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Wednesday, 1 February 2006, 16:20 GMT

Learning the rails

Three young snowboarders have been given the chance to taste the life of a pro snowboarder.

They were selected from hundreds of riders taking part in the AIM Series last summer to join a snowboard team and compete in the Orange British Championships in Laax, Switzerland in March.

BBC Sport Academy caught up with them at a training camp in Tignes where they spent a week with pro snowboarder Jenny Jones.

How Jenny made it as a pro

Laura Hill, 21, from Cirencester

Laura comes from the West Country but has spent much of her time learning to ride around West Yorkshire.

"Laura's really strong on the rails. I'm learning quite a lot from her actually"
Jenny Jones

Laura Hill

She studies in Leeds and is a regular at the Castleford Xscape indoor slope.

Her entry into the AIM Series was her first competition but she won the indoor title after a friend pushed her into it.

She says: "It seemed quite a lot of money to enter (£60) when I could just go and ride and have fun with my friends anyway.

"But you have quite a lot of fun in competitions. It's a bit different to how I expected, but in a good way.

"It's really cool being part of the team. It's good to get a couple of trips in because obviously getting away to the mountains is a big expense for most riders.

"It's also good to ride with different people and it's really cool to have people around you supporting your riding.

"I'm talking about having Jenny as your coach or photographers or camera people. It's not necessarily to get published but it's good for feedback and training.

"Slopestyle will be the main event for me at the Brits. I'm not going to think about it too much but I want to do as well as I can."

Mark Watson, 20, from Banchory, Scotland

Mark learnt how to snowboard at his local golf course. He comes from the same part of Scotland as GB snowboarder Ben Kilner.


Mark explains: "I think Ben taught me how to do my first turn on the golf course. We all used to go riding there. The greenkeepeer hated us.

"Mark's learning to go from dry slope to big jumps which is quite a transition"
Jenny Jones

Mark Watson

"I was skiing in my younger years but I've been riding six years now.

"It's mostly been two weeks here or there but I went to New Zealand during my gap year. That was absolutely wicked."

Despite taking a trip to the local hospital after he hit his head, Mark had a great time learning alongside Jenny Jones.

He says: "I've been going a bit bigger off the kickers and learning a few new tricks which I haven't done before.

"I'm starting to get more accustomed to competition. Everyone pushes each other and I've found I've improved a lot during them.

"British male snowboarding is reaching new levels and I'm hoping I can go out and improve and enjoy the session in Laax."

Claire Frost, 19, from Aberdeen

Claire is studying Engineering in Durham and has been riding since she was 13.

"Claire's doing well on the jumps doing corked backside 540s but she's also learning other spins on the smaller jumps"
Jenny Jones

Claire Frost

She attempted to spend a season in the Alps in 2004 but she ruptured a knee ligament after four days!

But she managed to get out for the last couple of months of the season and it paid off as she finished third in the AIM Series indoor slopestyle championships.

She admits that since joining the team it's been a huge learning curve.

Claire says: "I was doing backside 720s on the small jumps and I was quite chuffed with that because it's something I've been trying to do for while.

"I've kind of realised I'm okay at snowboarding. Beforehand I wasn't sure how I compared to other people.

"After university all I want to do is snowboard. Certainly for a few years anyway.

"I'm looking forward to the Brits but I'll be up against my coach. It doesn't seem quite fair does it?"




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