Scottish Ski & Board 2021/22 e-mag

Cameron Lawrence skiing near Braemar in February 2021 during the filming of Grounded PIC: Charlie Wood

To read the e-mag version of Scottish Ski & Board, please click here https://www.frontrowmedia.uk/2022/scotlandonsunday/scottishskiandboard/

Freestyle skier Kirsty Muir made her first appearance in Scottish Ski & Board back in 2019, as part of a feature in which we asked some of Scotland' s leading snowsports athletes to share their top training tips. Just 15 at the time, but already a regular on the podium at major international competitions, Muir's advice was concise and to the point. The most important thing, she said, was clocking up as much time on snow as possible, in order to gain experience of the mountains in varying conditions. Beyond that, she recommended surrounding yourself with people who bring out the best in you, partly because it's good to have the moral support when competing or trying something new, but also because, as she put it, "it's more fun."

Fast-forward a couple of years, and that dual strategy seems to be paying dividends. Now a relative old-timer at 17, Muir bagged her first World Cup medal in Aspen, Colorado earlier this year, winning silver in the ski slopestyle event, and when February rolls around she could well be a medal contender in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Still, as she says in her interview with Malcolm Jack on page 4, she’s determined to keep her feet on the ground (so to speak), refusing to be drawn on her medal prospects and only going as far as to say that, if the stars align, she “could do well.”

Meanwhile, starting on page 6, Susan Mansfield interviews the remarkable soldier-turned-skier Scott Meenagh. After losing his legs to an IED in 2011 while stationed in Afghanistan with the Parachute Regiment, Meenagh first took up rowing, eventually representing Great Britain at the Invictus Games in 2014. However, he subsequently fell in love with the gruelling discipline of Para Nordic skiing, which he considers “the complete sport”, and – all being well – will be pulling on a Team GB Jersey at the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing in March. Whatever happens in the future, his story up to this point is as inspiring as they come.

Last winter was a tricky one for snowsports lovers the world over, and not least in Scotland, where the resorts were closed and many skiers and boarders were confined to towns and cities far from the mountains. Coronavirus restrictions also played havoc with the plans of filmmakers Will Gardner and Charlie Wood, who had hoped to make a film about a group of friends who had grown up skiing together in Aberdeenshire reuniting for a Scotland-wide powder odyssey. With two of their skiers trapped in Glencoe, however, and the other two stuck in Braemar, Gardner and Wood had to come up with a plan B, and the resulting film, Grounded, ping-pongs between east and west, as the two teams try to squeeze every last drop of fun out of what turned out to be a truly epic winter. Gardner, Wood and two of their skiing stars talk us through a very unusual shoot on page 12.

Finally, as this is the tenth annual edition of Scottish Ski & Board we thought we’d take a bit of a trip down memory lane, so starting on page 8 we’re revisiting a few of our favourite features from the last ten years. As you’ll see, we’ve covered a lot of ground since we published our first edition back in 2012, but in some ways it feels as if we’re only just getting started. Thanks to everyone who’s helped us get this far, and here’s hoping the winter of 2021/22 throws up some good yarns for next year’s edition. ✱

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription at https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions