Freestyle’s Coming Home

2nd April 2023 | Rod & Dianne Frazer, Cairngorm, Scotland.

Last modified on April 7th, 2023

The long awaited return of The Brits to Scottish snow took place at the weekend with the organisers claiming it a great success. PlanetSKI was slopeside in Scotland.

Despite Scotland not enjoying the snowiest of seasons, Cairngorm knocked it out of the park, building a superb slope style course, banked slalom and rail park.

Top marks to the shapers creating world class jumps appreciated by some of the country’s top riders for the British Freeski & Snowboard Championships at the weekend.

Cairngorm Mountain was an early home to The BRITS but 32-years have passed since it was last held in Scotland.

We previewed the event earlier on PlanetSKI with some history and details of the competition:

Cairngorm gears up for the BRITS

The BRITS 2023 Slopestyle course. Image c/o The BRITS

Here was the schedule:

Saturday 1st April drew the biggest crowds for the slopestyle.

Some big old kickers made for a spectacular event.

The Red Bull team kept everyone buzzing with free drinks.

Qualifying in the morning was a tough shift after overnight temperatures had dropped enough for a re-freeze of the spring snow.

The morning session wasn’t for the faint hearted, but despite bullet hard transitions the competitors toughed it out and put on a great show.

There was some disruption of qualifying due to hill fog rolling in and out but The Brits team stayed flexible and switched to a Jam Format to give all the riders plenty of air time in the afternoon.

The athletes upped their game as the snow began to soften, going big and enjoying the softer trannies.

The crowd enjoyed some massive tricks from the higher ranked riders, but there was also a hugely supportive vibe so plenty of young skiers and snowboarders could enjoy a taste of that ‘Big Competition’ day.

The BRITS, Cairngorm. Image c/o Dianne Frazer

And check out out video from across the weekend:

Sunday the 2nd of April saw softer spring snow conditions for the Rail Jam and Banked Slalom.

While the snowboarders were on the slalom the skiers were hitting the rails, then all switch in the afternoon.

The Ellis Brigham wee waxy team were on hand to prep bases (with donations going to Protect Our Winters) for the competitors in the banked slalom, an event which everyone seemed to enjoy hugely.

The Rail Jam was a real crowd-pleaser, set up right next to the cafe and bar.

The format meant the spectators were constantly entertained and the riders had plenty of opportunity to try their best tricks on a heap of different rails and boxes.

It’s been 32 years since the first Brits were held on Cairngorm, let’s hope they won’t take so long to come back to Scotland for their next visit.

Holding The Brits on home snow allows some of the local talent who perhaps wouldn’t travel to the Alps a chance to take part in a superb event.

Who knows how many young freestylers have been inspired to take their sport to the next level.

The BRITS, Cairngorm. Image c/o Dianne Frazer

Huge thanks to TSA, Ellis Brigham, Picture, Red Bull and Snowsport Scotland and Cairngorm Mountain for enabling the organisers to bring this iconic competition back home.