NEW ZEALAND

Mid August I headed out to New Zealand with the GB Freestyle Snowboard Team and Roxy.  It was a long flight, changing at Singapore and Sydney - was great to get a sneak peak at those places too!

Me at Shangi Airport Cactus Garden

 

After nearly 30 hours of travelling to the other side of the world, I was pretty jet lagged; but it was well worth it! The scenery was phenomenal and SnowParknz was amazing! The park was so much fun as it involved a pro line, a medium line, a pipe and a very cool jib line. I was so stoked as I learnt loads of new tricks and gained loads of new experiences. Despite doing tonnes of Snowboarding, I also enjoyed doing a hard core morning workout before having a fun shred up the mountain and then to finish the day off by hsving a Yoga session lead by Lesley.

 







 SnowParkNZ

 

 

I was also very lucky as it was my 15th Birthday out in NZ and for one of my presents The GB Team treated me to the Nevis Bungy Jump. Myself, Jenny, Aimee and Rowan went down to Queenstown to do some Bungy Jumping and it was soooo much fun-especially as everyone sung happy birthday to me just as I was about to jump! I never thought I would be throwing myself off a 134m platform on my 15th Birthday!

Jumping off a 134m platform in Queenstown

 

I also had the opportunity to take part in the Roxy Photo shoot which was really cool as I got to model some really nice clothes-Just loved being part of the Roxy Team! Here is a link to my page on the Roxy website: http://roxy-uk.co.uk/en/snow/riders/20120719175236RIDE258427334038/Katie-Ormerod%20.html

 

Overall, I had the most amazing time in NZ! Loved being with the GB Freestyle Snowboard Team and Roxy, I learnt so much in my five weeks out there and really enjoyed being on snow again!

 

                                                                                                     

I think there were more Sheep than people in NZ!

 

 

 

Lake Wanaka!

 

Flying Upside down!

 

Once I had returned home, I was informed that I had won all 3 rounds of the Rokt Masters Rock Climbing competition; but as I was in NZ when the final was on, I placed 2nd; but still recieved a 6 month free climbing pass!Stoked! Now I'm just in the middle of school work and final year of exams; but super excited to go to Hintertux next month! :)

Also, here is a link to my GB Freestyle Snowboard Athlete page

http://www.teambss.org.uk/ski-snowboard-teams/snowboarding/freestyle-snowboarding-team/katie-ormerod/

 

 

 

 



 

Corvatsch and Scotland Training camp!!!

In May I travelled out to Corvatsch in Austria with the GB snowboard team for some private Air Bag training. It was really cool as we had the whole mountain to ourselves and a phenomenal air bag with a twin kicker set up which was really cool as we could learn new tricks on the airbag and then perfect them on the real jump.

We were also very lucky with the weather as it was always very sunny which made the run-ins really soft, and after a great days riding, it was great to cool down with some yoga and a walk to the lake.

The View from the top of the mountain!!!






https://vimeo.com/44734937 Here is a link to The British Freestyle Snowboard Team training camp video.

I also travelled up to Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago for another GB training sesh. It was extremely fun as we went to an amazing skate park where I learnt to skate! We also went to a little gym club to do some Gymnastics and I had the chance to experience wakeboarding at Foxlake Adventures which I loved and I crazily attempted a backflip off a jump-It was so much fun!The nights were spent down in Glasgow for some rail shredding and the set-up which included an amazing canon, was great as we managed to get hundreds of repetitions in and loads of new tricks learnt.

Overall, I had an amazing couple of months winning Cheerleading competitions,training with The British Freestyle Snowboard Team, going to the Fivers for Tranneys comp at Castleford which was really fun. I have also been training at Gymnastics and Rokt Climbing gym, where I have just placed 1st in the round 1 of the Rokt Masters competition! My next trip will be New Zealand in August-can't wait!!! Also, massive thanks to Roxy for all their support!!!

The Brits!

Last week I went out to Laax, Switzerland for the Brits and it was epic. The week started out not so great because the weather was flat light and snow , so the jumps were a definite no go! However, The next day was lovely bluebird so I could have a real good practice day on the Slopestyle course which was good.

Frontflipping in the snow!



The first of the competitions was Halfpipe and it was running very smooth and fast in the morning which was perfect; but as the day progressed on and into the finals, the sun came out and the pipe gradually got slower and slower. After having a Big air practice inbetween runs, I nailed my run in the final and finished in 1st in my age group and 2nd overall!

The overall podium!

Going BIG in pipe!(Also thanks to David Allen for this picture)

The next day was Big Air and having practiced the big 20m jump the day before, I was more than ready to get stuck in and start throwing down some tricks. After qualifying in 1st into the finals, I landed a sweet back 3 over the big one and then I went all out and went for the back 7 and I got it...never been so stoked! I ended up finishing 1st in my age group and 1st overall!!!

Big Air (Photographer: Sam Mellish)

Thanks again To Sam Mellish the photographer for the British Snowboard Championships!










Following Big Air was Slopestyle, my favourite event! I knew the course would be slow so I had to stick to the medium jumps to keep speed. I had two good qualification runs which qualified me in 1st position into the finals. Finals came around soon and I had two more great runs and my first run consisted of: Boardslide to fakie out of the box into Cab 5 indie, front 1, cab 1, back 3. My second run consisted of: frontflip off the box, back 3, front 1, cab 5, back 5. After having my final runs in Laax, I finished 1st in my age group and 1st overall, also winning a free surf holiday in Fuerta Ventura-Stoked!

Frontflipping off the box! ( Thanks to David Allen for this picture)

Overall Podium!

Burton European Open

Earlier this month I returned from the prestigeous Burton European Open, Laax, Switzerland, where I was competing in the Junior section. The weather was great and the slopestyle course was even better. We all had 3 runs, my first 2 were not so good as I fell on my cab 5's - had been landing them solid all practice!!! The pressure was on for my 3rd and final run - I nailed it with cab 5, straight air nose grab, back 3 and back 5 over the kickers - this was my safe run, shame I didn't get it earlier as wanted to go for my 7's but this got me on the podium so pretty stoked with 3rd place.

The second day was Halfpipe, not really my preferred discipline as I dont get to train in the pipe but thought I'd have a go just for fun. The weather was awful that day but managed to pull out some back to back 3's and 5's which was enough to get me on the podium for the 2nd time in 2nd place - even more stoked!

Me in Halfpipe!

Slopestyle podium winners Chloe my Roxy team mate on the left, Miyabi centre and me on the right.


Back at school now doing some GCSE work - Friday I'm heading off to the mountains again for the British Championships in Laax again. Can't wait for this trip as my Mum, Dad and little brother are all coming with me.

Roxy snow pro!

Me at the Roxy snow pro-gap jump

Last week I went out to Gerlos in Austra for the Roxy photo shoot! I flew out to Munich and was met by the German Roxy team manager, Nele. It was really lovely to meet lots of new people and see all my friends and also to stay in a ginormous chalet. We spent the last day of the photo shoot in Mayrhofen where the park was really cool! After a fun day of riding, we all went to the Roxy store and I had a moment of fame where I signed the Roxy store's wall! Stoked!

At the top of the course...

From Gerlos, we then travelled a 3 hour car journey to Saalbach-Hinterglem for my first ever Roxy snow pro! I was so excited to ride the course becasue it looked phenomenal and the jumps were the perfect size for me! The competition was so much fun and a great experience! It was great to ride with all the proffessionals in the semi finals becasue they were all amazing. I was especially happy when I heard my name being called out for the night final-I couldn't believe that I had qualified 9th.

Frontboard

It was really exciting to ride at night under the flood lights and overall I placed 9th. Well done to team mates Kjersti Buaas who rode great in the final and Aimee Fuller who came 3rd. It was such an awesome week and can't wait for the Burton European Open this week!

Me and Torah

Round up of 2011

So last year started out great with the Junior Burton European Open, coming 2nd in the slopestyle event - Super Stoked....come home to England, broke my shoulder on a rail at Castleford - Not so Stoked!!!!! Months out of action!!!

March-Had a trip to Laax to WATCH the Brits as I couldn't compete!!!! Still had fun though.

1st comp since my injury- Won Oakley Grom Games in Manchester..Yey :)

May - went to Kaurnatel for the Board Test, still recovering so was getting back into riding jumps, took it steady.

June - DC Jet Set at Castleford - won Overall Women, £500 money in the bank.
July - Won the FBBB Trickbusters in Milton Keynes - more cash £200..YES...
July - Won overall women at the Whitelines Rail Jam

Also in July I went to Les Deux Alpes with One Snowboarding to train with the GB Junior Team, then travelled with Aimee Fuller to Biarritz for the Roxy Surf Pro 2011, met up with all the Roxy UK Surf team and Lois Pendlebury who's the Roxy Pro Skateboarder.

Got sponsorship from Bliss by Level Gloves - Awesome.

September - Won Westbeach snowflex comp at Halifax - under 16's, first time I'd landed my 7 in a comp.
Also in September Won Overall Women at the British Indoor Snowtour rail Jam.

The day after the Snowtour event I competed for the first time after my injury in the Yorkshire Gymnastics Open - came 3rd on Beam and 4th Overall -super stoked as my shoulder has not got full mobility back which caused a slight problem in getting my gym fitness back.

October half-term went out to Hintertux to shred with my friend Rowan Coultas. Also in October travelled with the Roxy Future Team to Saas Fee - kicker and halfpipe training.

November & December - COLORADO..... had such a fun time there, went out with Roxy and met up with the GB Team. Really progressed my kicker riding. Breckenridge and Keystone kickers are super cool. Have loads of new tricks in the bag!

January 2012- Went on an epic trip to ride with my friend Rowan Coultas in Mayrhofen, so much powder it was unreal!!! Entered a Hotzone Rail Jam and won the womens.

Fun Times, Stay Safe, Katie O..xx