Westbeach Snowflex Bearsden Nov 2011 Review

Westbeach Snowflex Bearsden Nov 2011 Review
Mark Cheshire

Thu 17 November 11

The Westbeach Snowflex Freestyle Series 2011 final went off with a bang.

No but it actually did… Bonfire night and the stars definitely shone bright with the standard of riding being the best we have seen so far.

Bearsden was the final stop for the Series in 2011 and whilst the riding throughout the series has been off the wall we all knew that Bearsden was going to be something special… we weren’t disappointed.

The day started frosty with an ethereal glow as the sun came up and shone on one of the best snowflex slopes the UK has ever seen and slowly but surely competitors started to arrive along with a strong contingent of spectators coming from far and wide. Bearsden is one of few dryslopes in the UK still managing to hold an incredible yet friendly freestyle scene with some the the best of the UK’s up and coming riders regularly meeting to hone their skills. Luckily they all turned up on that sunny day with a few new names thrown in to shake things up.

There are always a million extra prizes at the series for the judges to find winners for and this one was no exception, this meant we saw a very deserving Matt McCormick take the Treeline Chalets Shredder of the Series award winning a holiday to Treeline Chalets in Morzine, an Endeavor snowboard and a pair of SP bindings. The stepchild ‘Child Support’ rail jam was taken by Connor Carey and the Whitelines/TSA best unsponsored fell to Jo Gardner.

The comp itself kicked off with the usual jam session seeing all the competitors shredding up the snowflex and showing the judges their skills in order to be taken through to the 8 person semi finals. Once the first jam sessions were over the semi finals began. The semi finals for the under 16 boys and men were a tricky one for the judges and saw Tomski Robinson just missing out on going through but taking the Northwave boots most improved throughout the day for relentlessly trying his 5’s and finally nailing it. Again the riding in the mens was also a tough one as the standard was so high but saw Danny McCormick, Jesse Smith and Pete Meadows go through to the super final.

There were only 3 ladies at Bearsden this year (come on ladies where are you!) and this meant Vaila Chapman could try her 7’s confidently as she had taken 1st place in her category, though she chose to ride all the way through to the super final! Anna Beswick and Liz Osborn placed 2nd and 1st respectively with 3’s being the order of the day.

As soon as the rail jam and quarter pipe sessions were over we headed straight into the 2 run super final.

The under 16’s boys snowboard saw Fin Bremner, a regular to the series take 3rd place just sliding out on his Back 7 and 9, Matt Correy came in 2nd, throwing a clean Back side 7 stale fish leaving Matt McCormick in 1st with his Back side 9 and a cool switch back 7. The men’s final had to have some double front flips in there with Jesse Smith stomping one to take 3rd, Danny McCormick took 2nd with his late cork Back side 7 and Pete Meadows finishing off the series to come first with a HUGE backside 9.

Spectators and riders alike mucked in to help us clear the slope of banners and tents so we could announce the final results. The prize giving was the usual affair yet interrupted by some local fireworks going off scarily close, this was however a very fitting end to this years series.

Thanks to everyone who came to ride, came to lend a hand and came to watch. The full run down of results is available here

Westbeach Snowflex Series 2011 Bearsden Results
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