As arguably the UK’s best known snowboarder, a double Olympian, and with a whole host of international wins and other accolades to her name, Lesley McKenna modestly, and rather surprisingly, announces that she “was never very driven by wanting to beat people.”  Really?  Well she did a pretty good job of it nonetheless, as the only snowboarder from the UK to have ever won a half pipe World Cup event and to have led the half pipe World Cup standings.

Growing up in Aviemore, Scotland, Lesley first tried boarding in Caingorm 14 years ago.  “I swore I would never do it again the first time I went as all I did was slam but it got me hooked for sure.”  She’s now a great supporter of the emerging snowboard scene in Scotland – “Cairngorm and Nevis have spent a lot of money in the last few years developing their parks and so has the Lecht. You can have a lot of fun snowboarding in Scotland.”

Now, as well as a continuing to compete, Lesley has moved into coaching.  Which does she prefer?  “I love coaching as I like helping people achieve things they are not sure they can do. It is very rewarding. I love riding and the process of learning new tricks and trying to get them down in the competition as a performance, like being on stage I guess.”

With Lesley now also occupied with online and offline journalism, public speaking and her own film production company, called ChunkyKnit (you can see their YouTube channel here), it should follow that a lot of time is spent off the board these days.  Not so, Lesley assures.  “I am lucky that in the last year I have spent a lot of time on the snow. I think I have just generally been very busy to have managed to fit everything in. I spend a fair bit of time on my computer when I come down the mountain for sure though!”

With all that she has achieved, Lesley still regards the highlight of her career as watching a close friend and fellow snowboarder succeed.  “Maybe watching Jenny Jones, who is Britain’s best rider for sure, and a good friend of mine, win the X Games slopestyle this year is a highlight for sure.”  Now surely that’s the sign of a good coach.

Find out more about lesley at www.lesleymckenna.com or contact her here.

Photos used with the kind permission of Euan Baxter – euanb.com

We’re looking for great things to do around the world. And on our list we’ve got canyoning, white water rafting, sphereing and cliff jumping…well that’s four of the thousands of things we want to find out about.

We struck gold when we came across old-hands Nae Limits in Dunkeld, central Scotland. This well-known and very friendly centre has been listed as one of the 50 best Activity Weekends by UK national newspaper, The Independent, for the last six years. They do all four of our activities and they do them amidst stunning Scottish scenery.

Sphereing at Nae Limits

Canyoning can be defined rather primly as ‘the descent of a long, deep and narrow gorge where the only way is down.’ But canyoning down Bruar Falls Canyon sounds much more fun with adrenalin pumping river swims, jumps, rock slides and scrambles.

Kirstin at Nae Limits didn’t need to sell the idea of white water rafting to us. We all know it’s going to be fun, wet and noisy. Enough said. But sphereing was a new one. ‘People say it’s the best fun they’ve had with their clothes on,’ says Kirstin. ‘You get strapped inside a large, clear, inflatable ball and we push you down a hill!’ Hmm. She then offered me the Eclipse Sphere. ‘You could be one of the first people in the world to ride it. It’s the first blacked out ball.’

I think I’ll stick to the cliff jumping. I’ll push myself thanks, rather than be pushed. Cliff jumping is typically done in a gorge – cue scrambling, paddling, swimming around to find a natural rock shute. Nae Limits then teach you the best and most fun way to get down the shute – cue screaming, excitement and more water. Kirstin tells me they start people off down 1 metre jumps, but progress to 8 metre jumps – cue booking form.

To find out more about the great people at Nae Limits, visit www.naelimits.co.uk. And if you’ve been to Nae Limits or done any of the sports, we want to know more.

In our tireless but tiring search for the best things to do in the whole world, we blundered accidentally from the dark safety of the wings out into the limelight, clapping boards and coughing clichés. Mercifully Elisa Eliot was on hand to re-shape our misguided amateur dramatics and turn them into something we could tell our parents about.

Elisa first became involved in acting from a young age: “At first I participated in drama class and school plays, then when I was in middle school I got my first professional role in the Houston Grand Opera’s production of Attila. Although I knew my passion was to act and sing on stage and on the big screen all along, I also new and valued the importance of a great education so I attended Yale University where I studied Drama.”

“There are so many reasons why I love acting. You get the opportunity to delve into the lives of so many different and unique people. Also as an actor you get to transform and exercise both your mind and body regularly.”

With our boring business cap on, we had to ask about the terrible pay most young actors have to endure before they get anywhere near stardom. “In any business you have to work your way to the top positions. If you want to be a successful actor you have to pay your dues and work for very little (and many times for nothing) at first. As your career progresses you see that you’re getting better parts in better productions. At that point you will also see your compensation matching your work.”

As a professional actor and acting coach, ooh wanted to know about the most rewarding part of Elisa’s work. For her, it’s all about the students: “I love seeing my students book their first role. It’s wonderful to see their accomplishments and how the hard work has paid off. ”

1. Los Angeles, CA
2. New York, NY
3. London, England
4. Mumbai (Bollywood), India
5. Chicago, IL

Ooh’s pretty glad to see London in the list, and pleasantly surprised about Mumbai and Chicago. We reckon the Southern Hemisphere might have something to say about this, eh guys? We’re in the process of tracking down some Aussie and South African acting coaches to get the spin from the other side of the world.

In the mean time, you can keep up with Elisa’s latest on her blog here, or visit her website www.elisaeliot.com. Whether you’ve got a stage-fright problem, or any other burning question you can email her for advice here.

Extreme ironing.  The act of ironing in extreme situations.  You’ve never heard of it?  Well we’ll get you acquainted with it in a short while, and don’t think for a minute that this isn’t a serious sport.  A large portion of extreme ironing is now sponsored by Rowenta.  That’s right: the iron manufacturer.

As a taster offering, here’s a video that adequately illustrates the thrill of the sport.

We’ll be giving you a rundown with the help of the super guys over at the Extreme Ironing Bureau.