London's Freezing: A leap forward for the UK snowsports industry

The FSO4 FREEZE Sponsored by LG is a three day music and snowsports event that takes place at London's iconic Battersea power station. This year saw the second time that London has hosted the event, which proved itself to be even bigger and better this time round. On top of world class freestyle ski and snowboard talent who came to ride the 17m table top kicker, this year's Freeze also hosted a selection of alpine themed bars and 2 live music stages.

Friday's events included the Battle of Britain Ski and Snowboard comps followed by music by Pendulum and a mind blowing set from Orbital. On Saturday riders competed in the LG Snowboard FIS world cup big air event where they scored points to help them on their way to the Olympics. 30th birthday boy Stefan Gimpl took Gold with 52.7 points. Saturday night's main stage lit up with music from Eagles of Death Metal and Calvin Harris. On Sunday, the final day of the event, the power station played host to the International Freestyle Ski Comp, Friendly Fires and Chase n Status.

Having such an important competition on home turf is a massive leap forward for the UK snowsports industry. As well as welcoming international world champion freestyle skiers and snowboarders to ride in the capital, the comp also gives our British grown talent the chance to perform for a home crowd, and raise the profile of the sport amongst the UK public.

British snowboarder and Olympic hopeful Ben Kilner commented that the FSO4 Freeze sponsored by LG is important as it "brings snowsports into the public eye, heightening awareness in the UK." When asked how events such as the Freeze are affecting snowboarding he observed that "snowboarding still isn't as popular amongst Brits as it is overseas, however the market is getting bigger and there are more and more riders on the scene. The quality of British snowsports athletes is brilliant now, and it's a really fun community to be involved in." (Read the full interview with Ben Kilner here.)

This increase in popularity can be seen through the success of the event's social networking efforts. Driven through the communications portal www.londonfreeze.com/lg/, members of the LG Freeze facebook group literally exploded with fans wanting to sign up to the lifestyle choice that action sports such as skiing and snowboarding represent, a lifestyle that is encompassed by the Freeze itself.