This morning was the halfway stage for The Brits 2014, with 2 events down (Bangers & Cash Rail Jam, yesterday’s Snowboard cross) and two to go. Next up: the Trespass Halfpipe Championships.
We could see the pipe being prepared from our apartment, and things were looking good when the riders headed up for qualifying. A third day of blazing sun meant that the one of the walls softened up fast, but on the whole it was in great shape.
A lot of the competitors from both Bangers & Cash and the boardercross were back in attendance, with Maisie Hill proving just as competent in the ditch as she was on the berms and rails with a steezy frontside tailgrab in her run, while Ayla Thidling set the bar early on with clean back-to-back 360s.
Jamie Trinder was the only rider to go inverted in the final, sticking a cab underflip and alley-oop backside rodeo. The majority of his competitors seemed to favour amplitude over tech, with Max Thidling‘s huge frontside 540 a standout hit. Team GB’s Lewis Courtier-Jones perhaps went as bigger than anyone, while James ‘Honey Monster’ Philips and Corrine Mayhew proved that it’s not just a young un’s game.
While it looked like Lewis had done enough on his first run, he didn’t opt for the victory lap and instead boosted even higher out of the pipe than before; the frontside 720 on his first hit in particular was absolutely jaw-dropping. Unfortunately he slammed hard towards the bottom of the pipe, and looked in a bad way. Fortunately it wasn’t too serious, and we was able to attend prizegiving where he picked up best overall male.
While Max had to settle for silver, his sister Ayla won best overall female. It’s her second podium of this year’s Brits, and another title to add to her recent Junior Freeride Tour victory.
We’ll no doubt see a lot of the same faces at tomorrow’s slopestyle event – we’ll have all the news from that one tomorrow night.
TRESPASS BRITISH HALFPIPE CHAMPIONS IN FULL
Female Kids – Maisie Hill
Male Kids – Gabe Adams
Female Youth– Ayla Thidling
Male Youth – Nathan Gray
Female Junior – Natalie Silkstone
Male Junior – Lewis Courtier-Jones
Female Masters – Corrine Mayhew
Male Masters –James Philips
Female Overall – Ayla Thidling
Male Overall – Lewis Courtier-Jones
