The infamous Air&Style, one of the oldest events in TTR history - and apparently too big for the FIS... or too popular? Scotty Lago sending it, photo by Sami Tuoriniemi

There is a new development in the furore between the TTR and the FIS today. It concerns a lack of agreement on the part of the FIS to form a joint qualification system with the TTR for the 2014 Olympic snowboard events of halfpipe and slopestyle.

At an meeting of the FIS Council on Monday, the TTR tabled a proposal for a joint qualification system for the 2014 Games. Its main tender was to establish a qualification system in which the top FIS World Cup events would be coupled with top TTR events to form a joint “Olympic Qualification System” that in the words of the TTR would be “widely supported by the riders, the nations and the global Snowboard Community.”

The response from the secretary general of the FIS, Sarah Lewis, fell well short of finding a satisfactory solution. According to her letter to Reto Lamm, the president of the TTR, the FIS would be willing to allow member National Associations to register lower level TTR events in their calendar, therefore allowing riders to gain FIS points towards an Olympic qualification. But what they didn’t agree on was the inclusion of elite TTR events, stating that “a process needs to begin at a lower level than the top events in order to build trust and understanding between the organisations and persons involved.” She ended her letter by saying that further discussion would occur post 2014 to access how the system worked and if any further amendments to the agreement should be made.

The route by which minor events on the TTR schedule can earn riders qualification points to the Olympics already exists and therefore the FIS’s position towards a joint qualification system remains unchanged. This is unacceptable to the TTR as riders will be unable to balance their competitive calendar satisfactorily if they are to compete in both TTR and FIS events that can gain them entry into the games. Leaving elite level TTR events outside of the Olympic qualification system, would create a fractured competitive scene that is not beneficial to riders or the sport.

As it stands Reto has written to the FIS explaining the organisations dissatisfaction at the outcome of the recent FIS Council meeting, stating that it will be business as usual at the TTR, until the FIS comes back with a more agreeable solution.

Lets hope that the FIS realise their folly and acknowledge that for the good of snowboarding and the welfare of the top riders involved it would be best if they could find a common ground with snowboarding’s core representative organisation.

In it’s 6th year, Grandvalira’s Spring freestyle treat, the Total Fight masters of Freestyle, is back for another whirlwind 4 days of the top snowboarding, sun and music in the small principality of Andorra, in the heart of the Pyrenees. Held in one of the most well known snowparks in Southern Europe, this year promises, once again, to be a sight for sore eyes.

The Total Fight is an international competition for invited riders from all over the world. This year, several major snowboarding names have already confirmed their presence, including:

Ville Uotila (Finland), Ulrik Baderstcher (Norway), Joachim Krogstie (Norway), Nuuti Niemela (Finland), Blayze Bramwell (Sweden), Jaakko Ruha (Finland), Michi Sanschitz (Austria), Victor Delerrue (France), Matti Kinunen (Finland), Janne Lipsanen (Finland), Miguel Moreno (Spain), Nico Fuentes (Argentina), Matías Radaelli (Argentina). As well as various members of the Burton international team, ready to give it all to win this year’s Total Fight.

The top class slopestyle will consist of 2 varying lines with a combination of rails and kickers for riders to pick the best line to show off their skills. It’s important for each rider to pick an original and challenging line to shine and therefore push their opponent out of the competition.

Line 1, the Big Jump:

The premium big air line is the hardest line with a 20 metre Big Jump, followed by a very technical 18-metre transfer and polished off by a rail.

Line 2, the central line:

The central line is both spectacular and technical, combining big jumps with jibbing

The line starts at the level of the half pipe, although the latter won’t be visible since the shapers will be filling it with snow for the competition and it will instead become a spectacular gap to box. Next on the line is a stunner of a kicker, all of 16 metres, but it doesn’t quite do justice to the all imposing kicker that follows it, a monster that kicks the rider up into the air and allows them to pull their best tricks. This impressive run is finished by another 16-metre kicker and finally a gnarly, technical rail.

The snowboarding competition will start on Saturday the 26th; Training will take place from 10:30h till 11:30h and the expression session part of the slopestyle, from which riders will be selected for the grand final, will take place from 12h until 14h. The grand final will start at 14:30h and go on until 16:30h, by which point the winner will have made himself known. Prize giving starts at 16:30h.

As well as the Swatch TTR points that the riders will accumulate in the competition, the winners will share 18.000 € worth of prize money.

This year’s programme for the 2011 Total Fight Masters of Freestyle:

Programme:
Friday 25^th of March: Snowboarding classificatory
- 11h00 a to 13h00 Snowboarding classificatory
- 21h00 Total Fight party in Nemo’s

Saturday 26th of March:

- 10h30 a 11h30 Snowboard training
- 12h00 a 14h00 Expression Session Snowboarding
- 14h30 a 16h30 Total Fight Snowboarding
- 16h30 Prize giving
- 17h00 a 19h00 Red Bull sponsored demonstration by BMX flatland champion Vicky Gomez followed by an acrobatic parapont demonstration

- 19h00 a 21h00 Night Jibbing Total Fight Snowboarding
- 21h00 a 01h00 San Miguel Night Music Total Fight: The Pinker Tones, The Right Ons and Crappy Tuesday

More info on:

http://www.totalfightmasters.com

On April 6^th, with the 2011 Snowbombing in full swing, the third edition of the Vans and Onboard Junk and Funk high jump contest will pop in Vans Penken Park in the resort of Mayrhofen. It’s the funniest shred bash of the season!

Think your season-worn legs still have pop and you can throw down against the Hotzone pro team? Well, in association with the righteous shapers of the Mayrhofen Bergbahn, Vans and Onboard will be building the poppiest tranny since Dame Edna Everage got heels. All you have to do is swing by and get high, exchanging style and amplitude for cash money and on-the-spot give-aways from Vans, Onboard and Hotzone.

To add extra bounce to the affair Cologne-based DJ duo Discodogs will be spinning their wheels of steel on the hill while the mouthpiece of modern snowboarding Henry Jackson will be manning the mic for the session.

For more details on the Penken Park and the Junk and Funk high jump contest check out Vans.de and onboardsnowboarding.com and just be there to take part!

The Art Rules showdown

This past weekend Barcelona played host to the TTR general assembly as well as the Swatch Artrules Competition, where the winning designer of the skin of the 10/11 season TTR trophy was honoured.

The TTR’s general assembly’s discussions including a wrap up of last season as well as mapping out the future of the tour for next season. But perhaps the most important topic broached between the TTR and WSF was the creation of a World Championship which will see a male and female rider crowned World Champions every four years. The inaugural event will take place in Oslo in 2012.

Here is what the TTR said about it: “TTR Pro Snowboarding today announces the creation of the World Snowboarding Championships.  A new world-class snowboarding event, the World Snowboarding Championships will be held every four years and will feature men’s and women’s halfpipe and slopestyle disciplines.  The first event is planned for the 2011/2012 season and will create an environment  for the best freestyle riders to compete for world snowboard champion titles in both halfpipe and slopestyle formats”.

For the entire three days of the TTR general assembly a red tide of Estrella beer flowed through the streets of Barcelona and down the throats of the attendees of the TTR meeting. But the main party event of the assembly was the Swatch Artrules Competition, held in a corner of the square outside the museum of contemporary art where a game of SKATE of massive proportions unfolds day and night without respite.

TTR capa Reto Lamm returning home with a street beer and kebap

Outside a heavy metal band played a set in an aluminium box until their oxygen ran out – art is a strange thing – while inside guests were introduced to Enni Rukajarvi and Peetu Piiroinen the reigning TTR champions as well as the new TTR trophy with its award winning paint job.

The winner of the Swatch Artrules Competition, a rather shy Swiss lass, seemed a little overwhelmed by the affair as well as her prize of a two week all expenses paid trip to the world expo in Shanghai. She beat a field of over a thousand entries with a design that can only be described as minimalist – the little snowboard figure had a single pair of red lips on the plinth and a couple of red details – art is subjective.

Enni and Peetu waxing lyrical

We will be telling you a lot more about the make up of next year’s TTR schedule, the new World Championships and interviewing Peetu and Enni in the September issue of Onboard, on sale on the 29^th of August. Be sure not to miss it.

Peetu and Enni seem to have the same size feet...

The Art Rules party

This past weekend Barcelona played host to the TTR general assembly as well as the Swatch Artrules Competition, where the winning designer of the skin of the 10/11 season TTR trophy was honoured.

The TTR’s general assembly’s discussions including a wrap up of last season as well as mapping out the future of the tour for next season. But perhaps the most important topic broached between the TTR and WSF was the creation of a World Championship which will see a male and female rider crowned World Champions every four years. The inaugural event will take place in Oslo in 2012.

Here is what the TTR said about it: “TTR Pro Snowboarding today announces the creation of the World Snowboarding Championships. A new world-class snowboarding event, the World Snowboarding Championships will be held every four years and will feature men’s and women’s halfpipe and slopestyle disciplines. The first event is planned for the 2011/2012 season and will create an environment for the best freestyle riders to compete for world snowboard champion titles in both halfpipe and slopestyle formats”.

For the entire three days of the TTR general assembly a red tide of Estrella beer flowed through the streets of Barcelona and down the throats of the attendees of the TTR meeting. But the main party event of the assembly was the Swatch Artrules Competition, held in a corner of the square outside the museum of contemporary art where a game of SKATE of massive proportions unfolds day and night without respite.

Outside a heavy metal band played a set in an aluminium box until their oxygen ran out – art is a strange thing – while inside guests were introduced to Enni Rukajarvi and Peetu Piiroinen the reigning TTR champions as well as the new TTR trophy with it’s award winning paint job.

The Art Rules party

We will be telling you a lot more about the make up of next year’s TTR schedule, the new World Championships and interviewing Peetu and Enni in the September issue of Onboard, on sale on the 29th of August. Be sure not to miss it.

Ryo Aono sending it. Photo: Danny Burrows.

Having just returned from Vancouver and beaten off his jetlag, Onboard Ed Danny Burrows writes his wrap-up of the 2010 Winter Olympic snowboarding.

It was only a week before the Olympic pipe finals that I got the invite to attend the games in Vancouver but the answer as to whether I was going or not was obvious – hell yeah!

Apart from it being the Olympics, which you don’t get the chance of attending that often it was also going to be the climax of what had been unquestionably the biggest build-up to a pipe event in snowboarding history.

The road to Olympics had been long and arduous and with the thrills there had been  tragedy. Shaun White had put his cards on the table back at the NZ Open when he revealed the fruits of his labour in his private pipe in Silverton, Colorado and set a seemingly impassable bar for other Olympic hopefuls with his back to back doubles.

Kevin Pearce fell victim to the trick when he caught an edge training in Utah over the Christmas holidays and suffered a serious head injury from which he is still recovering (everyone’s thoughts are with him and plenty of runs in the event were dedicated to him too). Pundits outside the circle of snowboarding, lead by USA Today’s Christine Brennan were asking whether snowboarding’s progression had taken a step to far and were calling for the banning of the double cork at the games. She was later subjected to serious flack from snowboarders and the double cork remaining in the arsenal of a growing number of riders.

Danny Davis, too, was injured after a crash on a quad bike after celebrating his victory at the Dew Tour thus eliminating the second of Shaun’s main contenders for gold.

It was not until mid January that teams were finally chosen for both the men’s and women’s pipe and many of those selected headed for Michigan to train. At the time, Vancouver was having its worst season for snow in recorded history and the venue for the pipe on Cypress was green.

Over the next weeks snow was flown in by helicopter and a monstrous amount of dry ice and salt were used to maintain the imported snow. Hardly environmentally friendly but how many snowboard events are?

Practice days in Cypress were subsequently cut from five to three days and even then the condition of the pipe was less than perfect. With the warm weather and rain the walls were crumbling and riders were having a hard time with speed. That said, Shaun turned up to practice and put down the first double cork in the testing conditions. At this point it was questionable whether the pipe would be ready for the big event.

The night before the contest the thermometer finally dropped and the outlook for the coming week was for clear skies and freezing temperatures.

Vancouver was already in the grip of snowboard fever and with Maelle Ricker taking gold at the women’s boardercross a sea of red and white maple leaf flags flowed through the streets of the city into the wee hours. In fact Vancouver was in a state of perpetual carnival, with streets pedestrianised, impromptu games of street hockey sprouting wherever there was space and everywhere amped kids rooting for their national teams. Xenophobia has little or nothing to do with snowboarding but then the competitors themselves cared little about national pride and more about personal achievement.

Tickets for the men’s halfpipe were the most sought after of all tickets at the games exchanging hands for over $1000 on the day and everywhere you looked there were references to snowboarding. All the faults of the Olympics aside there was no question that snowboarding as an industry was not doing badly out of the affair.

Sadly, due to the extraneous weather conditions standing room at the stadium was cancelled but still there were plenty of folks who by hook or by crook were able to get into the stands.

There is no need to go into results for either the men’s or women’s contests as they have been worn to the point of tedium already but there were a few riders who deserve a special mention.

Kazuhiro Kokubo had already made a name for himself at the Olympics for dismounting the plane in Vancouver with his shirt out, pants low and tie wound down like a school rebel. He was forced to apologies to Japan for his appearance but later went on the defensive saying that he was not going to change his appearance for what in his eyes was just another contest. He was without question the snowboarders’ choice of rider from the pipe contest going huge, with ample servings of style – he looked like he was loving the ride. Iouri Podladtchikov, too, was impressive but alas didn’t make the cut sliding into fourth place overall.

In the women’s event, aside from Torah Bright’s dominance, the girls from China really made a good impression with their tight, styled out spins. According to rumor Jiayu Liu and her teammate Sun had been plucked from gymnast and martial arts schools to compete in snowboarding but there was nothing forced about their riding to back up these claims.

Queralt Castallet was also riding hard but after scorpioning on a 5 in practice before the semis she was knocked unconscious and sent off to hospital for observation by the course management much to her protestation. She is still young though so expect to see much more from her in the next four years in the lead up to the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia in 2014.

Snowboarding didn’t fail to disappoint as the enfant terrible of the Games. Scotty Lago went out, medal in hand, and caused a little discomfort to his national team and the Olympics by appearing in pictures at a party with his medal dangling at his crotch with a girl paying her respects. Screw the politics he deserved a party and sending him home for what in snowboarding is an everyday occurrence was horse crap. But then I guess you could argue that this was no ordinary occasion.

All power to you Scotty you deserved a night out on the tiles and what is there not to celebrate about winning bronze!

Go snowboarding. Go all those riders that were there. Screw nationality. What ever your politics may be about the Olympics the pipe contest for the riders was for them and about them. The rest was all just the structure that allowed them to be there.

Olympic message board in Vancouver. Photo: Danny Burrows.

The weather has fluctuated from well below freezing to spring conditions in Loon where the park was shut so that Niki, Max and Lazz could throw down hammers on the perfect kicker line. Sorry to the bloke who got so pissed at not being able to shred the park that he mooned the ski patrol and got his pass pulled – harsh treatment for airing a bit of skin.

We have got some sweet rails in the bag including a round, metal down, flat, down of over 30 concrete stairs and a massive wooden rail which was far from straight.

Watch out for the story in next year’s magazines and or check some out a little picture story from our day in Manchester on my site:

Danny

On this structure 16 of the world’s most notorious riders including the likes of Terje, Travis Rice, Daniel Ek, Scotty Lago and Torstein Horgmo were to show the gangs of New York the intricacies of contemporary snowboarding.

Practice caused a stir in the hood as well as with the riders but for very different reasons. Although the hip was fine the run-in was too short to get speed and as one rider proclaimed jokingly in an interview: “we were going a massive 32inches over the hip”. For the contest-real a tow-in machine would have to installed on the pitch to give the riders wings.

Björn Leines. Photo: Christian Pondella.

The hip’s ineffectiveness however went largely unnoticed by the spectators, many of whom were virgins to the shred. Each trick caused a ripple of cheers to spread through the massing crowd, who in the words of one Red Bull marketer the following morning numbered between: “2 and 20,000”.

The temperature on the night of the contest was nothing but Baltic, hovering in the sub-teens. With an icy run-in and questionable speed and a tow that was more of a hindrance than help the riders started into their practice runs slowly, with straight airs seasoned with the odd spin from the likes of Torstein, White and Rice. But once into the expression session and elimination rounds were on the riders began to charge – after all there was a $50,000 purse waiting for the winner. In the words of Pat Moore said, this was the right 16 riders to make the most of the jump. The predictions of a Pospisil / Torstein final by the Onboard crew came to fruition and with a front V back 9 challenge on New York got the action that they had been waiting for. After two hits the New Jersey lad bagged a win and the astounding $50,000 first prize, sending the crowd into a frenzy, which led to the barriers being uprooted, and Shayne being crowd surfed around the arena.

Terje Haakonsen. Photo: Red Bull.

In conclusion the Snowscrapers was a New York doughnut of two flavours: a tasty sponge shell that amped out a crowd who would otherwise never see such a star studded line-up of pro riders rip except on video and a rather sour filling that from an insiders perspective was a poor representation of snowboarding, reeked of sports marketing and left one wondering why such an event had been bestowed with a coveted rating of 5 stars on the TTR tour.

Thanks to the efforts of the riders and Red Bull for bringing snowboarding to the streets of New York!

Dustin Craven. Photo: Brian Nevans.

Sorry for the delay in getting up my last blog from the 2008 TAC, in Oslo but I have been trying to recover from a week of hassling anarchists, sleeping in disused fountains and watching some of the finest quarter pipe riding of the snowboarding’s short history.

So here we go:

Following Thursday’s trick varied qualifier where cash prizes were given to those excelling in the categories of straight air, rotation and inversion a day of rest was granted to all – well deserved after trannie bashing and a party where the usual sausage-fest-boozathon was crashed by over 200 ravenous ladies off Facebook (hoorah for the joys of online communities).

Ulrik Badertscher

Eight riders, including Shayne Pospisil, Andy Finch, Peetu Piiroinen, Kevin Pearce, Nicolas Müller, Terje Haakonsen, Risto Mattila, Colin Frei, made it through to a frost hardened quarter that Terje described as “firm” adding “I’m too old for this shit” as he hiked the steep steps that hemmed the Holmenkollen ski jump. He contradicted this with a fine display of shredding that included a massive tweaked Mctwist Japan and an 8.3m backside 3 that looked on execution to be heading for the record but was over rotated and therefore disallowed. Peetu Piironien slipped into third place and earned the Highest Air award with a 7.5m air and fives that were without fault. He may be the quietest chap on the TTR but his riding speaks volumes. Slipping into second place was Shayne Posipisil, a rookie to TAC, hailing from New Jersey, his enormous frontside 3 clinching the deal. Standing a head above these three though was the new TTR number one Kevin Pearce who seems determined to clean up at every event that he attends this season. The 21-year-old Vermont local was not only crowned the overall winner but also earned a handsome cash bonus for what was unquestionably the best trick of the contest, a huge inverted backside 5 double grab.

Colin Frei

Having given props to the winners I would just like to high funf those who didn’t make the podium. Chad Otterstrom was killing it in practice but as luck would have it bombed his three qualifying runs. Nicolas Müller was as stylish as ever while an array of Scandinavian talent including Daniel Josefsen and Risto Mattila with his traveling 5s were much appreciated by the crowd. Also riding hard was a contingent of Japanese riders made up of Takaharu Nakai and Fumiyuki “Smokey” Murakami – all those present must collectively apologize for the ribbing that you got from the commentator; xenophobia is not a general trait of our fine continent…

Kevin Pearce up in the stratosphere

Can’t wait for next year’s contest!

Gallery of the event will be up in the morning…

Riders were tentative about giving their all on the first day of practice but by lunch the 6.5m mark had already been breached. Risto Matilla was trying an array of tricks in preparation for Thursdays straight air / upside down / spins cash contest, while locals Daniel Josefsen and Fredrik Scuderi were getting a feel for airtime. There is also last year’s defending champion Kevin Pearce, who is currently placed second in the TTR world rankings. Depending on his results here, he may unseat the current series leader Risto Matilla.

Day two of practice was alas tamed by a persistent fog. Lets hope that tomorrow brings clear skies and cool temperatures for the straight air / upside down / spin cash contest

Danny