UK Snowboarding

Brits On Board is a video series about the girls’ UK snowboarding scene created by skater, snowboarder, writer and founder of creative agency Neon Stash Hannah Bailey.

With the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi poised to kick off in a couple of days, Hannah – whose previous projects include DIY design pop-up Tie-Dye High Five and skate photography exhibition Anywhere Road – started the series to show the grassroots side of snow action and encourage others to get involved.

We caught up with the London-based ball of energy to find out more.

What exactly is Brits On Board?
Brits On Board is, hopefully, an informative and inspirational video project I’ve just started working on to showcase the British girls’ snowboarding scene. I thought it deserved a specific platform to show it off and hopefully give it a boost.

Why did you start it?
The boardsports world is what I am passionate about and I have spent years working in the industry meeting amazing people, so I thought it was about time to give something back. Most snowboard content is the pros going big and doing tricks, which is inspiring and great to watch, but I want to make snowboarding accessible to get more girls involved. I thought it be cool to get to the grassroots and tell stories that girls can relate to. I’m often on adventures with amazing ladies who are getting on boards, so now I take my camera with me.

How do you hope it will have an impact?
I hope that people, not just girls, will be inspired most of all, and that girls specifically will watch it and feel like they can do it too. It would be great to directly influence girls to get on a board!

What’s the girls snowboard scene in the UK like?
It’s an amazing culture to be a part of or even aware of. It’s small and inclusive, anyone is welcome to get involved and reap the benefits! Go to a dome or go to Scotland, it’s amazing the accessibility of it in the UK despite not having a lot of real snow. With the Olympics coming up and girls like Jenny Jones and Aimee Fuller heading to represent us in slopestyle, it’s an exciting time for snowboarding.

Who’s involved in Brits On Board and what does everyone do?
Like a lot of projects, I run it through my creative platform Neon Stash, and at the same time collaborate with lots of different people to make it happen. Wherever I go to film I have been linking up with other videographers and creatives, to get more people on board and strengthen the project. I love to work with likeminded people and just have fun with it.

How can people get involved/show support?
At the moment, you can follow the episodes as they get created on the Brits On Board Vimeo channel and follow the stories (or add to them) using the #BoBShred hashtag. But everyone is invited to get involved, send an idea, submit some content or collaborate.

What have been the challenges in bringing Brits On Board to life?
Well first off, when I came up with the plan to make a video project, I didn’t even have a digital camera! I literally acquired one the morning of Freeze [Ski, Snowboard and Music Festival], where I filmed the first episode. My background in capturing things is analogue, with 35mm cameras, and then my iPhone every now and then. So I’ve had to embrace technology and learn as I go. It’s a side aim of the project to develop my skills and it’s always handy to know how to film/edit when you are in the industry. It makes it a very worthwhile and fulfilling thing to work on.

What have been the major inspirations?
Mahfia TV, the girls’ boardsports platform based in the US has been a major inspiration. I met Kim, the founder, at the X Games in Barcelona last summer and I thought it was great what she had created. Also I have been inspired by the vibe in the industry, the fact that more girls are getting involved and just its positivity. Skating and snowboarding are the things that make me happy.

What’s the future for Brits On Board?
It’s early days so I’m just enjoying making it for now. But, come summertime, I’d like to cross it over into the skate world and in the long term it’d be great for Brits On Board to evolve into a general platform for girls skate, snow and adventuring. But I never know what I’m up to next…

You can watch episodes of Brits On Board on the official Vimeo channel.