Words: Jordan Rose
SNODOWN – Castleford - MAY 2015
Snodown was epic last year and when my dad offered to take me and my friends again I was stoked. It was a sick Jam set up and getting back with some amazing riders from all over the UK made the journey well worth it.
Snodown is one of those fun competitions where there is a crazy park with the most strangest set-up features but is really fun. We started off with 45 minutes of practice and I decided that if I want to do well in these rail jam competitions, I would have to push it. Well that was exactly what I did! I pulled off tricks that I never thought of doing before like Fs 180 on switch Bs 360 off, Fs 270 and 360 on, Back tail, Front tail 270 out, 50-50 Bs 360 Fs 180 on cab 360 out. I worked hard to nail these, but spent most of the night hitting the jump with my usual Fs 360, 540, and Bs 360, 540; 720.
The jam was amazing, and I massively enjoyed riding with my friends Ciaran, JJ and Kyle. First of all I didn’t expect to get placed at all in over 13’s but surprisingly I came 2nd and won £30 which I then spent on Ciaran’s dinner!! Overall I had a great time and will definitely be back next year.
BRING IT BACK JAM - Hillend, Edinburgh - June 2015
The ‘Bring it back Jam’ is a brand new competition held at Hillend dryslope in Edinburgh. It was a jam format split across the Jump slope and riding out the bottom and onto the features… such a good day.
The Jam lasted for an hour and I tried as many laps as I could but considering on how many people where there it was limited. The jump was smaller than I imagined but it was do-able. Practice was an hour and a half with a lot of laps because I turned up a bit early! I started off with some straight airs just to get used to the really low transition, then progressed on to some Fs 360’s and 540’s. After that I considered doing Bs 360’s and 540’s, but soon realised that I could Bs 720 this jump so I went for it and unexpectedly landed it! The jam started and we were judged on both jumps and rails. The top 8 from each category went through to a two run final which included me!
I planned that my safe run would be Bs 720 then Fs 270 to the rail and Frontboard pretzel 270 out. It went really well and I landed everything cleanly and then went for my second run.. well, wow it went pair-shaped!! My original plan was switch Bs 540 to Fs 270 on to 270 off the rail to cab 180 on. I fell on everything and the worst was the jump. I sort of nollied off the jump and caught my edge. I just don't know what happened but I was still happy because I'd landed a really clean first run.
The prize giving came and I got 1st in under 16’s and 3rd overall so I was really stoked!
GO BIG OR GO HOME – Glasgow JUNE 2015
The premier and without doubt, the best dryslope competition in the UK... organised and run by The McCormick Family, Go Big or Go Home is a competition NOT to be missed.
Well where do I start?! We had at least about an hour and a half of practice then straight in to the jam, Snowboarders were on first and the skiers could go hit the rails if they wanted to. The jam was epic because I got enough runs in to get into the final. I managed my Fs 360, 540 ,720 and Bs 360, 540, 720 and started getting my bs 900 plus some switch Bs 360 and 540’s. We had an hour to wait until the finals were called.
I got through to the finals which I was pretty stoked with but the boarders and skiers had the jam at the same time, which meant we didn’t get very many runs. It wasn’t that much of an issue even though I only had about six runs. I landed about five of them which were Fs 5 & 7, Bs 720, 900 but I fell on the first 900 so I tried it again and landed it pretty cleanly... I also did a switch Bs 360.
We then had a spot prize rail jam which was really cool but after a while I went back to try and get my 9 nailed.
There was a ‘super-final’ where the top 4 male snowboarders and skiers would go through to a head-to-head final. I was one or two places behind the top four but I was pretty happy with the result considering the people I as up against. The standard was so high!
The prize giving final happened after an hour of musical entertainment and I got 3rd for under 17’s male snowboard which I was really stoked with! What an incredible day!!
Thanks Jordan - Here's to many more competitions and plenty more fun riding sessions this summer!
Jordan rides an Endeavor snowboard, wears Airblaster outerwear and protects his face from the elements with Airhole facemasks.
All can be purchased or rented from Tignes Spirit in Tignes le lavachet!
