Currently recovering from an injury Jamie will be taking to the slopes in Verbier Switzerland on 19-20 April.  Jamie has been granted use of the SpeedSki facilities at Verbier for his record attempt.

At present no official British record is set for speed snowboarding due to the hazardous nature of the challenge.  Jamie will be wearing body amour and a full face helmet to undertake the record attempt on the Mont Fort slope.  The unofficial British record currently stands at 132km per hour, a speed reached by Jamie’s coach James Foster.  Jamie is hoping to surpass this by setting the first official record at a speed in the region of 160 km per hour (100mph) in Verbier. 

Having snowboarded since he was 8 years old, Jamie is one of the country’s top snowboarders and has been representing Great Britain since the age of 14.  He is a former British Junior Champion and is currently part of the British Snowboardcross Team.

Keen to encourage other youngsters to get involved in sport, Jamie became an Athlete Mentor for Sky Sports Living for Sport last year.  Through the initiative, which is delivered in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust, Jamie visits secondary schools to encourage students to reach their full potential.  He hopes setting the first snowboarding speed record will provide further inspiration for the students that he mentors:

“I am only a few years older than the students that I mentor through Sky Sports Living for Sport and they are all right behind me in setting this new record.  It will be a fantastic experience and achievement to share once the official record is set and hopefully I might even inspire some of the students to try out snowboarding for themselves.

“The record attempt isn’t without risk and I have had to compromise between aerodynamics and safety to ensure I am wearing the right equipment to see me through unscathed.  The slope I will be using has a long flat run off area at the bottom which should enable me to keep the snowboard under control and stay upright to the end! I am confident I will reach between 140-160 km per hour – around 100 mph.  Achieving that level of speed would be a great benchmark record for Great Britain and hopefully one that will be challenged by other talented snowboarders in the country.” 

Jamie’s record attempt will take place on 19-20 April.