This week GoPro brought together a bunch of their heavy hitting international team in Laax for 5 days of chilled out shred and afternoons spent nerding off learning the possibilites of the new Hero3 camera. Check the rad gallery of selfies and a lowdown of the haps…

Would I like to spend 5 days with GoPro riders Sage Kotsenburg, Eric Willett, Jamie Anderson, Iouri Podladtchikov, Ralph Backstrom, Elena High, Xavier de Le Rue and Hannah Teter while getting schooled on how to use the magical box of tricks that is GoPro’s Hero3? The fact that it was being held in Laax – right up there in my list of ‘Most Awesome Resorts In Europe’ – only hastened my reply in the affermative. Having said that, even if they’d held it on a dryslope in Bognor Regis the chance to hang with that crew of bosses and tinker with the GoPro would have been too hard to pass up.

Ralph Backstrom, still smelling of Champagne from his winning of the whole damned Freeride World Tour a couple days before, was already there by the time I rolled in, while the rest of the crew, who’d been crushing the Euro X Games, cruised into town on the 12-hour party bus a little later accompanied by a bunch of dudes who boast a knowledge of what those little black and silver boxes can do that borders on the extreme.

This was to become apparent the next morning when we met up for the first of many clinics on how to work the Hero3. Now, previously I’d pretty much only ever hit Go and Stop, so to get the lowdown on what that camera can actually do, and how to do it, was an eye-opener. Videographers I know have expressed bafflement at the amount of sheer tech they can cram in and the quality of the output the Hero3 produces, and we’ve all marvelled at the Hero3 promo video, but to truly get the most out of the camera you really need to learn the modes, the software, the different ways of mounting it and so on.

Reeling with a mind full of ’1440p for POV’, ’30 shots in 2 seconds’, ‘timelapse mode’, ’4K capability’, ’720p shoots at 120fps and can be slowed down to 1/4 speed’, it was interesting to see how into it all the riders were. Perhaps unsurprisingly, as it offers them the chance to provide a unique angle on their riding and to pump out a bunch of content without even needing to wait for the filmer to drag his ass out of bed. You had Iouri strapping himself into a back brace with a pole jutting out the side and grilling the tech dudes on what was possible and how to achieve shots he’d been dreaming up, Elena having a bizzarre extension grafted on to her helmet and Hannah being wowed by the app that connects using WiFi so you get a live view of what the camera sees.

Ordinarily such technically-focussed nerd-offs would have sent many to sleep, but the media specialists they brought in from the US were just a bunch of laid back shredders who managed to strike the right balance of information and bro down-ery so it never felt like being at school. Of course, it wasn’t just about the nerd room and when up on the hill the guys and girls cut loose as they filmed and shot themselves, follow-cammed each other, while us media types failed miserably at bagging anything more than a Finnish faceshot. The riders earn their coin for good reason and bagged a bunch of bangers lapping Laax’s epic freestyle setup – Eric and Sage even managed to pass the camera between them mid-air, which is so insane that when you doubtless see it in a GoPro ad you’ll probably think it’s faked, while Ralph and Xavier sent it off the booters before heading off for some steep action.

Undoubtedly the highlight was the last day when the weather really turned it on and we were able to stay on the hill late for a sunset session that will have produced a heap of sick footage, the crew all smiles and high fives reflecting on this few days of deserved wind-down after a hectic season of travelling, filming and contests.

Yes, I was fed well and they bought me a couple of drinks, and, no, I have not tried any of the competition, but the fact is that the GoPro is an incredible bit of kit that allows everyone – from these cats on the team to Peter Punter – to create a ton of super high quality photos and videos. Are there any faults? My camera froze up from time to time (to fix just take out the battery and put it back in again), the software, while very good, is not the most intuitive, to get the best result you need to learn the modes and the post-production software, and they’re not cheap – the Hero3 Black edition with the WiFi remote is in the region of €450 – but if you’re into shooting yourself or your homies shredding, surfing, skating or whatever, it’s an investment you won’t regret.

We’re trying to get an edit of the trip dialled, but in the meantime peep this one from the DC Finland team for an example of what this box of tricks can do..

The deadline for submissions to the Blue Tomato Best Urban Shot competition has now passed. These are the ones that caught our eye out of a pretty creative crop. Lots of crews out there getting after it, getting the shots to prove it. Cast your eye over the whole lot here – there’s 140 of them, which is your favourite?

BAUStrian Gigi Rüf takes the title at the second edition Red Bull Ultra Natural [previously called Super Natural - they had to switch the name for copyright reasons we heard] ahead of Nicolas Müller and wildcard Bryan Fox. Check the gallery of shots and a pretty sick course-prep video…

The second edition of Travis Rice’s backcountry freestyle competition of extraordinary magnitude went down on Baldface’s Scary Cherry run yesterday, with Gigi posting the highest score of the day to secure this pretty damn prestigious title. Basically the start list was a who’s who of next level backcountry freestyle and to run out as the winner here you need the winning mix of skill for days and spuds of steel. Gigi has both in spades.

Here’s a tasty course prep video that deals with the course setup. As for footage of the event proper you’ll have to wait. As last year, NBC has the rights to it and will drop the show on March 30th so hopefully after that we’ll be able to get our paws on some footy. However, as last year we’re sure some goodness will be leaked before. Stay tuned… 

RESULTS

1 - Gigi Ruef 
2 - Nicolas Mueller 
3 - Bryan Fox 
4 - Terje Håkonsen 
5 - David Carrier Porcheron 
6 - Mark McMorris 
7 - Eero Niemela 
8 - Pat Moore 
9 - Lucas Debari 
10 - Travis Rice 
11 - Jussi Oksanen 
12 - Bode Merrill 
13 - Jake Blauvelt 
14 - Wolfgang Nyvelt 
15 - Torstein Horgmo 
16 - Mikey Rencz

Apart from a crew of amazing snowboarders and a good handful of filmers, the Onboard Send Off Sessions at Kitzsteinhorn were also a perfect opportunity for photographers to hone their skills at park shoots. Some of the best shots can be admired in our current print issue, but our ed-in-chief/photographer Danny Burrows opened his archive and picked some of his favourite shots for an online gallery. Let us know what you think of his photography, as he is constantly battling with low self-esteem.

Now click on the full-screen symbol in the top right corner of the gallery and enjoy shots of Markus Keller, Levi Luggen, Sami Luhtanen, Peter König, Mario Kaeppeli, Werni Stock, Ville Uotila, Luka Jeromel, and Gerome Mathieu!

Check out this gallery of some of the shots our humble editorial iPhone has snapped over this past winter, and follow us on Instagram (@onboardmag) for more of the same.

We couldn’t help but notice that Instagram was bought the other day for the princely sum of $1 billion virtual Facebook credits (or something), and once we’d finished wondering how something that makes no money could be worth so much it reminded us that we’d been meaning to share some of the shots we, ourselves, have been firing out through the photosharing social network.

‘Gramming’ has swiftly become the new buzzword of riders and media alike this winter, so make sure you follow us (@onboardmag) as we’ll be posting a bunch more on-the-ground shots as well as classic archive photos from here on in.

Our Ed in Chief has just returned from the World Snowboarding Championships in Oslo and, in addition to a crippling level of personal debt incurred at the watering holes and eateries of the Norwegian capital, he returned with some bangers of the action. Check them…

All photos: Danny Burrows.

Torgeir Bergrem soared a picture perfect Method over Innsbruck's skies that stoked the hell out of us Onboard hacks. Fist of nuff respect. All photos: Sami Tuoriniemi.

[CHECK THE BILLABONG AIR&STYLE 2012 VIDEOS WHEN YOU'RE DONE HERE]

Despite a stellar showing from rookies and big name pros alike on the Baltic, bulletproof Bergisel scaffold wedge, Peetu Piiroinen’s phenomenal consistency and ridiculously supersized hits saw him deservedly earn another Air&Style title last night. Check our Photo Ed’s Gallery of bang bangs first, and our report of how it went down which will follow below shortly…

The Friday night prior to the main event, amidst the Burn Rail Jam in downtown Innsbruck, the riders draw went down to decide who’d face off against who in the first round. This kind of head-to-head format has its advantages and disadvantages but despite the fact that there’s the potential for two big guns to meet early doors, its ease of understanding for the masses makes it an obvious choice for such a stadium event. When the names had come out of the tombola, this is how the first round panned out:

Seb Toutant v 4th Place Qualifier
Ståle Sandbech v 3rd Place Qualifier
Werni Stock v 2nd Place Qualifier
Nils Arvidsson v 1st Place Qualifier
Seppe Smits v Yuki Kadono
Ulrik Badertscher v Eero Ettala
Eric Willett v Roope Tonteri
Ethan Morgan v Peetu Piiroinen

The qualifiers kicked off on Saturday arvo with the dudes battling it out for the 4 spots that would get them into the main event and a chance to prolong their session on what Marko Grilc described as “the best the kicker’s ever been here.” Although it was bitterly cold and the landing must have resembled an ice rink, the guys chucked themselves for all their worth with Pat Burgener’s textbook switch backside 10 grabbed almost to the landing putting him through first, ahead of Niklas Matsson’s smooth front 10 dub, Torgeir Bergrem’s rapid Cab 12 and Petja Piiroinen’s properly doubled back 10.

Onto the main event and it was shaping nicely. The rookies from the qualis had their work cut out for them, certainly, but a couple of them defied expectations and dispatched their invited counterparts: Burgener’s flawless switch back 10 made short work of Nils Arvidsson’s iffy landings while Matsson’s clean landings made short work of Werni Stock‘s malfunctioning stomping legs.

There were no other major surprises in round 1 as veteran competitors Seb Toutant, Seppe Smits, Eric Willett and Peetu Piiroinen sent their invited opponents for early baths, the one eyebrow that was raised was when Ulrik Badertscher easily hopped over Eero Ettala‘s challenge by putting down a back 12 that Ettala could not match.

Much like the Champions League, it’s when the field gets narrower that things really get interesting and you can see who’s got the proper minerals. The draw had Toutant v Sandbech, Burgener v Smits, Matsson v Badertscher and Willett v Piiroinen in the Semi-off. Interesting times.

Toots has the front 10 dub pretty much on lock so Ståle needed to be on top of his game to progress, but it seemed he was having some issues as he’d let go the grab fairly early on his back 12 despite Toutant appearing to try to kill himself by riding the last bit of the kicker on his ass, somehow managing to control his flailing backflip to knuckle on his butt. His dub and regulation back 10 were enough though. Burgener was riding super well, but Seppe is a full-on machine so it was no surprise that he was sat in the lead with one hit to go. Pat knew he had to pull something special so went for… a back 14 triple cork. Sadly he overcooked it and took a tumble but in any conditions, let alone those in Innsbruck, that’s worth some full-on props. Matsson had been locking front 10 doubles like there’s no tomorrow from the qualifiers so when Badertscher couldn’t prevent a revert on the famed Ulrik flip it was the rookie who went through, and though Willett was stomping some techness Peetu Piiroinen was going bigger than everyone else while mixing between back 12s and Cab 12s. When Peetu’s on this kind of form it was always going to be bye bye Eric.

So, the finals rolled around with what you could call the usual suspects Seb Toutant, Peetu Piiroinen and Seppe Smits being joined by the new Rick Kane, Nicklas Matsson. And interesting side story was developing at the time, too. With Willett out Seppe could take the TTR Tour Big Air title depending on how he faired. Business time.

It was clear that with the monster consistency that Peetu’d shown all event that it would take something special to deny him and after 2 runs he was sat in first. Smits’ final cab 12 wasn’t as clean as he’d have liked, Matsson didn’t seem to have more than his front 10 double in his bag, so it was down to Seb Toutant on the last run of the contest to unset the Finn. He knew he had to send it, and send it he did with a back 14 triple cork attempt, the second of the night, but despite the unreal commitment it must have taken to dip his head for the third time all he got was an ass spanking and 4th place.

So Peetu won, Seppe took second and the TTR Big Air title, Matsson 3rd and Toots 4th. In the bulletproof conditions the riders were facing it was one hell of a performance. And one hell of a party at the Burn gig later it must be said.

RESULTS

It basically all started two or three years back when I heard they were going to stop producing Polaroid films… At that time I was not really familiar with the process and decided to jump straight in this “world” before everything was gone for real. I started doing some research about how to use fi lms, play with the chemical process, use different cameras and polaroid film formats and so on, and without expecting much i found a crazy community with a serious motivation and goal to keep Polaroid fi lm alive. After shooting a lot with the 600 film family (the classic ones with the white frame all around) I have moved quickly to 100 fi lms (rectangular and a bit bigger) and discovered many, many ways and techniques to play around with images. Here are a small collection of those from the past two winters…

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: Rémi Lamazouère
trICK: Frontside 360
LOCatION: Bonneval-Sur-Arc, France

Photo: Matt Georges

 LOCatION: Cervinia, Italy

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: Elias Elhardt
trICK: Cab 720
LOCatION: Bonneval-Sur-Arc, France

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: Anne-Flore Marxer
LOCatION: Méribel, France

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: Rémi Lamazouère
trICK: Method
LOCatION: Valcenis-Vanoise, France

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: Romain De Marchi and Gigi Rüf
LOCatION: Cervinia, Italy

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: Gigi Rüf
LOCatION: Cervinia, Italy

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: Tadashi Fuse
LOCatION: Hokkaido, Japan

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: René Schnöller
trICK: Handplant
LOCatION: Montgenèvre, France

Photo: Matt Georges

LOCatION: La Thuile, Italy

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: Romain De Marchi
trICK: Backside 720
LOCatION: Hokkaido, Japan

Photo: Matt Georges

rIder: Brynild Vulin
LOCatION: Valcenis-Vanoise, France

Photo: Matt Georges

LOCatION: Belledone Chains, Grenoble, France

Rider: Valerian Ducourtil
Trick: Switch backside 540
Location: Bessans, France
Photographer: Matt Georges

Rider: DCP
Trick: Cab 180
Location: Stevens Pass, WA
Photographer: Cole Barash

Rider: Aymeric Tonin
Trick: Switch nosepress 180 out
Location: Thonon les Bains, France
Photographer: Matt Georges

Rider: Shin Camps
Trick: Indy drop
Location: Chatter Creek, BC
Photographer: Cole Barash

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