Exclusive Pat Sharples Interview

Ask anyone about Pat Sharples, and the glowing reviews can't come in thick and fast enough. He's variously described as a freeskiing legend, the leading light of the British freeskiing scene, and even 'one of UK's best ever ski exports'.

Perhaps most importantly, though, his friends, students and peers all rate him as an incredibly nice guy. This combination of personal and athletic qualities makes him the perfect Grom Camp leader – in fact, he founded the popular freeski training camps three years ago.

Despite a busy travel and coaching schedule – in addition to Grom Camp he's preparing the British Olympic halfpipe team, coaches the World Cup team, and leads the summertime British Freeski Camps – Pat made time for an exclusive interview about the uniquely fun experience that is Saab Salomon Freeski Grom Camp.

What made you start the Grom Camps?

'Three years ago, I was taking the Salomon team to ski centres around the UK to train. We'd give the local skiers tips, and the response was huge, especially from kids. We could see there was a big demand for freestyle training. It's going really well, we're very happy with it. We're getting lots of response and it's getting a lot more kids into the sport, so we're really proud of it.'

What's new at Grom Camp this year?

'We're adding trampolining training into some of our sessions now. We take the campers off the slope, get them to work on tricks on the trampoline, then put them back onto the slope – that's quite new for us. It helps them with their awareness in the air, and you've really got to get your sense of balance on the trampoline – it's actually harder to get your balance on a trampoline than it is to get it on your skis. It's good practice.

'I'm always trying to think of something new to add. After every camp I take time to think, how can I make this better? I always want our campers to feel that they've improved after a session with us; I'd hate for them to go away and feel like they've not learned anything.'

Is Grom Camp only for advanced skiers, or can anyone go? Who else might be interested?

'We teach kids from the very first time they've ever tried to do a trick on the skis, and we've taught people who are professionals, who make a living out of skiing. So we get a real mixture of people who come along to the camps. The youngest skier we had was five years old, and that's really the limit in the younger age range. But we've also had a 60-year-old come along.

'The new kids that get involved – if they like skateboarding, BMXing or even in-line skating, freestyle skiing might seem like something they'll really enjoy, because they've got that balance already, and they'll find it easy to bring that over.

'Anybody who's enjoying their skiing and they want to take the next step and learn freestyle skiing from some of the best skiers in the world, or if they want to start competing, or just meet new friends, you couldn't find a better place than the Grom Freeski Camps or British Freeski camps. There's always an incredible atmosphere, and we make sure that every single person has fun and feels included.'

How do you accommodate different levels of ability at Grom Camp?

'We divide the campers into groups, by different standards and by age. We'll put younger ones who have never done it before in one group, and create more groups up to the top level of performance.'

How do you choose the coaches for Grom Camp?

'The coaches are all professional skiers who I've grown up with throughout my life, and most of them have won a British title in their career. We've even had European champions come and coach. So their level is very high. Normally we have 4-8 coaches at each camp. A lot of the coaches are quite high-profile in the ski world, and many of the kids who come along have already heard of the them.' [See profiles of the Grom Camp coaches, including Joe Tyler, James Woods, Andy Bennett, James Webb and more.]

What's your favourite part of Grom Camp?

'There are so many to choose from, but I think my favourite moment in any Grom Camp is when we give the prizes for the most improved and the hardest working camper of the day – the people who have put the most effort in and who have learned the most. Sometimes the kids who win the prizes, they just aren't expecting it, and I can see in their faces when they get it that it gives them more confidence to come back and try again.

'Kids who have been working on their tricks over several camps and finally nail it, we give them something for that, too. We never reward the 'best' person in the camp because they probably could win all the time, anyway, though we do reward the person who does best trick of the day.'

What are the prizes like, and how many do you give out?

'Everyone goes home with something. I always want the kids to have something that lets them remember, and make them feel like they got a lot for their money. This year, with Saab, Salomon and Oakley on board, we have a lot of great sponsors that have been providing us with fantastic prizes.

'Typically we give away ski goggles and glasses; Salomon T-shirts and hats; bits and pieces like lots of stickers, pens, belts; and everyone gets a copy of our dvd featuring the Grom Camp coaches. Sometimes we get one-off sponsorships that allow us to give away major prizes like skis, boots, and laptop computers, at the top end of the range. You never know what to expect!'

How safe is it to train at Grom Camp?

'In all three years of Grom Camp, we've maybe had two small injuries, and nothing serious. We make sure everyone who trains with us wears a helmet, we advise them on what protection to wear, and we do a safety chat with them before every camp. We never let people try anything they're not capable of doing.

Speaking of parents...what do they do at Grom Camp while the kids are training?

'There are nice bars and other areas where the parents can sit and relax, especially In the new ski centres we go to. If we're outside, a lot of people turn up with deckchairs and their own picnics. Of course parents are always welcome to bring video cameras and take pictures, and we tape all of the Grom Camp sessions.

'We feel there's a real community among the parents, which is great. Some of them travel together, get a travel lodge in the evening together if they're staying over. We found a lot of parents become very close because of the camps. Occasionally, some of them even join in! It's all in good fun.'

So where is Grom Camp headed for 2008 and beyond?

We've done 8 Grom Camps already this year, and we're hoping to do 45 this year, all around the country. We try to choose the best venues, the ones that feel safe, with a good environment that's safe for the kids to learn on. We like to mix it up with the artificial dry slopes, and we use the new indoor snow domes as well.

We have some really good indoor snow domes in Britain, like the Chill Factore in Manchester. It's only 3 months old, and I had a big part in designing the freestyle area, so that's a favourite. Also in Tamworth we've got a good slope, they're very helpful, and then we've got about 6-7 different dry slopes around the country we'll use.

We're getting so many repeat campers. We've got an established group of people, the highest level of skiers in the UK, but also so many new skiers – I get 5-6 enquiries a day about kids who want to come who have never done it before, and that's great. I like that because it means we're getting more kids involved and the sport is growing.