Snowboarder Katie gears up for 2014
"I GET really nervous when I'm waiting my turn to go but once I drop off the top and the adrenaline kicks in, I'm fine," says Brighouse schoolgirl Katie Ormerod, the 12-year-old sporting sensation who is proving there are 'snow limits' to her talents.
Katie, whose slight frame gives no clue to her nerves of steel and competitive spirit, is already a veteran of snowboarding competitions all over the UK and Europe and has an impressive list of wins to her name.
But, astonishingly, snowboarding is just one of her interests – she's also a keen competitive gymnast and has been busy rehearsing for a production of 'The Pirates of Penzance' at The Grammar School, Hipperholme, where she is a pupil.
Despite her young age, Katie, of Hove Edge, has already been competing against – and beating – snowboarders in the over-14 age group and she is currently ranked third in the UK. She has the backing of SNO!zone in Castleford, where she does most of her training, and snowboard manufacturer Burton.
Keeping her passion for gymnastics and snowboarding in tandem is not always easy but Katie takes it all in her stride. In September she took second place in the Yorkshire open gymnastics championships, competing in floor, beam, bar and rope exercises, and last month she was in Laax in Switzerland taking part in the Burton European Open snowboarding competition, missing out on a bronze medal by just 1.6 points.
Katie's mum Claire said: "In a way Katie seems to thrive on the contrast between the two sports. Gymnastics is very disciplined and structured whereas snowboarding is more relaxed and laid-back."
Hailing from a family keen on winter sports, Katie began ski-ing at the age of four and snowboarding at six. Her dad Mark is a snowboard instructor and mum Claire is a keen skier and snowboarder. Brother Harvey, who is seven, is a keen footballer and has just started to learn snowboarding. Support also comes from her cousins 16-year-old Jamie Nicholls, a professional snowboarder, and his sister Sophie, aged 15. The Ormerods regularly take their family holidays in the Alps so that Katie gets as many opportunities as possible to practise and compete.
Last week the two girls took part in a charity challenge to snowboard the height of Mont Blanc at SNO!zone in Castleford to raise money for the Haiti earthquake appeal. Sponsored by friends, family and classmates, they have raised more than 600 and the money is still coming in.
"When Sophie and I saw what had happened we really wanted to do something to try to help. We thought the best way would be to hold a sponsored snowboarding day and chose to ride the height of Mont Blanc as it's the highest mountain in the Alps," said Katie.
Katie's favourite event is slopestyle in which competitors must negotiate jumps and obstacles, and she also takes part in the halfpipe and big air disciplines. She has recently been perfecting the difficult front flip move and often works out her routines on a trampoline before practising on the slopes.
Claire said: "Through snowboarding Katie has made friends all over the country and even with girls from America. It is a very supportive sport and the older ones watch out for the younger ones. Every time Katie competes against the American girls, she comes back fired up to learn new moves.”
Katie has suffered a couple of injuries on the slopes including a cut eye and a broken arm but the impressive array of safety protection she wears – helmet, gloves, back protector, goggles and so on – mostly keep her free from harm. Her sporting heroes are Jenny Jones, twice winner of the slopestyle competition at the X Games, and Lesley McKenna, who is competing in the halfpipe for Team GB in Canada.
Now Katie is hoping she will be able to pick up the Olympic baton in 2014 and one day become a professional snowboarder herself.
“It’s just really good fun,” she said. “I enjoy the training and the competing and I want to do as well as I can.”
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Weather for Halifax
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 9 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 9 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North east
