Olympic medallist visits Highland ski resorts
WINTER Olympics 2018 snowboard bronze medallist Billy Morgan had a blast during his whistle-stop tour of two Highland snow sports areas recently.
Billy spent less than 48 hours in Scotland but during that time packed in visits to Glencoe Mountain Resort and Nevis Range in Fort William.
Earlier this year, the Southampton-born boarder created history, 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.
An informal Q&A session with competitors in the Coe Cup on Saturday evening, March 24, proved quite entertaining, particularly when Billy had a slight problem with some of the broad Glasgow accents. Early next morning he cut some fresh tracks on Glencoe Mountain’s pistes before leading a really great session with local children in the terrain park.
All too soon, he was on the road again to Nevis Range, where he joined one of the snowboard instructors in a terrain park session for some extremely 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 a leisurely 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.’