This summer, the inaugural Championship Ski and Snowboard league was launched at indoor and dry slopes across the UK. Six ski and six snowboard teams battled it out across 5 months of head to head competition, with Bearsden Freestyle officially crowned 2016 Champions of both Championship Skiing and Championship Snowboarding.

Bearsden took their win in emphatic style, clinching victory in the last round, overtaking Hemel in their final head to head ski match and again beating Hemel in the final snowboard round. This resulted in a tie for second place between Hemel and Braehead, with Braehead edging ahead to take the runner up spot with greater trick points scored throughout the season.

10 skiers and snowboarders from Bearsden Freestyle in Glasgow travelled down to the Telegraph Ski & Snowboard Show this week to collect their prize money donated by The Snowboard Asylum, Ellis Brigham and Delancey (see attached picture). Bearsden took home £2000 for winning the ski competition and another £2000 for winning the snowboard competition. The runners up were The Snow Centre, Hemel in ski and Snow Factor Braehead for snowboard, who both received a cheque for £1000. Half of the prize money must be reinvested into their freestyle scenes, allowing each facility to develop their offering to nurture talent. 

Some of the winning skiers and snowboarders from Micro Machines (the one off competition for kids aged 12 and under) were also present to accept outerwear combos from Picture Organic Clothing.   Picture also presented to Josh Yeo from Hemel a one year sponsorship as best overall Young Gun from CSS. The team of snowboarders from Warmwell Drylsope in Dorset also accepted their prize as winners of Battle Royale, the one off team competition that ran over the summer alongside Micro Machines.

Ed Leigh, presenter of Ski Sunday who has been watching CSS closely over the last 5 months had this to say: “In it’s inaugural year CSS has been a huge success, you will not find this kind of development in another country in Europe. Not only does it give our best riders a stage to showcase their skills but almost more importantly it is nurturing the culture of British snowboarding. Having the luxury of an international perspective on snowboarding I know that our close knit scene is the envy of most nations. The camaraderie, rivalry and banter that CSS has created already will only further that.”

Championship Ski and Snowboard (CSS) is the first competition of its kind aimed at showcasing young British freestyle talent, with each team, consisting of 4 riders including one “Young Gun” (a rider under the age of 15) and at least one female rider, uploading videos of tricks. Each edit included their best kicker, rail and EX (execution) trick, each month, and was matched against another team. It was then up to the high profile panel of judges to decide on the winners of each match. 

Neil McGrain from Bearsden said after collecting their prize cheques: “CSS was a great concept to get slopes around the UK fired up to compete against each other from the comfort of their home turf. It gave a lot of motivation to many of the younger riders to raise their game and promoted a great team spirit. The level of competition was strong and this really stepped up over the five rounds, meaning it all went down to the final round. We were stoked when we won Championship Snowboard but that went through the roof when the Skiing result came through too! It has been a fantastic competition to be part of and look forward to next year!”

In its first season, CSS has seen 64 snowboarders and 70 skiers take part as part of 12 teams based across the UK With demand so high that CSS also featured two one-off competitions, CSS Micro Machines (for riders under 12) and CSS Battle Royale.

Congratulations to Bearsden Freestyle, The Snow Centre- Hemel, Snowfactor -Braehead, Stoke Ski Centre, Aberdeen Snowsports Centre, Snowdome -Tamworth and Snowdome Milton Keynes for their incredible efforts over the past 5 months and being involved in the very first Championship Ski and Snowboard League. 

Check out all the edits from CSS on the CSS Facebook page. as well as the results, vote on the polls and the league tables on the CSS website:

https://www.facebook.com/cssleague/

http://ski.championshipskiandsnowboard.co.uk/

http://snowboard.championshipskiandsnowboard.co.uk/

CSS 2016 – The Winners: 

Championship Skiing 

Overall 1st Place Team -  Bearsden Freestyle

Overall 2 Place Team – The Snow Centre, Hemel

Overall Best Male - Chris McCormick, Bearsden Freestyle

Best Young Gun (under 15) skier -  Josh Yeo from The Snow Centre, Hemel

Best female skier - Kirsty Muir 

Championship Snowboarding 

Overall 1st Place Team - Bearsden Freestyle

Overall 2nd Place Team – Snow Factor, Braehead

Overall Best Male - Matt McCormick, Bearsden Freestyle 

Best Young Gun (under 15) snowboarder - Lewis Moore from Bearsden Freestyle

Best female snowboarder - Cerys Allen

CSS Battle Royale

1st Place Snowboard Team - Warmwell    

1st Place Ski Team - Braehead     

CSS Micro Machines 

Best male skier - Fynnlay Loupis

Best female skier - Layla King

Best female snowboarder - Mia Brookes

Best male snowboarder - Lewis Hopkinson

CSS 2016 - The Stats: 

·       75,200 views of CSS videos online so far 

·       64 snowboarders and 70 skiers 

·       CSS Snowboard Male 47 / Female 17 / Youngest Member  9 years 

·       CSS Ski Male 49 / Female 21 / Youngest Member  9 years 

·       12 teams each competing in 5 matches over 5 months

·       Around 15 coach/managers

·       7 artificial or indoor slopes involved

·       8 judges and 4 head judges

·       10 sponsors or partners

A huge thanks goes out to all sponsors of CSS. CSS is endorsed by GB Park & Pipe and supported through The Snowboard Asylum, Ellis Brigham, Delancey as well as Picture Organic Clothing, The National Lottery, UK Sport and national governing bodies Snowsport England, Snowsport Scotland and Snowsport Wales.