Planks Grassroots 2019 Highlights

We have reached the end of the line for winter this year. So, while we all sit in lockdown, there is no better time to get excited for summer skiing on dry-slopes, indoor slopes or glaciers. To help you with that, we are taking a look back at all of the highlights from the Planks Grassroots Tour and Video Competition last year.

The Planks Grassroots Tour 2019 began with a bang. To kick things off we flew out to Copenhagen in Denmark, our first ever international stop, at one of the most surreal dry-slopes in the world. The slope had officially opened on the Friday, before the event on Saturday, when we got a first-hand taste of the place. CopenHill is a 100 metre tall urban mountain, with half a kilometre of skiing, on top of the cleanest waste to energy power plant in the world. Some of you may have seen the mind-blowing video project that Jesper Tjäder did with GoPro and Audi, thinking 'wow' that place looks unreal, well it's even more impressive in the flesh.

For the second stop of the Planks Grassroots Tour, we headed over to Bearsden Ski Club in Scotland. Bearsden is home to one of the biggest dry-slope jumps in the UK, which is home to some of the best Scottish skiers, including our very own Chris McCormick, Harris Booth and Kirsty Muir. We had rain in the forecast, but here in the UK that’s known as a dry-slope powder day, so we weren’t complaining.

For the third stop of the Planks Grassroots Tour we invaded the SnowDome in Tamworth. A place known for its rope tow and rail garden. We had a great turnout with over one hundred competitors, so from the get-go it was set to be an awesome event.

During the tour we stopped off at Graystone Action Sports Academy in Manchester to see what all the hype was about. If you want to dial your sendy snow-sport skills pre-winter this is the place to be!

For the fourth stop of the Planks Grassroots Tour, we hit one of the most notorious dry-slopes in the UK, Stoke Ski Centre. Home to the infamous Stoke Massive crew, some of the craziest rail set-ups the UK has ever seen and also the original home of Planks Clothing, Stoke-on-Trent.

We were at The Snow Centre for the final stop of Planks Grassroots Tour, London’s closest indoor ski slope. As we arrived on-site, we were blown away by a killer setup from the park team. All we had to do was wait for all the shredders to come flooding in.

We wrapped up what was arguably the best Planks Grassroots Tour to date on Mt. Battersea in London, which became the epicentre of UK ski bangers for the day. We also later announced the winners of the Planks Grassroots Photo and Video Competition. Planks Clothing took over the Telegraph Ski & Snowboard Festival with some serious stunts, good vibes, rad ski clothing, loose dance-offs and the best pre-season after-party a ski bum could ever dream of. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, if you weren’t there, you’re probably now thinking ‘damn I missed out’…

Alongside the Planks Grassroots Tour, we had our Planks Grassroots Video Competition. So, here are the 2019 winners from what was the largest number of entries we've ever had.

BEST OVERALL EDIT

1st - Chris McCormick

For the second year running, Chris McCormick smashed it out of the park, winning Best Overall Edit, with a mix of game-changing rail wizardry and some serious aerial assaults.

2nd - Justin Taylor-Tipton

Justin has been a household name in competitive UK freeskiing for some time now. There is rarely a competition where he doesn't completely clean up and walk away with a medal.

3rd - Tom Greenway

From the oldest indoor snow slope in the UK, Tamworth Snowdome, came Tom. A young gun who was unfamiliar to most people, suddenly there he was in the limelight with some serious flex.

BEST FEMALE EDIT

1st - Kirsty Muir

This is a name you will be hearing more and more. Kirsty won a silver medal in Big Air at the 2020 Youth Olympics in Lausanne. Before that, she once again dominated the women's category in the Planks Grassroots Video Competition.

2nd - Maya Gordon

An unfamiliar name, that made a seriously good first impression on the judges. Maya's entry to the Planks Grassroots Video Competition is full of fun, smiles and sendy stunts.

3rd - Olivia Burke

Bearsden local Olivia is no stranger to big air, as she puts down some huge 720s in her entry, landing her in 3rd place alongside her brother, Luke Burke, with 3rd place in the U16 category.

BEST UK EDIT

1st - Tyler Nichols-Stubbington

Tyler impressed both the judges and the people, winning Best UK Edit, 2nd Best U16 Edit and also the viewers choice Best Trick with a 450 pretzel 450. He is the one to keep an eye on, he's on the come-up.

2nd - Row Emery

The 2018 winner of Best UK Edit, sits in 2nd with some serious rail game (or rail dancing), a huge display of creativity and one of the longest rails we've ever seen in the Planks Grassroots Video Competition.

3rd - Max Rye

Max won 3rd Best UK Edit without even leaving his own backyard. His whole entry was filmed on his backyard dry-slope in just a few days. Don't we all wish we had our own ski slope.

BEST FILMING & EDITING

1st Lukas Hotcher

With some solid skiing, trippy digital effects and perfectly filmed shots, Lukas won Best Filming & Editing by a long shot. An all-round edit bursting with good vibes.

2nd Pierre Émile Rochat

Pierre is known for ridiculously creative skiing, but not only that, also film production creativity with his filmer Robin Cretinon. Pierre and Robin produced a whole ski edit with a skier-less set of boots and skis.

3rd Max Rye

Max was back to pick up another 3rd place, but this time in the Best Filming & Editing category, with seamless editing and using nothing but himself and his tripod.

BEST U16 EDIT

1st - Kirsty Muir

Kirsty Muir keeps setting the bar higher and higher each season. She blew all of the guys out of the water as she takes yet another win in the U16 category.

2nd - Tyler Nichols-Stubbington

The second win for the young gun, Tyler displayed some of the most technical skiing we've ever seen in the U16 category. However, it wasn't enough to knock the unstoppable Kirsty Muir off the top spot.

3rd - Luke Burke

Last but not least, another of the Burke family, with more Snowflex sending from Scotland's premiere plastic mountain and LAAX in Switzerland. Young gun, Luke Burke, claims a well deserved 3rd place.

That's a wrap, we hope you are feeling inspired for some grassroots skiing once we're out of lockdown. ✌️