Ski Blog

First of all I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved in last nights event. Thanks to everyone who turned up, bought raffle tickets and took part. Thank you to everyone who sent us prizes or donations. Thank you to Tim Warwood for a very entertaining evening. Thank you to the Kings Arms for letting us take over their pub and hosting us. Because of all these people we have managed to raise a staggering £1200 for Snow-Camp.

So, for those of you who missed last night, it was a hugely successful night. 15 teams of friends, colleagues and fans of the charity turned up ready for an evening of fun, and helped make for a cracking night.

The quiz kicked off a little later than expected, though this did help us sell a few more raffle tickets and the extra beers drank helped the excitement build. Tim arrived with his usual humour and charm and started with the Brummie banter pretty quickly. There were a couple of hiccups at the start with the mic not working but we quickly found Tim's ability to project his voice added to the entertainment.

We started off with a potato sculpting round, giving everyone a spud, a knife and some cocktails stick, where they had to produce a themed scene by the end of the evening. The quiz questions were maybe a little more difficult then anticipated but this didn't cause too many issues, as easy quizzes can be boring and Tim was selling answers at £1 a go - topping up the night's fundraising.

The music round went down a treat and included some great movie tracks, from Velvet Underground in Juno, to Happy Gilmore. After two hours of questions, music and guess the celebrity faces it was time to judge the potato round. Now the content of this round wouldn't make it past the Iglu firewall, so just imagine what a room full of adults, in good spirits after a drink or two can come up with.

The quiz had been a good laugh and it was time to give away the prizes in the raffle. We started off with the T-shirts from Ski Big Three, some CD's from Virgin Records and some DVD's from Whitelines, building up the anticipation of the main prizes. Next we had the Oakley goggles to give away, the jackets donated by Metrosnow.co.uk and to finish off the skis from Ski Big Three. Having tickets in two colours caused some comedy confusion. We had a few comedy cases of people screaming and shouting in excitement at winning a prize only to find out the ticket was the other colour!

All in all the evening was a hit, we've raised money for Snow-Camp, entertained our crowd and have already had requests for the next one. A few weeks of hard work have paid off and it was more than worth it. Once again than you to everyone.

We will put the evening's photos onto the Igluski Facebook page shortly and if you would like to donate head to our Just Giving page.

Many of us in days gone by wished for the life of a professional skier or snowboarder. Waking up everyday to go and hike the latest line with some friends and a camera man, honing our latest tricks in the park in the afternoon and then enjoying a few aprés ski beers ready to do it all again the following day.

Ok, so the closest most of us have ever been to that is working in a chalet or bar and hitting the mountain at every opportunity, the only beers we enjoyed were on those nights our bodies weren't crying for bed by 9pm. I may be understating the training required, traveling needed and constant drive to be the best that the pro-riders endure. Unfortunately there aren't too many of us that can match Travis Rice or Candide Thovex.

The one thing that we do all forget is what a professional snowboarder or skier do once they hang up their boots. There are few whose efforts to support their dreams turn into their next career. So Graham Bell and Ed Leigh may keep us entertained whilst watching BBC snowsports but there are not many who have been brave enough to start a business based on our own interests and succeeded. Queue Gilly Seagrave.

For those who know Gilly she is a perfectionist. She has been around the British scene for some time and still gets cracking pictures for her sponsors, coaches budding young riders with Our Camp and her boutique clothes brand EKA is taking off.

EKA is Gilly's new passion and pride and started off as a way of financing snowboarding by making beanies for her friends. Thanks to her partner Nils, who convinced her she could do much more than sell a few hats in Morzine, EKAwear was born and the brand already has a fantastic selection of boutique clothing. The items look just at home in the streets of Morzine or Courchevel as they do on Oxford Street or the Kings Road.

The collections produced by EKA are fantastic accessories that not only look stunning but are ecologically friendly and ethically produced. With more and more brands taking this approach the winter sports scene is trying to preserve the mountains in their own way. Patagonia work tirelessly on their carbon footprint in both production and distribution, and brands like Volcom and Quicksilver offer ranges using recycled or sustainable materials.

When was the last time you watched the Winter X-games or Olympics and the podium was full of over 35s? Next time you hit the slopes and are watching kids inverted in the park, dropping huge cliffs or race training just wonder to yourself what will they do when it's all over. Like with most sports there are limited opportunities once the sponsorship deals run out so it's great to see stick actively contributing to the snowsports community in different ways.

Written by Stephen Adam