Ed Leigh
The captain of the good ship Freesports On 4, Ed has been at the helm of the RTS award winning Channel 4 TV show for the last 6 years, which has lead to various other Less decorated achievements. His personal favourite being his three time undefeated defence of the UK Air Guitar Championships, but you can throw in the long winded World British Snowboard Indoor Big Air Champion 2003 and also being possibly the UK's best exaggerator/liar. Alongside the snowboarding he has been skating and surfing for the best part of his life and has almost managed to fulfil his mantra of working less and earning more in his attempt to indulge himself in his passions as much as is humanly possible.
Matt Barr
Mattbarr, as he's known to his friends is snowboardings equivalent of the kid from almost famous. One of the O.G. snowboarding crew from the Rossendale and Sheffield dryslopes Matt, like Winston Zeddermore (the black dude in Ghostbusters) has seen shit that would turn you white, including I might add Steve Baileys first dryslope 900. His phenomenal writing talent has seen him contribute to pretty much every mainstream broadsheet and glossy you'll find in WH Smiths. But at his core Matt is a snowboarder and he has shamelessly dedicated his time to blagging trips from tourist boards, recent forays include Iran, Lebanon, Russia and Uzbekistan. A handy powder turn and terminally enthusiastic intermediate surfing skills belie his real strength; A quest for knowledge. At optimum speed Matt can devour a book a day and it's worth remembering, seeing as his email is at the bottom of the page that he can answer every question in trivial pursuit.
Chris Moran
As well as being the man with a million nicknames, Chris ‘Moranasaurus Rex’ Moran is one of the most talented snowboarders to hail from these shores. One of the first Brits to break into the international scene, his effortless riding style saw him pick up many national titles and earn a reputation as Britain’s answer to Terje.
Not that any of this matters to Chris. Trophies and accolades are immaterial to a man who only has eyes for fun. It’s ‘Ruby Murray’s’ raison d’etre, whether undertaking month-long fountain bubblebathing tours of Europe or jazzing over 80k on a heli trip to Greenland. If fun is a science, then ‘Murrance of Arabia’ is the professor.
These days, Chris is still unerring in his quest for amusement – hence his latest project, an book-length investigation into the origins of surfing and board-sports culture. Unsurprisingly, it demanded large period of time spent researching in Hawaii, California and the South Pacific. For Chris, so it goes…
Ben Mondy
It was whilst doing a job interview from a public phone box in the remote northwestern Australian surfing desert outpost of Gnaraloo that Ben Mondy realised that he might just be able to shed his Economics degree past and actually make a living from his passions of surfing and writing.
The job was for the deputy editor of Tracks, Australia’s oldest, largest and funniest surfing magazine, and with the interview successful he spent the next five years making the magazine, travelling the world surfing and spending quality time irritating the world’s best surfers. Two years ago, he left the Tracks fold, and armed with the title Global Editor, did more of the same, just without the office constraints. Arriving to live in London last year with his English wife he was picked up by the ACM Writing team, adding his surfing expertise and contacts to their extensive freesports kingdom. Armed with a broad Aussie expletive laden accent, a curly receding mop, beer addiction and a license to roam the world surfing, he aims to bring the best of the free surfing world to you, or at least die of malaria trying.
These four will be offering up their thoughts, reports, findings and advice from the world of freesports in Flotsam, Flakes, The Captains Flog as well as features and podcasts. So keep your eyes and ears to the ground and if you want to pick our brains give us a shout, all the contacts are below
- General - what@fso4.com
- Ed Leigh - ed@fso4.com
- Matt Barr - matt@fso4.com
- Chris Moran - chris@fso4.com
- Ben Mondy - ben@fso4.com
Contact Us @ FSO4.com
FSO4.com, 218 Penarth Road, Cardiff CF11 8NN, United Kingdom.
Tel: +44 (0) 2920 550 550
Fax: +44 (0) 2920 550 551
what@fso4.com
Boom Freesports Ltd
Registered Office: 218 Penarth Road, Cardiff CF11 8NN
Registered in England & Wales: 6219435