191: Lesley McKenna, British Snowboarding Legend

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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SHOW NOTES

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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