Where to Ski And Snowboard - CairnGorm cuts UK’s first real half-pipe

CairnGorm cuts UK’s first real half-pipe

19th April 2014, by Abi Butcher

The half pipe has been made using the same model of machine used to cut the half-pipe for the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in

The UK’s first ever real half-pipe competition is being held at CairnGorm Mountain today.

Skiers and snowboarders are competing side by side in “Bag the Pipe” on the 18ft half-pipe above the Ptarmigan Bowl — the first half-pipe in the UK to be cut by a machine. There are a range of freestyle categories including open male, open female, best male grom, best female grom and best air.

The half pipe has been made using the same model of machine used to cut the half-pipe for the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002. CairnGorm has set up a licensed bar, BBQ and DJ setup within the freestyle area for competitors and spectators.

Other Scottish resorts have hosted competitions on “shred ditches” and Snozone Milton Keynes once hosted an indoor snow halfpipe — plus the now closed Sheffield Ski Village used to have a SnowFlex halfpipe — but this is the first “real” half-pipe competition.

British Olympian Ben Kilner is attending, as is current British half pipe champion Lewis Courtier- Jones from Coventry.

If you’re not in the market for a freestyle competition, conditions are still good in CairnGorm, with plenty of snow left in the Ptarmigan Bowl and the Cas.