Winning!

Finnish wild boy Roope Tonteri put down a Cab 12, back 9 and boardslide 270 out to take out Ulrik Badertscher and scoop the 2012 edition of the Burn River Jump in Livigno. 

In an exciting and thrilling super-final 19 year old Finnish rider Roope Tonteri was bestowed with the prestigious title, $15,000 and 800 points for the TTR Overall World ranking. Canadian Mark McMorris took the BURN JIB MASTER title and earned $3,000 for his Switch Hardway 270 on 270 out on the down-rail.

Thousands of spectators descended on the course setup near Livigno’s town centre to check the action, and the setup at the Mottolino Fun Mountain Area was in a perfect shape for creative snowboard action. 16 riders made up of guys who’d qualified, bagged a wildcard or were invited threw down hard all night long with an array of heavy trickery.

The judging was divided in two parts: 50% for the action on the main kicker (measures: 20 m, 3,5 m, 60 m), and 50 % for the jump over the river Spoel and the jibbing playground in the finish area that gave riders five different options.

The best four riders passed into the super-finals, based on the k.o. system– Roope Tonteri against Mark McMorris and Staale Sandbech against Ulrik Badertscher. Four world-class freestylers, all who had a good chance of winning. But this night Roope and Ulrik advanced to the final round matching for the victory. Roope Tonteri showed a huge Cab 1260 followed by a Backside 900 over the River “Spoel” finishing with a Boardslide 270 out. That was a hard act to follow for Ulrik, who started with a Backside 1080, a double Backside Rodeo 900 and ended up his run with a cab 270 hardway. 91.33 to 90.33 points in favour of the Finnish was the message of the four judges. Right after the decision smiling Roope Tonteri had this to say: “My heart is beating so fast. I am happy to be here. I feel really good at the River Jump. This morning I had a sauna and then I came to the contest. But I didn’t expect this victory. Ulrik’s run was so strong.” The podium was completed by the 2012 Double X-Games Winner Mark McMorris, who additionally to the third place in the big air competition won the BURN JIB MASTER part.

Mark McMorris on his way to 3rd place.

BURN RIVER JUMP 2012 RESULTS

1.Roope Tonteri/FIN BURTON 91.33 points
2.Ulrik Badertscher/NOR BURN 90.33
3.Mark McMorris/CAN BURTON 65.00
4.Staale Sandbech/NOR BURN 17.67
5.Stefano Munari/ITA NITRO 71.33

BURN JIB MASTER 2012: Mark McMorris/CAN, trick: Switch Hardway 270 on 270 out

The 2011-2012 Tour finale is drawing nearer, Stale Sandbech is currently leading the TTR Overall Ranking. Jan Scherrer made his way into the top five today, improving from the 7th to 4th position. Mark McMorris dropped one spot, even though he made it to the final and came in third, he was not able to beat his own best Big Air results for the 2011-2012 season. Today’s results will count towards the Big Air rankings for the 2012-2013 season, with the Big Air Tour Champion Seppe Smits crowned at the last 6Star event of 2011-2012, the Billabong Air&Style in Innsbruck.

For the first time, Burn’s shred team convened from every corner of Europe to slay Italy’s best park on the Mottolino in Livigno.

Representing Sweden, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Italy and France, the riders showcased their variety of talents on and off the mountain (see Arthur’s cooking section!) with the grand finale taking place at the epic Burn River Jump night contest.

The Burn team house was a hive of activity and provided the perfect backdrop for a killer week of shred and good times. Check it out.

Riverjump 2011 Podium. L to R - Willett, Ostreng, Badertscher & Jib Master Nicholls

The Norwegian Forum Youngblood, Aleksander Ostreng, bags the top spot at the 5th edition of the Burn River Jump, Livigno Italy. Check the videos!

After a few days of Burn Slopestyle action, the Spoel River in the heart of Livigno was the place to be, as the Burn River Jump 2011 got fired up in force. Mother Nature showed her full force on contestants and spectators in the form of strong winds, however ‘safety matters’ and organizers made the executive decision to cancel the top huge kicker and focus on the second Burn River Jump feature and bottom rail sections, making the event a 4Star TTR event.

SLOPESTYLE FINALS

MPORA Action Sports >>

The atmosphere did not change like the weather, as more than 2000 spectators joined the Burn River Jump 2011 to see some of the best snowboarding in Europe. The Finals saw 16 of Europe’s premium snowboarders charge up. Featuring the likes of Eric Willett (USA), Arthur Longo (FRA), Werni Stock (AUS) (sporting a broken arm), Patrick Burgener (SUI), Ulrik Badertscher (NOR), Jamie Nicholls (GBR) to name a few, the competition was tight and competitors battled it out on difficult features in a challenging environment.

Back 9s, Rodeo 9 and Switch 7s and Cab 9s where thrown out of the bag of snowboarding trickery, not forgetting some seriously impressive rail action, the Super Finals had space for only 4 contestants and it was obvious every entrants wanted a piece of the action, plus valuable Swatch TTR points and part of the 50,000$ cash purse!

The Super Final was a nail biting experience as the last 4 Riders rode into a ‘Knock Out’ system: Aleksander Ostreng (NOR) took the lead with an insane run that included a huge Backside 900 to Switch Front lip 270 out, knocking down Eric Willet (USA) into second place with his Switch Backside 900 to Front Board and Ulrik Badertscher (NOR) took third place with a Backside Rodeo 900 to a Front Board Pretzel out.

Over the weekend riders collected valuable Swatch TTR World Tour Ranking points with a maximum of 850 points to win in the 5Star format. With the two podium placements Ulrik Badertscher leaped up in the ranking and now sits in World No. 14, while Jamie Nicholls jumped into World No. 28. Eric Willet remains in World No. 9 where he moved after the slopestyle.

BIG AIR FINALS

MPORA Action Sports >>

An elated winner Aleksander Ostreng quoted: “I am stoked!I was not expecting to win tonight. The set up was great and the snowpark too. I am so happy and I will be back next year!” The young talent Jamie Nicholls (UK) was crowned ‘Burn Jib Master’ thanks to his impressive style and astounding riding skills

“We were super happy to be the title sponsor of this unique contest held here in Italy.” says Sara Ranzini, head of pr director of Coca-Cola Italia.” Livigno is a great place and the snowboarding atmosphere even more. Burn is proud to be part of this contest and we want to celebrate this partnership as much as possible. We thank the River Jump to had given the chance to our riders to take part of it”.

More informations and photo gallery on www.burnriverjump.it

The Burn River Jump is set to go off in a couple of hours, but to keep you ticking over till then we can bring you young American ripper Eric Willett checking the course at practice yesterday. Setup looks sick!

Watch the action LIVE on burnriverjump.it. Hopefully the stream isn’t as bad tonight as it was yesterday…

Though Peetu has got the TTR crown in the bag for the third time, the Tour rolls on regardless with riders battling it out in Livigno at the Burn River Jump. 10 riders made it into the main Big Air event after yesterday’s slopestyle finals, so it’s game on again tonight…

A bright sunny day welcomed the 55 international snowboarders to the 5Star Burn Slopestyle Finals yesterday in Livigno’s world-renowned Swatch Mottolino Snowpark. The course setup was stellar, with a Burn can for jibbing to begin, followed by the choice of a Burn can to bonk or a 2 meter gap box leading in to the big kicker line consisting of a 20 meter kicker, a 19 meter gap jump and a 22 meter kicker at the end.

The three-run final saw a high level of riding throughout the day, despite the weather closing in towards the late afternoon. In the end, it was the Norwegian viking Ulrik Badertscher, who took the win with a backside 1080, a double backside rodeo and a huge cab 1080. In a close second came the young Swiss talent Patrick Burgener with a switch backside 900, a backside 1080 double cork and a frontside 900. Third place went to Jamie Nicholls from the UK with his winning run that included a cab 900, frontside 720 and a backside 1080.

The top 10 riders of the 5Star Burn Slopestyle qualified automatically to ride in the 5Star TTR River Jump Big Air contest this evening to measure thir skills against the invited riders including last year’s winner Yale Cusino (USA) and the last minute invited rider Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI) at the River Jump Arena in downtown Livigno.

In the slopestyle contest, riders bagged valuable TTR World Tour Ranking points, counting towards their end of season total and potentially helping to secure an all-important top 10 spot. Ulrich Baderscher was awarded 850 points and he moved up into World No. 23 and Patric Burgener now sits in World No 16. Most notably, despite not finishing on the podium, Eric Willet improved on his Swatch TTR Ranking position significanly and now sits in World No. 9, and with a good result in tomorrow’s 5Star Big Air he could improve on his place in the TTR Top 10.

So it’s to the River Jump proper this evening, when the riders will be throwing down the heavy hammers. It’ll be going down from 20:30 to 22:30 and if you can’t make it to Livigno, you can check out the live streaming on: www.burnriverjump.it. Hopefully the quality is better than yesterday, when it looked like they were filming with cellphone cameras from 1999 and broadcasting it over the dial-up internet connection from 1999.

After the slopestyle event yesterday this Friday will see the second TTR 5-Star format,  the straight air event. It takes place in the center of Livigno in the evening, where the contestants will be jumping over the Spoel river. We will see the qualified riders from yesterday’s slopestyle, 12 wild card entrants and 8 invited riders competing for victory. Don’t miss the action including Switzerland’s Christian Haller, Norwegian Gjermund Braaten, the Finns Roope Tonteri and Niki Korpela, yesterday’s winner Eric Willet (USA), Mikkel Bang (NOR), Ville Uotila (FIN), Kevin Backström (SWE) and Mark McMorris (CAN). This will be hot fer sher!

BURN RIVER JUMP TIME SCHEDULE – FRIDAY FEBRUARY 26TH

• 2 pm – 4 pm: Training
• 4.30 pm – 6 pm: Semifinals
• 7.30 pm – 8.15 pm: Training
• 8.30 pm – 10 pm: Finals and Super Finals
• 10 pm: Prize Giving
• 12 pm: Burn River Jump Party

Where: Livigno, Italy

Yale Cousino in the wide expanses of Livigno. Photo: Fizza

If we haven’t lost you to the alpine skiing and figure skating broadcasts of the Olympics, you might know that today saw the first day and the slopestyle format of the annual River Jump event in Livigno, Italy. This year, the contest had been upgraded to a 5-Star TTR event, and the riders laid down their action accordingly.

It was American Eric Willett who took home the Brux Slopestyle title and 850 Swatch TTR ranking points this Thursday at the Burn River Jump. With high level snowboarding seen from the 67 riders gathered from all over the world, it was the talented rookies Gjermund Braaten (NOR) who grabbed second place and Roope Tonteri (FIN) who took third. All of today’s top ten riders who have not yet received an invitation or wildcard will compete in Friday’s straight jump format, the Burn River Jump.

Today’s event saw the guys rock the perfectly shaped Mottolino park in the beautiful APT Livigno and SkiPassion Snow-Ski Area. Willett’s stellar winning run included a Switch Backside 1260, Frontside Double Cork 1080 and a Backside Double Rodeo. This scored him miles ahead of his opponents. With his second place today Gjermund Braaten entered the TTR Top 10 and now sits in world no. 9.

Straight Air Format Brings A Night Spectacle to Livigno

The second 5-Star format,  the straight air, will take place in the center of Livigno on Friday evening, where the contestants will be jumping over the Spoel river. We will see the qualified riders from today’s slopestyle, 12 wild card entrants and 8 invited riders competing for victory. With Switzerland’s Christian Haller looking to improve on his TTR World No. 6 ranking and Roope Tonteri, Eric Willet, Mikkel Bang (NOR), Ville Uotila (FIN), Kevin Backström (SWE) and Mark McMorris (CAN) all aiming for a result that will see them rise into the TTR Top 10, you are guaranteed to see some hot riding.

Don’t miss any of the action and tune in to the live webcast on our website or on ttrworldtour.com.

Slopestyle Result Top 10

1. Eric Willet, USA

2. Gjermund Braaten, NOR

3. Roope Tonteri, FIN

4. Yale Cousino, USA

5. Janne Korpi, FIN

6. Mark McMorris, CAN

7. Tor Lundstrom, SWE

8. Victor De le Rue, FRA

9. Ville Uotila, FIN

10. Kevin Backstrom, SWE

Eric Willett netting the victory. Photo: Fizza.

Jack Mitrani and Mikkel Bang  on top of the starting field

Only one week more to go for the best italian snowboard event of the year: Swatch Mottolino Snowpark will become one more time the mecca of all avid Italian snowboard fans.

Burn River Jump is the only Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour event in Europe ranked with 5 stars and its fourth edition will take place in Livigno from February the 24th to the 26th, sponsored by Burton Snowboards in collaboration with Mottolino, APT Livigno and Skipassion Livigno.

The starting field is almost completed: from Vermont, the homeland of Burton Snowboards, Jack Mitrani will reach Livigno, ready to win a slice of $ 50,000 prize. Class 1988, he is known on the international scene for his strength and versatility in both slopestyle and halfpipe disciplines, ranking fifth at the past season Nissan X-Trail Asian Open in Japan and eighth at the last edition of the Burton New Zealand Open Snowboarding Championships.

Competing for the big prize money at the Burn River Jump there will also be the Norwegian Mikkel Bang, a real jibbing expert, motivated and charged up after having gained the second place of the podium in the slopestyle contest at the Burton European Open 2010 in Laax .

Swatch Mottolino Snowpark, one of Europe’s best snowpark, has prepared special courses on its area of over 120 thousand square meters and it will also offer to all riders and week-end bombers a brand new jibbing area,  the METRO.

On February 24th the snowpark will host the BRUX-Slopestyle Contest, where more than one hundred riders will partecipate  to get qualified for the final, held on February 25th, competing for the podium with invited riders and wild cards.

The Show won’t stop on thursday because the Grande Finale will take place on February the 26th starting at sunset for an incredible night show in Livigno downtown with the jump of the Spoel river. DOORS Snowpark Structures will be the head masters of the structures at the Spoel river

Registration for the contests scheduled on February the 24th and the 25th are still open on www.riverjump.it,  (Rider Registration ) until  February the 19th 2010.

Registration will be also held onsite at the race office on February the 22nd from 2.00 pm to 6.00 pm, and on February the 23rd from 9.00 am to 12.00a am, and from 2.00 pm to 6.00 pm.

In case of number of registrations greater than the number of available spots, priority will be given to those who registered first. Those who will be excluded will receive a notification via e-mail and will be put on a waiting list.

On February the 20th 2010, members will receive an e-mail notifying either their admission to the race or their insertion on the waiting list.

Christian Haller at last year's gig.

Get ready for the fourth edition of Burn River Jump, an unparalleled event in Europe organized by Burton Snowboards in collaboration with Swatch Mottolino Snowpark and APT Livigno Ski and Snow-Passion Ski Area.

With a new title sponsor, this Italian made contest is outside the traditional schemes and counts among the highlights of the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour. Thanks to continuous efforts to bring this event to a higher level in terms of riding and entertainment, for the first time ever, it has been awarded 5Stars on the TTR Tour.

From the 24Th to the 26Th of February 2010, some of the best Italian and international snowboarders will flood Livigno and the Mottolino Snowpark in order to get a slice of the prize purse of $50,000USD and to collect two batches of up to 850 points for the Swatch TTR rankings. After the success in the past years of River Jump, the slopestyle and big air format is back at this most extraordinary and unusual site.

Yale Cousino.

The show will kick off with the 5Star BRUX-Slopestyle Contest at the Mottolino Swatch Snowpark, known as the best park in Italy and certainly counts among the best in Europe. The top 10 riders of the day will be invited to join the spectacular finals, the 5Star Burn River Jump, which will be held at night. The final battle is held in the early evening on Friday, 26Th February 2010 on the famous kicker by the Spoel river in the centre of Livigno. The Burn River Jump is a unique showdown, where the 10 classified riders of the 5Star Slopestyle Contest will compete against the 8 invited riders and the 4 wild card riders.

The riders list is still top secret, but it already promises great names! Thanks to the support of Giacomo Kratter, one of Italy’s most famous snowboarders, who currently is travelling across the United States to invite the best pros to Livigno.

Preparations for this special event have already begun and follow the principle “for riders by riders”. Doors Snowpark Structure, an established company from Piedmont, will be designing all park obstacles. They are also known for their work in Bardonecchia, where the last Winter Olympic Games were held in 2006.

For the BRUX Slopestyle Contest registrations, information and updates please head to www.riverjump.it.