must be a heavy weight behind me sparring I thought, as I crouched shooting some close ups of kids ducking and dodging  the outstreched pads of the coaches, who I must add are much more professional in their approach than “Spanners McGee”, as I turned to follow a youngster onto his next discipline I realised that the almighty racket emanating from the bigger ring was in fact a 7 stone girl knocking the stuffing out of her coach and despite the stinging pain being absorbed by his hands, through the pads he was smiling with a sense of pride, I guess because his young protege was learning her trade well.

Q is also none too shady at marketing so I wasn’t surprised when in the middle of shooting, I noticed the CBBC Newsround team enter the gym, I mangaged to get a few nice reportage images of the presenter and Q having a chat and also of some of the girls being interviewed on camera, being able to offer the parents large sized framed prints and canvas wraps seemed to go down well, I was able to attract potential new customers to my website in the quest to build a sustainable clientele list.

CBBC Newsround team arrive

So when the London Olympics roll on in 2012 I’ll be watching and cheering on any british girls, be nice to have an Olympic Champion female boxer and if some of the girls featured in this blog stay foccused, you might just be able to say, you saw her in action here first.

Girls pose with CBBC Presenter

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Geoff Charms Southsea

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

Trust Bored of Southsea to pull a fast one! this skater’s mecca is small but huge on personality and ideas.
Gary, Tom and Toby the skaters behind the scenes conspired to invite one of the world’s best skate boarder’s to Southsea, deserving a blog entry. Turning into Albert Road I was shocked to see the queue stretching halfway down the street. The previous evening Geoff did manage to go for a half an hour skoot at Southsea SK8park on the first leg of his whistle stop UK tour, rolling into the flatland section within 20 seconds it was blatantly obvious that he was a million times better than me and at least a 100 times better than the local pro’s as he toured the park on his front two wheels completing 4 or 5 circuits before his back wheels touched the deck, even the wrinklies were impressed.

Snaking through the mass I tailgated Toby a Southsea legend, master of the swear air and luckily for me also one of the staff at Bored, my illogical fear of queues subsided as I squeezed through the doorway, after a brief introduction I got into things.
Geoff was busily screen printing t-shirts and signing boards, listen girls if you are under 16 it’s official! Geoff will point blank refuse to sign your undergarments or areas of your body normally covered up, so don’t ask, if you are over 16 then that’s a whole different story.
I quickly nestled my remote flashgun among Gary’s very neatly piled stack of Volcom t-shirts, Geoff was a true gent, and at the end of the day I suspect his arms were like popeyes, he must have screenprinted a 1000 t-shirts and took the time to be photographed next to fans both young and old.Rowley signature

With his good natured attitude and friendly approach it was refreshing to see a Sk8boarder of international standing, rolling his sleeves up and giving something back to the skateboarding fraternity, happy faces spilled back onto Albert Rd, proudly clutching the goody back with their freshly printed t-shirts inside.

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Sea Drum

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

I laugh in the face of fear, and so after trying a kite jump on dry land, I found myself chuckling ironically as my effort exceeded all my expectations, it was amazing! For a brief moment in time I was set free to soar the air, leaping from the 2D plane to 3D felt magical, I felt alive and all powerful,  that time passed too quickly, I felt a shift in perception as my stomach floated from my navel to gently tickle my tonsils, “Uh Oh”, out the corner of my eye the horizon was rising quick, it was at this point I realised taking my kite out in a bona fide gale was stupid, and I was going to have to do some severe damage limitation, hurtling towards the ground, I forced my body to relax, and go with it, nothing left to do when in a predicament such as this but revert to my snowboarding experience,  “You tense, you break!” the quickest way to untense is to laugh and so I was laughing, admittedly half heartedly when I hit the deck.”Man Down!!  Man Down!!  sheeeees had a few big falls and broke a leg before and so after I stopped biting the grass, I hesitantly looked over my shoulder half expecting to see my leg protruding at a crazy angle, I was pleased when it wasn’t, I wiggled my toes Yay I’m kind of OK, Lottie had watched this happen, when she had stopped giggling she came to help, I couldn’t see her very well, cos of the pain face I was pulling, but I cud tell she was laughing hard on the inside I wanted to join her but agony suppressed any compulsion to show

Durdle Dor Cove

Durdle Dor Cove

pleasure, so I just lay there for a bit groaning while she gradually recomposed herself. Pain and embarrasment are two of the craziest bed companions ever, but they seem to love each other, I got up as quickly as it was feasibly possible and fought the strong urge to buckle to the floor again, more  damage limitation, as my hot date was now in shreds, I’d have to man up and try to reclaim some shreds of dignity, damn you embarrasment, I just wanted to lie on the floor and sob for a while (I definitely would have if Lottie wasn’t around) you see I laugh in the face of fear, but cry like a baby when hurt and here I was adjusting to walking with one twisted ankle and one badly bruised heel, three weeks later my head is going doollally, confined to the house, daily icing, heating  and elevating the ankle hadn’t worked and so at 2.30am I cracked having turned over in my sleep I woke in pain, right thats it i’m heading out, three hours later I arrived in Lulworth Cove carpark, as I unpacked my kit from the boot a couple of joggers passed me and headed up a near vert path on the edge of a cliff, “Idiots” I muttered,  with a red hue spreading across from the East and a vast armada of angry clouds invading the coast, my hand was giving myself some huge self congratulatory pats on the backs,then out of the blue, pheeeeewthwack, pheeeewthwack “WTF!” my hand turned against me as somewhere in my sleepy head the Neuron connecting  my Brain to Ankle woke up, then connected Ankle to Path and was now connecting my Hand to Face repeatedly as the realisation that I’d be following the jogger’s footsteps dawned.

A 2km climb ensued and morning dew is beautiful, but deadly! as I jarred and slipped clumsily all the way to the Man of  War Cove. I love to clamber and despite aggravating my hindrance I was soon clambering over rocks like a

Smashing Boulder

Smashing Boulder

mountain goat…………………

a mortally injured mountain goat, that wasn’t being chased, but more carefully picking and slowly testing each step before hopping awkwardly to its good foot.
The Dorset coastline is truly awesome some call it the Jurassic Coast others don’t, but with Lulworth Cove, Man Of War Cove, Durdle Dor and Stair Hole all within limping distance I really enjoyed my inpromptu day out.

The Tectonic forces which drove the alps skyward also created some crazy beautiful scenery along our Southcoast, stretching from Durdle Dor to the Needles, the rock strata has been turned on its head to form Vertical cliffs that once were a land bridge, long since broken and semi submerged, wind, erosion and land slips continually shapes this rugged region, Turner painted here, geologists flock here, rocks land on peoples heads here, pictures can only show so much, if you have the chance visit it, I did and can’t wait to go back. I may go and visit the doc first, it’s been 5 weeks, I hate having an illogical fear of waiting rooms.

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Beefstock 10

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

Fire Glow

Ever since Steve dropped out of the rat race and ensconsed  himself in the middle of nowhere, his only entertainment has been counting sheep,  with all the extra time on his hands it wasn’t long before Beefstock was dreamed up,  this annual event sees a pilgrimage from Portsmouth to Cornwall as friends and hangers on, descend on this sleepy part of the world to create  a lot of noise (courtesy of a portable genny,  a kick ass Sound system and Shay’s hardcore hip hop DJing skills).

As the weekend drew nearer it became blatantly obvious that the fair weather we had enjoyed throughout the early summer had no intention of joining us, I did think of pulling out (a lot), but had promised Shay to bring my rap superstar skills to the party, so after coming to terms with being wet all weekend I found myself being driven towards what looked like a rapidly forming supercell, the first raindrops started pelting the window as we passed the Hampshire/Dorset.

Eventually we pulled into the field to see several tents already pitched, first task was to pitch our tents, to assist us in this task we used Nik’s car to clear our spots, donutting a 4×4 in a wet field is amazing fun, so after flattening the waist high grass, we continued donnutting until we both started suffering from G-Force sickness. With the tents pitched the party started. Just like the rain the party didn’t stop, the photo above was taken during the only break in the rain (lasted about ten minutes) and captures Phil being mesmerised as we all were by one of natures basic elements……..fire, fuelled by everything from dodgy old duvets, dressing cabinets to go kart tyres.

The Samsung GX20 is a robust beast and coped remarkably well with the conditions, having been my companion in a snow drift for a couple of hours I had faith that a little splash of water wouldn’t do it any harm and so it was,  three memory cards full of some fab wet memories and no malfunctions - I love it.

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S.K.A.T.E

Friday, July 17th, 2009

Flatland Heights

PLain Lazy Skating

With Tom and Emo both screaming  out to be discovered as the UK’s next big fashion Gurus and Jay caught on cam inventing a new way of skating - coined as the Sitting Locust, this move is for experienced skaters only, grip tape burns never heal! especially a double cheeker, so kids don’t try this move wearing thongs unless you have an aversion to toilet seats, cos thats the only seat you’d be able to use  for a while. Shot using a GX20 with a 70 - 200mm zoom lens attached, initially I wanted to get a bit of distance between me and the skaters for a couple of ungaurded shots. Keeping the zoom lens attached, I then shot a series of shots focussing on just the skater’s feet and the board as an impromptu game of SK8 on the red triangle kicked off.
skater close-ups
With a memory card full I headed to Southsea sk8 park for a quick burn,  after carving the Snakerun, the Peanut Bowl and the Halfpipe all of which feels a lot like snowboarding and an hour of failing gallantly and heroically to fulfill my skating ambition to Olly up a 4″ kerb, I decided to stop, prime my camera and take pictures of “real skaters”. I noticed a few skaters fronting up like something was about to go down, I used to breakdance and recognise a burn off when I see one!  You see when a skater says “fancy a game of Skate?” in a parallel universe a Chav version of him is Bare chested beating on it with fists covered in gold sovereigns screaming to 6 other Chavs “Cmon I’ll take you all on, lets Ave it!!”  Back in this Universe I attached my hot shoe infra red transmitter and a remote flashgun then got low down to freeze the action, 180, F4.5 ISO 100. With Star Jumper, Running Man and Puppet Boy guesting, the slideshow link below really does have some serious skater body movers.
Its a Skate Off

Run Forest run

The images in the links to a couple of Skate and Snowboarding Galleries were all All shot with the GX20.

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UK Snowboarding Roadtrip

Friday, July 10th, 2009

Portsmouth to Tamworth

For the first time in 18 months the Expression Session Crew, Hailing Straight Outta Portsmouth were on a road trip together and on a stifling hot day we headed to the huge indoor fridge we know and love as Tamworth Snowdome, I’d heard that the good ole boys at For Boarders By Boarders, whose nights have quickly become legendary were hosting a freestyle snowboarding competition and dishing out prizes, the official event photographers were Fear of the Park, time for some undercova brutha style guerrilla photography, but more of that later.

Greg tucks in

Driver Perks

Greg drove, on account of having the only available roadworthy vehicle, in grattitude we force fed him strawberries and cream, Mooommmph, ammmmmm, myyyaaaaaaammm was interpreted as hmm, ah lovely please force feed me more strawberries and cream.

Arriving in plenty of time, OK….. Just in time for the start of the session, we kitted up. Lottie and Greg were in fine form, mixing it with the best riders, I was challenging hard for the best spill of the night edging a box, using my vertebrae to grind it with true style, but that Daz Cockson is always up for a challenge and one upmanship, eating snow in grand style, falling victim to the gas pipe, (Daz is a true Slopestyle Jib legend props bruv)

Lottie riding the pipe

Lottie Kierle

Tough Competition

The competition was relentess and with a great park set up, there was some amazing riding on show, repping for the

linzyfbbb-tamworth-june22

greg5fbbb-tamworth-june441

ladeez Lottie Kierle, Linzi Ashdown and Jools took on all the toys and were stomping tricks authoratively, Lucy Prior was riding full on, with smooth 180s in the quarter pipe and hitting the big Flat Down rail and Gas Pipe with gusto.

Ross Needham, Johnny Russell, Charlie Idda and Mark Raper were all throwing down hammers, with Greg getting into his stride the Finals beckoned  for two of the Expression Session team.

What happened next can only be described as the biggest ever Travesty Of Justice the sporting world has ever seen!

Finals Fiasco

As the 10 names for the final were called out Greg’s and Lotties were omitted, as Self Appointed Team Coach and Manager I had to act Fast, “Gather in team” I blasted out across the snow Lottie and Greg looking a bit bewildered traipsed over, “right guys I want you back out there, we still have a chance, we are going to play it  like we heard your names, the PA is rubbish and I’ve checked out security and think I can hold them off , if it comes to it, so go out there and win this thing and remember the mantra Jump Grab, Spin!. Don’t let me down!” still bewildered Lottie and Greg wandered off to the chairlift muttering insolently, I made a note of that for the next coaching session, poor discipline!

FBBB Tamworth finalistfbbb-tamworth finalist

I sprinted out of the freezer into reception “can I have a high viz media jacket please?”  fixing me a smile,  the receptionist  leaned over passing me a garish bib. Hi Viz jacket on camera strapped on neck  and time to shoulder barge the Fear of the Park boys out of my shots coz Lottie and Greg were in the Final, must have caused the organisers a right headache when trying to score 10 riders when there was 12 riding.  Everyime Lottie and Greg went round the judges must have been shuffling their papers furiously, thinking Who the Flap is that, meanwhile I was getting the shots I wanted, the plan was working.

fbbb-tamworth

Snowboarding

The finals saw the big guns demolishing the “Gas Pipe”. 270s, 360s and 450s on and off were the order of the day as on each run the stakes were raised with ever more impressive trickery, the official starting list for  Men’s final was:

Gary Andrews, Ross Needham, Tom Hunt, Si Foster, Matt Higson, Mark Raper, Johnny Russel,
Greg Seymour——–Fact, saw it and have the pics to prove it and repping for the the ladeez, Sarah Morgan, Lyndsey Ashdown, Kirsty Smith, Lottie Kierle——Fact I saw it and have the pics to prove it

Results

Best Rider of the Night - Johnny Russell

Johnny Russell Lording it over Tamworth

Best Trick – Ross Needham. Smoothest Nosepress ever, ever ever.

Best Stack – Darren Coxson. NDE I think I saw some blood too, but Daz is made of strong stuff and was soon his chirpy self again.

The Tamworth snowboard nights run from 9 - 1 am Saturdays and after a hard shred, everyone mills around the carpark, pepes catching up with old shred buddies and making new ones too, the scene is relaxed and despite the competition on the slopes the camaradarie within the sport is amazing, we chilled and chewed the fat for a while, catching up with Ben Saka a young gun who rode with Lottie at the Saas Fe leg of the Brits tryouts last year.
gregzoomburst1
lottie-reflection

Greg’s van is superbly kitted out for road trips, I had shot gunned the front seat, Greg being  driver already had dibs on the back and Lottie had her tent, we headed for a place to park up and grab some Zzzzs somewhere / anywhere nearby, we plumped for a motorway service carpark, Greg and I settled down noisily, the thought of Lottie pitching and sleeping in her tent was making me laugh, but I had to keep it inside until finally I let go, when I heard her quietly say, “I’ll just get in my tent then” when we stopped laughing we relented and allowed lottie to crash in the van too. Dozing off was bliss, especially beleiving I had pulled a flanker, by bagging the prime sleeping location, my delusion was shortlived. I dreamt I was drifting sleepily towards the sun, the sun kept getting brighter and hotter, brighter and hotter and closer, much closer, the heat was stifling I had to get away,  I woke, Arrrrrghhh, Sun glare temporarily blinded me, the heat in the front cabin combined with the tight fit sleeping bag I’d somehow managed to zip  inside out, and my less than hasty exit when feeling extreemley claustraphobic resulted in the wild eyed scramble to the door and eventual exit that saw a random Polish lorry driver visibly worried about his personal safety, I gulped in large volumes of cool morning air and headed off for a cup of tea. I returned and the sleeping cherubs were stirring, we all headed in for a full English (Cept Lottie who had a beanburger a banana and some thistle tea).

Heading to the car several throaty roars, announced the arrival of 40 supercars en-route to Silverstone, I grabbed the camera Lottie modelled for me as I exposed for her reflection on a shiny car, petrol heads everywhere will be screaming at their pc with the name make and model, to me it looked shiny expensive and lended itself well to being imaged in an arty type picture, a nice way to round off the trip.

 

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