Ben Kilner looking to fly high in Canada after fulfilling lifelong ambition

BEN Kilner disappears from view for a few seconds and then explodes into the air. He's soaring. With a flick of the heels, he grabs his snowboard to strike a pose and hangs there.

For a moment it's as if the pause button has been pressed. Framed by a bright blue sky and the snow-peaked mountains of the Swiss Alps, it is a stunning a spectacle. Suddenly, the play button is pressed and he plunges back into the U-shaped halfpipe below, gathering the speed he needs to shoot up and perform a double rotation on the opposite side.

Looking on, Leo Addington, head coach of the British halfpipe team, is happy with what he sees. It's a beautiful day at the Laax resort in Switzerland and Kilner is coming to the end of a four-hour practice session, fine-tuning the array of tricks he'll be showcasing to the world four weeks from now when he drops into the pipe on Cypress Mountain near Vancouver to make his Winter Olympic bow.

The 21-year-old from Banchory in Aberdeenshire has fulfilled the criteria necessary to secure a place in the British team and official confirmation will arrive today. Ranked 26 in the world, the halfpipe specialist will be joined by another in Aviemore's Lesley McKenna, a snowboarder who inspired him eight years ago when she made her own Olympic debut. Back then it was a dream for Kilner. Now it is about to come true.

"Preparations are going better than I expected," he says. "Training has been going really well. I've been continuously going over the same run over and over again to make sure I've got it dialled for Vancouver."

Kilner is in Switzerland for the Burton European Open, a big event on the TTR World Snowboard Tour. But for once the pressure is off. World Cup meetings are all that really matter and after five consecutive top-20 finishes he's done what he needs to do. Trips to Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Canada, USA and all over Europe this season have accumulated the ranking points he requires.

Between events, he returns to the family home in Banchory and works hard on his strength and conditioning. To relax, he plays piano in winter and golf in summer. In May he intends to raise money for charity Help for Heroes by cycling from John O' Groats to Land's End and hopes Chris Hoy can be persuaded to join him for a leg. If he can he would ask him what it takes to win Olympic gold.

Kilner remembers snowboarding for the first time as a nine-year-old round about the time of the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano. His dad was snowed in and unable to get to work, but the road to Glenshee was open that day and a family snowboarding lesson was booked. Young Kilner was hooked.

"I also remember watching the Salt Lake City Olympics on TV in 2002," he recalls. "All the snowboarders were really looked up to and that's when it became my ultimate dream just to compete with them at the Olympics."

Supported financially by his parents, Kilner's halfpipe progress was rapid and after narrowly missing out on the 2006 Games in Turin he decided to quit school and focus on his sport full-time.

"I was two-thirds of the way through my Highers and that's when it hit me," he says. "I had to make the commitment, either education or go full-time. I came close to the qualification standards for Turin and it frustrated me, but also gave me more fuel to make sure I qualified for Vancouver."

If all goes according to plan, his progress will propel him towards medal contention for the 2014 Sochi Games in Russia. But he needs to retain the backing of his sponsors, the Sportscotland Institute of Sport and Snowsport GB.

"For Vancouver, I'm still quite young, but I've given myself goals, mainly to gain experience. Russia in four years will be my main medal potential," he says. "I'm hoping to qualify for the finals in Vancouver. I'll be really happy if that happens."

Finishing in the top 12 out of 30 starters will be a tall order, but Kilner is quietly confident. His blond surfer-style hair fits the stereotype of a freestyle snowboarder and he has all the latest gear too, but is softly spoken, unassuming, charming and clearly dedicated.

On the whole he's had a fairly smooth ride so far but he knows that everything can change in a split second. Take Kevin Pearce, the American Olympic gold medal hopeful who suffered a serious brain injury and went into a coma after slamming his head on the side of the halfpipe during practice three weeks ago. He remains in a serious condition and the incident underlines just how dangerous the halfpipe can be.

Riders launch themselves into the air, hovering, flipping, spinning and grabbing the board to capture the judges' attention, with points awarded for execution, amplitude and overall impression. Make a mistake and you'll crash and burn.

"It's the gymnastic side of snowboarding," says Kilner. "You'll see a lot of aerial manoeuvres. The level of riding now has improved so much, it makes your jaw drop when you see the top guys.

"I'm not going to be learning any tricks now. Everything is on standby. I'm just perfecting the tricks I know. My best is probably a frontside 900, which is two and a half rotations. I also do a frontside 10, which is three full rotations.

"Everything comes naturally when you've done it so many times."

Kilner hopes that when the big day comes on Wednesday, 17 February, practice will make perfect.