Maxence Parrot & Kyle Mack in O’NEILL EVOLUTION 2013 – WATCH WINNING VIDEOS

Our minds were blown when these two groms put down to of the craziest tricks ever performed in competitive snowboarding. Now for the first time: The perpetual animated GIF versions of Maxence’s and Kyle’s tricks.

Halldor Helgason in McMorris Tops X Games 2013 Slopestyle Qualifiers

Mark McMorris might have come out on top of the X Games Slopestyle qualification, but Halldor got the fist of nuff respect from noneother than Shaun White. How he did not come in first we do not know.

You liked these? Check out our other animated GIFs!

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.

Maxence Parrot on his way to stomping the most perfect backside 144o triple cork ever seen. Photo: Burrows.

Maxence Parrot lands triple cork 1440 to win the 6-Star O’Neill Evolution in Davos.

Max Parrot putting down a back 12 dub in training. Photo: Burrows.

Mind. Blown. Yesterday we mentioned how the absence of a raft of big name kicker specialists could have affected the quality of this contest. Bullshit. The riding was monumental and not only did Parrot put down the most textbook triple cork 1440 we’ve ever seen (even having the nonchalance to afterbang the landing), 15-year-old Kyle Mack manned up after a brutal slam to land a front 14 triple off the toes.

Seb Toutant. Back 10 double. Photo: Burrows

But let’s rewind. Proceedings began with the girls’ Big Air which was taken out by 14-year-old Japanese sensation Miyabi Onitsuka, sending a huge front 3 before polishing off the rails with a lipslide and a front board.

Celia Miller. Photo: Burrows.

Next on the agenda was Gian Simmen’s Legends Session in the pipe – a gathering of Gian’s friends from his long career in pro shredding. With guys like Giom Morrissette, Pascal Imhof, Xaver Hoffmann, Michi Albin and more the session was full of huge straight airs, binding-creaking tweaks and a whole lot of style. For the ageing media scrum at least it was definitely a highlight of the event and served as a nice counterpoint to the stratospheric level of technical kicker riding that was to come as couple of hours later.

Gian Simmen bossing it in his Legends Session. Photo: Burrows.

Jan Scherrer, a Swiss kid who’s grown up being influenced by Gian Simmen, throws down in the Legend Session for the legions of Instagram addicts. Photo: Burrows.

Drew Stevenson pays respect to his good bud Gian. Photo: Burrows.

But as much as respecting the legends of snowboarding past is important, this game’s fundamentally about the kids pushing the limits at the apex of the sport and there’s no doubt that in the Big Air finals the level was pushed way the hell out there…

Emil Ulsletten’s front 10 doubles were rad, but on a night like tonight, not enough. Photo: Burrows

After his well-documented triple cork stomp in training we were expecting to see 18-year-old Maxence Parrot in the final and a flawless back 12 double later he’d netted the points he needed to ratchet up expectations of a triple-trading ender with teammate Seb Toutant. But, oh, drama! Clearly Kalle Järvilehto hadn’t read the script and his saurian-sized back 12 double and front board through the kink saw Toutant and his cab 12 dub heading for a early bath. Kyle Mack had impressed in the earlier rounds and the 15-year-old Yank upped his game to take the third spot in the final with clean back 10 doubles and a front double toedeo edging him past Antonio Trouchon, while Emil Ulsletten rounded out the final spot, dispatching Swissman Markus Mathis with a solid front 10 double after a particularly brutal slam.

Kalle Järvilehto came out of nowhere to blow minds. Photo: Burrows.

So, finals. Would we see a triple? O’Neill’s beamer was asking the same question on the side of the jump and it didn’t take long to answer. On his first run Parrot dropped, popped, dipped three times, spun round four times, and landed, albeit a tad sketchy. Everyone went nuts and some called it curtains for the rest. How could anyone match that? Turns out he could but they couldn’t – on his last run Parrot landed another triple but totally perfect, even managing to give his stomp some afterbang. Insane. It feels lame describing guys who can land perfect doubles as also-rans, but with the triple landed that’s essentially what Kalle and Emil became. Kyle Mack certainly came close, having a pop at the front 14 triple toedeo a la Jørn Simen Aabøe. He gave himself a proper beating but was undeterred, went backup and duly stomped it, causing the crowd to explode again. Maxence looked a little nervy waiting for Mack’s score to drop, but the judges rightly penalised his slightly scuffed landing and the 25k went to the Canadian.

Kalle was consistently making front boards through this kink look like the easiest thing in the world. Photo: Burrows.

All in all, despite many opting for a FISting in Quebec, this edition of the O’Neill Evolution is one that will certainly live long in the memory. If this is becoming the benchmark then the future will be frankly silly. Thanks for the goodtimes, O’Neill.

Not literally, that would be hideous. But Kyle is 15 and bangs out an array of tricks that will leave you slack jawed. As our German Ed commented: “Good god. He can ride everything…” And when it comes to parks it certainly seems he can, with a host of tech spins and doubling the hell out of booters and pipes mixed up with some smooth jibs too. Expect a Mack attack on the contest circuit over the next couple of years…

Ok, so technically these guys are just kids rather than midgets, but there’s no denying that they’re incredible. Watch this, and then retire.

Burton’s Youth team rips hard. Check out mini men Redman Gerard, Nik Baden, Darren Mack, Gabe Ferguson, Brock Crouch and Kyle Mack tearing the parks of the US a new one, with style beyond their years and the kind of double corking, multi-spinning technical ability that will make riders with facial hair weep.

Darren Mack is 9 years old and can pop a mean front 7. Watch this.

Darren, the latest in the line of unnervingly good riders from the Michigan-based Mack family (his “big” bro Kyle has garnered a fair bit of attention over the last few years, and he’s only 14…) and this Snow Porn edit from The B shows off his frankly ridiculously precocious skills. There’s some hurricane jibs, some man-sized booters and a whole heap of style. The kid’s on the Burton Smalls team already (check the whole crew ripping at Loon) so there’s a real good chance Darren’s gonna be groomed for bigger things. Check this.

Check out Gabe Ferguson (12), Darren Mack (10), Nik Baden (14), Max Jenson (13) and Kyle Mack (14) getting wicked in the park at Loon Mountain. Yes, they are that young.

If you want to read who did what and who won and who didn’t, head to the report of the Burton Europen Open Juniors division. But know this: Miyabi Onitsuka, Stian Kleivdal, Zoe Kalapos and Kyle Mack are names you should remember.

Seamu O'Conner Haakons into second place in the Junior boy's pipe. Photo: Lammerhirt.

After having blast-off delayed by a couple months from it’s regular launch time of the beginning of January, the Burton European Open has cleared the tower and the first results are in. The Juniors have been getting it done in the slopestyle and stunt ditch with Miyabi Onitsuka and Stian Kleivdal winning the Junior Slopestyle, and Zoe Kalapos and Kyle Mack the victorious grommets in the pipe…

The juniors slayed the new Slopestyle course, tackling the same features the adults will hit later on during the week. The new course features a Gap Straight Rail on top, followed by a Step Up Step DownCombo, two kickers and the MINI Creative Use of Space Obstacle at the end.

Stian Kleivdal

On the girls side it was tight between winner Miyabi Onitsuka and 2nd placed French rider Chloé Sillieres. The podium was completed by British rider Katie Ormerod in 3rd. Miyabi showed a sensational first run including a Cab 540 and a backside 360. This first run ended up to be her winning run; 0.63 points ahead of Chloé. “I am really happy,” Miyabi commented. “This is my first major win! I really liked the course and I am already looking forward to the US Open next week!” On the boys side the Norwegians dominated with Stian Kleivdal taking home the title with his 3rd and last run putting down a halfcab 5-0 on the rail, followed by frontside 540 and Cab 720 on the Step Up Step Down Combo, switch backside 900 and backside 720 on the kickers, finishing off with a frontside alley-oop 270 and a frontside 360. “I really liked the Slopestyle course today,” he said. “I am very happy about winning here, this is my very first international title. I am happy with my riding, even I didn’t manage to do all the tricks I wanted to do.”

Girls Slope podium

Junior Slopestyle Results Girls

1. Miyabi Onitsuka (JPN), Burton, 93.63
2. Chloé Sillieres (FRA), Roxy, 93.00
3. Katie Ormerod (UK), Roxy, 80.55

Boys Slope winners

Junior Slopestyle Results Boys

1. Stian Kleivdal (NOR), Billabong, 87.45
2. Fridtjof Tischendorf (NOR), Burton, 86.35
3. Kyle Mack (USA), Burton, 81.45

Kyle Mack

In the pipe yesterday, 51 groms under 14 years representing 14 countries were competing. Clearly dominating on the girls side was US rider Zoe Kalapos who impressed judges most with a frontside air, backside tailgrab, frontside 540, backside mute, frontside 360 Indy and finishing off with a Cab 360. Zoe said the following after herwin: “I am really happy to be here and to win today. Conditions weren’t easy with the fresh snow in the pipe, but I am very stoked!” In 2nd place Katie Ormerod (GBR) who claimed her 2nd podium spot within two days, followed by Swiss rider Ramona Petrig in 3rd.

On the boys side two riders were pushing the riding level clearly. In the end it was 14 year old Kyle Mack (USA) who took home the prestigious title and the top spot, claiming his 2nd podium spot whithin two days after his 3rd rank at the Junior Slopestyle event yesterday. Kyle’s winning run included a sensational frontside 1080 tail, a Haakon Flip 720, followed by a frontside 900 Indy and a backside 540 mute finishing off with a Crippler. Kyle had this to say: “It feels amazing! I’m really stoked! It’s a lot of fun being at the BEO and it was such a great day!” Seamus O’Connor (IRE) – also no stranger to the BEO as he competed here in LAAX several times already – end up 2nd followed by Stian Kleivdal (NOR), yesterday’s Slopestyle winner.

This was it for the youngest riders at the 13th Burton European Open.Once again lots of talent was witnessed. From today onwards the adults are taking over the BEO.

Girls Pipe podium

Junior Halfpipe Results Girls

1. Zoe Kalapos (USA), Rossignol, 87.00

2. Katie Ormerod (GBR), Roxy, 78.60

3. Ramona Petrig (SUI), Nitro, 76.00

Boys Pipe podium

Junior Halfpipe Results Boys

1. Kyle Mack (USA), Burton, 97.40

2. Seamus O’Connor (IRL), Nike, 95.80

3. Stian Kleivdal (NOR), Billabong, 89.20

Due to tough weather conditions, the organizers have re-scheduled the programme for the next two days:

Monday, 27th February, 2012: Men’s Slopestyle Qualification (pre-qualification now counts as qualification round with 30 riders moving directly into Semi-Finals)

Tuesday, 28th February, 2012: Men’s Halfpipe Pre-Qualification & Qualification & Women’s Halfpipe Qualification

If you can’t make it to LAAX, we’ll be bringing you our take on the action from Wednesday, and you can also watch the live webcast from Feb. 29th – March 3rd, 2012 on www.redbull.tv.

The Finns know: You need protection when fisting.

Maybe it was down to the SIA trade show in Denver that this week was a little less busy than most others. Which is not to say that there wasn’t enough awesomeness around to fill an entire day clicking yourself through these links and watching rad videos, reading cool interviews, and shaking your head at all the nonsense we found. Welcome to This Week in Snowboarding 5/2011!

SATURDAY

The SIA continued in Denver. Here are a few reports from day 2: Yobeat, TW Snow, Snowboarder Mag,The Angry Snowboarder. Torstein Horgmo lays down some sort of triple at the X Games Big Air. YKWII goes Northstar in this good edit. Yobeat’s rejected edits continue to be fun to watch.

SUNDAY

SIA goes into its third day: Yobeat, The Angry Snowboarder, Shayboarder all report from the trenches. Xavier De Le Rue gets some Euro lines in. The Runs Episode 9 shows some runs with the Griffin bros. TW Snow posts Sunday in the Park Episode 8. Mikkel Bang becomes a Frend. Kyle Mack is the next big thing. Oh, and a lot of things went down at the X Games, but we decided to post all of it on…

MONDAY

We create an extraordinarily popular X Games: All Winners, All Videos post. (and Yobeat missed them alltogether) The Helgasons release a teaser for Sexual Snowboarding, and Sandbox their Day and Age teaser. Xavier De Le Rue is out and about in Japan. Videograss release an early Shoot the Moon teaser. Heikki, Eero, Fredu and Markku ride rails in Helsinki. Nick Lipton explains why he didn’t go to SIA. MFM scores some pow. Play Dirty is a new French web thing from Salomon. Rüf, Longo and Sandbech are featured in an interesting Burn spot. Keep the Change go Elm Creek. And you have to ask yourself the question ‘If it’s not a Burton, why would I want it?‘

Noone has ever successfully ridden the Graff Er List Ledge.

TUESDAY

Mads Jonsson is an awesome guy who scores more pow than you and us combined. and Jesmond Dubeau’s full part from Hello World drops on TW Snow, and the same guys also post the Retrospect Bear Mountain montage. Club Boya have some double line fun, and Knaack & Co. have some fun wherever they are. Chas Guldemond shows the world how to do a back rodeo melon. The Critters ride Brighton. We have a lot of savage snowboard slams. Ethan Morgan pulls the smallest front 10, ever. Pleasure Mag travels to Svalbard in this clip. We pick the winners of our big-ass Artec design comp. Brandon Hobush and Johnny Castro slay some Bear feature. The second Hana Beaman P.S. webisode drops.

WEDNESDAY

The YES. crew hits the Kootenays. Jeremy Jones talks snow on ESPN’s site, Jenny Jones talks X Games on our site, and Chris Carr talks to Yobeat. Here’s the Mountain High Drive In #3. The Nike Stairset Battle went to Italy. TWSnow publish their SIA video gallery. The Nebelhorn resort gets its superpipe (link in German). Here’s some park riding extravaganza.

"Dude, quick! He's dropping in!" - "Uhm... whaaat?"

THURSDAY

We have the Working for the City teaser, and the Levitation Project team edit, and three Videograss Shoot the Moon clips (oh, and sometimes their filmers freak out). Alex Tank now rides for Clast, and it is looking good. Miikka Hast and Jonas Hagström go pow hunting. The Angry Snowboarder went trend hunting. And Torstein hates fans.

FRIDAY

The Air&Style Innsbruck is coming up, and here’s a jump check, and Jamie Nicholls warming up for it. Buoloco enter the fancy world of short web edits. For those who spent the past few years in detention ESPN explains what a Burton Stash park is. Another Canyons webisode appears here. Jamie Anderson, a lot of backlight, and some Argentina are to be seen here. Eddie Grams releases some kind of demo reel. Some crazy sumo riding goes down in Finland. And the Dope II teaser easily out-weirds Comune et al.

If you didn’t like these links you’re probably more inclined to be into wrestling. Now enjoy your weekend and see you next week!