Thank U Snowboarding

Oh my days, this was a funny conversation. This chairlift was one after the episode with Rich Dunning where we talked about Manuca Honey, and swerves off on a tangent. This kinda set the tone for a fun day of shredding as a big posse in Tignes, with loads of laughs on the chairlift rides. A smattering of fresh snow on the ground, and, I assume, a couple of pints of Guiness afterwards, the best of...

Not many people live and breathe snowboarding quite like Dan Crichton, who along with Lizzie Holloway, have been making sure the UK gets Burton Snowboards, with the best service, demos, team riders and the love that Jake himself brought to the sport. We were lucky to have Dan with us for a few days on the Thank U Snowboarding Community Building Camp, and he worked hard making sure our guests had t...

Caz spent a fair bit of time on the camp being a little risqué, so I thought she'd make for a funny chairlift chat. What I didn't realise was how deep her roots in snowboarding go and how committed to the shred and how technical she is about it. So, I found that I just listened to her more than anything. Caz is all I love about snowboarders, people who deeply love the mountains, who may not live t...

A short chairlift chat in the true tradition of chairlift chats, random topics, funny facts and laughs... My old mate Richie was in on this one and I'm stoked to add his voice to the podcast after many seasons of hanging out in Bourg and Les Arcs. Podcast regular Scoph lends some supporting work to this one too... We have also released details of our second batch of camps running in La Plagne, 7-1...

A chat with one of favourite people, Chris Moran, joined by Scott McMorris on a noisy gondola in Meribel a couple of seasons ago. This is the archetypal chairlift chat for me, covering lots of topics, having a laugh with whoever, in this case some French dudes, as well as with your friends. We have also released details of our second batch of camps running in La Plagne, 7-14 and 14-21 March 2027,...

On a chairlift in La Plagne during our inaugral Community Building Camp, I caught up with camper Mark Dawson, who had got in touch just before coming on the camp to inform me he had quit his job and was going to become a snowboarding instructor. Now I obvioulsy condone such reckless behaviour, but I wanted to share his story with you guys, because he is just so stoked on snowboarding, its infectio...

Chances are, if you follow UK snowboarding at all, and certainly on Instagram, then you'll have seen a clip or two or Jamie riding his backyard rail set up, which alone is pretty insane. His tricks and style on that thing are ridiculous. But that is in no way the full story. Olympian, first UK rider to win a World Cup, video parts including the two Hemel runs (on our Youtube channel) sponsorship b...

Max is a dome kid at heart, but he has transferred his life to the Alps, killing the Penken Park, but low key enough to join us on the Thank U Snowboarding Community Building Camp to help people choose which of the new Burton kit will suit them best, and to help with a little coaching, certainly when it comes to park endeavours. Max is a lovely guy, with a passion for snownboarding, an infectious...

I know Sam through mutual friends and from the school playground and although I knew she had worked in the snowboard media, I didn't realise how hard she worked to make womens snowboarding appear as it should be and not just another canvas for make up or whatever. Her quiet influence on womans snowboarding is now reaping rewards as the womens events at the recent olympics are arguably more interes...

Jonathan (or Jon, I can't decide) has been around the British scene for years, and contributed to it, and the wider worldwide scene in so many ways, from grom on dryslope to working with some of the biggest names in snowboarding then or now, he has loved snowboarding all the way through, and helped others navigate it. There are photos of Jon riding a pre-Jamie Nicholls back yard dryslope in run to...

Sketch is another one of those guys who has been around the scene for ages, and although I've seen and heard of him, our paths have never properly crossed, which is mad considering the size of the scene, which, btw, was and remains pretty small. But Sketch is without a doubt a die hard snowboarder, and you have to be in Scotland and insist on riding the highlands, because it ain't easy. Conditions...

Jono is another one of those people that upped sticks from the UK to devote and build his life around the shred. I'd heard his name mentioned loads of times because he also helped Chris Moran build his house, but I finally met him when we booked him to teach our kids to snowboard last Easter. He has the unenviable task of showing three autistic kids the fine art of shredding, from complete beginne...

Marcus' life took a pretty big gear change 13 years ago, with the death of his best friend and partner in crime, Nelson Pratt. Its hard not to mention Marcus without talking about Nelson and we do, but Marcus' story is pretty mad on its own. From blagging snowboards and convincing a major Tour Operator to letting him and Nelson be their snowboard guides, to the ridiculous slam he took trying to ai...

Lee has had an inlfuence on the biggest company in snowboarding globally, not in a glamorous, pro riding way, although he was a semi prosketer back in the 80's. But in a practicle, problem solving way, which is s important. From hand building his own boards back in the early days of snowboarding, finding his crew at Extreme in Doncaster, he saw an opportunity with Burton. So after writing a hand w...

I first heard Neils name when some waterproof shirts were quite the accessory, however, with a button phobia, it wasn't something I could go near. Since then, I heard his name quite often, often linked with James Stentifod on backcountry adventures, so I knew he was a rider of some standing. Fast forward a few years, I'm sharing a room with James and Neil at Spriing Break, although our paths didn'...

As far as success after a life in snowboarding goes, Nathan certainly seems like he won. He took his riding skills and combined it with a good eye for an image and became one of the stalwarts of the British scene and capturing it, and took those skills to the wider world and became a very sought after photographer. Indeed, if world famous celebs whom youve worked with are any measure of success th...

This episode features a rider who owns possibly the best turn in snowboarding. I'll caveat that with 'that I've seen in real life' because the general concensus is that Josh Dirksen has the best turn, but I've never ridden with him. I have ridden with Owain however, and I wanted to follow his line and ride like him and I've not felt like that for a long, long time. Owain is a coach and lives in a...

Chris Carr is one of those riders whoo, in the 90's, was living for dryslope riding. A regular at Becton and Hillingdon, as well as a face and contender at any give drylope competition, Chris carved himself a nice little niche in snowboarding. Sponsored by Morrow and Special Blend (two holy grail sponsors) he may not have gone the biggest, but had a distinct and solid style honed from countless ho...

This episode is a great example of how Snowboarding, possibly unlike other 'sports' can bring people together. I'd never met Hannah before and we sat down as strangers, but by the end of the interview I felt I'd made a new friend. Then we went shredding and had a great day with a solid crew, some up from Bourg and other Tignes locals, all chopping around in the bit of pow we had, laughing on chair...

If there had to be one skier who blurs the line between skiing and snowboarding, it is Jim Adlington aka Skier Jim. He doesn't necessarily ski like a skier, and is definitely 'one of us' in terms of personality and outlook. Its quite mad that given the community in Tignes which he would fit right in with, he lives over the mountain in bat shit crazy Val D'Isere, a town which has transformed in man...

If Lewey was hand building snowboards in the Alps, or Japan, no-one would bat an eyelid, but as a guy building boards in the UK, he stands out as different. But Lewey is a prime example of someone being exactly where they want to be in life. Sure, he could be a bit bigger and maybe have an employee or two, but as someone who loved snowboarding, who found someone needing an apprentice to learn how...

Stewart blasted into the snowboard industry, missioned with hooking up a team of riders and spreading the Oakley name as far and as wide as possible, and boy, did they choose the right person. Anywhere he went, he would look after his team and associated people, if he saw someone on the mountain struggling with their goggles, bam, he'd hand them a pair. He was generous to a fault, I can only wince...

Ash is another one of those people who has an infectious energy for snowboarding. His path has taken in many facets of the lifestyle of snowboarding, from a job in the industry to playing in bands out in the Alps, (probably in the wrong order) and maybe he lost the love for it at points. As a community we are thankful that Ash is still with us. Sadly, the lifestyle of snowboarding can be an easy p...

Izzi has an infectious love of snowboarding, everytime I"ve seen her, she has a big smile on her face and you can tell she is so stoked on snowboarding. We met at the Spring Break and I'm sure Shannon from the TSA had mentioned her, so we got chattng and I found out she runs meet ups for snowboarders, which, I'd never really thought was a thing. Back in the day, you just went where there was snowb...

Russ has been quietly shaping and documenting the best of British Snowboarding for as long as I can remember. I didn't really know what Russ did entirely, he was just everywhere, at every event or happening for ever. I assumed he had something to do with organising things, maybe the Brits, maybe dryslope things, then of course, I noticed he started shooting snowboarding as more and more of his pho...