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Olympic medal winning snowboarder Billy Morgan rides Scotland

Written by Fiona

March 27 2018

I wonder if snowboarder Billy Morgan was able to reflect on his comments from the winter Olympics this weekend? After winning a bronze medal in the Big Air Snowboard competition earlier this year, he said Britain had done well despite being a nation with no snow. Yet this weekend, Billy was seen to enjoy riding the snow in two of Scotland’s ski resorts.

Champion snowboarder Billy was invited to ski the slopes of Glencoe Mountain and Nevis Range by Ski Scotland. They invited him to witness that Britain does have snow – and to show off this season’s great conditions.

First stop was Glencoe

Billy spent less than 48 hours in Scotland but still managed to pack in a huge amount of snow time. An informal Q&A session with competitors in the Coe Cup on Saturday evening proved entertaining, particularly when Billy had a slight problem with some of the broad Glasgow accents.

Early next morning he cut fresh tracks on Glencoe Mountain’s pistes before leading a really great session with local kids in the terrain park.

Chair of Ski-Scotland and owner of Glencoe Mountain Resort, Andy Meldrum, said: “Billy loved it here at Glencoe and it’s a pity he couldn’t have stayed longer. It was really rewarding to see how inspiring these youngsters found his visit.”

Glencoe kids watch Billy Morgan ride the terrain park Pic credit: Michael Macdonald

Billy visits Nevis Range, too

At Nevis Range Billy joined one of the snowboard instructors in a terrain park session for some excited local youngsters.

As this was Ski-Scotland SnowFest weekend, Billy also took place of honour in the now-traditional mass descent, leading skiers and snowboarders down the hill from the top of the Quad Chairlift. There was another Q&A session and autograph signing in the Snow Goose Restaurant and time for dinner with Nevis Range staff.

Before flying back to Switzerland on Monday, Billy said: “I’ve really enjoyed my few hours in Scotland’s snowy mountains. The views were amazing, particularly from Nevis Range down to sea level. And I couldn’t believe how excited the kids were to learn a few tips from me.”

Andy added: “It was brilliant that Billy managed to visit Scotland during this great season, giving a tremendous boost to our up-and-coming young athletes and raising the profile of Scottish skiing and snowboarding. We do hope he’ll return any time he can fit a visit into his schedule.”

Did you know this about Billy Morgan?

Billy created history this year when he becoming the first British male snowboard athlete to win an Olympic medal, securing the bronze in the Men’s Snowboard Big Air event at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

His achievements in snowboarding are amazing for an athlete who learnt his trade on an artificial ski slope in Southampton.

He was also the world’s first snowboarder to have landed the Quad Cork in 2015 and, in 2016, he became the first male British athlete to win an X Games medal.

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