From the forefront of ladies mountainboarding

Niki has for a long time been at the forefront of Ladies mountainboarding in the UK, however she's also quite handy with a camera. Here we have an interview with the lady herself followed by a gallery of her often stunning photos.

An inteview with top female shredder Niki Forecast

Hello hows things? All good thanks. What were up to before we dragged you over to the computer? Just got back from a few days kitesurfing (or learning to kitesurf) with some mates in Southend. For those who don't know how long you have been riding and what got you interested... I've been riding for 6 years now, and first got into it from going to OTG with my friend. What do you do when you're not mountainboarding. Do you ride any other boards or do any other sports? I'm really into snowboarding at the moment, I've been going every week over the winter to Gloucester dryslope for some freestyle, and am now going to be doing a snowboard season this winter so will see how that goes. I'm trying to get into kitesurfing - but as I'm pretty much as far away from the beach as you can get in this country it's not going to be that easy. I also have an interest in elephant polo, but don't get to participate as much as I'd like. Has riding with the OTG crew helped push your riding? Yeah definately. But I also ride a lot with other people, like last winter I went out freeriding every week with the ATBSports guys which improved my riding loads. How much has it helped having regular access to a foam pit, have the Wednesday night OTG team nights played much of a part? I doubt I'd have ever done backflip if it wasn't for the foam pit. Even though there are others in the area that I could use (Bugs for example) it took me so long to build up the confidence to try it into foam that I doubt I'd have done it without regular access to the pit. It's now been shut down because of Health and Safety jargon, which is a huge loss. Wednesday nights are brilliant, it means I get to ride regularly with some of the best riders in the country - Tom Read, Jed Hornyold and Ben Tweedie to name a few. What was it like riding proper mountains when you went to Italy, did go ride any other places to ride when you were out in Europe? That was an amazing road trip - I didn't really know the people I was going with and I was always a little hazy as to where we were actually going. Turns out I actually went with the entire Scottish mountainboard population - we fitted into two vans. But yeah I got to ride some amazing places - Cortina in Italy had runs a few miles long which were like nothing I'd ever ridden before - so long but with such stunning scenary. Would love to do that again but wouldn't want to compete there as riding like that shouldn't be hurried - you want to take the best, most interesting route not the fastest. We also headed to the BMW bike park, which was mind blowing - perfectly carved mile long bx. But it was designed for bikes, and we were pretty much dead by that point so didn't get to ride it as well as we'd have liked. However the new track AJ has just built in Germany is definately some where I want to go - it looks incredible. Do you do much freeriding? Last winter I did but this winter just gone I got stuck working in a hotel, it was killer missing out on the freeriding but was going snowboarding to Gloucester every week which kept me going. I used to always used to think freeriding was something those without a local centre had to do, but I have to say after that one winter in the woods boarder don't look half as scary as they once did - on boarderx you know what's round the next corner and people are a lot softer than trees. Where else would you like to ride? Like I said the new German place - Rockon in Winterberg. Are there any days riding that really stand out in your memory? All sunset sessions are worth remembering, but I do love the competitions. One of the best races I've had was in 2006 with Corina Ugland at SWMBC - we were overtaking each other round every berm, it was so close that we were buzzing at the bottom. Also remember a day in Ledbury woods - I followed George Jones down a run I hadn't looked at - it was so fast and so tight that I got to the bottom and my legs were trembling. But of course best day riding if not best day full stop would be the day I did the backflip at Coastal in 2006. Just riding away from it clean and hearing the crowd go off, so so stoked. How long did you spend practicing back flips before you landed the one at coastal? Lots of sessions in the foam pit, but the one at coastal was the first one I did on dirt. Beginners luck eh? To be honest I never really thought about doing them on dirt, as there is such a jump from foam pit to the real stuff. But it was my final run of the final round of the year, when Wiggy and James (Sleigh) suggested it, it just seemed like a really good idea. When did you start doing front flips? I learnt frontflips on a snowboard, because that's what everyone seemed to be doing, and I don't like to get left out. After I'd got them pretty much sorted on a snowboard I figured it couldn't be too much different on a mountainboard, so gave it a go at Round 1 at SWMBC. I find I need the competitions to get me pumped to try new stuff, it is scarier but the best runs I've had are the ones where I've been so scared I was shaking and wanted to be sick at the top of the roll in. What are your favorite tricks? Front flip no contest. Just like a backflip but not as scary (don't ask me why not as I don't really know). They're much much harder so you get a better feeling when you ride away and they're not as common as a backflip which makes it better. Do you have any favourite tracks? Court Farm Bx, the Haredown Bx from a few years ago, Ledbury woods, OTG, and Cortina. Which riders do you rate? In no particular order... Tom Read because he's a really nice guy, Stu Lugger because he's an incredible freerider, Jack Poulter for always trying to cause serious injury to Lugger, and of course Ben Wanklin. Matt Brind (Brindy) I also think is wicked - he definatley enjoys it more than anyone I know and has such an open enthusiasm which is brilliant. What is it like managing OTG? Does it affect your riding much? Most people find when they start working in the mountainboard industry, they don't get as much time ride as they used to. I do get a lot of time to ride and jib around at the centre, but it's for 20 minutes at a time rather than full days, as on my days off I want a bit of a break from the place. But it's a wicked job, we get so many own boarders so there's always people to talk to, and it's so relaxed there now - and having your boss as your sponsor definitely works out as I get all the time off for the events no problem. OTG has produced allot of talented riders over the years. Is there anyone we should keep an eye out for who we haven't seen yet? Niall Potter - Farrant is starting to get pretty good, he's learning new stuff rapidly and is definitely benefitting from riding with Jed and Tom. Right on to photography When did you first pick up a camera? I had a standard crappy one when I was about 13, but only really got into taking photos when I got my digital one when I was 16. What was it? Nikon Coolpix something or other (a very basic compact). What is your set up at the mo? Canon EOS 350D. Not very original, but it does what I want - and hey only 3 f/s just teaches you to have good timing. It also makes a really cool noise which is of vital importance. What got you interested? I took my camera with me on a snowboard holiday and just really enjoyed taking photos, when I got home I got a good response so took it from there. What do you look for when you out taking photos? Something a bit different. I don't like to be too technical, I like what's in the photo to do the talking rather than how it was taken. With mountainboarding it's all about making it visually interesting - blue sky nice trick photos are losing they're appeal. Have you got any photos, which are particular favorites? One or two, but they're quite old now so I'm bored of them. Is photography something you would like to take further? I used to want to, like I got into uni to do photography but got advised that in a few years time there won't be any jobs in photography as photography has become so easy, and so I never took up my place. Even wedding photography (which was never something I planned to get into) is more and more being done by someone's mate, rather than a professional. I just really enjoy taking photos so yeah if a job came up I would love to do it, but am not putting my hopes on a career in it. Are there any other places people can check out your work. My website is www.theyflew.co.uk Remolition questions Red or blue tyres I've been rocking blue ones for some years now. How many pairs of shoes do you own? Somewhere around 10 and a half (I lost one 2 years ago, and am holding out for the other one to return.) Cider or beer I'm from Herefordshire, we get breast fed cider. How big do think a mountainboard will have to before it becomes the first mountainboard bus. Somewhere between 5.67m and 9.85m. Or when it has seats and a steering wheel and is driven by a guy named Spike. Or is this a metaphor? Have you ever been to Cheddington? No, but it sounds nice. Are there any good places to eat round your way? Sweets Sandwich shop in Ledbury, I recommend the Chicken Tikka and Mango Chutney on a white baguette with a bit of lettuce, red onion, and crackling. Tell Matt I sent you. {embed where=content&where_id=97}