So it turned out at the London Ride 06 at this year’s Metro Ski and Snowboard Show. With hundreds of spectators gathered round the SnowFlex Quarterpipe, a check-list of the UK’s leading freeskiers & some of Europe’s top names went head to head in an inspiring display of new school aerials.

Youngsters lead the way

The tone was set on the very first run. Spectators stood agape at the bottom of the slope as freeski icon, Pat Sharples, introduced Jake Terry. Jake’s already a legend on the UK scene amongst his co-riders, but this was the first time the majority of the crowd had laid eyes on him. The reason for their amazement? Jake is only 8 years old!

The terrain park tearaway dropped in, hurtled down the very steep ramp, shot off the coping and, as the camcorders rolled and photographers such as Yves Garneau snapped away, Jake pulled a super slick 180. The crowd went wild; the riders went wild; the judges went wild; and Jake… … Jake just took it in his stride and headed up the stairs for his next run.

Jake Terry may be a star in the making, but others there were stars of the present or stars of the very soon to be. There’s a glut of talent around the 13-14yr old age group in the UK at the moment. Josh Fawcett, James Webb, James Wood have all broken through onto the top tier in the last 12 months. However, leading the charge and putting some serious pressure on his senior rivals, comes Murray Buchan. The Edinburgh-based star has a charging style that judges love and the skill to land almost anything. Considering he’s still just 14, could the UK have the next Tanner Hall on its hands?

Qualifying was spectacular

In the qualifying round, Josh Fawcett certainly stoked the crowd with an unusual variation of the Flare. The quarter-pipe was a tough ride &, as Josh launched out of it, a ski pre-released and sailed off into the air. Halfway through his inverted jump and only 1 ski left, Josh appeared not the least fazed. He styled out the flare, nailed his landing and only slid to the ground when his unattached boot snagged on the matting. Half the crowd reckoned it was part of the trick and cheered; the other half realized what he’d just managed to pull off and cheered even harder.

Another contender for this title, but for his binding exploding on landing and sending him crashing, would have been Flo Weisser – the Austrian rider had launched an enormous corked 7 tail grab. Flo adjusted quickest of the international riders to the matting and, but for this misfortune, would certainly have made it to the final.

Another unlucky not to progress was event sponsor Faction Skis’ rider, Ben Hawker. Hawker has a unique style and, on his Faction Wednesday Team Limited Edition skis, he attacks every air. His big Flare & attempted D-Spin wowed the crowd, but he just couldn’t hold on to his landings and so fell out of contention.

Freeskiers flew high in finals
In the end, the London Ride 2006 final was a UK affair from start to finish. Josh Fawcett got proceedings underway with a huge Flare - this time he even kept both skis on (whether the crowd was more or less impressed by this is a debatable point). Another youngster, James Webb, impressed his fellow skiers and amazed the crowd by launching a straight backflip to a ‘coping stall’ before riding out switch - a move that was precision personified.

As the final moved onto its second run, the riding cranked up a notch. Will Burrows nailed a 540; Rich Martin completed 675 degrees of his 720, but still rode it out. Josh Fawcett & James Webb opted for 720s as well. James Mason went for the trick of the day and came very close to riding out a fast-spinning 900. But for a ski releasing, he would have threatened the podium. James Woods went for a D-Spin. He held on, but traveled a little too far horizontally along the pipe. In doing so, he nearly took out London Ride MC, Pat Sharples.

Paddy Graham may be the styliest dresser in UK freeskiing, but he’s also the styliest rider. He just makes tricks look graceful, appearing to have more time in the air than gravity should reasonably allow. He concentrated on pulling Flares out of the pipe. However, the amplitude he got and the quality of execution made his flares a cut above the rest. In the end nobody could argue with his second place on the day and a 500euro cheque from Warren Smith at Ride Freesport.

Mike Wakefield cooks up his Wake ‘n Bake
For his final run of the day Mike Wakefield went for a massive D-Spin. He very nearly nailed it, but couldn’t quite hold on. However, this really didn’t matter. It was clear to all watching (and most importantly the judges), that Mikey W was already the London Ride 2006 champion.

His Wake n’ Bake remains one of the most spectacular tricks in new school freeskiing and when he nails it, it’s hard for others to live with. Saturday was no exception. He timed the launch perfectly and sailed skyward. The inverted spin is mesmerizing to watch and the landing appears to be pulled out of nowhere – but land it Wakefield certainly did. In fact, he stomped it, earning not only cheers from the crowds, but from his fellow riders. His 1000euro first prize from Ride Freesports was a worthy reward for his exploits.

It was fitting that one of the original posse of British dry-slope freeskiers should take the London Ride title, with a signature trick that is recognized across the International freeski world. Mike Wakefield competes alongside the best riders on snow: on Snowflex at the London Ride, however, he was in a class of his own.

London Ride brings freeski style to the masses
Ride Freesport again proved it is possible to bring international-class freestyle events to one-off indoor venues. With the support of event sponsors such as Peak Performance and Faction skis, the UK snowsports public can now get to watch genuinely world-class skiing in their own urban backyard.

London Ride organizer, Warren Smith, was especially appreciative of the display the riders put on. “This is necessarily a tight and seriously challenging quarter-pipe. The commitment the guys showed out there to perform for the crowd testified to the pride they take in their skiing. We look forward to bringing the London Ride back to the Metro Snow Show in 2007.”

Phil Martin
www.natives.co.uk

2006 RIDERS RESULTS Finals RESULTS - LONDON RIDE 2006:   1 Mike Wakefield (UK) 32 2 Paddy Graham (UK) 31 3 Murray Buchan (UK) 29 To view the complete table of results from the Final and Qualifier of the London Ride 2006, click here