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BOARDOLOGY/SWMBC GIRLIE CAMP A HUGE SUCCESS

GIRLS GO BIG AT WORLDS FIRST MOUNTAINBOARDING GIRLIE CAMP

Organisers: Sam Gleeson - South West Mountainboard Centre
Alli Carter - Boardology.co.uk
Sponsored by: SWMBC, Boardology.co.uk, Fat Face, MBS, Scrub, Lush Longboards, Mountainboard Magazine, Saint Industries and Hillbilly.

For anyone who has ever organised an outdoor event in the UK there are likely to be two issues keeping you awake until the wee hours of the morning one being the weather forecast and the other being the type of crowd that will pitch up. With hindsight, a whole lot more dreamtime could have been enjoyed in the week ramping up to the Worlds First Mountainboarding Girlie Camp at South West Mountainboard Centre. After months of planning, promoting, mowing and loads of blagging, Friday 1st June arrived, bringing with it glorious sunshine as fifteen gorgeous ladies from all over the country banged tent pegs into the luscious grounds of SWMBC and got set for an action-packed weekend of mountainboarding, surfing and camping.

Whether anyone would admit it or not, what was going through everyones mind that evening as we watched the sun go down over the Westward Ho! horizon was am I going to be the worstis she going to be better than meomg what if Im the first to fall!. The next day would reveal all. The girls ability level ranged from having never set foot on a board of any description, to seasoned snowboarders wanting to try something new, to accomplished mountainboarders already catching air and riding hard. The camp was designed to ensure that every girl went away having done something they had never done before...for most, that was to just get down a hill with a little grace, but many of the girls had the need for speed, higher airs and harder landings, and thanks to the lighthearted but professional tuition of Richie Heard, Sam Gleeson, Jos Kirkman, Sophie Friedl & Kus Austin, they got what they came for!

Day one, everyone padded up and the newbies were put through their paces on the gentle nursery slopes. Soon, with a heady mix of determination & enthusiasm, all the gals were cruising with ease and had mastered stopping using the powerslide which meant progressing to the steeper slopes. The more experienced riders in the meantime were ripping it up on the mini-slopestyle course comprised of a range of small features to be hit individually or pieced together through a variety of lines, including rails, berms, north shore platforms, hips and tables..simply a warm up for things to come! Lunchtime brought a welcome break whilst watching an impressive demo by some world class riders such as Jos Kirkman and bother Mick. Adding their flair to the spectacle were Sophie Friedl and Marcus Austin.
Not being a boot camp by any stretch of the imagination, massage was available thoughout the day by the healing hands of Morag Leiper.

After a gruelling afternoon of perfecting earlier acquired manoeuvres, everyone swapped their mountainboards for surfboards and piled into Sarah Whitelys Walk on Waves surf school van and headed to the beach for a 2 hour surfing session..a first for many of the girls on camp.
Bedraggled, salty and exhausted, all that remained to end an exhillerating day was to head back to camp, light a fire, have a few beers and toast marshmallows. As the campfire crackled & spat into the early hours of the morning new friendships were forged, with the promise of arranging another camp for 2008!

Defying the forecast, still no rain, dawn broke on Day 2 a day that proved to be even more exciting than the previous. After a much needed post- breakfast warm up, the hard er core group began trying out grabs & rotations and started nailing some of the massive jumps that make SWMBC the world famous centre it is. The equally gnarly-spirited newbie group attacked the mini-slopestyle course and every girl grasped the techniques required to play on smaller kickers & boxes. The camp culminated in a dramatic foam pit session with impressive demos by Jos Kirkman & Richie Heard, followed by the dishing out some amazing prizes.

Prizes
Most improved riders of the weekend:
Newbie Rider Category :
Joint 1st Kathryn Wight & Cheryl Gradidge
With Alex Taylor as runner up
Advance Rider Category:
1st Jacqui Parker

All other prizes were won through the Charity Raffle with proceeds going to Westward Ho! Hospice.
Prizes included a MBS Vixen Mountainboard, Scrub moutainboard, Lush Longboard, Vouchers from Fat Face, Clothing from MBS, Pad sets and Helmets from Scrub, clothing from Saint, Annual subscriptions from Mountainboarding Magazine and DVDs from Maniac Films

Thanks to all the lovely girls for making the camp such a wonderful event and to all the sponsors for making it even more worthwhile for them to be there!
Bring on 2008!

Check out the VIDEO Footage by maniac films on youtube!