Ok so the freshies may have been cow pats but hey the sun was definitely out and the slope was sufficiently moist what more could you ask for when riding dry slope? 

The day got off to a slick start, with everyone keen to get some practice in on the epic Halifax kicker before the comp began.  With a ton of prizes to ride for, the comp was always going to be a good one with some familiar faces mixed in with some welcome new ones and a stellar turn out of over 50 competitors…

The comp kicked off with the jam session qualifiers with everyone throwing down for a place in the next round.  The atmosphere was chilled with everyone able to flex their skills with minimal pressure.  Like a day just riding with your mates with Andy Webb breaking out the casual one footed back flip, laid back spins from local Andy Nudds throwing down a killer back 9 just for fun and Jason Molyneux taking the Endeavor best unsponsored prize with his backflips and switch underfips.  The Skiing fraternity were out in force and were showing the crowd how to pull anything from a slick 180 to corked 9’s and beyond…

After the qualifiers was the chance to take some down time or join in with the jam session on the gas pipe and box.  Tons of goodies were being thrown out by Westbeach rider Will Smith with Fin Bremner stealing the show with his relentless determination to stick his 50/50 to front flip off the box.

The top 5 from each category pushed on through to a 20 minute speed round to fight there way into the super final.  Anna Vincenti’s Misty 5 along with Si Cudlips’ double front flip wowed the crowd and judges enough to get them the Freeze Festivals sickest trick prize but just not enough for Si to get into the snowboard mens super final with local Andy Nudds, veteran Colum Mytton and Scot, Danny McCormick.   Anna Vincenti went on to battle it out in the super final (16 and under girls ski) alongside Sissy Herant with her super smooth 5’s coming 3^rd and Katie Summerhayes stylee 7’s bagging her 2^nd, with Anna’s Misty 5 landing her take 1^st place.  The 16 and under snowboard boys category showed they can kill it just like the old dogs with Pete Meadows showing us how a back 5 should be done and Matt McCormick following in his bro’s steps with some steezy back 7’s. 

Finally, after what seemed like a non-stop barrage of sick riding and uber progression we moved on to the Super Final.  The super final takes the top 3 from each category and see’s each competitor take 2 runs to determine their final place.  The 16’s and under snowboard category saw Matt McCormick come in 1^st place, Pete meadows, a sweet 2^nd and Rowan Coultas a slick 3^rd after showing us he can throw down 7’s just like the rest of them.  The 16 and under ski boys category saw some familiar faces with Joel Melia taking 3^rd with a 720 mute grab, Cal Sandieson bagging 2^nd with a 9 and another Halifax local, Tyler Jay Harding, taking 1^st with bangin’ corked 9 mute.

For the mens ski category superfinal, style was on the cards.  We had Peter Speight go all the way to take 1^st place with a massive cork 9, landing at the bottom of the slope, and almost over the road…  Charlie Richards took 2^nd with a styled out switch misty 7 and Chris Wadsworth bagged 3^rd place with a corked 7 mute grab tweaked to his neck… 

The mens snowboard superfinal was in fact more than super… once again Andy Nudds threw down taking first place with his stylee and slick 9, shaking the foundations of the pub as he stomped it, Danny McCormick took a smooth second with a switch back 5 double grab, leaving Colum Mytton to take a well deserved 3^rd place for his steezy front 7. 

The female snowboarders sure as hell did not let the side down with Sophie Addison taking a cool 1^st place for the womens category, throughout the day she was riding strong, showing her steezy skills in the rail jam session and throwing down an super stylee, massive back 3 to take first in the final.  Lucy Prior continued to ride after her toe edge catch to superman ragdoll off the kicker which bagged her one of the Bern Helmets best slam prizes and came in 3^rd for the 16 and under category with Becky Menday taking 2^nd and Faye Young coming in 1^st.

With the first leg of the Westbeach Snowflex Series 2010 over, the standard of riding has been set. Next stop is Aberdeen Snowsports Centre, September 18^th…  Big your quiver of tricks and your bag of steez… and probably your tooth brush and some spare underwear cos it’s gonna go offff!

Check out snowflexseries.westbeach.com for more information, photo’s, film and to pre register!