The internet’s favourite snowboarder, Halldor Helgason, sends SEO nerds wild as he wins the 2011 edition of Freestyle.CH, with Seppe Smits and Ståle Sandbech in second and third.

The sun was shining once more for this year’s edition of the Freestyle.CH, banishing the sodden memories of last year’s washout. Though the hype was all about the (mini) Mega Ramp making its debut on European shores, we were far more concerned with watching the snowboarding, and getting an early look at what we might expect from this season’s contest schedule. On the basis of this, doubles are the new black, 10s are the new 7s, but some cats can still stomp down the style when they feel like it.

When all was wrapped, Halldor Helgason bagged the swag with a front 10 double that was almost as narcoleptic as the one he did to win the X-Games a couple years back. As he says in his interview in next month’s Onboard mag, he’s just as likely to come last as first in contests such is his death or glory approach to riding. This time it was Stompy Lobster that turned up, and when that guy’s in the house then he’ll always have a say.

So, entertain yourselves with the highlights of all the event’s winners (apologies for the helicoptering in there), where you’ll see Halldor Helgason’s swag bagging front 10 double. He does them so lazy-style it is unreal.

And for more pure shredding, here’s the cut of the snowboard semi finals.

And here’s the qualifiers, with some proper stompers from Halldor (rocket air backflip late 180, yes!) Marko Grilc, Christian Haller, Seb Toutant and more…

Winning! Halldor Helgason and a bunch of other winner dudes.

I-Pod give the crowd a pleasing.

Europe’s inaugural event of the new season, Zurich’s Freestyle.CH is set to rock the Landiwiese once more this weekend. As well as the snowboard Big Air, you’ll get hyped on the (mini) Mega Ramp!

We have one of those monthly pains in the ass known as deadlines hanging over us, so prepare to be dazzled by all the info you could ever hope for in the form of the official press release… Let’s have it…

When freestyle.ch announced in late August that the mini-MegaRamp was soon to hit Europe, the freestyle community broke out in wild cheers. Now, with just two days to go and the colossal assembly in full gear, the first-ever Big Air for skateboarders on European soil is looking to be a major hit. City Councilor Gerold Lauber will herald in the MegaRamp’s reign on Saturday, September 24.

The set-up team at freestyle.ch has been pulling out all the stops to turn Zurich’s Landiwiese Park into the perfect setting for Europe’s largest freestyle sports event: Since last Thursday, around 300 helpers and suppliers have been installing over 10,000 meters of cable, laying down 4,900 square meters of protective ground covering, setting up 2,700 barriers, erecting 3,100 square meters of tent space, and putting over 280 tons of metal and 700 cubic meters of dirt to good use. Friday’s list of things to do even includes the production of snow – no less than 190 tons of it smack in the middle of Zurich! A mixture of water, air and nitrogen is going to bring the snowy Big Air to life for snowboarders and freeskiers.

Though the Mega Ramp is a Mini Mega Ramp, it's not really that 'mini' is it?

By the time the doors open at 11:00 am on Saturday, the Landiwiese will have magically been transformed into a spectacular Freestyle arena. According to freestyle.ch’s organizers, this year’s event layout promises to be more attractive than ever. “Visitors will thrill at the panoramic view that spans from the skateboarders’ and BMXers’ Mini MegaRamp to the left over to the big screen and concert stage directly in front of them and around to the snowboarders’ and freeskiers’ Big Air plus the FMXers’ dirt mound to the right – it’ll all be in full view,” honked OC Head Erwin Flury. “Just picture the Crossover Session! You’ll have athletes catapulting over installations left and right and spectators will barely have to turn their heads to take it all in. I personally can’t wait to experience it.”

City Councilor Lauber to Mingle with Freestyle Giants

Saturday’s Crossover Session – freestyle.ch’s interdisciplinary show contest and crowning attraction – will be sharing the spotlight this year with the mini-MegaRamp. The new skateboarding ramp will make its official European entrance at 1:00 pm on Saturday when the head of the Department of Education and Sports, City Councilor Gerold Lauber formally turns it over to such freestyle experts as skating legend Bob Burnquist (USA) or Pierre-Luc Gagnon (CAN). “We’ve all been training like crazy on a ramp the same size here in the States, which shows just how fired up we are about this year’s freestyle.ch!”, says Gagnon. In the snowboarding and freeskiing categories, seasoned Swiss freestyle.ch aces Iouri Podladtchikov and Elias Ambühl will be hot on the title trail. However, two young guns within their own ranks are sure to give them a run for their money: A very bright future has been predicted for 17-year-old snowboarder Pat Burgener from the canton of Vaud too. A face-off between Mat Rebeaud from Switzerland and the Spaniard, Dany Torres, is sure to dominate the action in the FMX category. Torres has been enjoying his greatest season yet. Just this past weekend, he was crowned overall champion of the Red Bull X-Fighters Tour – the FMX equivalent of the World Cup. He’s proven himself an inescapable force to be reckoned with at the finals on Sunday.

US Rapper Lil Jon Plus Fun Side Attractions

American rapper Lil Jon will heat up Zurich’s crowd on Saturday, setting the mood for the evening’s Crossover Session. The “King of Crunk” is known for his powerful live performances. Other attractions will include the premiere of Standing Sideways!, the new film from Burton Snowboards, as well as the BMX show on the Mini MegaRamp starring big shots Vince Byron (AUS) and Morgan Wade (USA). Always a crowd favorite, the annual Label World trade show will provide a platform for 100 freestyle sports brands to exhibit their latest products and services. Sports buffs of all ages will have the chance to get in on the action at one of the Active Zones, where every kind of sports gear from stand up paddle boards and street surfing boards to BMX bikes and slacklines will be available for the trying. Organizers are expecting over 35,000 visitors thanks to attractive ticket offers and a promising weather forecast. The 2-day pass is now only 60 francs – 15 francs down from last year. Those looking to avoid long lines and interested in saving 6 bucks can take advantage of the advance ticket sales at Starticket. There will be a 6-franc surcharge on tickets purchased at the door.

For more information go onto www.freestyle.ch, www.freestyle.ch/facebook, www.freestyle.ch/twitter

CONFIRMED RIDERS

1 Arvidsson Nils
2 Burgener Pat
3 Bråten Gjermund
4 Elhardt Elias
5 Grilc Marko
6 Haller Christian
7 Helgason Halldor
8 McMorris Mark
9 Morgan Ethan
10 Piiroinen Peetu
11 Podladtchikov Iouri
12 Sandbech Ståle
13 Smits Seppe
14 Tonteri Roope
15 Toutant Sebastien
16 Willett Eric

Well, well, well. What do we make of a press release’s title that says “Freeskiing stronger than ever”? Let’s see how we can tweak the latest freestyle.ch announcement to make it talk about what we really care about: Some of the best snowboarders in the world kicking off the European winter with their latest trickery. New for 2010: All important action will take place on Saturday and Sunday only. Alright, here we go then:

Iouri Podladtchikov, photo: Marc Zander

Iouri Podladtchikov in snowboarding, Mat Rebeaud in FMX, Sandro Dias in skateboarding, and all the best athletes you could dream of seeing from some other weird pastime. The starting lineup for Europe’s largest freestyle sports event guarantees peak athletic performances. And the great thing about this year: Since the event is concentrated on two days, all invited big names are sure to be at the start on Saturday.

While the top competitors in each discipline were spread out across the Friday and Saturday qualification rounds in previous years, this year’s new concentration on two days guarantees that all the best athletes will appear on Saturday. This will make Saturday’s competitions even more impressive and will give a hint of the spectacle awaiting visitors during Sunday’s finals. Particularly in a discipline Onboard readers don’t care much about, a lot of big shots will show up.

Sandro Dias, photo: Marc Zander

Mat Rebaud, photo: Marc Zander

Further information available at www.freestyle.ch and on Facebook at www.freestyle.ch/facebook

Confirmed Snowboarders

1 Andreas Wiig (NOR)
2 Christian Haller (SUI)
3 Elias Elhardt (GER)
4 Eric Willett (USA)
5 Ethan Morgan (GER)
6 Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI)
7 Marko Grilc (SLO)
8 Mathieu Crepel (FRA)
9 Pat Burgener (SUI)
10 Peetu Piiroinen (FIN)
11 Sebastien Toutant (CAN)
12 Werner Stock (AUT)

Program freestyle.ch 2010

Thursday, September 23
From 21:15 Swiss Snowboard Awards at Stall6/Gessnerallee

Friday, September 24
From 21:00 Riders Welcome Party including Delinquent Habits concert at Papiersaal (Sihlcity, Zurich)

Saturday, September 25
11:00 Doors open

13:00 Skateboard Qualification

14:00 Freeski Qualification

15:45 FMX Qualification

16:45 Concert freestyle.band

17:45 Snowboard Qualification

19:00 Movie premiere Volcom 9191 Snowboard Movie

20:00 Concert Cali P and the Soul Fire Band

21:00 PlayStation Gaming: Move

21:30 Crossover Session: snowboard, freeski, FMX, skateboard

23:00 End of program

Label World open until 23:00 Bars and restaurants open until 02:00

From 22:00 Afterburner Party at Härterei (Maag-Areal) on two floors

Sunday, September 26

11:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00
11:00 Doors open

13:00 Skateboard Semi

13:30 Final PlayStation Gaming: Shaun White Skateboarding

14:00 Freeski Semi Final

15:00 FMX Semi Final

16:00 Snowboard Semi Final

17:00 Finals: snowboard, freeski, FMX, skateboard

18:00 Prize-giving freestyle.champs

Label World open until 19:00 Bars and restaurants open until 19:00

* Subject to change

Eyes will be on Zurich again come end of September, as the northern hemi’s first contest of the news season kicks off.

Last year’s edition was a banger, with riders blowing minds dropping doubles all over the shop and finished off with Eero Ettala late cork 10-ing his way to victory. We’re expecting more of the same nutsness this time round, but there’s a couple tweaks. The biggest change for this year’s Freestyle.CH is that the programme will now be packed into two days, September 25 and 26, where you’ll be able to watch the hammers drop from the snowboarders, skaters and FMX duders as well as get boozed, burnt, irie and blag sacks full of free stickers.

Iouri Podladtchikov was killing it last year.

The entire qualification round and the always-entertaining Crossover Session will do down on the Saturday, with a couple bands rocking out to get you hyped. All finals will go down on the Sunday, and in the evenings there will be the usual assortment of legendary parties.

Tickets are on sale now at Starticket.ch, with a bunch of different categories to get you what you need. There’s also a new Public PLUS ticket that will get you better access to the action, and there’s a special price for the first 2000 to take ‘em up.

This gig’s always a banger, so get yourselves there if you can. More information about the event and other ticket offers can be found at zurich.freestyle.ch.

Jorgen Horwarth owning the vert.

Program freestyle.ch 2010

Friday, September 24

From 21:00 Riders Welcome Party with concert of Delinquent Habits

Saturday, September 25
11:00 13:00 14:00 15:45 16:45 17:45 19:00 20:00 21:30 23:00
Doors open Skateboard Qualification Freeski Qualification FMX Qualification Concert freestyle.band Snowboard Qualification Movie premiere presented by Volcom Concert The Ultimate Crossover Session: snowboard, freeski, FMX, skateboard End of program
Label World open until 23:00 Bars and restaurants open until 02:00 Afterburner Party from 22:00

Sunday, September 26

11:00 13.00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00
Doors open Skateboard Semi Finals Freeski Semi Finals FMX Semi Finals Snowboard Semi Finals Finals: snowboard, freeski, FMX, skateboard Prize-giving freestyle.champs
Label World open until 19:00 Bars and restaurants open until 19:00
* Subject to change

Obligatory FMX backflip shot.