There were mixed results for British Ski and Snowboard athletes this weekend with some strong performances in Breckenridge despite stormy weather but frustration for Gillings in Andorra and Ryding in Switzerland.
Photo courtesy of TeamBSS
For Snowboard Cross racer Zoe Gillings there were two World Cup competitions this weekend. On Saturday Gillings failed to make it through the quarter finals, but finished in a respectable 17th position, and on Sunday she could not better the result, finishing in 20th. Thomas Bankes was ranked 62nd on Saturday and 58th on Sunday.
There was windy weather in Breckenridge, Colorado for the Ski Halfpipe World Cup, but James Machon put in a strong performance coming 21st overall with Murray Buchan coming in 40th. For the ladies Emma Lonsdale came 17th in a field of 33 whilst team mate Rowan Cheshire was rested. The World Snowboard Tour Grand Prix Slopestyle and Halfpipe finals were cancelled due to stormy weather, but there was positive news for Jenny Jones and Billy Morgan who had strong results in qualifying after both returning from injury. Jones qualified in 4th place and Morgan in 1st place. The World Cup Ski Slopestyle finals were also cancelled due to the weather meaning final scores were based on qualifying rounds.
In Alpine Skiing, Dave Ryding was competing in the World Cup Slalom in Adelbolden, but after some great performances in recent Europa Cup races, unfortunately he DNF on the first run. He will now concentrate on preparation for the Wengen World Cup Slalom next weekend. There was bad luck for Dougie Crawford and TJ Baldwin who DNF their first run in the men's Downhill Europa Cup race in Wengen on Saturday, after the first day of racing on Friday was cancelled. But there was a good result for Jack Gower in same race after he finished in 59th in a field of over 100 racers.
Mogul skier Ellie Koyander came 37th in the Moguls World Cup in Deer Valley on Thursday but unfortunately failed to finish in the second World Cup held in the same venue on Saturday. In the Aerials World Cup, also in Deer Valley, Harry Gillam jumped two different triples for the first time in snow competition, and although his landings weren't clean, meaning he ended up ranked 32nd, this is great progression for Gillam.
Adam McLeish was ranked 26th in Friday's Snowboard Parallel Slalom World Cup in Bad Gastein, Austria. However he could not make improvements on this solid result in the second World Cup yesterday, finishing in a ranking of 36th.
For full profiles of all British Ski and Snowboard athletes visit www.teambss.org.uk