The slopestyle podium.

Last Friday marked the wrap up of the Monster Energy Shred Show Slopestyle, the first Canadian 5Star World Snowboard Tour event of the 2013-2014 season. Weather made it difficult for riders to fully utilize the massive Slopestyle course located in the Blackcomb terrain park. As the day went on, the weather cleared up enough for riders to throw down some impressive runs to try and claim the $15000 top prize.

With an 84.50 it was Norway’s Emil Ulsletten who was atop the podium. His run consisted of a blunt 270 on the down rail, 50/50 frontside 360 with a tuck knee grab on the step down, a frontside double 10 on the first kicker, a backside 360, and a back 9 to cab double 9 on the last feature. Ulsletten Qualified in 10th place with a 68.8; just sneaking into the finals.

In second was Eric Willett from the USA with an 83.33. Willett’s run consisted of a front 270 on the down rail, a boardslide front 270 on the Pole, a front double 10 to front board to fakie out on the rail, and a switch- back 9 to back 7 on the last jump.
Willett won the 6Star Billabong Air & Style Innsbruck earlier this season.

Tyler Nicholson from Ontario, Canada was able to round off the podium. He did a Gap front board on the down flat down, a nose tail 450 off, a cab double 10 on the first jump, a switch tail 450 on the up rail. On the second jump he did a back 10 double to a front 10 on the last jump. His run scored him a 78.33.

The Snowboarding Action will continue tomorrow night in the heart of the village with the Monster Energy Shred Show Big Air. Accompanied with live music on the main stage, this event will no doubt have the largest crowd of the festival. Make sure to watch the live scoring at http://live.eim-solutions.com/mss2013

Emil Ulsletten: “ The jumps and rails were really, really good, but the weather made it tough to complete a whole run, it was really fun. I am really really happy! This year has not been the best for me for contests, I needed this one!”

Eric Willett: “The Slopestyle course was good, we definitely had to deal with some interesting weather all day but it worked out, finals turned out really good, it was a bit slushy but that’s that springtime is all about. I am stoked on my run and am glad I ended up on the podium. “

Tyler Nicholson: “This slope contest is by far the best I have ever entered, just because of the organization was so good, it was more based on what the rider’s wanted, they were willing to switch it up if we didn’t like it. The course is just unreal, the jumps were so good and the rails were Gnarly.”

SLOPESTYLE RESULTS:
1. Emil Ulsletten 84.50
2. Eric Willett 83.33
3. Tyler Nicholson 78.33
4. Spencer Link 73.50
5. Maxence Parrot 72.50
6. Eric Beauchemin 66.83
7. Brett Moody 58.83
8. Jeremy Thompson 46.33
9. Jon Versteeg 37.17
10. Charles Reid 15.00

Beside the 5Star Slope event was also held a Big Air competition, and here’s the podium.

BIG AIR RESULTS: 

1. Maxence parrot

2. Kim Rune HAnsen

3. Justin Morgan

To follow the World Snowboard Tour 2013-2014 season visit: www.worldsnowboardtour.com

The first edition of the LM Spring Fighter – TTR 3star – took place in Les Menuires, France, here’s the full report.

The winner Enzo Nilo, Cab 9.

For this first edition in Les Menuires, Pony Up events, from Pyrenees mountains with his famous Poney Session came to Alps with his staff: Greg Poissonnier as speaker, Fred Egli as official photographer, Kim Multimedias as video production, dj Skillz as official dj, Dekaudio as sound engineer, and all the staff organizers.
The day 1 started with stormy conditions ! Despite the near blizzard conditions, riders were able check out the bigair, and test the jump.
With the sun on day 2, riders showed off their best skills and tricks. But 2 riders impressed both crowd and judges : french rider Enzo Nilo with these switch back 9, cab 10, doble back flip, front10, front 9, back 9,switch back rodeo and more ! And how about Alessandro Boyens ,with his massive style and these cab9, cab 10, cab 12, double corked back ! The vegetable lover JJ Roux complete yet another podium, congrats to him too!

Marc Grossgasteiger, Front 7.

Place and dates: Les Menuires (french alps – “les 3 vallées”: le plus grand domaine skiable du monde) – 30 & 31 march
Riders: 22 snowboarders, 5 nationalities were represented: ITA, UK, GER, FIN, FRA.

Results:
1-enzo NILO (fra)
2-alessandro BOYENS (ger)
3-JJ ROUX (fra)
4-raphael ROUX (fra)
5-felix CADIOU (fra)
6-marc GROSSGASTEIGER (ita)
7-benno PLANK (ita)

The podium.

An event supported by Les Menuires, Dakine, Von Zipper, Sevabel, Opel , ESF, Virgin radio.

Also check the dedicated website.

All photos from Fred Egli/Poney Up.

It’s that time again – buckle up for your Monday lunchtime dose of stoke. The World Snowboarding Tour are back with another history lesson for all of us young’ns who don’t know nothin about our founding fathers. And since this is the end of the curriculum, there will be an exam afterwards.

Charles Reid

Riders from all over the World flocked to Andorra this weekend for the ninth Edition of the Grandvalira Total Fight. This year the Total Fight upgraded to 5 stars on the World Snowboard Tour making it one of the season’s most anticipated slopestyle events.

[Qualification highlights - Finals video to follow.]

This year’s slopestyle started off with a rail zone which consisted of a choice between a 6 metre rail or a rail king, followed by a down box with a 5 metre gap or a wallride, followed by the line of three kickers. All the riders had to show their best skills on the varying spring conditions to win the final prize.

Eric Willett

The weather was temperamental for today’s finals; a mixture of snow, rain, wind and sun accompanied the riders throughout the day. The 24 finalists were pitched against each other in pairs, with only two rounds to prove their skills and knock out their rivals. The pairing, which depended on the previous day’s scores, went as such: Janne Korpi against Seth Hill, Tor Lundstrom against Brage Richenberg, Jon Versteeg against Eric Willett, Jeremy Thompson against Charles Reid, Marco Grigis against Aleksi Partanen, Simon Gruber against Ville Uotila, Tyler Nicholson against Spencer Link, Ian Thorley against Eric Beauchemin, Peter Horak against Mans Hedberg, Robby Balharry against Nuuti Niemela, Kevin Backstrom against Simen Neraker and Kevin Kok against Markku Koski. The 12 riders who made it to the final were: Seth Hill, Brage Richenberg, Eric Willett, Charles Reid, Aleksi Partanen, Ville Uotila, Tyler Nicholson, Eric Beauchemin, Mans Hedberg, Nuuti Niemela, Kevin Backstrom and Kevin Kok.

Seth Hill

Thanks to mother nature’s shaky mood today, the weather got wilder and wilder making the visibilty close to zero, meaning that, despite the shapers hard work, the slopestyle was getting slower and the finalists couldn’t make it to the jumps. Just as it looked like the weather was getting her way and ending the Total Fight prematurely, the sun came out and the competition continued. Unfortunately, the tardiness meant that the judging system had to be changed and the 12 finalists only had two rounds to win the competition.

Kevin Backstrom

This year’s hands down Grandvalira Total Fight 2013 winner was the Canadian Charles Reid, who won with a spectacular round which started off with a Gap Front 270 Front Board followed by a Gap Front Boad to Fakie, Cab Double Cork Mute 900 and sweetly polished off with a Back Rodeo 5 Melon.

The American Willett came close to the Canadian with a round that started off with a Front 270 Front Board followed by a Front Board, Front Mute and finished by a Back Rodeo 5 Melon. Swedish star Kevin Backstrom came third with a solid run: a Gap Front Lip followed by a Backside 50-50 Front 180 Off, Cab 900 Melon and finished by a Back 720 Mute.

Charles Reid

22-year-old Charles Reid, a resident of Mont-Tremblant (Quebec, Canada) said:

“It feels pretty good to get up on the podium and win first prize, even more so when it’s a TTR event like this. I didn’t expect to win the competition but I had a lot of confidence in my tricks. The circuit was incredible, you could get a lot of speed, it was really good. I’ll be back next year for sure!”

The first fifteen winners shared 40.000 € of cash between them. The first three won 15.000 €, 10.000 € and 5.000 € respectively.

Winners podium

RESULTS

NAME / COUNTRY / SPONSOR / HIGHEST SCORE

1 – Charles Reid / CAN / Oakley / 84.67
2 – Eric Willett / USA / Vans / 82.33
3 – Kevin Backstrom / SWE / Nike / 73.33
4 – Eric Beauchemin / USA / DC / 69.00
5 – Tyler Nicholson / CAN / Lib Tech / 65.00
6 – Nuuti Niemela / FIN / Smith / 58.67
7 – Aleksi Partanen / FIN / Koli / 55.00
8 – Ville Uotila / FIN / Dye / 52.33
9 – Kevin Kok / ITA / Burn / 46.00
10 – Seth Hill / USA / Sims / 39.67
11 – Brage Richenberg / NOR / Sabotage / 31.67
12 – Mans Hedberg / SWE / DC / 28.33

The latest instalment of the World Snowboard Tour’s look at the history of competitive snowboarding is live, and totally worth watching. 

This time attention is on The Arctic Challenge, the establishment of the Ticket To Ride system where winning other major events would grant a spot to ride at TAC, and the subsequent creation of the TTR World Tour and its tier system that intended to offer a rookie to pro route within the realms of contest riding.

The good people of the World snowboarding tour are back with yet another chapter of snowboarding’s sweet history. They obviously felt that a generation of young shredders was emerging with no understanding of the hurdles these old punks hurdled to get us to where we are now. And they’re jolly well going to sit us down and school us on what we missed, with a history lesson every week to fill the void of ignorance in our vacant young brains. Open your books at chapter three, class, entitled Jim Rippey to Steffan Gimpl. Buckle up for the raddest history lesson you’ve ever had. Fingers crossed they’ll eventually uncover the secrets to untangling the maze that is WST points system. For now, be content with the first flip with a spin and the creation of the X Games. And – as if that might not be enough for one edit – girls too! Doing sweet jumps. And spins. Wowzers.

Ever get tired of old dudes saying snowboarding was rock-and-roll-er before you were born? Such words are usually dismissable as insta-filtered sepia nostalgic moaners remembering when their bones didn’t ache. They came from an age where it was feasible to be riding at a level that was still on the same richter scale as the guys winning the medals and gracing the cover Onboard. Surely the simple fact that our toes are warmer and our hands drier now than your dad’s were ‘in the good old nineties’ must be directly proportional to us having more of a laugh. Charlie sheen’s not the only one winning right now. No doubt sliding sideways must have tasted sweeter knowing that cranky old skiers hated you for lowering the tone of their snobby resorts – never a kid has lived who didn’t love to buck the system. But just because people were just winging it over sketchy kickers on shapeless planks with bodge job home school bindings and out the sides of lumpy ditches doesn’t mean any of us would trade decades.

On the other hand, it’s hard to conceive the level of wonder in the minds of the kids when the first inverts got landed, or the rumpus that the Nagano olympics caused. Double mac 12s were kind of amazing in Vancouver for all of half an afternoon, and Horgmo’s X Games triple in 2011 must have caused a roar almost audible on the other side of Aspen. But the first back flip to fakie would have embedded itself into peoples’ minds for months if not years, and every time those dudes were in the air people really didn’t know what else could be done. Or even on what axis to do it. And nowadays, with our highbacks and superpipes and our youthful arrogance we all didn’t just assume someone would do a double eventually, we knew it. It was just a race to see who nailed it first. But these contests now appear to go down on an entirely different planet from the real world, way more than an arm’s reach from the wildest dreams of ninety nine per cent of us. So perhaps it’s vaguely possible contests were sicker way back when snowboarders were rockstars getting the FIS in a twist for failing drug tests and the wild after parties and the trashed hotel rooms. These athletic types with their yoga and their private half pipes and foam pits might be stomping triples under some particularly fancy lights whilst deafened by awfully grimy drums and basses, but how many pulses does that raise?

If you missed lessons 1 and 2, check them here

Go to http://www.worldsnowboardtour.com for more, and up to date stuff too!

Check this. Another rad look at the winners from the recent Arctic Challenge and how the overall World Snowboard Tour was decided. Contains more AYUMU, and therefore viewing is mandatory…

Peetu was recently crowned the overall winner of the World Snowboard Tour for a record fourth time. Check this compilation of some of his riding highlights, along with chat from the man himself…

For the 4th time, Peetu Piiroinen showed he is the most consistent overall rider on the tour. At last weekend’s Arctic Challenge, the Finn was crowned Overall World Snowboard Tour Champion 2012/13!

The second installment of the World Snowboard Tour’s epic lookback at the history of competitive snowboarding continues… This time we get to see Terje in his pipe pomp and the emergence of a contest that was to take the snowboard world by storm – the Air&Style.

Teaming up with Swatch, we opened our archives, dusted off our historical material and searched for some missing chapters. We asked for help from many partners worldwide for footage to fill any missing gaps, and with that we have produced something truly incredible  Our passion for the sport, combined with hard labour and hours spent in the editing room have resulted in a five webisodes series, of which we proudly present number one today. 

The next edition of World Championships of Snowboarding will be hosted by Yabuli, China in February 2016.

Everything went quite smoothly in Oslo last year at the World Snowboarding Championships, except for the lack of ambulances. So the next logical step is to move the February 2016 edition of the event 8000 miles around the world, up by Mongolia. In a resort none of us have ever ridden in or heard of. But they probably have an all you can eat buffet there so why the heck not. And they’re throwing in a Big Air event for our viewing pleasure too, so everyone’s winning. The decision to move away from less obscure venues is clearly “a major step forward in our ambition to establish the World Championships of Snowboarding as the world´s most respected snowboarding contest”, just as Reto Lamm says. Obvious, really.

For the uninitiated amongst you, Yabuli is away up the north of China in Heilongjiang. You know, the place famous for China’s best fumigated raw dog and salmon soup. Round the corner from Mundanjiang. Just up the road from Harbin, the place where snowman building contests have been way out of hand since the mid nineties.

World Snowboard Federation president Marco Sampaoli reckons “every rider coming from all around the world to China’s northeast will undoubtedly have a memorable experience” and you’ve got to assume he’ll be right. I mean, almost everything you own that is cool, tacky, or just plain bizarre was made by a small child in china. The Beijing Olympics were a hoot. Let’s send some snowboarders over there, have a bowl or two of dog soup served by a waiter talking a language we can’t decipher, add a dollop of dubstep, gopro every move they make and you’ve got a guaranteed viral jackpot in the making. Both FIFA and the International Olympic Committee are allowed to turn a blind eye to the questionable politics of their host nations, so why should the WST stand for anything different. And hey, I’ll be snuggled up with my mactop watching from somewhere warm in the heart of the Alps, so what do I care which corner of the internet the highlights are streaming from, as long as 14 year olds are trippling off massive piles of snow and there are some flashy lights?