Watch our boy Jamie throw a barrage of hammers down on the poor, unsuspecting jibs of Snowpark NZ. They say this was filmed in one day but, knowing Jamie, it was probably more like one morning. The kid’s got the lick.

With the Southern Hemi season starting to wind down, take a look at this interesting short documentary on the competition circuit down under. Contains solid riding from all the major events, plus chat from the likes of Gjermund Bråten, Roope Tonteri, Tor Lundström and more…

Vacation? is a full short documentary about competitive snowboarding in the Southern hemisphere featuring Scotty Lago, Gjermund Bratten, Seamus O’Connor, Alex Beer, Orla Doolin, Stale Sandbech, Cheryl Maas, Mark McMorris, Seb Toots…

Mikkel getting plenty of Bang for his buck.

The first annual Burton ‘High Fives’ snowboarding competition, presented by MINI, continued today at Snow Park NZ in Wanaka with the exciting Slopestyle Finals. Taking first place and walking away $USD 10,000 richer each, were Burton riders Mikkel Bang (NOR) and Enni Rukajarvi (FIN).

60 of the top snowboarders in the world have experienced a snowboarding event like no other in New Zealand this week as the Burton High Fives combined traditional snowboarding eventswith unique off-snow team challenges. The first two days of the event saw the riders taking part in a variety of Kiwi-influenced challenges including skeet shooting, knife throwing and jet boat racing, just to name a few. The athletes also took to the driving track for the MINI Countryman Winter Driving Challenge where the fastest teams got the advantage of selecting the order for halfpipe and slopestyle. With the first two days of off-snow team challenges now completed, the action today shifted back toSnow Park NZ and the world-class slopestyle course.

Enni gap tackling with a tail grab.

Under sunny skies, the women were first up in the slopestyle finals. The Burton High Fives’ jam format allowed each rider to get four runs, which lead to an exciting competition for the women. Burton’s Enni Rukajarvi’s (FIN) impressive third run scored her an 83.80 with an indy air, boardslide, frontside 3 indy, back 5, cab 5, and stale. Local New Zealand rider Christy Prior felt right at home nailing second place in her final run with 78.20. Her solid run consisted of an ollie, backside lipslide, front 3 tailtap, front rodeo 7, back 3, and backside air. Ty Walker (USA) came in third in her final run with 77.00. She locked in the final podium spot with a run that included a 50/50, lipslide, front 3 tailtap, frontside 3, back 7, and a method.

Burton rider Mikkel Bang (NOR) was the clear standout throughout the men’s competition as he took the lead right off the bat with his first run score of 91.00 – only to top it on his second run with 95.40 points. Mikkel’s winning run started out with a switch backside 1, front 270, back 5, switch back 12, front 10 double, and a backside rodeo 5 stale over the final hip jump. Head Judge, Mel Simmons, commented, “Mikkel’s run had everything, it was tech, it had the spins, and it was totally stomped. It was the complete package”.

Ståle begins the defence of his crown

For the rest of the men’s field it was a matter of catch up, and it all came down to their final runs as top riders leap-frogged each other for the remaining podium spots. Sebastien Toutant (CAN) busted into second place with 94.00 points, courtesy of a back 3, frontblunt sameways 270, front 3 tail, back 10 double, front 10 double, and double back rodeo to finish. Taking third place with 92.00 points was Stale Sandbech (NOR), his run started with a 50/50 front 1 close out, hardways 270, cab 5,front 10, back 14, and alley oop.

Prize money today totalled US $35,000, with the same amount on the table again for tomorrow’s halfpipe finals. While competing for individual results in slopestyle, riders were also representing 12 teams selected earlier in the week for the off-snow challenges. Points from those challenges will be combined with points from today’s slopestyle and tomorrow’s halfpipe rankings, and the top team will walk away with an additional US $10,000 to split between them. The total prize purse of US $80,000 is the largest to date in New Zealand snow sports history.

Second place for Seb Toutant

The Burton High Fives will wrap up tomorrow with the halfpipe finals so be sure to check the live webcast on www.opensnowboarding.com starting at 10:15am New Zealand standard time. At the conclusion of the Halfpipe prize giving, the High Fives Sunset Sessions will take place at the Woolshed at Snow Park NZ from 3-6pm, featuring Dudstown Soundsystem. The entertainment continues with the High Fives Closing Party later in the evening at Opium Bar in Wanaka, also featuring Dudstown Soundsystem.

It’s not often you score a heli to shoot some fun laps in the park, but after an epic mission to the west coast fo NZ for a morning surf, that’s exactly what the Diaries Down Under crew do. Banging way to kick off the new season of webisodes…

The crew – Nick Hyne and Stef Zeestraten – pick up NZ professional surfer Maz Quinn and take him straight up to Snow Park NZ to see how his skills transfer on the snow. The next morning heli tours picks up the boys and flies straight to the West Coast to go surfing, with Maz in his element the snowboarders get shown how it’s done before flying back to Snow Park for a couple of lazy afternoon laps. An epic day!

Forget the summer camps, Snowpark NZ is open! Only if you can afford a ticket to New Zealand, that is.

Friday was first day of opening for Snow Park NZ, with a 30cm base on Snow Park NZ’s popular box run, patrons were treated to a great days skiing and boarding, under perfectly blue, sunny skies.
“Each and every member of the Snow Park team has done an absolutely amazing job getting ready for opening!” said Slopes Manager John Melville.
Recent cold temperatures allowed for top-to-bottom snowmaking over the past week, transforming Snow Park NZ into the winter wonderland that attracts snow enthusiasts from far and wide. With more runs expected to open soon, it’s off to a great start!
Snow Park NZ is scheduled to be open seven days a week. Additional terrain with night skiing on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights will open as snowfall permits. During the school holidays coming up Saturday will also be open for nightriding.
2012 looks to be another exciting season for Snow Park NZ, with major events such as Electric Quarterpipe, The North Face Freeski Open and Billabong Bro Down.

What has Torah Bright been up to recently? Well, being the most popular Aussie snowboarder of all time, she had Snowpark NZ all to herself after it had closed for the public. Our friends from AussieSnowboard.com visited her, and they brought a camera.

In this new Peep Show PMS Misadventure (#11, to be exact) you can watch Silvia Mittermüller shred SnowPark NZ, with her friend Isy. These girls have so much fun, it is just about the right thing you need to get the first shred trip of the season finally sorted out.

We can guarantee that these videos are better than this screen grab of Staale Sandbech.

Three riders at the top of their game given one lap at Snowpark NZ to show what it’s all about? Step up, Mark McMorris, Seppe Smits and Staale Sandbech.

As the dudes say who produce these concept vids from down under, “First take, One lap. Snow Park’s One Laps are a series of videos taken with various shredders from around the globe when they visit Snow Park NZ. Have them show you what Snow Park is all about.”

Nothing mindblowing in here, but you really get a sense of just how much control these cats have over their boards. Seppe frickin’ STOMPS shit.

MARK MCMORRIS

More Snowboarding Videos

STAALE SANDBECH

SEPPE SMITS

More Snowboarding Videos

Snow Park’s One Laps: Danny Davis

Snow Park’s One Laps: Zak Hale

Antti Autti: Couple laps in Snowpark NZ

Aimee Fuller: One lap Snowpark NZ

Though there’s no doubt that this is nicely filmed and nicely edited, and has some nicely nice park- and frontcountry riding in it to boot, the best thing about this clip is that it uses a full-on frickin’ TUNE!