Local snowboarder Mollie Boys successfully defended her British dry slope Big Air title at her home slope in Halifax over the weekend.

The 22-year-old Boys pulled off a 720 degree spin and a 360 degree tail grab to claim the title at the Halifax Ski Centre.

An aerobics, gym and trampoline instructor, Boys found her athletic skills transferred well to snowboarding acrobatics when she first attended the dry slope in Halifax four years ago while a student at Leeds University.

"When I was younger I did gymnastics and trampolining and then I used to horse-ride loads," said Boys.

"I started snowboarding when I was at college and I realised that snowboards don't have to be fed every morning, so snowboarding is my main thing now."

Boys had her first full season on real snow last year and went on to claim the British Big Air title in France, competing on the cold stuff for the first time.

"I've been on dry slopes for four-and-a-half years now and all of my instruction was on the dry slope in Halifax. I did it on snow for my first season last year. It is totally different and a took a while to get used to it. I had to re-learn all my tricks. It's a different speed and the edge you need to get is different."

The British Snowboarding Association want Mollie to compete in some of the higher profile international events but she says the costs can be prohibitive.

"I'm sponsored so I'm classed as a professional but I don't get paid. My sponsors, Sapien Snowboards, Monix Clothing and the Subvert Board Store in Leeds supply my equipment and pay for my travel."

Along with the national title, Boys picked up an Orange mobile phone with £100 credit and £120 cash for for victory on Sunday.

Big Air competitions are by nature very dangerous and Boys has picked up her fair share of injuries along the way.

"In the qualifiers on Saturday I did a 720 but over-rotated and ended up doing a 900 and smashing my face up. I was bleeding everywhere. My chin and all up my nose was like a carpet burn. It was a good job your photographer did his photos just before I did that," she laughed.

"A few years ago I broke my arm and had to have a bone graft from my hip into my wrist. I broke my scaphoid but I didn't realise for two years."

The AIM (Artificial Indoor Mountain) series heads to Scotland next before returning to Yorkshire at Castleford's Xscape complex.