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With a number of the established boarders away at various summer
camps, would championship titles be left wide open at the Wycombe
Summit AIM Series event?
 
Unforgiving surface from matted
landings
The event had drawn competitors from as far a field as Glasgow to
Southampton so there was no shortage of determination and commitment.
The slope style was transformed this year
with the introduction of a pretty daunting, 'along to down rail'.
The beautiful warm weather was, however, not conducive to slick
riding, as any dryslope rider knows. Subsequently, starved of the
speed for the kickers, the rail lines became the focus of attention,
and in the Big Air it quickly became apparent that matted landings
are not everybody's favourite.
AIM Ski Series [Full results]
Sunday kicked off the new AIM Ski Series, following exactly the
same schedule as the snowboarding but providing a completely contrasting
day of competition. The range of abilities became evident in the
slope style, exactly what we'd like to see more of in the snowboarding
competition, where people of varying abilities are acting uninhibited
and just giving it a shot.
  
With skiercross, competitors have
the ability to pole and skate for extra speed, which subsequently
makes the race less of a forgone conclusion than the snowboarding
equivalent, should someone take an early lead. After whittling through
age category finals, the four winners were assembled together for
an overall superfinal which saw the youngest competitor, William
Davenport take top honours over established sponsored skiers.
Half an hour training is all it takes [Full
results]
A handful of the top boys were throwing down some pretty impressive
stuff. Andy Bennett with switch 360's into switch 540's on the kicker
course and Tom Last bust out some rodeo 5's. But special mention
has to go to Mark Methven whom, having boarded the previous day
decided to give this skiing lark a go. Mark, with around 30 minutes
skiing under his belt entered all disciplines, but I think found
his calling in the slope style event. Fearlessly (idiotically) he
attacked only the gnarliest of obstacles with a collection of comedy
stacks that will unlikely be beaten if I live to one hundred. The
judging panel, MC and half the crowd hit the deck with tears rolling
from many a cheek.
   
The atmosphere of the ski comp was
far more relaxed than its snowboarding counterpart and for it much
more fun. The ball is now rolling and the ski event will doubtless
gather momentum. It appears to be a more accessible option than
snowboarding, possibly because most people can grasp the basics
very quickly and use those fundamental skills to negotiate a skiercross
course.
The next leg of the AIM
Series will be the Slopestyle Championships in Midlothian, Nr
Edinburgh on 26/27 July.
Report by Spencer Claridge, AIM Series
All photos (c) dopeshots.com
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