Being a member of the Ski in Luxury team means that sometimes you have the opportunity to meet some pretty incredible people from the ski industry, and this week was one of those special occasions.

I was lucky enough to be put in touch with Jamie Barrow who at the age of 24 is already breaking speed records on a snowboard around the globe! It was amazing to get an insight into his story so far, and what inspires him to keep pushing on and breaking boundaries within his sport. Now Britain’s fastest snowboarder and with an everlasting hunger to keep smashing through any obstacle that is in front of him, we give you his story and exclusive interview.

Will – What was it like being born in Switzerland and growing up with the mountains at your doorstep?

JB – It was amazing! I actually thought from a young age that it would be good to snowboard in my back garden and couldn’t get enough of it. It was very easy for me to go to the hill on the weekends so I progressed quite quickly. However I don’t think I really ever appreciated it enough until I moved away.

Will – When did your obsession with speed and snowboarding begin?

JB – I have always been obsessed with going fast, not just within snowboarding. One year at the Brits (British championships, I cant remember how long ago it was) in Laax, they had a Garmin Challenge. This was where they gave you a GPS watch and tracked how fast you could go. I ended up going faster than anyone else, even the skiers. I think it was something around 124 kph. However I knew I could go faster and that is when I started looking into places to do it.

After an injury in January 2013 which resulted in me dropping out of the British team in boarder cross, and at the same time caused me a lot of pain constantly, I still had that drive to go fast. So just a few months after my injury I went to Verbier and set the British snowboard speed record and from then on I was hooked and wanted to continue to find different ways to go fast.

Will – Can you tell us more about your back injury in 2013 and how it changed the path you were on with Freestyle and Boarder Cross? What encouraged you most to continue to push boundaries in the sport and not give up?

JB – My back Injury completely changed my path in snowboarding. It happened during a boarder cross competition in January 2013. I was doing a training run and while i was going around a bank corner I lost my edge, slipped out on my heel edge and crashed pretty hard. I knew straight away that i had done something pretty serious as I was struggling to get up. After going to the hospital they told me that I had completely destroyed a disc in my lower back. They went on to say that the injury was such that they couldn’t really do anything to fix it and that I would probably be in some sort of pain for the rest of my life. They told me I would struggle to run again never mind snowboard again. It was devastating for me and it meant I had to drop out of the British boarder cross team which was everything to me.

However, I was determined not to let it stop me doing what I love which is snowboarding. It actually gave me more of a motivation to prove the doctors wrong, that I could still snowboard. I didn’t want to just come back and snowboard, I wanted to push myself. Going fast was pretty much the only thing I could do due to my injury. As I was in a lot of pain I thought that if I went straight downhill for about 20 seconds, I could put up with the pain and set a record. So that was exactly what I did. After that I was hooked and looked for different records I could break and I wanted to also continue to push myself despite my injury.

Will – Can you tell us how you became a Lloyds TSB local hero and Sky Sports Living for Sport athletes mentor and what you enjoy most about the roles?  

JB – I can’t actually remember how I became a Lloyds TSB local hero as it was quite a while ago but it got me into doing motivational talks. When the Sky Sports Living for Sport program came up with the charity the Youth Sport Trust, I saw it as an opportunity to try to inspire others to do what they love! At the same time this was supporting me financially to help continue doing crazy stunts in order to inspire people.

I think what I love the most about the program is seeing the change in the young people from when I first meet them, to the end of their program. It is incredible to see the change they go through and they actually end up inspiring me to do more. The Living for Sport program is great, as a charity it is free of charge for schools so it is able to touch some of the less privileged kids.

Will – What was more of a challenge, being towed by a plane, breaking the speed record in GB or riding with the electric jet engines? Why?

JB – It has to be breaking the downhill speed record. This is because all the other stunts I have done, if anythings seems like it is going wrong I can just let go at the top or stop accelerating with the jet engines.

With the downhill speed record, you have a narrow track you have to go down, and once you get going you cant really slow down easily at those speeds without getting down to the flat bit at the bottom. As soon as you point the board down the mountain you have to be committed and hope that nothing goes wrong. It was very scary but at the same time that was what made it so exciting and keeps me coming back for more.

 

 

Will – How were you feeling looking down the run in Verbier before you took off to break the speed record? Talk us through it?

JB – I cant tell you enough how scared I was when I broke the record. The first run lower down was OK but when i decided to go higher to go faster that is when it got very scary. When it came to my turn I was standing at the top slowly pushing myself into the centre of the track with my arms and legs shaking from fear of what I was about to do.

At one point I thought I wasn’t going to do it however i thought I had to go down the mountain somehow, I might as well go straight, so I just went for it. When I past that final line where they measure the speed and started to slow down, it was an amazing feeling that I cant get enough of. That is the reason why no matter how scared I feel, overcoming that fear and the feeling you get afterwords is completely worth it.

Will – Who do you credit most for the success in your career so far?

JB – It has to be my parents, they have always been supportive during the years, and even doing these very dangerous speed records which they really don’t like me doing, they are still there supporting me.

Will – Having boarded around the world, which resort do you enjoy the most and why?

JB – I have ridden some pretty amazing resorts however this might seem strange but my favourite resort is Val Thorens, France. The reason for this is that I have had some of my best times snowboarding there. I got my best international boarder-cross result there, went on some fun uni ski trips there, had one of my favourite cliff drop photos of me there and of course it is part of the 3 valleys so has a massive ski area with lots to offer.

 

With more planned for 2017 that I am sure will raise the pulse of anyone watching, make sure to check out Jamie’s website for more information on Britain’s Fastest Snowboarder.

A massive thanks to Jamie who has taken time out of his schedule to give us an insight into his career so far and with more to come, I am sure that this is only the beginning.

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We look forward to hearing from you.

The Ski In Luxury Team.