Jet-setting Gabe Adams will be hitting new heights

As well as performing the various eye-catching moves that are part and parcel of his chosen sport, the 18-year-old from Worfield is also clocking up the air miles as he takes on the world’s best at both senior and junior levels.

Having jetted out to America to take part in this week’s FIS Snowboard World Championships in Aspen, Colorado, Gabe will then continue his globe-trotting by heading on to Russia for the Junior World Championships in Krasnoyarsk, which start on March 19.

The former Wrekin School pupil took up the sport aged just eight when he lived in Morzine, France. His talents were spotted by GB junior coach Steve Addicott and for the last six years has spent a number of months each year at Addicott’s Why Ain’t You Jibbin? snowboard school in Zillertal, Austria.

The talented teenager has been making a name for himself across Europe with success in the Europa League meetings and will relish the chance to show off his skills to a worldwide audience.

“The championships in Aspen are the biggest event he has ever competed in,” said proud dad Joe, who will accompany his son on his round the world trip. “He is up against the best of the best, people who have won world titles and Olympic golds.

“He always wants to win when he competes, but from my point of view if he could qualify for the finals that would be unbelievable because he will be one of the youngest athletes out there.

“And then we will fly from LA to Moscow and on to Krasnoyarsk for the junior championships. We will be away for just over three weeks.”

The last two years have seen the youngster rise through the world rankings and claim the No.1 spot in the UK charts.

He was selected to the GB Freestyle Snowboard squad in 2018 after a breakthrough season and finished on top of the World Rookie Tour rankings in the grom category and also scored second place in the Tour Finals in Kaprun.

He then went on to make the finals of both his events at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Sarajevo in 2019, claiming GB’s first medal of the Festival when he finished third in Big Air. He also struck gold in the Gotschen Europa Cup and won the Vars Europa Cup Big Air.

“Gabe has been doing really well and his ratings have really rocketed in the last couple of years,” added Joe.

“He first trained abroad when he was eight and he has been going out every year to Zillertal since he was 12. He used to go out for three to four months but the last two years he has spent six months out there.

“He has had the same coach, Steve Addicott, since he was eight and trains with the elite GB camp.

“And he recently won a Europa Cup event in Gotschen Germany. His trajectory is going in the right direction.”

But while he is used to hitting the slopes to hone his skills, Gabe’s training schedule was a touch different last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We managed to get him on pretty much the last flight out of Austria last March when the lockdown started,” said Joe. “He had to spend a few months at home and we managed to buy an Olympic trampoline off ebay and were able to gather together enough equipment to make up a little home gym.

“We had the trampoline in the garden and he was able to practise some aerial moves and acrobatics. And he kept himself really fit working in the gym with his brother and sister. As you get more and more involved in the sport the spins and rotations are just going crazy.”

And while Gabe will be looking to impress in the States and Russia over the next few weeks, there is one other big event he has his eyes fixed on – next year’s Winter Olympic Games, which take place in Beijing, China.

“At the moment GB only have one slot for the Games,” added Joe. “Gabe is number one in the UK ratings and, as a result, I would hazard a guess that he is number one in line for that slot.

“From what we have heard, the Chinese are doing everything they can to ensure the Games go ahead. It would be an amazing experience for him to go out there and compete.”

While further down the line, competing on the pro tour America is the likely destination for Gabe, there is an event closer to home that could help raise his profile. “The National ski and snowboard is coming to the NEC at Birmingham in October and there is bound to be a lot of interest and exposure in that with the Olympics coming up,” continued Joe. “We are trying to raise Gabe’s social media profile. We are

in a situation where he is known really well internationally, but his profile in the UK is still very low and that is something we need to change in the lead-up to the Olympics.”