Angelica Sykes
TEAM RIDER
"As long as I am riding with cool people and their is snow on the ground, I'm happy."
Angelica is the Freeride Snowboarder UK Number 1 in FWQ Series. In other words, she's shit hot in the back country!
She is currently creating an all girls freeride edit, with another girl called Tijn Vuijk. Their aim is to create a short film showing why they are different from all other female riders out there. The film will show the disciplines of freeride snowboarding and skiing in all its girly glory.
The film will then go on to show you the training that goes into it all, and then leading on to shedding the best lines and all other aspects of freeriding. Its definitely going to be worth a watch! Keep up to date with whats going on with Angelica and the freeride project via her blog, Facebook and Instagram pages.
Below is a short bio sent over from Angelica.
"Hey, my name is Angelica, my English friends call me Jellie and my Swedish friends call me Angie, I'm 23 and I come from the UK and the best city ever, Leeds. There is one thing that i will be eternally grateful for, as it has made me into the person and consequently the snowboarder i am today-my family. I hated growing up, I hated school and everything about it, what is strange is I loved to study and I enjoyed work but, how can i put this, I was very unpopular. I was bullied badly through primary and high school and into college, however I wouldn't change the "experience" as it is what pushed me to escape to the Alps. Due to my mother being Italian and my upbringing being very VERY Italian, every holiday we headed for Italy, I grew up skiing from a young age in Courmayeur, La Thuille and Champoluc. On my first season I was working with Crystal which is an English tour company in Pila; on my first day off I thought I would have a pop at snowboarding, safe to say I have not yet looked back.
The last few years have been crazy, I worked with Crystal every winter up until this year and I am very happy to have been associated with them as they provided me with the chance to relocate to Italy in the first place. I struggled to compete as much as I wanted while under their employ as I would work 12 hour days. This is why this year, I made the decision that if I wanted to make my life and free-rider happen, I would need to throw all my money/time/passion and love into training, travelling and competing.
The last few years have been crazy, I worked with Crystal every winter up until this year and I am very happy to have been associated with them as they provided me with the chance to relocate to Italy in the first place. I struggled to compete as much as I wanted while under their employ as I would work 12 hour days. This is why this year, I made the decision that if I wanted to make my life and free-rider happen, I would need to throw all my money/time/passion and love into training, travelling and competing.
Prior to this summer and a lot of research, I didn't know that the free-ride competitive scene was so open and accessible; that's why I tried to compete in slope-style by way of getting used to the competitive atmosphere and attempting to make a name for myself. However, probably not the best time to admit, in relation to a lot of female riders out there, I am not great in the park. For some reason I cant find my "lady balls". However in freeride, whether I'm under the pressure of the competition or just shredding the pow with the guys- its a sense of euphoria and freedom which is hard, near impossible to put into words. I will continue to live this life style for as long as it takes to make it to a position where I am happy with my ability. My dream is to make it to the Freeride world Tour and to continue to travel to amazing terrain to see what the world has to offer; my aim is to one day head to Alaska on a heli trip for a few months, I feel Alaska is where I would find myself and my true snowboarding "spirit". I believe in human potential and I hope that means I can continue to improve regardless of how other people view my ability or past performance and endeavour to grow in my skill. As long as I am riding with cool people and their is snow on the ground, I'm happy."
We're super happy to have Angelica as part of the Mojo team and can't wait to see what the next year brings to her. Keep shredding hard!
Competition Schedule:
Open Faces, Axamer Litzum 4*- 8/9th January
Verbier Freeride week 2*- 11/14th January
Engadinsnow by Dakine Corvatsch 3*- 4/7th Febuary
Jasna Adrenalin 4*- 24/28th Febuary
Nendaz Freeride 4*- 11/16th March
St Foy Freeride 2*- 19th March
Roldal Freeride Challenge 4*- 21/24th April
Riksgransen Nordic Championships TBC May