You’ll no doubt have peeped the shots and read our blow-by-blow account of the madness at Saturday night’s O’Neill Evolution Big Air, but as they say: if it ain’t on video it didn’t happen. It is; it did. Watch Maxence Parrot’s winning backside triple cork 1440, Kyle Mack’s frontside triple 14, and the front double 10 of Emil Ulsletten. Oof.

[Check the highlights of last season's pow-filled finals.]

The countdown is ON and the O’Neill Evolution 2013 is ready for blast off as the world’s best male and female riders prepare to head to the Jakobshorn in Davos, Switzerland from January 14-19, 2013.

This progression-fueled, maximum rated World Snowboard Tour contest has been pushed back a dozen days in the contest calendar to guarantee even better snow conditions, and an even bigger kicker and obstacles. And that’s music to the ears of the 15,000 spectators expected to attend the event.

Last year’s O’Neill Evolution winner, Mark McMorris.

The 6-star Big Air event will see the return of Seb Toots among dozens of other leading riders. As a former O’Neill Evolution Big Air Champion, Toots knows what it takes to win in Davos, and will be looking to recapture the crown he lost last year. But with world-class talent peppering the field, including the likes of compatriot Antoine Truchon, it won’t be an easy ride to the podium. And as the only Big Air event on tour with open qualifications, who’s to say the O’Neill Evolution won’t shine a spotlight on the next big name in snowboarding? Although chances are our next champion will have to have triple corks on lock.

The O’Neill Evolution will also bring the city to the slopes with a heavily street-inspired rail set up located at the foot of the men’s and women’s Big Air course. Taking inspiration from the world of street skating, the set up of rails and transfers offers up tons of possibilities, and will no doubt feed and test the imagination of every rider present.

Seb Toutant on the end section.

The 5-star men’s and women’s Halfpipe contests will be back after last year’s hiatus due to challenging snow conditions, and you can be sure Davos will continue its long-standing tradition of showcasing some of the best pipe riding in Europe.

So with everything primed to go off, it’s anyone’s guess who will claim the lion’s share of the $125,000 total prize money and ranking points available.

The new site is up and running, so keep checking back for more details in the coming weeks. And while you’re there, watch last year’s highlight clip to remind yourself why this is one contest you can’t afford to miss. For those of you that can’t make it to Davos in person, rest easy – we’ll have live web and TV broadcasts streaming the goods into lounges across the globe.

www.oneill.com/evolution

As some of our more avid readers will know, I – in my capacity as the German editor of our magazine – attended the O’Neill Evolution in Davos over the last week (here are the highlights). And even more of you will know that even the locals could not remember that much snow falling in such a short time. Of course, nobody believed my descriptions of epic powder, until I found this clip of Belgian snowboarder, professional filmer, and overall badass David Doom.

Yes, it was that good.

Heavy snow arrived as forecast this morning at the TTR 6 Star O’Neill Evolution Big Air and Rail event in Davos, coinciding with the first round of Men’s Qualification. All three Round 1 Qualification Heats were completed, cutting the Men’s field from 75 to 30 riders who move on to the second round. At times, the fresh snow created speed issues, but did little to dampen the level as British rider, Billy Morgan, put down the score of the day with a double backside rodeo to gapped cab 270 on the kinked rail.

It’s hard to describe the atmosphere here in Davos for the O’Neill Evolution. It’s even harder to imagine how hard it is snowing. A testament to an immense effort from the organizers, shapers, event staff and above all, the riders, the first round of qualifications were completed on schedule. It was a surreal experience to see the look of concentration on competitors’ faces as they focused on their heat, soon replaced by a look of elation as they arrived back at the contest site after a powder run.

The Night Final event lights were illuminated from the start of the first 09:00 training session and remained switched on all day to assist visibility. Before the snowfall intensified, the overnight fine-tuning of the main kicker was tested with broad approval from riders, before speed became an issue resulting in the optional line to rail set up favoured by the contestants.

Lucas Baume at the O'Neill Evolution 2012 Davos

In a two-run, best run counts format, the top 10 riders from each heat made it through to Round 2 of Men’s Qualification. Some of the runs of the day as scored by the judges included:

Heat 1:
Sven Thorgren(SWE)- Backside Double Cork 1080 to gapped stalefish to nose press
Jamie Nicholls(GBR) -Backside 540 crail to gapped Cab 270 to frontside boardslide
EthanMorgan(GER) -Frontside 720 tailgrab to frontside tailslide on the down rail

Heat 2:
Markus Mathis(SUI)- Backside Double Cork 1080 mute to frontside tail slide torevert on the wall
Petja Piiroinen(FIN)- Backside Double Cork 1080 mute to frontside 50-50 on the wall.
Emil Ulsletten(NOR)- Frontside 1080 melon to frontside tail blunt to 270 out on the down rail

Heat 3:
Billy Morgan(GBR) – Double Backside Rodeo to gap cab 270 on the kinked rail
Ville Uotila(FIN) -Frontside 1080 Mute to gapped backside lip slide
Rocco Van Straten(NDL) -Backside Double Cork 1080 to frontside boardslide on the down rail

With the Women’s night training session now underway, the O’Neill Evolution returns tomorrow morning with Round 2 Men’s Qualification, Women’s Qualification, and Men’s Semi-Final scheduled to commence at 18:00. More snow is in the forecast.

For today’s results, schedule changes, videos and updates check: http://www.oneill.com/evolution/

LIVE WEBCAST oneill.com/live EVENT ON

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Sadly the pipe side of this shindig in Davos shortly after New Years has had to be cancelled due to a lack of snow required to construct a superpipe, but the good news is all the attention will be focussed on a banging Big Air contest with a host of the planet’s finest shreds who’ll rock up to throw down hammers. Get the info…

The O’Neill Evolution 2012 is gearing up to welcome the world’s best freestyle snowboarders back to the Jakobshorn in Davos, Switzerland from January 2-7, 2012. Though the pipe’s been scrubbed, the Big Air could get tasty as the riders list is looking pretty darned heavy: Seb Toutant, Germund Bråten and Peetu Piiroinen are but three of the dudes who”ll be doing battle to nab a slice of the 125K US dollar prize pot.

It’s clear O’Neill are looking for something special from the event’s latest incarnation, as the PR honks of “a kicker spanning 24 meters in length – the biggest Davos has ever seen, and one that has been specifically designed to allow riders to attempt triple corks,” followed by a selection of jib features for the riders to show off their versatility.

So if you’re around Davos between January 2 and 7 2012 then swing by and have a gander. And if you’re unable to make it to Davos to watch all the action in person, you can tune into the live webcasts and live TV broadcasts during the business end of the contest by pointing your web browser here: oneill.com/live

Watch Fredrik Austbo and Scott Moline bring the funtimes to a flatlight day in Davos.

Don’t be fooled. Snowboarding’s not all about quad cork triple salkos under bluebird skies with deep powder landings. Oh no, sometimes the weather’s shitty, there’s only a small park… but there’s always fun to be had when you’re on the hill, strapped in with buddies. Norwegian stylemaster Fredrik Austbo and homie Scott Moline get radical on a flatlight day in Davos and make us want to go snowboarding, like NOW!

We were somewhat surprised that Haller pipped I-Pod with that run, but it seems he only got 3 hits in so maybe he fully sent it and that was what touched the judges’ special places. All in all, though, that new SLS live scoring system is pretty killer with the flow scoring, graphical breakdown and whatnot.

TTR: O

And as if that wasn’t enough awesome our filmer collared young O’Neill up-and-comer Eric Willet, suckered a GoPro to his helmet, and sent him off to slay the slopestyle. Check it below. Radness…

MPORA Action Sports >>

[If you're sat twiddling your thumbs in between the action, make sure you check the top 3 runs from the men's pipe (with bonus Eric Willet slopestyle POV) and our footage of Seb Toutant totally slaying the slopestyle practice.]

This week is all about the TTR 6Star O’Neill Evolution contest in Davos/Switzerland. On Friday and Saturday you can watch the men’s HP and SS finals on yours truly Onboard website. To be more exact, here’s the timetable for the live webcast (all times CET):

Friday, 07 January 2011 – Halfpipe Finals
14:30 – 15:30 Halfpipe Men Final

Saturday, 08 January 2011 – Slopestyle Finals
20:30 – 21:30 Slopestyle Men Final

The Evolution will host some epic riding in the TTR 6 star men’s and women’s Halfpipe and Slopestyle contests from January 2-8 2011.

Some of the finest shred talent on the planet will descend on Davos to up the ante and throw down in the halfpipe and slopestyle sitting at the base of the Jakobshorn. It’s one of the funnest events on the calendar and the riders are pumped already…

“I can’t wait to see the setup this year,” says Canadian snowboarding star Seb Toutant who missed the competition last year with a serious ankle injury. “O’Neill Evolution is gonna be a great contest like always,” he said. “It’s in a really cool place in Switzerland and always such an amazing setup.”

The 6 star Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour event is once again pushing new boundaries. The event for 2011 now holds a 6 star TTR rating for both the women’s Slopestyle as well as the Halfpipe. And this year also sees the 6 star rating for men extended to the 2-hit Slopestyle course for the first time.

“I’m even more excited than the years before,” said Seb – known for his slopestyle skills. “The 6 stars on the Slopestyle make the event even more important for the riders, and it’s good for TTR points.”

The Halfpipe finals will take place on Friday January 7th as 10 riders hit the 6 metre high, 130 metre long and 20 metre wide pipe which sits impressively at the base of the Jakobshorn.

Saturday 8th sees a day of Slopestyle finals that will run into a floodlit night finale as the riders try to bag the title and stoke out the crowd.

“We always want to bring something new and exciting to this event,” said O’Neill Global Event Director, Bernhard Ritzer. “It’s called Evolution after all,” he said. “This year we’re changing the Slopestyle radically following feedback from the riders for less but more challenging features, and a mix of day and night riding will bring variation and challenges for the riders.”

They’ll also be adopting the progressive new judging criteria offered by the Snowboard Live Scoring System (SLS), which allows riders and spectators to see how judges give points by scoring each trick individually in a rider’s run and adding a flow score for the overall impression of the run.

With the top ten Swatch TTR World Tour men invited and the top eight women, this is gonna be one you want to watch. Already confirmed for O’Neill Evolution 2011 are Seb Toots, Janne Korpi, Gian Simmen, Kjersti Buaas, Sharka Pancchova, Chanelle Sladics, Kelly Clark and Nadja Purtschert with more names to follow in the coming weeks.

WATCH THE O’NEILL EVOLUTION LIVE at www.oneill.com/live

Follow the blogs of O’Neill team riders Fredrik Evensen and Nadja Purtschert during the O’Neill Evolution at www.oneill.com/evolution

SCHEDULE
Sun 02 Jan: Training
Mon 03 Jan: Training. HP Qualification women
Tues 04 Jan: Training. SS Qualification women
Wed 05 Jan: HP Qualification men. HP SEMI FINALS women
Thurs 06 Jan: SS Qualification men
Fri 07 Jan: Halfpipe FINALS.
Sat 08 Jan: Slopestyle FINALS