Photos by Andrew Hingston/Red Bull Photofiles

The end of the British Championships in Laax last week was marked by the Red Bull Home Run – essentially a Chinese downhill in which over 200 competitors race for their skis and boards at the top of the mountain, strap in, and then charge all the way down to the bottom. If you thought a boardercross race with four people was gnarly, imagine jostling for position down an ungroomed, late afternoon piste alongside a horde of rampaging riders. The Whitelines crew all fancied their chances this year but got stranded on the other side of the mountain, having missed the last chair up to the start line. We hiked for an hour only for a pisteur to threaten us with arrest and send us right back down where we came from and onto a gondola (but that’s another story).

When we finally rolled back into resort, we heard the news that the men’s snowboard race was won by a relative youngster, 18 year old Jessie Smith, while the female race went to local Silke Voithoter. Congratulations to you both, but know that had we made that start line we’d have kicked your ASS! ;)

On a side note, if you wanna see how the Canadians do Chinese downhills (less people, more beer) then check out this video here.