Charlotte Bankes’ run of hot form continued, while Mia Brookes and Zoe Atkin impressed at Dew Tour
Bankes takes Gold in Cortina
Charlotte Bankes’ sensational recent form continued at this weekend’s Cortina Snowboard Cross World Cup, with the reigning Crystal Globe holder taking her third solo victory and fourth individual podium of the season.
In a scintillating display of Snowboard Cross racing, Bankes took top spot in qualifying and followed that up with first place finishes at Quarter and Semi Final stages, before putting in another outstanding performance to clinch victory.
Bankes now sits third in the overall season standings on 427 points, just 95 points behind Chloe Trespeuch in top spot.
Brookes and Atkin on fire at Dew Tour 20th anniversary competition
Mia Brookes and Zoe Atkin both took podiums at Dew Tour as the invitational event celebrated its 20th anniversary.
Brookes, competing in the Snowboard Streetstyle, put in a dominant display to further enhance her reputation as one of the world’s great rail riders, taking victory and best trick in commanding fashion. Atkin, meanwhile, added yet another podium to her season collection with Silver in the Freeski Superpipe contest, with her score of 94.00 coming just short of Eileen Gu’s 96.33 in first place, while also tying for highest amplitude recorded at 12’3”.
Gerken Schofield into top-10 in Almaty
Makayla Gerken Schofield notched their second top-10 of the season with tenth spot at the Almaty Moguls World Cup. After an injury-impacted season, Gerken Schofield’s tenth place finish marked their first Single Moguls top-10 of the season and eighth overall, as they looked to be getting back towards the form that saw them record seven top-10 finishes including a podium in the 2022/23 season, while they also recorded a 16th place finish in Dual Moguls.
Mateo Jeannesson finished just outside of the top-10 in both Single and Dual Moguls taking 23rd and 21st spots respectively.
Alpine and Para Alpine circuits fall victim to climate conditions
The Men’s Slalom and Para Alpine races scheduled for Kranjska Gora were cancelled owing to poor snow conditions amid on-going warmer weather conditions across Europe. The cancellations mean the end of Billy Major and Laurie Taylor’s Slalom World Cup seasons, while Dave Ryding will go on to compete at the Slalom Final in Saalbach. Para Alpine will be seeking to reschedule their own Finals, pending the outcome of negotiations with alternate venues.
Zoe Atkin added another silver medal to close out superb season
Zoe Atkin laid down a brilliant Silver medal winning performance in the Dew Tour Superpipe competition this weekend, taking her tally to six podiums across the 2023-24 season.
In a compelling contest, Atkin skied superbly to seal second place and take her third silver medal of the season, having also secured second place finishes at the final World Cup of the season in Calgary and at X Games Aspen earlier in the year.
With the Halfpipe season now at a close, Atkin’s focus will now remain on training and preparations for next season, when Olympic qualification gets underway.
British X Games Medallists set to feature at legendary contest series
Zoe Atkin and Mia Brookes are both set to feature at this year’s Dew Tour when it gets underway in Copper Mountain this week.
Atkin, who took podium finishes at each of her World Cup and X Games appearance this season is set to feature in the Superpipe contest, while Freestyle Snowboard Big Air Crystal Globe winner Brookes will take part in the Streestyle rail jam competition.
Ahead of the competition’s start, Freestyle Snowboard Coach Ben Kinnear gave us his insight into Dew Tour 2024:
“Dew Tour is a long standing invitational event that holds great value and respect within the freestyle snowboard community. It’s the 20th anniversary this year and we know that Mia is stoked to be invited to ride.
“The event Mia is competing in is called Streetstyle and is a large rail-only course made up of four major rail sections with loads of different options. It should be a great event to watch and we know Mia has the rail technicality, variety and execution to put on a real show.
“She then packs her bags and travels straight to Tignes for the next FIS Slopestyle World Cup the following week.”
Dew Tour 2024 gets underway tomorrow (Friday 8 March) with Mia and Zoe both in action on day one of the competition.
Zoe Atkin and Jaz Taylor take podiums; Cross-Country Team seal dual top-10s
Atkin takes dual podiums at Calgary Snow Rodeo
Zoe Atkin made it a perfect podium season at the Calgary Snow Rodeo double header World Cup, with Silver and Bronze medal performances on the Women’s Freeski Halfpipe.
Coming into the 2023/24 season with three World Cup podiums under her belt, Atkin showed astonishing form across the 2023/24 season to more than double her career World Cup podium count, taking three third place finishes before rounding out with second place in the final of the season’s Halfpipe World Cup contests. With a second place from X Games Aspen already under her belt, the performances have marked out Atkin as one of Britain’s most consistently exciting performers.
The results left the 21-year-old third in the overall standings and with a growing reputation as one to watch as the clock ticks inexorably towards Milan-Cortina 2026.
Cross-Country Squad take top-10s in Minneapolis
The Minneapolis Cross-Country World Cup saw a season’s best performance from James Clugnet with eighth spot in the Sprint Free race. In his first solo top-10 since December 2022, Clugnet looked in excellent form coming through just outside of qualification for the Final, with a Semi-Final time of 2:56.63.
The 10km Free saw Andrew Musgrave take his seventh top-10 spot of the season with a ninth place finish, hot off the back of seventh place at the previous weekend’s Canmore World Cup in the 20km C Mass Start. Also in the 10km F, Joe Davies grabbed a first top-20 career World Cup placing with 16th spot, making him the youngest finisher inside the top-20.
Taylor secures seventh podium of season in Al
Jaz Taylor took a seventh World Cup podium of a remarkable season with third place in the Parallel Sprint World Cup in Al, Norway. In a weekend with a mammoth four World Cup competitions, Taylor’s run of fourth, third, seventh, and eighth made it a scarcely believable ten top-10 finishes in eleven World Cup races, leaving her atop the standings in the overall Telemark World Cup rankings, ahead of Norway’s Goril Strom Eriksen and France’s Laly Chaucheprat.
BCST do country proud in 2024 International Races
The British Children’s Ski Team delivered some outstanding results across the 2024 International Race calendar, delivering five podiums and a further eight top-10s amid a series of remarkable performances.
At the Trofeu Borrufa Races in Andorra, Brooke Baxter (U16 W) and Harrison Adkins (U16 M) both took a pair of Slalom podiums, with Baxter finishing second and third as well as fifth in GS, with Adkins third twice.
Louisa McIntosh (U16 W) finished just behind Baxter in the second of the U16 W Slalom races, coming in fourth position, Lucas Cross (U14 M) secured an excellent top-10 in GS, while Audrey Curtis (U14 W) was in the top-10 twice with seventh in Slalom and sixth in GS.
The Skiinterkirterium races in Czechia delivered a podium for Isabella Sullivan (U16 W) in Slalom, while Edward Lloyd (U14 M – tenth, GS), Jessica Freear (U14 W – eighth GS, seventh SL), Sam Kingsley (U16 M – tenth SL), Alexander Thomas (U14 M – eighth SL), Amelia Pietrzak (U16 W – fifth SL), Alice Bond (U16 W – seventh SL) and Gracie Duncan (U14 W – sixth SL) all secured superb top-10 placings.
Finally, at the highly contested Alpecimbra races in Folgaria, Italy, British athletes secured five top-20 finishes through Sebastien Anthony (U14 M – 15th GS), Lily Flitton (U14 W – 19th GS, 13th SL), and Hamish Blyth (U16 M – 11th SL, 15th GS).
Huge congratulations to every member of the BCST for some exceptional performances, representing the future of British Alpine Skiing in the best possible light.
Freeskier makes it four World Cup podiums for the season
Zoe Atkin continued her excellent form with a second podium in three days, and a fourth of the season, at the Calgary Freeski Halfpipe World Cup.
Days after taking Bronze in the first of the weekend’s double-header competitions, Atkin went one better to win Silver in a high-scoring Final.
With three 90+ scores in the field, Atkin’s 92.00 was enough to secure second spot behind double Calgary winner Eileen Gu, and ahead of 21-year-old Svea Irving, taking her first World Cup podium.
Atkin has now registered four World Cup podiums for the season, and five overall after her X Games performance, and means she has made the top-3 in every competition entered this season.
Freeskier takes third World Cup podium of season
Zoe Atkin secured her third World Cup podium of the season overnight at the Calgary Freeski Halfpipe World Cup, taking third spot. The result leaves her with three bronze medal finishes from three World Cup competitions so far this season, and means the 21-year-old has doubled her career podium count across the course of the 2023/24 season.
Qualifying for Finals from second spot, Atkin’s score of 88.00 in Finals was enough to put her comfortably ahead of America’s Riley Jacobs, and behind Canadian Amy Fraser (89.25) and China’s Eileen Gu (93.25).
Atkin’s performance in Canada means she has now taken podiums at the Copper Mountain, Mammoth Mountain, and Calgary World Cup competitions this season, alongside her excellent Silver medal performance at X Games Aspen last month.
Atkin will be in action again in Calgary this weekend for the second of the weekend’s double-header competitions.
Mia Brookes and Zoe Atkin brought their A Games to X Games 2024, while there were Para Alpine podiums to celebrate in Veysonnaz
Brookes and Atkin take Gold and Silver in Aspen
Mia Brookes and Zoe Atkin continued Britain’s proud record at X Games with medals in Freestyle Snowboard Slopestyle and Freeski Superpipe at the 2024 edition of the contest.
Brookes, the second youngest athlete at the invitational event, got the Games off to a stunning start with victory in the Women’s Freestyle competition. Such was Brookes’ dominance of the event that any of her three runs would have scored highly enough to take victory, with flawless rail sections, a Cab 12 on her highest scoring run, and a Cab 14 on her final run.
In the Women’s Freeski Superpipe, Zoe Atkin delivered a super clean display of Halfpipe skiing that included the highest amplitude recorded on the night to take Silver behind Eileen Gu, and back up the Gold medal that she won at X Games 2023.
British interest rounded out with a solid fourth place finish for Brookes in the Freestyle Snowboard Big Air competition.
Fitzpatrick and Guest take Para Alpine Podiums in Veysonnaz
Menna Fitzpatrick and Katie Guest added two more World Cup podiums and two FIS podium to their season tally in a busy week of competition in Veysonnaz. Bronze medals in World Cup Giant Slalom and Super G races were followed with Gold and Silver in FIS Super G competitions to round out a successful week of racing in the Swiss resort.
In the Women’s Seated classification, Shona Brownlee was also in action with a pair of fifth place finishes.
Taylor adds fifth podium of season in Melchsee-Frutt
Jaz Taylor’s remarkable Telemark World Cup campaign continued with a fifth podium of the season in the Melchsee-Frutt Classic World Cup. With third place in the first of the weekend’s competition, Taylor secured her first Classic podium since March 2022, further consolidating top spot in the Telemark overall rankings, where she sits 135 points clear of France’s Lily Chaucheprat. In the Men’s competition, Timote Gough was also in action, with 14th place in the Classic the pick of his results.
And the rest…
In Ski Cross, Ollie Davies made it through to the 1/8 Finals stages at the St. Moritz World Cup to take 20th spot while Scott Johns, on World Cup debut, finished in 58th place. The St. Moritz Snowboard Cross World Cup saw Charlotte Bankes finish just outside the top-10 with an 11th place finish, while Huw Nightingale took 55th spot.
In Moguls, Makayla Gerken Schofield continued their comeback from a knee injury with 22nd place in the Waterville World Cup, while Mateo Jeannesson finished 24th in the Dual Moguls event.
In Cross-Country, James Clugnet sealed his best World Cup result of the season with 20th place in the Sprint F World Cup in Goms and 26th in the 20km F Mass Start, with Andrew Musgrave finishing 12th in the latter.
Zoe Atkin made it two podiums in two X Games visits with superb Superpipe Silver
Zoe Atkin followed up her 2023 X Games Superpipe Gold medal with another outstanding display of Halfpipe skiing to take silver in Aspen last night.
A final score of 90.66 was enough to seal second place behind China’s Eileen Gu, returning to the competition after injury last year, and ahead of Amy Fraser of Canada in the Bronze medal spot.
The result means Atkin now has two podiums from two competitions in the 2023/24 season after her battling bronze medal showing at the Copper Mountain World Cup in December.
British Alpine history was made on the slopes of Kitzbuehel and Gangwon on a superb weekend of British snowsport action
Kitzbuehel sees three in top-20
All three members of the Men’s Slalom team finished inside the top-20 at the Kitzbuehel Slalom, marking the first time in modern history that Britain has delivered three top-20 finishes at an Alpine World Cup.
Billy Major roared out of the first run to finish in joint-10th spot alongside teammate Dave Ryding at the end of the first run, while Laurie Taylor showed superb grit to see out tricky conditions and qualify for the second run in 29th spot.
From there, with five skiers failing to finish the second run, Dave Ryding delivered his now typical second run brilliance with the second fastest second run of the day to catapult himself to the top of the standings, before being overhauled in the latter stages of the race for an eventual fifth place finish. Taylor landed the seventh best second run of the day to bring himself a 19th place finish and a person best, while Major also secured a World Cup personal best with 13th spot, less than 0.3s outside of the top-10.
Elsewhere on the Alpine World Cup circuit, Charlie Guest finished just outside of the top-30 at the Jasna Slalom World Cup, missing out on the second run by hundredths of a second.
Carrick-Smith takes Gold in Gangwon
Zak Carrick-Smith delivered a sensational performance in Team GB colours at the Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon to take Britain’s first ever Alpine gold medal in an Olympic competition, with victory in the Alpine Combined.
Find out more about Carrick-Smith’s history-making victory here.
Taylor goes four-from-four in stunning Telemark SPrint run
Jaz Taylor’s sensational World Cup season rolled on with back-to-back victories in the Carezza Dolomites Telemark Sprint World Cup, leaving her with four victories from four World Cup races this season, and a firm grasp on top spot in the overall rankings.
The wins, the 10th and 11th of Taylor’s career, mean she has now equalled the best season of her career which saw her take four victories across the 2017/18 season, just four races into the season.
Makayla Gerken Schofield, Maisie Hill, and Katie Ormerod make injury comebacks
Moguls skier Makayla Gerken Schofield, and Freestyle Snowboarders Maisie Hill and Katie Ormerod all made their World Cup comebacks this week after significant injury lay-offs. Hill and Ormerod were both back in action at the Laax Freestyle Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup finishing in 15th and 12th spots respectively, while Gerken Schofield marked their return with a 19th place finish at the Val St. Come Moguls World Cup.
Elsewhere in Laax, Mia Brookes cruised through to Finals in the Freestyle Snowboard Slopestyle competition before finishing eighth, while Matty Cox marked his first World Cup in British colours with a 36th place finish in the Men’s Freestyle Snowboard Slopestyle contest. Siddhartha Ullah’s sixth World Cup appearance finished with a 38th place in the Men’s Halfpipe.
In Freeski, Ash Clayton was the pick of the bunch taking tenth place in the Women’s Freeski Slopestyle in only their second World Cup appearance.
In Moguls, Mateo Jeannesson came 33rd in Moguls and 17th in Dual Moguls in the first World Cup of 2024, with the latter marking the best Dual Moguls result of his World Cup career to date.
Davies takes 16th in Nakisaka
Ollie Davies’ World Cup season took off with an excellent 16th place finish in the Nakisaka Ski Cross World Cup. In a difficult season, Davies showed serious grit and application to make it through to the Quarter Final stage, and the best result of his season to date.
Andrew Musgrave returns from illness in Oberhot
Andrew Musgrave returned from the bout of illness that put paid to his Tour de Ski endeavours, finishing just outside the Top-20 at the Oberhof 20km C Mass Start World Cup. A 21st place finish there along with a run out in the Sprint C event marked his first appearance of the year, having had to drop out of the 2023/24 Tour de Ski after the 10km C on 31 December.