NOT every Notts sportsperson beating the world right now is

doing it in Beijing.

While Rebecca Adlington was re-writing the record books in

the pool at Beijing, Renny Myles was in somewhat less exotic

climes – namely Gloucestershire – becoming a world champion

mountain boarder.

Renny won the Fat Face Night Air at Bugsboarding, a

tournament that drew athletes from around the world in a sport

he describes as "literally a cross between skateboarding and

snowboarding".

In less-than-ideal driving rain and against 60 international

competitors, Renny was named Mountain Board World Freestyle

Champion.

Renny, who lives not far from Rufford Abbey in north Notts,

entered his first mountain boarding competition when not yet a

teenager. "My first competition was in '97," said Renny, now

22. "I went skiing in Canada, saw a board in a shop and thought

the idea looked quite good."

The sport originated in North America and has a genesis

that's simple enough; some snowboarders, at a loss for what to

do with themselves over the summer months, slapped wheels on

snowboards and headed for the slopes. The equipment they

invented was perfect for a sportsman like Renny, who as a boy

had become a keen skateboarder.

"It's basically a snowboard with wheels stuck to it," he

explained.

Today mountain boarding's a popular member of that unruly,

baggy-trousered club of "extreme sports". And one of its

international hot-spots, perhaps surprisingly, is

Gloucestershire. "That is the epicentre," Renny explained.

"Where the main people come from."

That works out well for Renny, who makes money as a plumber

when he's not on the slopes and travels to tournaments whenever

he can. He also trains on bike trails around Bestwood Country

Park and Clumber Park, as well as at a trails centre near

Matlock.

"Extreme" sports have made inroads into the Olympics, but

Renny doesn't expect to see mountain boarding contested at that

level any time soon.

If anything, he'd just like to make sure that people

continue mountain boarding. Cheap international flights and

indoor ski centres mean that it's easier for snowboarders to

find snow, or a reasonable approximation, year-round.

erik.petersen@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk