The first day of the Brits saw 44 skiers battle it out at the Bangers and Cash Rail Jam in Tignes, France. After two qualifying rounds, four females and eight males carried on through to the final. It was a closely fought competition, but in the end it was Katy Summerhayes (17, Sheffield) and Chris McCormick (14, East Dunbartonshire) who came out on top, taking home a handy £1000 each!

Katie Summerhayes was almost given a run for her money by Anna Vincenti (17, Edinburgh), who ended up in second, as well as her very own sister, Molly Summerhayes (15, Sheffield) who finished up in third. But neither of them managed to quite compete with Katie’s solid switch on, 540 off on the first rail and a 270 on, 270 off on the second rail.

I was really happy to get the gold today. The other girls are getting stronger so I had to be on good form. The park guys did a really good job on the course and it was well laid out. It was a shame about the weather, but all of us went for it and it was good to see people still came out to watch.

In the male competition, it was a close call with Chris McCormick narrowly outdoing Mike Rowlands (15, Rochester) who finished in second place and Julian Ball (28, Val d’Isère) who was third. Rowlands best tricks included several solid K-feds, while Julian Ball kept his runs very clean, consistently stomping his tricks on both rails.

However McCormick’s, 270 unnatural on the first rail, followed by a 270 on, 270 off on the second proved difficult to beat. Josh Birch (20, Slough)  had a go at knocking him off the top spot when he tried for a massive 630 gap jump onto the second rail, but just couldn’t quite hold it on the landing

I can’t believe I have won, I am totally stoked. I went out and did the best I could today and was really pleased with my performance. I had a great time last year, but so far I love being in Tignes and I am looking forward to the rest of the week.

Men
1st – Chris McCormick

2nd – Mike Rowlands

3rd – Julian Ball

Women
1st – Katie Summerhayes

2nd – Anna Vincenti

3rd – Molly Summerhayes