Lesley Mckenna is a legendary snowboarder in the UK scene. She was the first British snowboarder to compete at the Winter Olympics and the first to win a World Cup Half-Pipe. She went on to become coach of the most successful GB Park and Pipe team ever, plus she’s a filmmaker, ski tourer and much more.

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Lesley’s parents were both ski instructors (4:00)

Her grandfather was one of the original Scottish pioneers of skiing (5:30)

Lesley’s cousins are Alain and Noel Baxter, who both skied slalom for Team GB (8:00)

First ski season in Jackson Hole (8:30)

Racing on pair of 224cm skis (13:30)

Moving on to Breckenridge (16:00)

Kirsteen McGibbon tragically died during a training run in 1996 (17:45)

H&R Insurance were the main sponsors of Lesley’s early career (18:30)

Becci Malthouse helped Lesley’s transition to snowboarding (18:45)

The 1996 Brits took place in Meribel

Lesley started off racing slalom before moving onto freestyle (23:30)

The challenges of funding (28:00)

Listen to Iain’s interview with Bode Miller (30:30)

What was it like being with Alain Baxter when he won his Olympic medal (31:00)

Coaching at the British Ski Academy and for Roxy (35:00)

Lesley Worked through the 2014 & 2018 cycles as a coach (36:30)

Listen to Iain’s interview with Pat Sharples (38:00)

Jenny Jones won Britain’s first ever medal on snow at Sochi (39:00)

Billy Morgan won bronze in the Big Air at PyeongChang (40:00)

Wandering Workshops (43:30)

The Kendal Film Festival takes place from 16-19 November (46:00)

Patagonia’s film ‘Thrawn’ is about the cultural significance of snowsports in the Cairngorms (46:30)

Is haggis the Scottish version of ‘hygge’? (48:00)

The 2023 Brits took place in Scotland (50:30)

Listen to Iain’s interview with Kirsty Muir (51:30)

Watch ‘Dropstitch’ on YouTube (52:15)

Lesley won Sport Scotland Coach Developer of the Year (53:00)

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