Snowboarding
How I did it: Katie Ormerod’s double cork 1080!
How to learn a world’s first backside double cork 1080 in less than four months.
1 min
Katies Woodward training Double Cork 1080
Katies Omerod Woodward training Double Cork 1080
Previously we showed you a video that raised the bar for women's snowboarding. Today, we're going to find out just how Katie Ormerod became the first female to do a backside double cork 1080…
So who is Katie Ormerod, anyway?
16-year-old Katie Ormerod from Yorkshire, UK
© Euan Baxter
Well, according to British Snow team coach Hamish McKnight, she's the future:
"Katie is by far the hardest-working snowboarder I've ever worked with. Her love of snowboarding and her work ethic, combined with her gymnastic ability, make her certain to lead a charge in the progression of women's freestyle."
Katie is from Brighouse, West Yorkshire, in England. She's 16 years old and has been snowboarding since she was six years old:
"I started snowboarding at my local dry slope and that's where I learned most of my basic skills before I started riding more abroad and at my local snow dome."
Katie training in Woodward
© [unknown]
Dry slopes are everywhere in the UK. They are artificial ski hills covered with plastic bristles. It feels a bit like riding down a giant toothbrush.
The two main advantages of growing up riding dry-slope are that you can ride every day of the year and when you do finally get to ride on some real snow, you never, ever want to stop.
Katie has been doing gymnastics since the age of four too, and so the two sports go hand in hand, with gymnastics bringing the strength and spatial awareness she needs in snowboarding.
But snowboarding is her first love: "Gymnastics is great, but the two sports are very different and I much prefer the creativity and the fun, supportive community that comes with snowboarding, as well as the amazing places I get to visit."
Ready for more challenges...
© Euan Baxter
Next question: how the hell does one go about learning a trick this complex?
Hamish: "We've been working on this since January. Basically, you just build it up in layers, starting with initiating the right rotation in a 540, then exaggerating and controlling that. Next, we did some work in the foam pit at Woodward on spotting the landing."
For Katie, it's all about practising the move over and over, in a safe environment: "I spent a lot of time at Woodward, learning the right technique into foam. Then, at the end of the season I started prepping it on snow, doing the first half of the flip out of little hits in the park. We went to Stubai and that's where I had the opportunity to try the double on snow.”
Hamish: "We flew out over two days and just got it done. She did 10 to her feet, most with just a hand drag. I'd like her to do a few more like this over the summer, but basically it's good to go. When you build a trick that way, put in the work and don't skip steps, you end up with a locked trick that just feels easy and natural."
Katie: "My coach Hamish was a huge help in learning the trick. I don't think I could have done it without him."
What's next? Hard to say, but one thing is clear: the double cork was a huge milestone for women's snowboarding, and now that Katie has opened the door, expect many more female riders to follow…
Want to experience the best of RedBull.com on the move? Get the app at RedBull.com/app.
And to receive the latest snow news daily on your Facebook page, become a fan of RedBull.com/snow on Facebook!