The 27-year-old Isle of Man snowboarder made a slight error in the semi-final which cost her a place in the top four, but this is still a solid start to the season.

Gillings managed to gather her thoughts to win the fifth to eighth ‘semi final’ in which she beat the world number four Alexandra Jekova.

The opening event was won by Canadian rider Dominique Maltais.

Afterwards, Gilllings spoke to the BBC saying: "I made a silly mistake in the semi-final which meant I could only race for positions five to eight.

"I am really disappointed with that but overall qualifying in fourth and finishing fifth in the first World Cup gives me a lot of confidence at the start of the season.”

It seems that she is hugely benefiting from her newly reinstated funding from UK sport.

Gillings added: "I would like to say a huge thank you to my federation - British Ski and Snowboard (BSS) and UK Sport without whom I simply wouldn't be in this position.

"I know first hand the amount of hard work which everyone at the BSS has put in, from the office to the CEO. It's not easy but I really appreciate every bit of it, thank you."

The second round of the World Cup season will be held in Telluride, Colorado on Friday.

Image courtesy of Zoegillings.com.

Still time to vote for your favourite picture in the Natives photo comp So, the competition has been running strong for a few weeks now and after a number of excellent entries, we managed to decide on our top five finalists. Read the full article

A great deal for Natives users - 50% off all ski and snowboard hire from Tignes Spirit With one of the best snowfall seasons in the last 10 years, Tignes has one of the highest base depths in Europe right now at 350cm at the top and 150cm at the bottom. Read the full article

Natives review of 3sixtycams GoPro rental service Here is Balazs from Natives testing the GoPro rental service offered by 3sixtycams in Tignes... Read the full article