As you’ll know if you read our full report of the first ever Ride Shakedown to grace European shores, the Shakedown crew brought their successful and innovative contest format to the old continent on March 11-12. After a good couple of days of jam sessioning it was the UK’s up-and-comer Jamie Nicholls who walked away with the big cheque for his consistently awesome riding ahead of veteran Mats Kuselik and rookie Luka Jeromel.

Now you can check the full highlights of all the bangers, including the Friday night rail jam that was won by local ripper Basti Rittig.

Here's an overview of the site. Pretty neat spot. Rail section was just to the left but the iPhone cam couldn't quite fit it in. A gallery of shots not taken on a telephone will follow shortly.

Following several successful incarnations across the pond, the Ride Shakedown took its European bow last weekend with the UK’s Jamie Nicholls bagging his first major career win. Read the full report of what went down.

The Ride Shakedown rolled into Garmisch-Partenkirchen over two spring-like days last weekend, attracting some of Europe’s finest up-an-comers to thrown down in the Olympic Stadium. While kicker-to-rail sections are not uncommon, the Shakedown shook things up with its unique judging format – following the lead from the original across the pond, rather than a head-to-head or best of 3 runs riders would take part in an hour and a half-long jam session in which they could take as many runs as they wanted. Points were split equally between the kicker and rail section meaning if you wanted to be in the game you’d need to put the hammers down on both. It’s not any old jam session though: before dropping riders had to call whether they wanted the run judged or not. They were allowed 3 judged runs, and even more interesting was that riders had to not only call which tricks they’d do, they were not allowed to repeat any of the tricks they’d called to be judged. The result was that you had to show you could be both consistent and had a diverse set of shred skills if you wanted to place well here.

The iPhone caught a proper photographer's flash. Alas it didn't catch the rider's name in the Friday Rail Jam.

Friday was reserved for the Planet Sports am qualifiers and the nighttime rail session. The ams kicked off knowing the top 3 would bag themselves a spot in the semi finals against the invited riders. Under bluebird skies, it seemed the spring conditions combined with gusting wind was wreaking havoc with the speed for the kicker. 80% of the guys seemed to get it windy and encounters with the knuckle were common, whereas the other 20% found themselves sending it deep. To be fair it was kind of a lottery what conditions you got, and the guys who dealt best were Stephan Wimmer, Patrick Cinca and Roger Schuler.

The iPhone also caught another photographer's flash, and the guy whose tech on the flat bar bagged him the 5K win. Basti Rittig.

It got cold quick as the sun disappeared behind the hill meaning speed issues were pretty much resolved for the rail jam. If you’ve seen the Shakedown editions across the pond you’ll know this crew take their jibs seriously and while the setup wasn’t quite up to the Canadian editions it was still pretty solid, with a donkey dicked down bar on some sketchy stairs and a long flat bar with options to pop over or send to the end to get jiggy with. After a couple of beatdowns on the stair set things started hotting up with plenty of fancy dancing going down in the down rail, but it looked like if you wanted to set yourself apart you had to take it to the flat bar and pop in with some Wu-Tang. We thought British rippersnapper Jamie Nicholls was in for the cash when he front boarded the entire length and then sucked up the short tranny at the end, but we’d not figured on local German Basti Rittig‘s tech on the same bar. After riding super hard all evening he fully deserved the wedge of cash and the props of the crowd.

Signing session for the groupies to go wild. Jamie Nicholls had 15-year-old girls going crazy.

Saturday was even warmer but any concerns about speed were dismissed when the guys started sessioning. The wind had calmed and most everyone was making it to the sweetspot. We were chilling at the bottom when Jamie Nicholls popped off his first judged run – back 10 double and 5050-front 270 off the flat bar. He nailed it, clean as a whistle, and decided that was enough to take him to the finals. It was – he qualified first. Others decided to use the full length of the session to enjoy the atmosphere and get their tricks dialled, with Nuutti Niemelä, Andre Kuhlmann, Matts Kusilek and Luka Jeromel standing out. In total 12 guys went through and after a break it was game on to see who’d take home the first ever Ride Shakedown Europe.

We think this is Reto Kestenholz. If it is he was putting down some sweet, styled back 5s that had us stoked.

There was a slight change of format for the finals as now the top scoring 2 of 3 runs would be scored. Andre Kuhlmann sent a back 7 so deep we thought he’d have to be scraped off the flat, but he stomped and killed the down rail with a smooth front board too, while Nuutti looked to be having fun putting down some neat double 9s and 10s. Luka Jeromel was looking consistently good, as was Matts Kusilek who showed why he won last season’s Shakedown by riding consistently solid.

Nuutti Niemelä had some nice double 9s and 10s on the go.

But our boy from Bradford was not to be denied. Jamie Nicholls was by far the most consistently tech shredder in the event and despite feeling some nerves as the final approached he put down his ‘safety’ back 10 and 5050 front 270 out, before calling a cab 10 on the kicker to cab 180 5050 270 out on the rail section and knocking the back out of that, too, to post the highest judged score of the day.

Here's Jamie Nicholls mid-Cab 10. Jamie was for sure the standout rider of the weekend and we're stoked for him on his first major win.

It was Jamie’s first major win after knocking at the door with several podium finishes already this winter, and he was understandably pumped. “The jump was nice, the rails were good and I really enjoyed the format of the event. You had to be consistent as it was 2 runs counted out of 3, so I’m really happy.”

And with that the first ever Ride Shakedown Europe was done and, despite colliding with the US Open and having to deal with tricky conditions, it went off. With any luck they’ll be able to bring it bigger and better next year and with a couple of subtle tweaks to the setup and schedule we’re claiming it could rock the socks off Garmisch next spring.

L to R - 2nd place Matts Kusilek, 1st place Jamie Nicholls, 3rd place Luka Jeromel

FINAL STANDINGS

1 Jamie Nicholls (UK)

2 Matts Kuli (CAN)

3 Luka Jeromel (SI)

4 Simen Neraker

5 Havard Bergheim

6 Andre Kuhlmann (DE)

7 Nuutti Niemelä

8 Hubert Fill (AT)

9 Reto Kestenholz (CH)

10 Niklas Mattsson

11 Roger Schuler (CH)

12 Florian Corzelius (AT)

Watching this teaser video will make you want to sell a kidney to get to Garmisch-Partenkirchen from March 11-12 2011.

So, finally, one of the most progressive, creative and downright gnarly contests around will make its debut on European shores this weekend. Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a stone’s throw from Munich, will play host to the event in its Olympic Stadium. Entry is FREE for anyone wanting to come and check out the heavy riding that the riders will put down on the epic setup.

Riders will have to hit up both the Big Air booter and the unique Rail Jam setup in a relaxed but intense Jam Session. There is no pre-determined order. Riders perform their three judged runs within the allotted time whenever they choose (in the semi-final, the first judged run must be done within the first hour – in the final, it must be done within the first 40 minutes).

Here’s more judging specifics, from which you’ll get more of an idea why this gig’s gonna be off the hook, we’re particularly digging the “they cannot repeat the same trick on their two other judged runs” rule…

- Riders must inform the starter which of their runs is to be judged, which trick they will perform (both during the jump and on the rail) and wait for confirmation by the judges.

- If one of the two tricks called is not successfully performed, no points will be awarded.

- The jump and rail each account for 50 percent of the final score.

- If riders successfully complete the trick called on their first jump and/or the rail, they cannot repeat the same trick on their two other judged runs.

There’s also a fat a fat wad of cash up for grabs to get the shredders even more pumped… so check the teaser and you’ll be hyped to join the carnival of awesome in Garmisch.

Full details, rider list and more on rideshakedown.com

Go big or go home: the RIDE Shakedown heads to the Alps for its European debut. Canadian rules, Euro-style. March 11-12, 2011.

Just south of Munich, Garmisch-Partenkirchen will soon host the very first European edition of the RIDE Shakedown. Unique in its delivery, the snowboarding competition features an exclusive format in which invited professional snowboarders will compete alongside local qualified amateurs for a €35,000 purse.

Previously featured in both Canada and the United States, the free-admission jam-style event, which has drawn over 20,000 spectators, is known for its impressive urban rail features and 50-foot jump only unveiled to the athletes the day of the competition. The RIDE Shakedown is the only major snowboarding event that features a big air jump followed by a rail set up, in addition to the popular “jam format” competition. The concept: a laidback, live-it-up event with minimal restrictions for the riders.

In its milestone tenth year, the event heads to the south of Germany in the hopes to deliver the same energy-packed entertainment to a European audience as a recognized 4star Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour event. Patryck Bernier and Brendan O’Dowd, founders of DIZZLE Entertainment and organizers of the RIDE Shakedown, call the event a spectacle, “It’s fun for everyone whether you’re a core snowboarder or just want to experience the action. We get the audience involved throughout the event. Everything is closed-in and the pros are accessible to anyone who comes to Garmisch.” Being held at the Olympic ski stadium, spectators don’t even have to buy a lift ticket and get on the hill but they can enjoy the mountain panorama – and the free entry, of course!

International professional and RIDE team snowboarder Juuso Laivisto is already confirmed for this premier edition. The Finnish rider carries a 4star TTR event title, winning the 8th Red Bull Nanshan Open in China last January.

EVENT SCHEDULE (free admission)

Friday, March 11, 2011
10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Registration for Planet Sports amateur qualifications/ Relentless Rail Jam
1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Planet Sports amateur qualification
3:30 p.m. Qualifying riders announced

4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Relentless Rail Jam qualifications
5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Course maintenance
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Relentless Rail Jam
8:45 p.m. Awards Ceremony
10 p.m. Pleasure Magazine presents RIDE Shakedown Afterparty at The Lodge, www.lodge-gap.de (18 years +)

Saturday, March 12, 2011
11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. RIDE Shakedown semi-finals
1:45 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Onboard Magazine autograph session with pro riders
3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. RIDE Shakedown finals
5:30 p.m. Awards Ceremony
10 p.m. Pleasure Magazine presents RIDE Shakedown Afterparty at The Lodge, www.lodge-gap.de (18 years +)

Calling all amateurs
On Friday, March 11, riders will compete during the Planet Sports amateur qualifications. The first 50 ams to register will have the opportunity to show off their skills and earn one of three spots to go head-to-head with the pros during the semi-finals on Saturday, March 12. For the Relentless Rail Jam, 40 ams will have the chance to carve out a place for themselves among the pros. The registration form is available on the RIDE Shakedown website. First come, first served! For amateur riders interested in participating, qualification rounds will be held across Europe. For complete details, visit the event website www.rideshakedown.com

After checking out this teaser we’re more pumped than ever for when the Ride Shakedown takes its European bow from March 11-12 2011 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Both the setup and the judging format are as innovative as the riding that gets thrown down, there’s a fat wad of moolar up for grabs to get the shredders amped… just check the teaser and you’ll be hyped to join the carnival atmosphere in Garmisch.