Billy Morgan - Drop In!: A Snowboarding Life

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2021

Pitch Publishing

A2 Yeoman Gate

Yeoman Way

Durrington

BN13 3QZ

www.pitchpublishing.co.uk

Billy Morgan with Mark Turley, 2021

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A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library

Print ISBN 9781785315428

eBook ISBN 9781801500357

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Acknowledgements

THIS IS one of those occasions where words are not really enough, but this is a book, so they will have to do.

First and foremost, I have to thank my family. My dad, Eddie, my mum, Joanne, my brother Ashley, my grandma, Shirley, and my grandad, Terry (RIP). They supported me from childhood, helping me to achieve things I wasnt even aiming for at the beginning. In truth, I was never a kid with a clear career path or much life focus, so Im sure at times they worried about me and where I was heading. Despite that, they understood the raw materials I was made from and never tried to force me into a direction that didnt suit me.

My snowboarding career wouldnt have reached the levels it did or have been as relentlessly enjoyable without the input of many important people. Lack of space means I cant name them all, but the following key players were all incredibly important to me in different ways:

Hamish McKnight, my coach. Not only is Hamish an incredible snowboard (and life) mentor, but also a great friend. He supported me through some tough times and exceeded his role as a coach from start to finish.

Local legend, Steve Fox, was there from my early days on the dry slope. Without Steve I would have never been exposed to the snowboard scene. He dedicated loads of time to taking me and other youngsters around the country for different activities. He did this for free and only wanted the stoke in return.

Luke Paul showed me a new side of snowboarding. He introduced me to Morzine and a huge friendship circle. This meant I arrived in a new part of the world and was immediately comfortable.

Scott Penman is one of those people who makes others feel good. From when we first met way back at The Brits, weve been great friends. His charisma, alongside his incredible ability to make fun things even more fun, made my career so enjoyable. With guys like Scott around, things never got too serious.

Last but not least, GB assistant coach Jack Shackleton has to be mentioned. Being on the road most of the time can be tough for many reasons. Jack was always there for me through thick and thin and whatever I needed him for someone to moan to, a shoulder to cry on, a drinking buddy. Thanks, Jack.

I also have to give a shout out to Mike Hurd, the manager of Southampton Alpine Centre where I started; my acro coaches, Pat and Mike Wakefield; my fantastic girlfriend, Samantha France; my agent and friend, Adam Phillips; and, of course, all the guys at Red Bull, who have done so much to support me.

My love and respect to you all.

Introduction

SUCCESS BRINGS different things to different people. My Olympic medal, which made me the first British male to win an Olympic medal on snow, means snowboarding, as a sport in the UK context, is now permanently attached to my name. In some ways Im thought of as an ambassador or even a pioneer, which is crazy, as well as being a huge honour.

Now that my competitive career is over and Im able to look back and reflect, the whole thing seems incredibly quick. It only feels like a couple of years elapsed between me riding ramps at the local dry slope and standing on the Olympic podium. Yet so much happened in the decade between those two points that the process becomes difficult to rationalise. On the one hand, I was just doing something I loved, having fun. On the other, like the rest of the UK crew, I spent a decade pushing limits and making radical gains.

Obviously, snowsports down the years have been dominated by a relatively select group of nations. Its a field in which natural factors such as climate and topography have a huge impact. Countries with lots of snow and mountains tend to be the ones that excel. Thats just the way it is.

The fact that the UK has made such huge strides in recent years, with athletes such as myself, Jenny Jones, Woodsy Woods and others achieving success on the international stage is testament to the fantastic national strategy that has been developed. The UK has no right to be achieving any of this and no prior track record in doing so.

In that way, my successes are not mine alone. They belong to those who helped and cultivated me. And that makes them all the more sweet.

Part One

IMPOSTER SYNDROME AND HOW TO OVERCOME IT

Its not what you are that holds you back, its what you think you are not.

Dennis Waitley

Pyeongchang, South Korea, 24 February 2018

THERES NOTHING like being up in the mountains nothing. You breathe and everything evaporates, just dissolves away like salts in the bath. All around you, a panoramic vista of the purest, pure white. Theres no white like it, anywhere, while the air teases your nostrils with precipitation, pine and wild herbs. That smell jolts me out of wherever my head was and plants me bang in the moment. After that, Im on it.

Buzzing.

High on white.

Sounds beautiful, right? Thats the true winter sports vibe, what the purists live for. Long days absorbed in immersive, rich environments of natural beauty, time and routine disappearing. But heres the reality crash: in truth, professional competitions are mostly nothing like that romantic ideal, especially big competitions and especially my main event, known as big air. Big air just needs a ramp and some snow, which could be artificial, or even brought in from somewhere. That means wherever you can construct a ramp, you can have a comp. Ive done my thing before crowds in London, Los Angeles, Beijing and many other places where there are no mountains (or natural snow) for miles.

The South Korean Winter Olympic venue was set in the Taebaek mountain range, but inside a fishbowl stadium, with the snowboard big air and the ski jump competitions facing one another from either end. When you were up there, getting yourself together, it wasnt white and alpine and immersive. Not at all. It was concrete and cables and car parks. People rushed here and there with clipboards.

That part of South Korea, known as Gangwon Province, has an average of two feet of snow a year, so all the stuff in the snowsports arena was fake. The big day was actually a warmish one too, mild enough for me to wear only a T-shirt and a hoodie as I waited. Petrol fumes lingered in the air, mixed with the rainy, sludgy scent of snowmelt and the murmur of a few thousand voices. I sat inside the gazebo the organisers set up as a waiting area, took a few deep breaths and tried to get into the right headspace.