The First
UK Freeski Awards Winners Announced
24
October 2006 – Thursday 19th October saw the first UK Freeski
Awards ceremony take place at the Metro Ski & Snowboard Show in
London. A large crowd swarmed around the stage, eager to hear who the
winners of the highly anticipated awards would be.
Ed Leigh oversaw the proceedings and
introduced each guest presenter who, in turn, announced the nominees
for each award and the eventual the winner. The field of nominees boasted
the cream of home-grown talent and showcased the great improvements
that have been made in UK Freeskiing.
Rapturous applause greeted each winner
as they took to the stage for their acceptance speech. Arguably the
two most coveted awards – the Salomon Award for the Best UK Female
Freeskier and the Ski Club of Great Britain Award for the Best
UK Male Freeskier – held the crowd in suspense before the winners,
Naomi Edmondson and Paddy Graham, were announced.
The undisputed star of the ceremony was
Paddy Graham who picked up no less than 3 awards: the Ski Club of
Great Britain Award for the Best UK Male Freeskier, the Disciple
Gloves Award for Best Rider Segment in a Film and the Freeski
Britain Award for Best UK Freeski Team
as part of the Line team.
The final award of the night was a special
one: The Natives.co.uk Rich Taylor Memorial Award. The award
itself acts as a ‘services to UK Freeskiing’ but also stands as
a tribute to the memory of Richard Taylor, the British Big Air champion
who tragically died in a training accident two years ago, aged just
23 years.
Richard’s Mother, Gaynor Taylor, was
on hand to present the award and gave a heart-felt speech that left
no dry eye in the room. Warren Smith was announced the winner and upon
accepting the award was quick to pull fellow nominee Pat Sharples up
on the stage to jointly share the award and highlight the hard work
they have both put into skiing. The gesture was met with huge applause
and reaffirmed the spirit and camaraderie of the UK Freeski Awards.
With the first UK Freeski Awards ceremony
over, the action moved to the Shepherd’s Bar for the Dark Summer Ski
Show Party and the premiere of the Ellis Brigham movie, Aggressive Alpine
Skiing.
Over 5,000 votes were cast on the UK
Freeski Awards website (http://www.ukfreeskiawards.co.uk) to decide the winners,
and we would like to take this opportunity to thank every person who
took the time to vote.
The UK Freeski Awards would not be possible
without the help of our sponsors: K2 Skis, Salomon, Adidas Eyewear,
Ski Club of Great Britain, Oakley, Natives.co.uk, Da Kine, Zag Skis,
Freeski Britain, and Disciple Gloves.
All photos © Rick Hutchings (http://www.rickhutchings.com)
Naomi accepts her Best Female award from Eric Davies of Salomon.
Rob Taylor salutes his brother, Rich Taylor, who helped him
get into skiing.
Paddy makes his Best Male speech with Ed Leigh, Fiona Sweetman (Ski
Club of Great Britain) and Betony Garner (Ski Club of Great Britain).
Warren pulls Pat Sharples onto the stage to share the award (joined
by Gaynor Taylor and Ed Leigh).
Winners of the UK Freeski Awards
2006
Freeski Britain Award for the Best
UK Freeski Team
Line Skis
Adidas Eyewear Award for the Best
UK Freeski Event
Verbier Ride 2005
Da Kine Award for the Best UK Ski
Film
try.fail.try (Regime Change Productions)
Disciple Gloves Award for the Best
UK Rider Segment in a Film
Paddy Graham in try.fail.try
Zag Skis Awards for the Best UK Freeski
Photographer
Melody Sky
Oakley Award for the Best UK Under
16 Freeskier
Murray Buchan
K2 Skis Award for the Best UK Unsponsored
Freeskier
Rob Taylor
Salomon Award for the Best UK Female
Freeskier
Naomi Edmondson
Ski Club of Great Britain Award for
the Best UK Male Freeskier
Paddy Graham
Natives.co.uk Rich Taylor Memorial
Award
Warren Smith
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