Seppe Smits, photo: Markus Deutinger

From March 28^th to 31^st, the Quiksilver Spring Battle celebrated its 10^th Anniversary at Absolut Park Flachauwinkl in Austria. For the very first 5Star TTR Event of the TTR World Snowboard Tour 2012/2013 some of the world´s best snowboarders travelled to Absolut Park Flachauwinkl to go for the heavy total prize purse of 50.000 US Dollar and up to 850 points for the TTR Big Air Tour Ranking 2012/2013. For the second time in a row, previous year´s winner Seppe Smits from Belgium took first place on the podium. Finnish rider Nuutti Niemelä became second before the American Eric Willett. Clemens Schattschneider was the best Austrian rider who made it up to the 5^th place.

Jan Necas

For ten years the Quiksilver Spring Battle has made a reputation as one of the most popular snowboarding events in Europe. An accomplished combination of the premium setup at the perfectly shaped Absolut Park with an innovative video judging system has been thrilling riders and spectators at this year´s 5 Star TTR Big Air snowboard competition. In the Qualification round on Thursday, all riders were showing off on the perfectly shaped 22 metre Big Air kicker, even if the weather conditions were getting worse due to strong winds. With the actual start list it was hardly surprising that double corks and 1260´s have been stomped even in the first round. The best ten competitors advanced to the subsequent Semi Finals. Together with ten invited riders out of the TTR Top 10 World Tour Ranking, they kept on pushing it to the limits, ignoring the upcoming storm in the Semis. The Finals were supposed to go down on Friday, 31^st of March but had to be in the true sense of the word blown off in last-minute. The ten best Semi Finalists were automatically nominated for the final Video Judging on Friday Night. They had the opportunity to pick their favorite run for the Video Juding, which was conducted on a video screen from different viewing angles.

Skate action. Photo: Markus Rohrbacher

International Podium and local Superstars in the top 10

Again, previous year´s winner Seppe Smits could not be beaten. Despite tough conditions due to strong winds, the Belgian convinced the judges and audience stomping a clean Cab 1260 Mute Grab over the Big Air kicker. Seppe won the Quiksilver Spring Battle for the second time in a row. Beside honour and glory, he took home 15.000 Euro prize money and 850 TTR points counting towards the 2012/2013 season. Nuutti Niemelä from Finnland was close on his heels and became second with the same trick, a Cab 1260 Mute Grab for which he was rewarded with 9.000 Euros. The American Eric Willett took 3rd place on the podium with his Frontside Doublecork 1080 Mute Grab, that brought him in 5.000 Euros of prize money. Finnish rider Ville Paumola missed the podium, but raked in 2.000 Euros for the 4^th place. Clemens Schattschneider was the best Austrian rider in the final round, reaching 5^th position. He took home 1.500 Euros as well as Markku Koski from Finland for his 6^th rank.

Another Austrian snowboarder, Michael Macho, became 7^th before Max Buri (SUI), Jan Necas (CZE) and Sven Thorgren SWE). They all got rewarded with 1.000 Euros each for their spot in the Top ten of the Quiksilver Spring Battle 2012.

After the prize giving, FM4/Texta DJ Dan took the tiller for the FM4 Club Aftershow-Party at  the ceremonial hall of Flachau. Riders and party people celebrated the 10th Spring Battle Anniversary properly until the break of dawn.

The prizegiving.

Several winners and three awards at the Skateboarding „Cash for Trick“ Sessions

On Wednesday, 28^th of March 2012, the Quiksilver Spring Battle 2012 showcased finest transition skateboarding at the Chillhouse on 1600 metres above sea level. 26 skateboarders from all over Europe were sending it for the Skate Jam. Most of the time up to five guys rode the miniramp coincidentally, intending to grab for some notes out of the 1500 Euros total prize pot. There were many winners but Andy Scott, Philipp Schuster and Dustin Vonach took home the awards for as “most impressive riders” of the day.

Asymbol Art Show of the Art Of Flight collection

Snowboarding legend Travis Rice and renowned artist Mike Parillo brought their Asymbol Art Show with the Art Of Flight collection for the Quiksilver Spring Battle to Flachauwinkl.

Riders' Night.

Ten years of Spring Battle – a flashback

The very first Spring Battle was taking place in 2003. The Aesthetiker Andreas “Mone” Monsberger took home the glorious trophy. In 2004, it was the Slovenian snowboard star Marko Grilc who won the Spring Battle, before Steve Gruber, another legend rider of the Aesthetiker crew, took over the lead in 2005. The following two years were under the sign of the scandinavians: Sweden´s Martin Sandberg won in 2006 and Ville Uotila from Finland was on top of the podium in 2007. The German “Pirate” Lars Oesterle claimed victory in 2008 and Jakko Ruha took back home all honour to Finland in 2009. Swedish young gun Kevin Backstroem won the competition in 2010, before the Belgian super talent Seppe Smits wrapped up the Quiksilver Spring Battle successfully in 2011.

All infos and rider profiles on:

www.ttrworldtour.com und www.snowboardingresults.com.

All infos on the Quiksilver Spring Battle:

www.absolutpark.com

www.facebook.com/quiksilverspringbattle

www.quiksilver-europe.com

The 12/13 TTR season kicks off with a bang from 28 – 31 March 2012, as the Quiksilver Spring Battle pitches up in the Absolut Park Flachauwinkl once more.

The Quiksilver Spring Battle will to celebrate its 10th anniversary at Absolut Park Flachauwinkl in Austria. The very first 5Star Event of the TTR World Snowboard Tour 2012/2013 is going to go off with an amazing riders list and some of the world’s best snowboarders traveling to Absolut Park Flachauwinkl within the next days. Some of the best international transition skateboarders are going to join in the “Cash for Tricks Sessions” on the mini-ramp and no one less than DJ Dragstar will heat up the party crowd at the Pickle-Night supported by GNU on Thursday, while Radio FM4/Texta DJ Dan is going to play on Friday night’s Video Judging Final Party at Flachau. Snowboarding legend Travis Rice and renowned artist Mike Parillo present their Asymbol Art Show with the Art Of Flight collection during the Quiksilver Spring Battle 2012 in Flachauwinkl.

First 5 Star contest of the TTR World Snowboard Tour 2012/2013

As one of the last events of the winter season 2011/2012 and at the same time the very first 5 Star event of the TTR World Snowboard Tour 2012/13, the Quiksilver Spring Battle 2012 attracts a great number of international riders. The contest is unique for its relaxed atmosphere and a great combination of top riders attending on the high-class setup at the perfectly shaped Absolut Park Flachauwinkl with an innovative Video-Judging System.

International snowboarders competing in Flachauwinkl

Previous year ́s winner Seppe Smits from Belgium has already announced to defend his title grabbing for a great amount of the 50,000 US Dollar prize purse and 850 points for his TTR account, which puts him into a perfect position for the upcoming contest season 2012/2013. Also Marko Grilc from Slovenia who has won the Spring Battle back in 2004 is keen on getting the title, but he will be facing strong opponents as Eric Willet (USA), Air & Style Beijing winner Ulrik Badertscher from Norway and Jamie Nicholls (UK). Switzerland brings Max Buri and Tonton Holland, while Finland sends out a whole army of contest machines: Ville Paumola, Nuutti Niemela, Janne Lipsanen, Markku Koski, Juuso Laivisto and Ville Uotila to Flachauwinkl. The Swedes Kevin Backström, Tor Lundström and Sven Thorgren will also be part of the Spring Battle frontrunners this year to name but a few big names on the startlist.

Austrian and German top snowboarders ahead

The local snowboard stars Clemens Schattschneider, Mathias Weissenbacher, Adrian Krainer, Herbert Thaler and Marc Swoboda have showed off during the season with great results and they will definitely take advantage of riding their home setup at the Absolut Park. Beside the Tyrolian Werni Stock, some strong German riders like Ethan Morgan, Patrick Cinca and Felix Georgii are going to show up for the first 5 Star TTR Bigair Battle of the upcoming season.

Skateboarding ‘Cash for Tricks’“ Sessions on highest level

The mini-ramp of the chillhouse at Absolut Park will be the stage of skateboarding on highest level during the Cash for Tricks Sessions. Big names like Andy Scott, Julien Benoliel, David Martelleur and Philipp Schuster are going to show off with their best transition skills on Wednesday facing some of the best national riders like Oliver Gordon, David Margreiter, Roman Astleitner and many more.

All those, who will not be able to travel to Flachauwinkl for the event, can watch the action on live. The broadcast will take place on Friday, 30th of March at 09.00 p.m.

More infos on: www.absolutpark.com

Last year's contest was solid. We're anticipating the bar to be raised again this time round.

The Quiksilver Spring Battle is the first of the new season of TTR Tour contests – and a 5-Star one to boot – and it goes down in Flachauwinkl, Austria, from March 28-31. They’ve given us some stuff to give to you to celebrate, so get involved…

This is what you can win, Beryl.

Chances are you’re a career comp-entering granny so here’s what you can win and how: A limited edition QSB tee and Art of Flight cap that’ll look awesome fr taking tea with Mabel, and a copy of SSX for the PS3 or XBOX you jacked off your grandson. Answer this correctly to enter. We’ll pick the winner Wed 28 March 2012.

[competition_58]

And now for the contest info. Once again it’s set to go down in Flachauwinkl‘s epic Absolut Park and like a certain other Austrian shred event it too will celebrate its 10-year anniversary. There’s 50k US and a bunch of TTR points up for grabs in the Big Air contest.

30 qualification riders will be hacked down to 10 for the finals, where they’ll meet the invited dudes from the TTR top 10 – riders like Seppe Smits, Marko Grilc, Werni Stock and Ulrik Badertscher have already confirmed. From this mass of manflesh, 10 dudes will make the übergalacticmega final.

The finals will once again utilise the innovative Video Judging System that debuted last year. In this, the rider selects his favourite super final run and this will be analysed on screen from multiple angles by the judging panel.

This’ll be a good un, so head on over if you can or if not tune back in next week when we’ll have the lowdown on the haps.

The Quiksilver Spring Battle wrapped up in Flachauwinkl last week and despite greybird skies and a bunch of slush, the riders stepped up and threw down some hammers on the double kicker line.

Seppe Smits – holy cow that boy is good – came first ahead of Marko Grilc and rookie Finn Ville Paumola. Check all the top 3 runs…

1ST – SEPPE SMITS

2ND – MARKO GRILC

3RD – VILLE PAUMOLA

With a brand new video judging system the Quiksilver Spring Battle is coming back to the Absolut Park in Flachauwinkel this week!

Starting off on Wednesday, 30ths of March 2011, you can expect world class shred action as well as smooth hanging in the Chillhouse.To make sure you don’t miss anything vital this week, here’s the schedule and the riders list.

TIMETABLE

Wednesday, March 30th 2011
Morning – Arrival and training
13:00 – Absolutpark Skate session: „Cash for Tricks“ in the Chillhouse hosted by Playboard
Afternoon – Training

Thursday, March 31st
10:00 – Training
11:00 – Qualification for 30 riders, 2 runs best count
13:00 – Top 10 of TTR ranking plus Top 10 of qualification, 2 runs best count
20:00 – Lib Tech Riders Party with DJ Dragstar and announcement of the super finalists at EMAs Pub

Friday, April 1st
11:00 – Super final: Top 10 of finals, 3 runs best count
19:00 – Video Judging with Hot Seat Award ceremony at the Festsaal in Flachau, live concert by Cashless and aftershow party with DJ Teddy O

RIDERS LIST

1 Seppe Smits BEL
2 Anthony Smits BEL
3 Niklas Mattsson SWE
4 Mario Wanger AUT
5 Matevz Pristavec SLO
6 Carlos Gerber SUI
7 Simon Pircher AUT
8 Chris Kröll AUT
9 Rudi Kröll AUT
10 Ludwig Lejkner SWE
11 Milu Multhaup-Appleton NZL
12 Mathias Weissenbacher AUT
13 Herby Thaler AUT
14 Phips Gruber AUT
15 Michi Stanschitz AUT
16 Felix Georgii GER
17 Bernhard Kraxner AUT
18 Manuel Lindmooser AUT
19 Kevin Scherübl AUT
20 Clemens Schattschneider AUT
21 Adrian Krainer AUT
22 Ville Paumola FIN
23 Peter König AUT
24 Patrik Cinka GER
25 Stefan Falkeis AUT
26 Robert Wallner AUT
27 Thomas Minichberger AUT
28 Iouri Podladtchikov SUI
29 Ulrik Badertscher NOR
30 Roger Schuller
31 Patrick Müller
32 Deniz Cinek

With the likes of Marko Grilc, Werni Stock, Seppe Smits and Kevin Backström trying to stand their ground against young guns from all corners of the continent. For the first time the contest will be decided by video-judging, for which the best runs from the finals will be screened and judged at the after party the same day.

To make the contest real absolute and to add some extra flavor, the mini ramp in the Chillhouse of the Absolut Park will be hosting a Cash for Tricks session with skate prominence from all around Europe. Rocking live on stage will be punk band Cashless, followed by a DJ set with Teddy O & Steadybeatz (Tony Hawk Show, Air & Style Innsbruck).

Absolutpark.com

For the 9th time now, the Absolutpark in Flachauwinkl is preparing to welcome Europe’s shred elite for the 4Star TTR Quiksilver Spring Battle from March 30th – April 2nd, 2011.

With the likes of Marko Grilc, Werni Stock, Seppe Smits and Kevin Backström trying to stand their ground against young guns from all corners of the continent. For the first time the contest will be decided by video-judging, for which the best runs from the finals will be screened and judged at the after party the same day.

To make the contest real absolute and to add some extra flavor, the mini ramp in the Chillhouse of the Absolut Park will be hosting a Cash for Tricks session with skate prominence from all around Europe. Rocking live on stage will be punk band Cashless, followed by a DJ set with Teddy O & Steadybeatz (Tony Hawk Show, Air & Style Innsbruck).

SCHEDULE

Wednesday, March 30th
· Training
· Skate-Session: Cash for Tricks Mini-Ramp-Contest at Chillhouse Absolutpark

Thursday, March 31st
· Contest qualification
· LIB TECH Riders Night – fueled by Monster Energy

Friday, April 1st
· Finals
· Video-Judging and Final-Party – Festsaal Flachau

absolutpark.com