How did Sochi differ from Pyeongchang?
In Korea, It was slopestyle and big air, and in Russia, it was just slopestyle. In Russia, the slopestyle was really sick, and the course was massive and perfect to ride. On top of all this, the weather was really good, and everything was mint. The slopestyle in Korea was not so much like this. The weather was horrific, and it just wasn’t an enjoyable experience.
I was battling an injury as well, but luckily for me, it went away just in time for the big air event. The weather for this was good, and I felt really on form and just started to enjoy the experience a lot more on the whole. I couldn’t put my finger on which one was better. They were both sick. I wish I could go to more Olympics.
“I wish I could go to more Olympics”
You’ve recently left your position at Park and Pipe. How do you feel about the future of British snowboarding?
We have some really good riders at the moment. People like Katie [Ormerod], Matty [McCormick], and Billy [Cockrell] are really good at what they do. We just need more of them. We don’t have enough of a roster of young kids coming through to sustain our Olympic team through the years, and I don’t know how that happened or what we do about it.
I think it’s the loss of seasonaires going away and snowboarding. I don’t know, but that’s the only thing I think is bad is the long-term future of snowboarding at the Olympics for us, and it’s a little bit bleak at the moment.”
More has to be done for sure. If we can get more people into snowboarding, then it’s great. But actually sport in general, because people value and get a lot from doing sports and the more we can pull people into doing that the better everybody is going to be.
Do you see yourself as a potential influence for these future stars coming through and someone who can offer advice going forward?
I hope so. I’d like to think I’ve been a decent ambassador for the sport. I’ve enjoyed my career, and I’ve kind of put that ahead of everything else, and I’ve done really well in the process. I might not be the best model for elitism that there can be, but I hope that I’ve inspired people to go snowboarding for sure.
“I might not be the best model for elitism that there can be, but I hope that I’ve inspired people to go snowboarding for sure”