Belter of a BRITS on Cairngorm Mountain

a dozen or so skiers hit kicker together in a cop, with a snowless mountain in distance

After a mere 32 years, The BRITS returned to home turf this weekend. Cairngorm Mountain welcomed over 200 competitors to battle it out on the last of the Scottish snow for the chance to win titles in the Slopestyle, Rail Jam, and Banked Slalom

Images credited to @motionstoppersphotography

Cairngorm Mountain has a great history of supporting freestyle events since the scene emerged in the late 1980s. The first Cairngorm BRITS competition took place in 1991, pitting professional UK freestyle athletes against amateur enthusiasts, while welcoming anyone who was up for it to take part too. The format hasn’t changed much since and this weekend saw competitors from age ten to 40 (ish) giving it their all on the same boxes, rails and kickers. 

Andy Collin, former U16 champ and 2023 Masters competitor said:

“It’s such a great experience to be up on the side of Cairngorm rather than being out in Switzerland – it feels so much more authentic. I’m stoked to be here and see the next generation of riders throw down.”

The mountain was blessed with a windless weekend (with a just a short weather hold for fog on Saturday) allowing the competition to get fully underway without a glitch. There were plenty of familiar and famous faces in the crowd and taking part, including Olympians Kirsty Muir, Katie Ormerod and Murray Buchan, as well as former snowboarding legend and BBC presenter Tim Warwood, and ski production company Legs of Steel’s own Paddy Graham. 

Former Olympian and Aviemore local, Lesley McKenna, was chuffed to take the win in the snowboard banked slalom, 26 years after her first ever BRITS title. “It was brilliant to have The BRITS back on Cairngorm! Everyone involved in making the event happen pulled out all the stops to make it a wonderful weekend,” said Lesley. “The slopestyle build was the best to date on UK soil, the Rail Jam setup was world-class, and the banked slalom was both exceptionally well put together and a whole lot of fun. A huge success all round with the likes of athletes Kirsty Muir and Justin Taylor-Tipton in attendance, as well as folk from all age groups, from Juniors to Legends!”

Head over to the BRITS website to check out the full results and keep up to date with news on next year’s competition. 

red bib BRITS ski competitor mid-trick over snow kicker with a non snowy landscape in distance.
red bib BRITS competitor mid-rail with a non snowy landscape in distance.
red bib BRITS competitor mid-trick over kicker with a non snowy landscape in distance. photographer from different angle in shot, as is Red Bull logo branding
red bib BRITS competitor mid-jump grabbing tail of snowboard with a non snowy landscape in distance
red bib BRITS competitor mid-rail grind with a less snowy hill in distance.
red bib BRITS competitor mid-jump grabbing heel edge of snowboard with a non snowy landscape in distance
red bibs of competitors stand on patchy Scottish snow, with two guys holding the hands of a young skier looking about to head off on a run
The Brits 2023 © Neil MacGrain
red bib BRITS competitor mid-rail with non snowy, patchy grass terrain surrounding
The Brits 2023 © Neil MacGrain

Watch the BRITS-Cairngorm vlog edit here from Paddy Graham and Matt McCormick:

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