Pete Speight is straight killin it over in Breck by the looks of things. Keep up the good work!!

Basically I went up on my own early yesterday morning to warm up before filming with Andy and Woodsy who were 20 minutes or so behind. I Did two runs through freeway with no problems, on the third run on jump number four everything seemed good but at the last minute something changed my speed as I took off and I came up a metre short of the knuckle.

I managed to get down to the mountain restaurant and get my boots off while I waited for some of the Team GB guys to go past so they could help me get off the mountain. Unfortunately they couldn’t hear me shouting and I ended up sitting there watching everyone ride for almost an hour before Woodsy eventually heard me over the noise of the chairlift/crowd. I couldnt walk by this point so Sharpie (the legend) and the rest of the GB guys contacted ski patrol and i got taken off the mountain.

X ray’s show a fracture in both heels with some ligament damage under the arch of each foot. Because of the location I will need to see a specialist who can decide if they will need to be operated on or not. At best it is looking like 8 weeks of no walking followed by a further 6 weeks of physic so right now i am just waiting on my insurance to find out when I can fly home.

By all accounts Jamie has had a banger of a winter up until this point and has really been taking advantage of the epic snow conditions in Europe. We are all gutted to see his season cut short so early but it is good to hear that he is staying in high spirits.

We have not had a chance to film anything with Jamie so far this year so i’m afraid you will have to wait until next year before he will be back on your screens. Im sure you will all join us in sending him your good vibes and we look forward to seeing him back on the hill as soon as possible.

Although we were not on the hunt for steep and deep but for something that is hidden within the hustle and bustle of the cities our destination of Krakow had received little to no snow so far this winter. But after 24 hours of driving we arrived to find the snow that had been pounding the Alps for the last few weeks had finally arrived.

After a long sleep we woke up to find a city blanketed in white albeit a thin layer so we set off to go scouting for spots. This is not our first time in Krakow and we had a good Idea of where to start but we also knew that there was a lot more still waiting to be discovered.

Anyone who has scouted for rails in the past will know that I can be an almost impossible job. There are so many individual factors to consider and they all need to work in order for you to even have a chance at getting any good shots. Whether it’s the location, getting kicked out, speed, snow or a legit lip it never seems to be quite perfect which is of course what makes it so difficult.

After a couple of days scouting for spots around town the fourth and final member of our crew arrived and we were ready to hit the streets. Krakow may just be rail heaven and after sleeping on it we decided that first up we would try our luck on what looked like the “Perfect Down Rail!”

Of course its never quite as simple as it seems and we ended up needing more speed than we thought so we grabbed the bungee and started getting it done. It ended up being a perfect warm up for the trip with the guys using it to get used to all the equipment.

The next day we visited a few spots before finally deciding on a rail with a bank of the back of it. It seemed to be a really creative spot with good speed and more than enough snow but as we started to build we also started to get our first bit of trouble of the trip. The rail was just outside a big apartment block and I think it fair to say that there was one resident who had absolutely no idea why we would want to ski there and after showing us a little tree run just round the corner told us to be on our way.

With the feature almost built we could not resist heading back the following day and we were already mid session by the time anyone realized what was going on. Our friend was back soon enough but once he could see what we were doing and all the camera equipment he didn’t seem quite hostile and when we told him we were working for the BBC all of his previous worries were washed away.

By now we were struggling for features that were going to work well for both George and Andy but there were a few spots we knew which had pretty quick and easy set-ups so we figured we could get two spots done and they could each chose one that would work well for them.

First off we went to a super long down-flat-down rail, speed was not a problem and the rail was on the left hand side making it ideal for George. After a couple of hours work and a couple of fall’s the tip of George’s ski was starting to go, so we called it a day and headed off to our second spot.

This time we were at a down rail but on the other side of the stairs and with a bin at the end. Andy had see the rail a few days before and had a bunch of ideas about what might be possible so we set up shop and started getting it did. Once again there were a couple of falls and by the time we got back in the car to head back to the hostel it was starting to rain and we were all shattered.

The following day we woke up to find that the previous nights rain had washed away almost all the snow from town so we decided to take a rest day and try and work out our next move. We contacted a bunch of local guys and were lucky enough to get a message back from Marcin saying he was going to be back home in Katowice tomorrow and did we want to go hit some spots.

We had been wondering about visiting Katowice as it is a little higher than Krakow and seems to hold the snow a little more and now that we had a local guide we didn’t need any more persuading. When we got to Marcin’s house he showed us his catalogue of spots around town and later that night we found ourselves at a four kink getting ready for our first night session of the trip.

A couple of days later we were back in Katowice to hit what seemed like the only spot left that still had any snow. It was a super low consequence c-rail with natural speed that was easy to session getting us all stoked. But after a good couple of hours of seasoning we all realised that although you could hit the rail as many times as you wanted it was still not going to be easy to get any shots on it.

The following day we woke up early to try and decide what to do next as we were due to check out of our hotel. With hardly any snow left in either Krakow or Katowice we decided that we should head up into the mountains to see what the conditions were like up there.

After some serious tetris skills we just about managed to get all the gear packed into the car and we hit the road once again. The further we got the more snow there seemed to be and by the time we hit Zakopane there was so much snow were were sliding all over the place and the worlds quickest decision was made.

After two weeks of hitting urban our equipment and bodies were just too battered and bruised to carry on and it was time for our reward for all the hard work so we packed away our cameras, joined the masses and headed for the cable car and the promise of powder.

Atomic

Dalbello

Faction

Full Tilt

Line

Marker

Orage

Rossignol

Salomon

Scott

Highlights from this years PFO including some of the best action from the big air and rails finals. Shout out to UK riders Nathan Connolly, Andy Collin & George Walton for all making finals. Check them out along with the winning runs from the big air finals.

Final Results
1 – Rico Schuler
2 – Szczepan Karpiel
3 – Jonas Hunziker

Music – Novacane, Frank Ocean

Special Thanks – Marta & Leski

See you all again next year!!

We had been in Zakopane for a few days before the open, the weather conditions were not looking great for the comp, with bad visibility. We woke up on Friday morning to find a blue bird day, the conditions were perfect. The large amount of snow fall earlier in the month allowed the guys to shape the best jump the FPO has seen yet.

Friday started off with practice in the morning, followed by qualifiers. In big air the Swiss dominated, with six riders qualifying, taking out the top three spots. Nathan Connolly just qualifying in 19^th.

In rails Swiss rider matti till qualified first followed by polish riders Jano and Marcin. George Walton Andy Collin and Nathan Connolly all qualified for the rails final.

Saturday was finals day. In rails everyone throw down, but in the end it was Swiss Lerjan Yannic who top the top spot followed by Jonas Hunziker and Davis Ortlieb.

Big air finals consisted of three jumps, one tech, one style and another free jump. Jonas Hunziker took third place with a double cork 10 with a flat 5 japan nose. Second place was taken by local rider Szczepan Karpiel with a switch cork 10 blunt and a 7 japan to truck driver. First place was taken by another swiss rider, Rico Schuler with a double cork 10 nose with a super styley poke switch cork 5 safety.

The comp is designed to be a super-fun event on the new jump along slope by getting you all to come and ride our new kicker and various rails! The set up on the slope will be orientated around all sorts of riders, so everyone can be involved!

Thinking of competing? £15 Entry (Registration is on the day)
But Spectators are very welcome with a great view from the seating at the bottom of the slope surrounded by…

DJ’s, BBQ & On Slope Bar as well as Indoor Bar!
Stalls from some of our very own sponsors!
Jam Sessions and plenty of prizes for those competing!
AFTER PARTY to finish a Mad Night!
In Bar Food!
Free Taster Lessons for ski and snowboarding!

Schedule:
4.30pm Registration
5-6pm Practice
6pm onward, Jam Sessions
10pm After Party!

So, with Strictly Business having done it’s rounds on the internet freeski scene, we passed over a hard drive full of footage to J Scrilla so he could make the Black Label Project team edit.  We think he’s done a banging job and it’s nice to see some of the shots that didn’t make the cut.

Originally intended for the “edit in a day” competition, however fatigue got the best of the Cas crew after gathering a bunch of footage. Featuring the riding abilities of Danny Roockley, Andy Collin & Paul Godsmark.

Music: Where I’m From, Disable Planets

 Banks Gilberty,James Woods, Nate Kern , Josh Birch, Myself , Murray Buchan, Bobby Brown

Me and Murray at the top of big Park AKA Freeway

 Me and Birch New Years Eve