Having just stepped off the Swiss plane after a week out at the Brits, I am standing next to our a videographer with a busted knee and a broken board (thinking he was Jamie Nicholls taking on the monster grind box train) and a group of what look like emotionally broken individuals. Funnily enough however it could not feel any more satisfying.
A week of epic comps, a high standard of riding and a copious amount of drinking and partying has a surprising affect on you. I mean we genuinely drank the bar dry of beer and had to become creative with some crazy sprit mixers. There is a strange British satisfaction hidden in that.
With a competition schedule packed with Slopestyle, Big Air, Halfpipe, Ski Cross and Boarder Cross, every day brought a different collection of action. The Laax resort coupled with the crew behind Snowpark Laax created the mecca for all freestyle riding. You can actually see for yourself from a bunch of our live stream images how amazing these guys are keeping the resort on point.
Whether you are looking for a trip to catch some mellow pieste runs, or a full on freestyle party cluster bomb, this place has you covered. One of my only criticisms is the weather. 2016 saw an almost completely cloud covered 7 days of torture and struggle for the organisers to run an event. This year started with a similar outlook, but fortunately this year as the week went on the weather got better and better ending in a few days of blue bird heaven. Lets face it though if the weather is the only think you can complain about you can’t really justify any negatively.
If your looking for a spring trip, next year, this is definitely one I would recommend, where do you get the chance to shred with pros for a week, in a resort that not only has a 7m high half pipe but a park at over 1.4km long that has rails, kickers and boxes for days? It couldn’t be easier to get their either, I couldn’t recommend the Swiss transport more. We got the train from Zurich Airport and got greeted with some serious comfort and a journey you could fill an Instagram feed with!
My personal highlights where Rowan Cheshire taking the gold in the pipe, following Jamie Nicholls and Ross Welch through the park on a 2 top to bottom run live-stream mission and a night that started in Indy with “Famous First Words” ending in Riders Palace with a shed load of horrendous dance moves and a heavy sprinkling of glitter. It sounds strange I know, but trust me you want to be there next year to experience it for yourself.
The BRITS would not be possible without its highly supportive Partners: LAAX, Picture Organic Clothing, SWISS International Airlines, Switzerland Tourism and British Ski & Snowboard (BSS).
The moral of this story is it has only been one day and I am already missing this place!!