Mission Accomplished – Vans Hi Standard series successfully brought some style to European snow resorts. Paying homage to the roots of the brand, Vans introduced a new concept in ‘competitive’ snowboarding for 2013. Coinciding with the 20th anniversary of Vans’ first snowboard boots, the Hi Standard series aimed to bring the fun and style back to competition. Events took place in major European snowboard resorts throughout March and April, and featured an original big air format and rail jam. Riders were judged on individual style, creativity and ‘self-expression’, whilst to keep it clean, rotations over 720 were not permitted.

More than 200 riders, old and young, boys and girls, amateurs and seasoned pros, were battling for Van Doren Dollars in France, Austria and Scotland. The judging criteria strictly focused on style, variety and creativity – and of course, fun factor; having a good session together, enjoying a BBQ and celebrating the true spirit of snowboarding is all that counted over these few days.

The Vans Hi-Standard kicked off on March 12th in front of the infamous restaurant ‘L’Altiport’ in Les Arcs. During this round, the French riders could get their hands on 2,000 EUR cash for tricks, bringing out their best with style.

Moving on to Austria’s hotspot of snowboarding culture, Zillertal, the second stop of the series was a prime example of the “off the wall” spirit, with a perfect balance of competition and camaraderie, interspersed with some great riding.
With the resort having supported the sport at its best, there could not be a better location to host this event than the Vans Penken Park. Local support from those riding, watching or simple soaking up the atmosphere, was fantastic.

The morning of the 23rd of March kicked off with the big air and soon one rider stood out of the crowd: Austrian hero Herby Thaler, whose smooth methods are unequalled within the scene, pocketed some Van Doren cash straight away. His performance was closely followed by Gabor Abonyi and local shred heads Rudi Kröll und Friedl Kolar, who threw in some impressive one footed tricks. After lunch the bank of Vans reopened over at the rail set for another jam session. This provided the perfect opportunity for Betty, the only girl in the competition to really tackle the rail section, unleashing smooth b/s boardslides on the handrail with style.

Flo Heim walked away with the days biggest stash of cash, whilst 15year old Rowan Coultan achieved the title of „Rookie of the Day“. Finishing off with a tasty Californian BBQ and live act MC Henry Jackson performing at Grillhof Alm it was crystal clear that everyone there had a great time!

The last stop of the Hi Standard series took place in Scotland’s beautiful Cairngorm Mountains, on April 6th. The local park crew had created a truly epic set-up, perfectly for a comp of very high standards. More than 50 riders signed up, with the youngest being only 8 years old! Scottish locals Jamie Trinder and Danny McCormick were killing it, while 10year old Will Gilmore impressed the crowds with his no fear approach.

Overall 9,000EUR was awarded to the snowboarders who performed with style, rather than spinning to win, but also the best tricks and rail jam riders were also rewarded for their moves, and not to mention the worst bail!
For the 2012/13 winter season one can say that Vans accomplished it’s mission; the newly created Vans Hi Standard series successfully brought back some style to European snow resorts.
Visit www.facebook.com/VansEurope/events for more information and pics.

And also check out the Vans Hi Standard video edits:

From France
From Austria
From Scotland

All our previous posts on the Vans Hi Standard Series on this tag.

The DC Shred Days are back in Meribel Mottaret to illuminate the Area 43 park for 3 days of shred and parties with the DC All Star team.

From the 3rd till the 5th of April 2013, the aprk will be open to the public every day from 12pm till 7pm, so you’ll get the chance to make some laps with you favorite riders. BBQ on the park too. Then After Ski in La Folie Douce, and Dj Parties at Dicks Tea Bar, and event a concert at Meribel Club Les St Peres. Get ready for 3 days of radness, and see you there!

And go like the DC Area 43 Mottaret Facebook page.

Norway dominated the slopestyle course here in Tignes, with first and third spots for Silje and Kjersti. Jamie Anderson, multiple winner and grand favorite, squeeze in the middle. This was a hell of a good show and now everybody can get suited and booted for the party tonight!

Britain’s Aimee Fuller open things up for the girls, a bit nervous on the rails obviously, she manages to find her cool on the kickers to throw down Cab Underflip, back 3 and a good old backflip. Silje Norendal definitely looked better on her first rails of the day, before a nice Switch back 5 on the first kicker and her signature Rodeo front 7, perfectly landed. First place straight, with a high 90 points. The Swiss Sina Candrian can’t do better, despite another nice 7. The always stylish Kjersti Buaas doesn’t find her pace on this first run and bail a massive 5 attempt. Finland’s and former TTR winner Enni Rukajarvi also falls down on the kicker. Spencer O’Brien has a solid chance today and shows it on her back 5 and back 5, but gets a bit of a drag on her middle back 7. Sarka Pancochova obviously wants to step up and do her maximum on the kickers, but can’t hold on to land her (big) back 7. Shame, the Cab under flip was super nice. And… Jamie Anderson’s status doesn’t make her shake: super steely on the first rail sets, including a sick 270 gat to board, she then show she’s not the champion in title for nothing: Front 7, Back 5 and Switch Back 5. But those rails man! Or woman, more like… Surprise, the judges allows an (only) 85 points to the American, leaving Norendal in first place. O’Brien third at the end of round 1.

Silje is back en course and puts down another remarkable effort, both on rails and kickers. Switch on the top rails, then two 5s very cleanly landed, and then comes that Rodeo front 7 we were expecting. The judges obviously too: she’s improving with a podium like 93 points! It’s far from being over yet but the Norwegian can’t hold her tears of joy with mum at the bottom of the course.

Candrian feels it’s the moment to throw her biggest tricks and goes for a 10 on the second kicker! But doesn’t hold on to it. Shame, it was ballsy if we can say so. Kjersti doesn’t follow the same path and stays on the 5s, two of them, massively above the rest, at least by size. But then falls on the last kicker.

A very clean second run from Enni gives her 80 points from the judge, but Spencer bails on the second kicker going for a 7. Shames, the rails were stylish…
Same deal for Anderson on her second attempt. Will she able to fight Silje’s supergeil run? Nothing is less certain, Jamie is maybe not on her best days, but still shows a big smile at the bottom of the course. That Cab 7 attempt didn’t go well. End of round 2: Silje leads with 93, then come Anderson and Enni.

Final run for these X Games in Tignes, and Silje will have to wait until the end to know her fate, although her position is pretty enviable. Aimee Fuller kept her double backflip for the final run, but no grab, and a hand drag. 73 points, 5th position. And Silje’s on. Nervosity again? She falls down quite hard catching her back edge on the rail. Now she can just sit down and watch what’s going to happen.

Sina has got this 9 in her sleeve, but unfortunately doesn’t land it. That’s one more contender out for Silje. Kjersti end up the day with a clean run but not that tech on the rails maybe – four 50/50s with one front 3 out. Although, the judges got impressed with the size of her 5s and her front 7. Enni, Sarka and Spencer can’t keep it clean on the main kicker. it’s then only down to Jamie now, dancing in the start box, that can move the podium around. Off she goes with the steely gap 270, and a beautiful Front 7 tail, into a 5 and then looses a bit of speed to get out of the third kicker properly, and land short, even though she can ride away with obviously well-trained legs.

So that was it. Silje Norendal takes her first win, Jamie Anderson get the Silver this time, and Kjersti Buass Bronze.

It was a pretty sweet ending to these Euro X Games 2013, but there’s still the party tonight for all the athletes to keep the goodtimes rolling.

Don’t miss Sami’s gallery and the video highlights to come soon both for men and women slopestyle!

For the opening night here in Tignes, Men’s Superpipe qualifications and Women’s Superpipe Final was on the program. Here’s what went down.

The 8 female pipe riders ended up the action night in style on the perfectly shape half tube. Kelly Clark took the early lead with a clean and technical run noted 87.66 that included a first hit 10 linked with a massive 7 and a Front Rodeo. Definately a run above the rest, already on the first of her 3 runs… Just in front of the young Arielle Gold (only 16) who obviously wasn’t too impressed to be here, and landed her run perfectly with two 9s and two 5s, and 83 points.

Before the last of their 3 runs, the standings were as follow: Clark, Gold, Teter, Bleiler, Hight, Schaffrick, Farrington, Hollingsworth. First of the leading girls to drop in, Hannah Teter sends of a marvelous 9 on her first hit… Before landing flat and losing all her speed half way down. She won’t improve. Then it’s Bleiler; she bails her last hit and doesn’t improve either. Same story for Arielle, but she can be proud of herself.

We could feel it coming as the last possible contender for the podium drops in for the last time: Elena Hight. Despite a real good effort – back-to-back 7s and 9s – that sends her at the second place. Sealed! Kelly says hello to the crowd with huge straight airs all the way, and cash a meaty $30.000 check.

Women’s Superpipe final standings:

1. Kelly Clark  87.66
2. Elena Hight 85.00
3. Arielle Gold 83.00
4. Hannah Teter 80.66
5. Gretchen Bleiler 64.33
6. Maddy Schaffrick 60.33
7. Kaitlyn Farrington 59.66
8. Ellery Hollingsworth 55.00

On the men’s side, the elimination round went down just before the women’s final, and no big surprised happened to the favorites, except maybe for Markus Malin who took an early way out. Iouri Podladtchikov was also pretty close to the exit before pulling the 3rd best run of the night including a Crippler Nose, back 9 and Cab double. Vito was leading the bunch from the start with a realy impressive run including a Crippler Dub. The local crowd will be supporting a Frenchie in final, Arthur Longo, who was clean and high all the way, even on his double. On an overall impression, we didn’t see any breathtaking run but hey, it was qualis, right? And the crowd loved it, tomorrow will be a great show for sure.

So here are the riders qualified for the Superpipe final tomorrow (Thursday) at 6.pm CET.

1. Louie Vito

2. Scotty Lago

3. Iouri Podladtchikov

4. Christian Haller

5. Luke Mitrani

6. Arthur Longo

7. Peetu Piiroinen

8. Benji Farrow

The rest of the program:

Thursday, 21st March 2013

- 10:30 am – noon: Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle eliminations
- 1:00 – 2:15 pm: Men’s Ski Slopestyle final

- 3:00 pm: Women’s Ski Slopestyle final

- 6:30 – 7:45 pm: Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe final
- 8:30 – 10 pm: Men’s Ski Ski SuperPipe eliminations

Friday, 22nd March 2013

- 10:30 am – noon: Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle final
- 1:00 – 2:15 pm: Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle final
- 6:30 – 7:45: Men’s Ski SuperPipe final
- 8:30 – 9:45 pm: Women’s Ski SuperPipe final

Stay tuned! And once again, if you’re at the event, don’t hesitate to use the Hashtag #xgamesnow on everything related to the X Games in Tignes! Our Top 10 Grams and Tweets daily win Onboard subs and overall favorite wins a bag of swag including a snowboard!

The next edition of World Championships of Snowboarding will be hosted by Yabuli, China in February 2016.

Everything went quite smoothly in Oslo last year at the World Snowboarding Championships, except for the lack of ambulances. So the next logical step is to move the February 2016 edition of the event 8000 miles around the world, up by Mongolia. In a resort none of us have ever ridden in or heard of. But they probably have an all you can eat buffet there so why the heck not. And they’re throwing in a Big Air event for our viewing pleasure too, so everyone’s winning. The decision to move away from less obscure venues is clearly “a major step forward in our ambition to establish the World Championships of Snowboarding as the world´s most respected snowboarding contest”, just as Reto Lamm says. Obvious, really.

For the uninitiated amongst you, Yabuli is away up the north of China in Heilongjiang. You know, the place famous for China’s best fumigated raw dog and salmon soup. Round the corner from Mundanjiang. Just up the road from Harbin, the place where snowman building contests have been way out of hand since the mid nineties.

World Snowboard Federation president Marco Sampaoli reckons “every rider coming from all around the world to China’s northeast will undoubtedly have a memorable experience” and you’ve got to assume he’ll be right. I mean, almost everything you own that is cool, tacky, or just plain bizarre was made by a small child in china. The Beijing Olympics were a hoot. Let’s send some snowboarders over there, have a bowl or two of dog soup served by a waiter talking a language we can’t decipher, add a dollop of dubstep, gopro every move they make and you’ve got a guaranteed viral jackpot in the making. Both FIFA and the International Olympic Committee are allowed to turn a blind eye to the questionable politics of their host nations, so why should the WST stand for anything different. And hey, I’ll be snuggled up with my mactop watching from somewhere warm in the heart of the Alps, so what do I care which corner of the internet the highlights are streaming from, as long as 14 year olds are trippling off massive piles of snow and there are some flashy lights?

Dylan Norder. Photo: Rob Esser

There have been a bunch more entries for Blue Tomato’s Best Urban Shot shooting contest, so without further ado here’s some of the better efforts.

As we announced a while back, this photo and video contest offers photographers and riders the chance to snag a slice of the €3000 prize purse along with a bunch of other swag for shooting epic, creative urban shredding. You can read all the specifics about what you need to do and how you need to do it in our earlier post, but in brief you need to register for the contest by emailing besturbanshot@blue-tomato.com, get your stickers and logos, head out and bag the bangers, then fire your masterpiece to besturbanshot@blue-tomato.com. Deadline for entries is Feb 28 2013 so there’s still time to get involved and have a chance to win the goods. Here’s an idea of what people have been submitting so far… You can also check some of the earlier entries HERE.

Jonas Marent. Photo: Marc Obrist.

Rene Pressing. Photo: Markus Lepenat

Daniel Welte. Photo: Marc Obrist

Anne Eaton

Avoriaz – French Fries Rookie Fest – Results
Slopestyle TTR – 9 & 10 Février 2013

Second edition of French Fries Rookie Fest, the French stop of the World Rookie Tour. 72 young snowboarders from all over Europe competed all weekend to get their qualification for the final of the World Rookie Tour in Austria … The Rookie World Snowboard Championships organized by the World Snowboard Tour and the World Snowboard Federation.

Saturday Rookies contest (15, 16 and 17 years old) on the Arare snowpark perfectly shaped. The winner went to Norwegian Marius Bakken, second the Swiss Jonas Bösiger and third the Swedish Anthon Bosh. The first French finished 5th, Matteo Cuny from La Clusaz. The best trick for the Swiss Lou Staub with a double back flip, he won the “guettho blaster» Pioneer!
Girls, big up to the French first and second with Lucile Lefevre and Agathe Le Cornec and third Nathalie Silkstone from England.

Sunday, a new spot for the Groms contest (14 years maximum) Chapel snowpark, once again perfect snowpark, big up to all the shaper team. The first one the Belgian Steff Vandeweyer, who wins the ” most stylish trick Arnette” with a 360 nose bong over the H, second an another Belgian Flor De Laat and third the French Sacha Moretti, who also won the «guettho blaster» Pioneer with a “Cab under flip” as best trick of the day. The youngest snowboarder of the event, Loic Deschaux, 8 years old! Qualified for the final …
Always honored French girl, Chloe Sillieres finished first, second Thalie Larochaix and Ayla Thidling third from England.

The first three in each category (Rookie girls and boys, Grom boys and girls) are qualified for the Volkl World Rookie Finals – Ischgl, Austria – 3.7 April 2013 – 3*TTR.

See you next year for the third edition of French Fries Rookie Fest ….

All the results here.

Online photos on Facebook.
Credit photos Jim Tabernet

Officiel website of My Snowboarding.

In the resort of Les Diablerets from December 8th to December 15th, three snowboard teams will be challenged in The Overall presented by Von Zipper and Demonium.

Fueled by Monster Energy Drinks, in collaboration with Onboard and Mpora, the riders will have to go through a list of missions requiring different skills then just snowboarding. But if we’d tell you more about it right now, we would have to kill you…
Valérian Ducourtil, Aymeric Tonin, Laurent Duhalde, and Allessandro Boyens will be representing VonZipper.
Tyler Chorlton, Wojtek Pawlusiak, and David Bertschinger Karg will be holding it down for Nixon.
Fred Couderc, Micke Stahlberg, Kuba Dytkowski, and Stepan Rokos will be keeping it real for Advita.

One week, three teams, and a ton of snow will be the ingredients for The Overall.

Soon, you will be able to enjoy a video serie with the best moments from The Overall. It’s coming in January on Mpora.com.

And for now, let the games begin…

R: Roli Scharmer, all photos: Roland Haschka

QParks Snowboard Tour vs. Santa Clause – who has the better gifts? Two days before Christmas, on December 22 nd 2012, the QParks Snowboard Tour celebrates its season kickoff at the Superpark Planai and has tons of cash and goodies to give away! “Let’s go BIG!” is once again the motto for all snowboarders at the Blue Tomato Plan P!

The QParks Snowboard Tour is an international Freestyle Tour for snowboarders, once again making a stop at the Superpark Planai this year. Park designer Andi Röck will be creating an innovative slopestyle setup which will make sure that the riders get what they came for, so all participants can look forward to a sweet mix of kickers and rail elements. Starting categories will be Rookies, Ladies and Men. To make sure that all contestants are perfectly prepared for their runs, Blue Tomato will provide a “Breakfast for Champions” on the mountain.

R: Viktor Szigeti

WHAT’S IN THE POT?

Next to a big prize money of EUR 1.500,- there’ll be vouchers and goodies from Blue Tomato and O’Neill in the pot. Additionally, the best snowboard man (who is still without eyewear sponsor) will be awarded with an awesome adidas eyewear sponsorship, including adidas ID 2 and adidas originals sunglasses. Moreover, the “Best Trick” winner will be rewarded with EUR 100,- in cash and brand-new POW gloves. For all snowboarders, the Blue Tomato Plan P also means collecting precious TTR points since it is a TTR 2* event! But that’s not all: The winner in the category snowboard men automatically qualifies for the finals of the O’Neill Pleasure Jam 2013. The official victory ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. at the Blue Tomato Shop in Schladming, where we’ll also have hot punch, cookies and sound!

AFTERPARTY

To make sure that the party folks also get their money’s worth after all the action on the mountain, the Friends Bar in downtown Schladming will open its doors at 9 p.m. to celebrate the heroes of the Blue Tomato Plan P! Moreover, each contestant will get a free drink! Look forward to a sweet slopestyle contest with stoked riders and an entertainment program that seeks its equal.

An unknown soul

HOTTEST SHOT & RIDERS VOTING – Win 2 weeks at the Balicamp

You want to spend your summer surfing in Bali? Well, at the QParks Snowboard Tour, you’ll get a double chance of winning a once in a lifetime surf trip to the Balicamp, including board and lodging, surf coaching and board rental! The first one will be at the “Riders Voting” at which we’re looking for the most popular rider of the QParks Snowboard Tour. Your second chance is the “Hottest Shot” contest, where all you have to do is take a pic of the contest and mail it to info@qparkstour.com. All information on the “Hottest Shot” and “Riders Voting” are available on the QParks Snowboard Tour Website.

Fun and friendship.

You are looking for a ride or you still have a free place in your car? Offer a ride at goshred.com, reduce your gas costs, protect our environment and make other shredders happy, cause you help them to be part of the QParks Snowboard Tour!

The registration is for free and is to be found online on the QParks Snowboard Tour Website! Here you’ll find the latest information on further stops as well as pics of the previous season and the QParks Snowboard Tour teaser! For further information check the Snowboard Facebook Fanpages – stay connected! 

The winter season is initiated and the Wir Schanzen also got the ball rolling. A lot has been going
on – there are new events, a good deal of price money and most diverse contest formats. On 24
November 2012 the starting shot is given at the Stubai Jam in the MOREBOARDS Stubai Zoo /
Stubai Glacier.

Call it a relaunch! The Wir Schanzen offers snowboarders an attractive platform to compete with like-
minded shred heads and showcase their skills to the public. In its ninth season the contest tour arrays
itself in a new outfit and emphasizes the features in the case of fresh ideas.

Stubai Jam means Slopestyle Jam Session
First innovation – with the Stubai Jam on Stubai Glacier the tour starts earlier than ever before into the
season on 24 November 2012. The TTR 2 star slopestyle contest is held in the most-loved jam session
format. On diverse jibs it gets right to the point but the main focus concentrates on the kicker line of the
Moreboards Stubai Zoo. Riders who snatch a podium finish can be glad about a lot of price money – there
is a total of 1.000 euros as well as further prices of Ride Snowboards to win.

Sajas Park Games, The 5ive Barbecue & Co.
For the slopestyle contest „Sajas Park Games“ the tour moves to the Nike Snowpark Montafon on 12
January 2013. In new terrain you find a versatile snowpark with long lines and diverse obstacles which
make hearts leap for joy. On 16 February 2013 „The 5ive Barbecue“ presents itself in a completely new
light – shred on a sick rail setup till all hours! One more surprise event with an individual format will be
announced in the next time.

Official junior tour
This year, the Wir Schanzen contests are held in the category snowboard as well as freeski for men,
women, rookies U15 (year 1998, 1999, 2000) and kids U12 (year 2001 and younger). A particular kids line
is shaped for the quite young riders at all events. With its goal to promote talent the Wir Schanzen is
supported by the Snowboard Federation Germany. In close cooperation a special kids day with coaching,
photo shooting and more is held each Sunday after an event. We care for the kids!

In the context of the tour there are 5.000 euros to win –not to forget quality material prices from the sponsors and
requested World Snowboard Tour ranking points – because after an one year break all tour stops are registered
as TTR 2 star events once again. Of course, in the well-known manner of Wir Schanzen contests the relaxed
atmosphere always comes first. The participation fee amounts to 10 euros and for another 10 euros you can buy
a lift ticket for a greatly reduced price. Registrations can only be made on the ground.

Overview tour dates 2012/2013:

November 24, 2012 „Stubai Jam“ (Stubaier glacier / Austria)
January 12, 2013
„Sajas Park Games“ (Silvretta Montafon/ Austria)
February 16, 2013
„The 5ive Barbecue“ (Nesselwang / Germany)
+++one more surprise event

Further information concerning the tour and the single contests (timetable, modus etc.) are published on
www.wirschanzen.de or www.facebook.com/wirschanzen. Keep updated!