050: Ed Leigh Part 2/The State Of The Snowboarding Nation
“When I look back I can see that a lot of my early exploits were reckless. And now it’s the opposite. Everything is measured. But when the stars align you can step out of your comfort zone and enjoy that moment. Because through experience you’ve earned it.”
Well, I had to didn’t I? To mark a whopping 50 episodes of the Looking Sideways podcast, I invited back the very first and still one of the most popular guests I’ve had on the podcast: snowboarder and presenter Ed Leigh.
If you listened to that first episode you’ll know all about Ed and his incredible two decade career in action sports, whether as an athlete or as the UK’s most high profile snowboarding broadcaster. He presents Ski Sunday, fronts the BBC’s Olympic coverage, and is in demand as a commentator, pundit and journalist.
Yet throughout it all Ed has been inspired by one thing – his unquenchable stoke for the sideways life, which as such makes him the perfect guest for episode 050.

I’ve known Ed since the mid-90s and count him as one of my oldest and dearest friends, so its always great for us to catch up, swap gossip and find out where we are in our lives. That’s definitely the case in this one, which sees us go deep into the Olympics and the current state of snowboarding, pick up our ongoing argument about Shaun White, find out where Ed’s at in his career and discuss how our love for skating, surfing and snowboarding just keeps increasing as we get older.

Ed is a born storyteller and bon viveur, and I caught him on particularly relaxed form on this occasion, so I hope you enjoy this special episode to mark 50 episodes of the Looking Sideways podcast. Huge thanks to everybody for supporting the show up to now – here’s to 50 more!
Show Notes
- The intro sting.
- Back for round two.
- Looking back on the Benedek chat.
- Putting on the game face.
- Where confidence comes from
- Looking back at the 2018 Olympics.
- The post Olympic comedown.
- Ed’s ‘Dream Tour’ idea
- How competitive snowboarding is more fragmented than ever.
- The Banked Slalom craze.
- Getting sucked into the Olympics.
- Prepping for the Olympics.
- Snowboarding going mainstream…
- …as the blue riband event.
- How this is damaging snowboarding.
- The cautionary tale of ski aerials.
- Pipe drama
- The ‘guy in the sky’ issues.
- Transworld article with snowboard head judge.
- Consulting the judges.
- The continuing Shaun White debate.
- Shaun’s pre-Olympic slam.
- Ed’s Transworld article on Shaun.
- Rumours of doping in freestyle snowboarding.
- Does a personal park count as cultural doping?
- Icarus.
- Current FIS and IOC relationship with snowboarding.
- Women’s Slopestyle debacle.
- Ed’s Transworld article on the women’s slope.
- How the other action sports are dealing with Olympic inclusion.
- The impact of wave pools on surfing.
- How Ed’s career has progressed with the Olympics.
- Tim Warwood MVP.
- The difficulties of calling tricks.
- Ed’s favourite moment of the Games.
- Vagaries of snowboarding judging.
- The Austria talent gap.
- Aesthetiker crew.
- Current generation of French riders
- Ed’s Transworld trip to Israel.
- Other frontiers.
- Best winter since 98-99.
- Freakish snowpack conditions.
- Exploring Verbier during the best winter in 20 years.
- The revival of the British Champs.
- What’s next for Ed and the family – heading to Wanaka.
- The classic work/life balance issue.
- How work is tied to identity.
- The implications of Brexit.
- How Ski Sunday has evolved.
- Ski Sunday Chase Patterson feature
- Ed’s remaining career ambitions
- Not cracking the mainstream.
- Monkey Tennis.
- The excitement of mountain biking.
- Surfer’s Journal Instagram.
- Reliving Ed’s favourite family holiday
- Growing up in a sailing family.
- Ed’s Grandad’s inventions.
- Keef’s quote.
- Why you need to scare yourself.
- Reckless youth versus measured experience.
- How memory dulls with age.
- Last Morocco surf trip.
- Customs misadventures.
People Mentioned
- Matt Ward
- Billy Connelly
- David Benedek
- Ayumu Hirano
- Scotty James
- Shaun White
- Tom Monterosso
- Tina Dixon
- Jack Mitrani
- Blake Paul
- Bode Merrill
- Stale Sandbech
- Forrest Bailey
- Travis Rice
- John Jackson
- Eric Jackson
- Halldor Helgason
- Klaus Marko
- Todd Richards
- Gian Simmen
- Gjermund Braaten
- Darius Heristchian
- Craig McMorris
- Mathieu Crepel
- Chloe Kim
- Ester Ledecka
- Gian Paul Lozza
- Nick Hamilton
- Kevin Pearce
- Jake Burton
- Drew Stevenson
- Iouri Podlatchikov
- Xavier de le Rue
- Tyler Hamilton
- Red Gerard
- Markus Kleveland
- Hamish McKnight
- Bryan Fogel
- Roberto Moresi
- Lesley McKenna
- Shauna Coxsey
- Matt Hoffman
- Wingy
- Marc Churchill
- Lucy Adams
- Tim Warwood
- Caitlin Moran
- Pat Sharples
- Paddy Graham
- Chris Corning
- Billy Morgan
- Seb Toots
- Kyle Mack
- Anna Gasser
- Werni Stock
- Elias Erhardt
- Gigi Ruff
- Marcel Hirscher
- Wolle Nvvelt
- Beckna
- Steve Gruber
- Victor Daviet
- Artur Longo
- Victor de le Rue
- Ron Jeremy
- Michael Bolton
- Roy Itelson
- Jamie Lynn
- Dale Rehberg
- Scalp
- Freddie Kalbermatten
- Nicolas Muller
- Neil McNab
- James Stentiford
- Sian Leigh
- Oscar Leigh
- Johno Verity
- Jenny Jones
- Katie Ormerod
- James ‘Woodsy’ Woods
- Rowan Coutlas.
- Rothnay family
- Brooks family
- Blackwell family
- Hamish Acland
- Suki Leigh
- Rachel ‘Chase’ Patterson
- Rob Warner
Places Mentioned
- Alaska
- Ischgl
- Laax
- Sochi
- Vancouver
- Nagano
- Tokyo
- Chiba
- Teahupoʻo
- Korea
- Beijing
- Switzerland
- Austria
- France
- Mayrhofen
- Mount Hermon
- Iran
- Lebanon
- Syria
- Tignes
- Val d’Isere
- Val Thorens
- Les Deux Alpes
- Chamonix
- Greece
- Verbier
- Espace Killy
- Three Valleys
- Mont Fort
- Lecht
- Wanaka
- The Ionian Sea
- Taghazout
- Hellespont
Companies/Brands/Organisations Mentioned
- BBC
- Olympics
- Board-X
- US Open
- WSL
- Street League
- Vans Park Series
- Red Bull Rampage
- X Games
- Laax Open
- European Open
- Snowmass
- FIS
- IOC
- Audi
- GB Park & Pipe
- Simple Session
- Vans Park Series
- ISF
- WSL
- The Founder’s Cup
- Pipeline
- Red Bull
- Hezbollah
- Surefoot Verbier
- Mons Royale
- Ski Sunday
- Sky Revolution
- Red Bull TV
- Surfer’s Journal