About me
- Born: March 18, 1981
- Height: 6'2"
- Stance: Regular
- Sponsors: Oakley, Ride, Vans, Nixon, Neff, Bawbags, The Park, Space, Physiotherapy, RedBull
- Current residence: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Seasons: 9
- Sickest trick: Big frontside 360 melon or big frontside 360 mute tail bone
- Favorite discipline: Slopestyle
- Local resort: Glencoe
- Other than snowboarding: Skate, Jetski
- Drink: RedBull of course
The text that follows was written for me by my good pal Ewan "Walbo" Wallace and sums up my history of when, where and how I got to where I'm currently at. Cheers Ewan, I owe you a few!
...
Scott's association with snowboarding began on a family ski holiday in St Anton, aged 12. Having caught the bug, he started riding in Scotland throughout the winters and at Edinburgh's Hillend dryslope a couple of times a week. By age 14-15 his talent was plain for all to see, and his riding was attracting a fair bit of notice. By the time his school days were drawing to a close, Scott was in the enviable position of being sponsored and with the prospect of the so-called 'gap year' opening up in front of him. Doing a winter season seemed the obvious choice.
Having chosen to go to Whistler, Scott spent that summer working and saving money for the winter. Although his existing plan had been to go to Newcastle Art College to study photography (an interest that had until then shared a level pegging with snowboarding), predictably enough this was shelved in favour of a second season.
Although Whistler is often portrayed in the snowboarding media as a backcountry Mecca, it was in the Blackcomb park where Scott spent most of his time. This is plainly in evidence from his tech but ultra stylish kicker and rail riding, and he readily agrees that it was a formative experience. "You're constantly pushed to learn stuff. Whistler for me was the starting point for it all really cos the standard of riding over there's just so high."
By the fourth season, the McMorris bag of tricks was beginning to look pretty impressive and he had gained recognition amongst his peers as one of the finest park riders ever to come out of the UK. However, his interest begun to sway towards relearning these tricks on powder kickers, meaning that forays into the Whistler backcountry were next on the agenda. The following season, the easily accessible backcountry terrain of Morzine proved the perfect training ground for honing these new skills.
A few more winters down the line and Macca is now - at least in UK snowboarding - the household name he has long deserved to be, with a slew of sick movie sections and extensive coverage in UK and worldwide snowboarding press to show for himself. Of course his riding is as strong and stylish as ever both in the park and on street terrain, but with his recently perfected backcountry skills he's now a heavyweight contender for the top spot in UK snowboarding.
People tend to deal in superlatives when they're describing Scott's riding, and justifiably so: as well as boundless technical skill and balls, there's humour, cheekiness and the smoothest, most enviable style you'll see this side of an international pro comp. Few people genuinely manage to get so much of their personality across in their riding as McMorris, and that's a real shame. But don't take our word for it - check out this site to see for yourselves.
Ewan Wallace
