Thrills and chills as Olympic hopefuls deliver masterclass

BBC Ski Sunday presenter and Olympian Graham Bell was at Snozone at the Xscape leisure complex alongside some of Yorkshire’s future Great Britain Olympic hopefuls.

Half pipe skier Rob Machon, from Sheffield, his freeskiing brother James and freestyle snowboarder Katie Ormerod, who lives in Brighouse, near Halifax, were on hand to chat about how they got into snowsports, give tips and sign autographs. The aim was to celebrate all things Olympic, less than six months before the start of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia.

Budding skiiers and snowboarders were also able to have taster sessions in the snowsports for £5.

The roadshow, called Slide2Sochi, was held in conjunction with governing body Snowsport England.

Visitors to the event were also able to sign a giant snowball of good luck for the British wintersports athletes.

Members of the Disability UK skiing and snowboarding squad performed demonstrations and showed their impressive sit skis and equipment. Graham Bell said: “The Slide2Sochi roadshow is a fantastic way to raise awareness of the Sochi Olympics and Paralympics in Russia in 2014.”

He said he hoped the budding skiiers and snowboarders he met will look forward to watching the events in February and March next year.

The 2014 Olympic Winter Games will be the first time that the Russian Federation has hosted the Winter Games – the Soviet Union staged the 1980 summer Games in Moscow.

Sochi has a population of 400,000 and is situated in Krasnodar, the third largest region in Russia.