PERFORMING somersaults umpteen feet high above a mountain slope might not be everyone's idea of fun.

But for Craven free-style skier Emma Lonsdale, this kind of action provides the adrenaline rush she loves in a sport which has become her passion.

The former Settle High School pupil had plans to go to university and become a marine biologist. But a 'gap' year spent on the slopes was enough for her to catch the extreme sports bug.

She will bid to retain her title in the half-pipe discipline of the British Freestyle Skiing Championships which start tomorrow and run for a week in the Swiss Alps resort of Laax.

A half-pipe is a U-shaped hollow cut into the snow in which competitors ski from one side to the other performing an array of tricks on which they are judged on.

The walls of the pipe rise to 17 feet and skiers jump a further six feet to produce their moves in mid-air.

It means it is a fair distance to fall flat on your face if you get the manoeuvre wrong, but this is just the kind of challenge that Emma thrives on. A self-confessed 'adrenaline junkie', she is also learning to snowboard and lists white-water rafting, caving and climbing among other pursuits she has done.

Emma, from Langcliffe near Settle, has won a string of titles since she swapped slalem skiing for the "more relaxed, chilled environment" of free-style about three years ago.

The best of these was when she won the British Championship in the half-pipe at Les Deux Alps in France last March. And now she is aiming to retain her crown in Laax.

She will also compete in the big air, in which she finished second last year, and slopestyle disciplines.

If half-pipe sounds scary then big air sounds even scarier - skiing down hill before jumping off a ramp and performing somersaults and spins mid-air, clearing a flat area of up to 60 feet, before landing on a slope again - in one piece, hopefully.

"I like pushing myself to see how brave I can be," said 20-year-old Emma, who made a rare excursion home for a week during the skiing season last month.

Whilst performing gives her a buzz, hours of hard work and practice are needed to be one of the top performers. She has just spent three months training seven days a week on the slopes in Mammoth, California. Fitness training is important, particularly stenghtening muscles in the lower legs, stomach and back.

Emma - whose brother, Ben, is also set to compete in some of this season's freestyle events - has a clothes and eyewear sponsor and could pick up around £1,000 in prizemoney should she do well in forthcoming events. But the off-season in the summer is when she needs to raise money to enable her to pursue her passion. Last summer, she took on three jobs at the same time.

It is her dream to enter the sport professionally. Though the lack of mountains in this country are an obvious hindrance, the increase in indoor facilities and dry slopes mean there could be opportunity. In the meantime, she may look to study for an online degree.

She also hopes that come 2010, she will be competing at the Olympics in the half-pipe. The discipline is set to be a demonstration sport at the Winter Olympics in Turin in 2006, which could be a pre-cursor to it becoming an official Olympic sport.

Emma will remain in the Alps until the end of the season in April.

If anyone wishes to sponsor Emma, they are asked to contact 01729 822461.