London Freeze

Urban snow, big air and world class tricks returned to the capital at the LG London Freeze.

Despite Sunday’s dismal weather, the whopping 35m, 100m long real-snow kicker saw plenty of action at this year’s LG London Freeze. The site in front of Battersea Power station was packed out for the three day snowsport and music festival for the second year running. More than 12,000 people turned up to see the big air competitions as well as bagging a bargain, soaking up the resort atmosphere and enjoying live sets from Orbital, Eagles of Death Metal and Friendly fires.

Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain on Friday saw the best British skiers and riders slug it out for a place in the International Style Mix Competition. Snowboarders Gary Greenshields and 16-year-old Jamie Nicholls topped the Brits in the morning but were knocked out by the powerful Scandinavians in the evening’s finale. Finland’s Roope Tontieri went on to scoop the top prize.


Paddy Graham won the skiing Battle of Britain with 17-year-old James ‘Woodsy’ Woods coming second and joining him in the Style Mix. Both Brits put up a great show, but Woodsy was knocked out in the head-to-head and Paddy Graham’s backflip in the second round delighted the crowd but failed to win over the judges. It was Bobby Brown's whopping second run jump in the finals which triumphed, beating über-collected, headphone-wearing Canadian, Phil Casabon.

LG FIS Snowboarding World Cup
The festival cranked up a notch on Saturday with a buzzing atmosphere for the LG FIS Snowboarding World Cup. There were some serious tricks on the ‘kicker of awesomeness’, the frontside 900º (a two and half turn rotation) being a particular favourite of the athletes. There was a fair sprinkling of 1080º s, some very impressive 1260ºs and the odd double-cork rotation thrown in for good measure (in which a rider turns himself upside down twice during the aerial spin).

British Olympic hopeful Ben Kilner’s inverted backside 720º was not enough to get him through to the final, although he finished a very respectable 14th out 53 competitors. It was Finland’s Stefan Gimpl’s slick jumps and perfect landing which took him to the top of the competition, proving experience wins over youth.

Later on, it was the turn of the Americans to dominate the final challenge, the rails. Meanwhile Calvin Harris kept the music pumping from the Main Stage, followed by the much anticipated return of legendary band, Orbital, who played well into the night.


International Big Air Ski and Snow

Despite howling gales and the rain turning snow to mush overnight, the International Freeski competition went ahead on Sunday, albeit drastically delayed. The snow maintenance crew had been up since 4 am but it was well into the afternoon before the kicker was ready. High Altitude’s Ed Leigh and Christian Stevenson of Kerrang!Radio kept the waiting crowd entertained, racking up the tension as Woodsy, ‘volunteered’ by the rest of the pros, had the dubious honour of testing the jump. After landing safely to roaring approval, the Big Air Freeski kicked off in earnest.

Ed and Christian

However, although the tricks came thick and fast and usually appeared effortless, the dangerous reality of the aerial rotations became painfully obviously when Ritchie Permin had a big fall in the heats. Landing heavily on his side, he was attended to by the paramedics but had to be stretchered off the piste.

Following Permin’s exit, Ed and Christian whipped up the support of the shaken crowd and the show got back on track. Discarding the second heat head-to-head due to the late start, 32 pros were soon whittled down to eight for the finals. None of the UK hopefuls made it through, despite a valiant effort from Woodsy, Joe Tyler and Paddy Graham.

Woodsy, loving the home crowd

Scores were well into the 90s for the nail-biting finale, the athletes spurring each other onto even more impressive spins. Bobby Brown, Andreas Hatveit and Russ Henshaw battled it out for the top spots. Brown’s awesome switch 1260º earned a whopping 98 points from the judges but a huge double back from Henshaw stormed into the lead and won the top prize. On collecting his £4,000 prize he admitted that he only decided which trick to perform seconds earlier when he saw Brown’s massive jump.

The three day extravaganza of music, snow and ski drew to a close with the focus returning back to the main stage where band of the moment, Friendly Fires, wowed the crowds.

If you missed the action from this year’s Freeze, you can catch up with the highlight from Battersea on Channel 4’s Freesport on 4, which will be broadcast on Sunday 15th November.

Is the ski industry plunging out of control?

News of luxury chalet company Descent International going into voluntary liquidation has sent skiers into a frenzy of speculation about the coming season. As the first snow falls over the Alps, predictions of industry meltdown reverberate around the blogosphere, prophesying the end of ski civilisation as we know it. But does the demise of a small, high-profile company doom skiers to a winter of discontent?

Descent International was founded in 1997 and took chalet holidays into another realm. As famous for its clientele as its high-spec properties and attentive service, it was seen by many as the ultimate company to stay with, promising a team of professional staff on hand to cater for your every whim. The failure of such a strong brand has exacerbated fears that other companies may follow suit, leaving little protection for clients as many companies at the top-end of the market are more exposed to financial risk. Although bonding scheme exist to protect bookings, few smaller companies include flights in the package, which would offer protection through the Air Travel Organiser License (ATOL) or Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA).

Mark Gibbins, director of luxury agency The Oxford Ski Company, has noticed a certain amount of hesitancy this season. “Levels of enquiries are as busy as ever but there’s a massive hole in consumer confidence. When a big brand like Descent goes under and there’s a lot of bad press, people are very concerned about booking with smaller operators. Whereas before we would have four or five enquiries a year about bonding and ABTA, now every other booking is asking that question.”

In spite of the negative publicity steady, a pick up in booking suggest that people still want to go skiing. However there has been a subtle shift in attitude away from conspicuous consumption – few people want to be seen spending frivolous sums of money at a time of economic retrenchment. But trimming the budget doesn’t necessarily mean forgoing high standards. Luxury chalets tend to come with a professional chef, dedicated nannying services, and a round-the-clock driver as standard, with many offering a private ski guide or instructor, a well-stocked cellar and the very latest technical wizardry. “Five years ago one of the must-haves was a hot tub; now it is a private indoor pool," reflects Gibbins.

"We’re finding that people are happy to spend money but want to make sure they are getting the best value they can,” he says. "People are generally looking to broaden their horizons and realising that they can get more for their money if they look outside their usual resort. Ultimately though, they still want the standard they are used to."

This has started a fundamental shift in the way that the industry operates. While some operators have cut back the operations in order to consolidate their bookings, others are looking to see where their business models can be improved, providing a wake-up to chalets owners as much as to the ski companies themselves

“For years owners have been demanding astronomical amounts of rent for their properties and the only way for a company like Descent International to make a profit was to charge very high prices. Many companies have gone back to renegotiate with the chalet owners and as a result, companies can create more of a margin and offer their clients greater value,” said Gibbins.

It is the smaller companies at the top end of the market that are currently leading the way, entering partnerships and sharing the risks with the owners. Brambleski Verbier is one company that adopted this model several years ago. Director Duncan Robertson explains how this works. “Many businesses are simply looking to hammer down the owners on the rental price but we have tried to compensate by offering owners increased rental potential for increased risk sharing. I do think there is going to be a shift towards owners taking on increased involvement in the business models. We only pay rent for the weeks that we sell at our chalets rather than being locked into longer-term annual guaranteed rents. With a far lower fixed cost base than some of our competitors, we can weather the recent financial crisis better.

“Partnerships reduce the risk of the chalet operator going under and increase the safety of their rental income in the longer term. Chalet operators may have to accept reduced margins on individual weeks sold but this will be offset by reducing losses from discounting or voids. Ultimately it’ll give them increased financial stability.” says Robertson.

Gibbins agrees: “There are so many private properties and small companies out there that offer the same level of service as Descent and a bit more personality. Previously people just wouldn’t consider because them because they didn’t have that brand strength behind them.”

However brand-strength has proved no more of a guarantee of safety than anything else and increasingly, chalet owners are being temped away from the easy chalet company model to go it alone. Out of the 14 Descent chalets, the Oxford Ski Company is still able to offer nine to its clients this season, working directly with the owners.

“Although the bad press has been detrimental, everyone I’m speaking to is very positive," says Gibbins “This news has made everyone think about they are offering, which in turn provides more choice for the consumer. After a cautious summer, confidence in the economy is improving. The current climate has benefited my clients – they are getting more for their money than they have in the last two years."

So, as long as the snow is good and you can throw in a little flexibility, the prognosis for skiers this season seems far from gloomy.

Review - Shall we dance at Sadler's Wells

Fourteen years after wowing London as the lead in Matthew Bourne’s all-male Swan Lake, Adam Cooper has gone from Royal Ballet rebel to established West End choreographer. His new show, Shall we Dance at Sadler’s Wells, is a tribute to Richard Rodgers, the legendary Hollywood composer and one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.

Cooper’s fascination with musical theatre was first evident in his exciting staging of Rodger’s On Your Toes in 2003. Originally choreographed by George Balanchine, Rodger’s 1936 Broadway production showed him to be a champion of dance, a role now filled by Cooper. Although a talented choreographer, this time around Cooper seems caught in a no-man’s land between classical dance and variety performance. With a varied ensemble cast, the production is lacklustre, neither one thing nor the other.

Although Cooper has tried to weave a largely unconnected storyline together through imaginative linking vignettes, this only highlights the dislocation of the whole. As the hero, he travels from shore to shore in search of his Dulcinea, by turn brooding and joyful. His numerous affairs take him from the Jazz clubs of London to a Viennese ballroom, a Russian wedding, the Orient and Wild West before finding his true love just off Ninth Avenue. However, his performance does not provide a strong enough thread to unite these different elements and only rarely do we see flashes of his former brilliance and stage presence.

The production is also let down by the limitations of some of the leading ladies. Emma Samms, who receives top billing as the vampish Swing girl, is deeply unconvincing. Best remembered as Fallon in Dynasty, her dancing is brittle and lacks both sensuality and drama. It's not all bad though: Lorraine Stewart is lovely in the Viennese waltz but it is Sarah Wildor, former principal at the Royal Ballet (and Cooper’s wife), who stands at the heart of the piece, despite a hideous costume. Her musicality and acting skills lend vulnerability and provides an emotional punch to an otherwise superficial spectacle. Slaughter on Ninth Avenue, her pas de deux with Cooper, shows the only moment of real depth in the entire programme. As a gunshot fires across the stage, she slumps, slightly quivering, in his arms. Sadly, only moments later the magic is completely lost when our hero finds the Right girl in brassy Ebony Molina.

The simplicity of the set design and use of colour is extremely effective. A circular section of the stage revolves, slickly moving tables and chairs around the Jazz café and turning the ballroom staircase into the stern of a liner while the dancers move around the space. The orchestra sits on a raised dais at the back of the stage forming part of the backdrop. The score itself moves seamlessly between musical numbers, woven together with great skill by Richard Balcombe. The hoedown medley is by far the best set piece, its sheer exuberance fuelling the performers as the hits from every musical come thick and fast.

Although I enjoyed the performance, it is hard to ignore its limitations. Neither ballet nor musical, the story is not strong enough to support such a varied programme without a central leading performance, which Cooper mysteriously fails to provide. Unlikely to satisfy serious balletomanes, Shall we dance will none-the-less plug the gap for those of us waiting for the return of Strictly.

The essential David Gustave

Arabella Mileham talks to David Gustave, a key worker for well-known charity Kids Company, about engaging ‘difficult’ children and inspiring them to turn their lives around.

Recently hailed as ‘the British Obama’ with a Facebook group devoted to his activities, David Gustave refuses to be pigeonholed. As a mentor to disadvantaged kids, a social and political activist, Oxford graduate, student-barrister, ex-delinquent, educational motivator and convert to Islam, a convenient stereotype doesn’t exist.

Gustave, 42, is a key-worker for Kids Company, a charity that gives practical, emotional and educational support to vulnerable inner-city kids. His own experiences have given him with a real understanding of their detachment. Brought up in a predominantly white working-class neighbourhood in London, his mixed-race parentage gave rise to racial abuse and by the age of 16 he dropped out and left home, embarking along a fairly dubious career-path. A series of disturbing personal events prompted a rethink when he was 30 and he enrolled in an adult education course, graduating from Oxford several years later. During his degree he converted to Islam, won scholarships at Middle Temple and was called to the Bar.

Although a legal career beckoned, Gustave decided to direct his fearsome intellect and political passion at campaigning for social justice and joined Kids Company in 2006. Last summer he was noted as an ‘up-and-coming force to be reckoned with’ by the Evening Standard, largely for his work with troubled teenagers.

Although his story is inspiring, he doesn’t envisage himself as having overcome barriers simply through hard work. He describes his life as “a synthesis of different experiences” which informs the way he interacts with others; his ability to reach out to disadvantaged kids who have fallen outside the system as “grounded in the individual not the homogenous group”. He explains that they are separate from the harsh and brutal environments in which they find themselves.

One of the most striking things about Gustave is that he doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. He doesn’t even try to stop others from going down the same route that he did: “You can’t go in there and tell the kids what to do, it’s about a relationship. You can inform them of the perils but people make their own decisions.”

It is this philosophy that underpins his work as a mentor - in empowering kids to think for themselves. “It’s all about the interaction,” he adds. “People live in a social contract and what I am trying to do on a day-to-day basis is interact adequately. What I learnt from the law is the idea of contract being based on a meeting of minds - trying to get kids to the point where they say ‘I do want to actionise [sic] myself, I don’t want to be a robot’. Everyone needs something that acts as a locus of change.”

It seems likely that Gustave will be exactly that.