World Event News

The organisers of the 2013-14 Freeride World Tour (FWT) have confirmed that the 2013-14 series will again be supported by spondors The North Face and Swatch and have six stops as last season, but start a little earlier.

The tour will start at Revelstoke Mountain Resort, CAN (Dec. 18, 2013) and then cross the Atlantic to Courmayeur, ITA (Jan. 18, 2014) and Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, FRA (Jan. 25, 2014). From there, the tour will continue in Europe at Fieberbrunn PillerseeTal, AUT (Feb. 1, 2014) before returning to North America at Kirkwood Mountain Resort (March 1, 2014). Each stop has a five to eight day weather window designed to provide optimal competition conditions.

After the Kirkwood stop an athlete cut will be made determining which riders will advance to the Swatch Xtreme Verbier by The North Face® (March 22, 2014) and compete to be the new Freeride World Champions.

In addition to top tier Freeride World Tour competitions, nearly 50 Freeride World Qualifier (FWQ) events ranging from one to five stars will take place around the world providing opportunities for talent to develop and emerge. The first FWQs will take place in the Southern Hemisphere in New Zealand and Chile this summer. Riders participating in FWQ events throughout the season will earn points, which could potentially advance them to the 2015 FWT.

"After the very successful 2013 edition of the newly unified Tour, both in terms of the level of the competition itself and the communication with an everyday growing audience for the sport, we are very excited to confirm our support to big mountain freeriding and the entire The North Face team is very much looking forward to a second edition that will surely bring us again amazing riding and new heights in engagement with the fans." said Eric Pansier, VP Marketing EMEA The North Face®.

www.freerideworldtour.com

Lift builders Doppelmayr will have completed 35 new lifts for the Sochi Olympics by October the Austrian-based company reports.

The company built 16 lifts for three resorts in the area between 2004 and 2010 but will have completed another 19 lifts this autumn. Most of the lifts are funitels and high capacity, high speed chairlifts. A further four lifts have already been ordered for construction after the Games.

Almost half (17) of the lifts are for the Rosa Khutor resort, another 14 for Laura/Psekhako (Gazprom) and the remainder for Alpika Service.

“Hundreds of contractors are simultaneously carrying out construction work for the Winter Olympics and strict security regulations have been put in place. This unusual situation has presented its particular logistical challenges,” said a Doppelmayr statement, confirming they are ‘up to the challenge.’

Saturday night saw the largest crowds of the week with the heart of Whistler village packed for the final event of the Monster Energy Shred Show: Snowboard Big Air.

Of the ten men who qualified for the finals earlier in the night, it was Canada’s Maxence Parrot who took the win with an impressive 96.50 for a near perfect backside Triple Cork 1440 Mute grab; and will be going home with $15000. Parrot who also placed 5th in Friday’s 5Star Slopestyle contest commented on his winning trick, “I was really surprised to stomp the triple the first try, I brought it around very fast but it was difficult.” said Parrot, “I am only use to doing it on a lot bigger jumps than this one.” He added. Parrot won a silver medal in Slopestyle at the 6Star X Games Aspen this past January as well as taking first place at the O’Neill Evolution Big Air the week before.



Standing next to Parrot on the podium was Kim Rune Hansen from Norway who executed an impressive switch backside double cork 1260 mute grab on his second run that scored a 93.25. Hansen took 3rd place at Austria’s 5Star Spring Battle last month. Rounding off the podium was Justin Morgan from the USA. Morgan scored a 90.25 for a switch backside double cork 1260 stalefish.

The 5Star Monster Energy Shred Show has come to and end and we look forward to seeing the sponsors, athletes and crowds in Whistler this time next year for what will surely be another spectacular showing of snowboarding talent.

Kim Rune Hansen: “The event was super sick this year and the jump was super nice, conditions were great, a little rain the speed was still consistent so everything was good.”

Justin Morgan: “I thought the jump was perfect, it was such a good jump for progression, all night everyone was having fun, I was having fun, it could not have been better. I got to say, I look forward to this event every year because this event is so big, the jumps are huge and the riders are so much fun to ride with, I love it.”

Maxence Parrot: “I think the event is great, Big Air is always a show, there is a good crowd, the music is right there which is pretty insane. The crowd is pretty nuts, they’re screaming, that is what makes the contest really fun. Big Air is always fun because you only have one hit so its all in, you give all you have. This being a 5Star event really gets all the pro riders here evolving the contest and making it harder, for me whistler is the best place ever, maybe in Canada.”

1. Maxence Parrot 96.50
2. Kim Rune Hansen 85.75
3. Justin Morgan 90.25
4. Sage Kotsenburg 87.00
5. Matts Kulisek 80.25
6. Carlos Gerber 79.25
7. Emil Ulsletten 77.00
8. Darcy Sharpe 62.50
9. Eric Willett 23.25
10. Nicholas Julius 12.75

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

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.”


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

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

After 7 spectacular stops at the World Rookie Tour 2013 all over Europe and the last one in Japan, now the grand final is now underway in Ischgl, Austria.

85 riders from 20 nations are already qualified and will fight for this year’s title. The Volkl World Rookie Final is the most awaited youth snowboard event of the season, also ranked as a 3* Slopestyle Event on the World Snowboard Tour. The event started with a sunny training day in a perfectly shaped Ischgl snowpark consisting of 3 big table top with kickers, a huge hip and a final multi-rail obstacle.The best rookies of the season will be awarded and many prizes are there to grab: for example 2 trips to Australia and an exclusive wildcard to the first Air & Style event of the next winter season.

World Rookie Champions in the past, like Peetu Piiroinen, Gjermund Braaten, Roope Tonteri and the upcoming snowboard star Yuki Kadono are today invited riders at international snowboard contests like the X-Games 2013 in Tignes and the Air & Style.

For the UK, Rowan Coultas is currently sitting in 14th on the overall World Rookie Rankings, with Natalie Silkstone in 45th.

www.worldrookietour.com
www.worldsnowboardfederation.org

The Verbier snowpark was once again home to the Park 9. The Park 9 is a freestyle skiing and snowboarding team event that takes on a golf theme. The way it works is that the fun park is transformed to look like a golf course with 9 holes consisting of a variety of kickers, rail lines and jibs. Each hole depending on its difficulty is given a par rating and the 4 person teams work their way around the course in search of pars, birdies, eagles and even double eagles. It's an original concept that has proved hugely successful and this year's event was once again to be a great success.



The competing teams provided a mixture of up and coming riders and seasonsed pro's such as Swedish snowboard legend Peter Strom, French skiers Tom Lesuire and Jessi Cornu and two time Park 9 winner Julian Ball. With the sun shinning and the Verbier park staff having built the ideal course with pristine kickers, rails and jibs all was perfectly primed for the event.

The qualifiers sees all the teams go through the course hole by hole with the aim to achieve the lowest team score to make it into the 4 team 3 hole play off final. From the start you could see that the standard was high with all the teams scoring well through the course.

The competing teams provided a mixture of up and coming riders and seasonsed pro's such as Swedish snowboard legend Peter Strom, French skiers Tom Lesuire and Jessi Cornu and two time Park 9 winner Julian Ball. With the sun shinning and the Verbier park staff having built the ideal course with pristine kickers, rails and jibs all was perfectly primed for the event.

Onto the rail line and once again the riders didn't disappoint putting on a display of technical rail riding that had the crowd cheering their approval.



With the rails completed it was back to the kicker for the grand finale with the team expression session. This provided the ultimate spectacle as the teams charged together all hitting the kicker in a train.

With the final jumps done and the scores totted up it was Ski Service who claimed victory by a single stroke. The Park 9 had once again been a huge success and we already look forward to next years event.

The Park 9 was made possible by the support of Verbier St-Bernard, Verbier Seasonaires, Verbier Sport Plus, Verbier snowpark, Le Farinet, Le Pub Mont Fort, Perfect Moment, Shyman, Planks and Ski Service.

We would also like to thank all the riders, judges and helpers.

[Photos by Charlotte Percle and Hakon Broder Lund. Words by Nick Southwell.]

For competitive snowboarding, 2013 has been a year for reminiscing and good times; from legends’ sessions at O’Neill Evolution and the historical 20th Anniversary of Air&Style, to a genuine retro look and feel etched all over the Burton European and US Open. We also saw legends like Gian Simmen saying goodbye to the competition scene and moving on to new chapters in their lives.

Why have we felt so nostalgic this season? It might have something to do with the insane amount of progression the sport is currently witnessing; but we would like to stop for a minute, catch our breath and take five from concerning ourselves with the future and dive deeper into the marvellous tale of snowboarding.

It’s a rich narrative, filled with some illustrious characters, such as Tom Sims and Jake Burton who wrote and starred on the first pages. It moves on, with adventurers and immortal heroes like Craig Kelly, Terje Haakonsen and Shaun White. And the story does not end there…

For competitive snowboarding, 2013 has been a year for reminiscing and good times; from legends’ sessions at O’Neill Evolution and the historical 20th Anniversary of Air&Style, to a genuine retro look and feel etched all over the Burton European and US Open. We also saw legends like Gian Simmen saying goodbye to the competition scene and moving on to new chapters in their lives.



Why have we felt so nostalgic this season? It might have something to do with the insane amount of progression the sport is currently witnessing; but we would like to stop for a minute, catch our breath and take five from concerning ourselves with the future and dive deeper into the marvellous tale of snowboarding.

It’s a rich narrative, filled with some illustrious characters, such as Tom Sims and Jake Burton who wrote and starred on the first pages. It moves on, with adventurers and immortal heroes like Craig Kelly, Terje Haakonsen and Shaun White. And the story does not end there…

We're out in Tignes right now and stuck in a hut in the middle of nowhere... Whitelines have done a great job "discussing" how Jamie Nicholls got a whopping 30 points lower than Torstein Horgmo’s run.

whitelines.mpora.com

It was a full day of Slopestyle competition here in Tignes France on the final day of X Games. The day started off with women's Slopestyle then moved straight into men's making it an action packed morning to bring the games to an end.

Norwegian rider Silje Norendal won X Games gold today, disrupting X Games Aspen 2013 gold medallist Jamie Anderson's attempt at a Tignes Women's Snowboard Slopestyle three-peat.

"I couldn't be happier," Norendal said, after the event. "[This] is such a good event for girls to progress and show what we really can do."

Norendal led after the first of three runs, then improved in her second run with technical rail tricks like a switch 50-50 to fronstide boardslide in the top section of the Jeep Slopestyle course and huge kicker tricks including a switch backside 540, a frontside rodeo 540 and a Cab 720, which Norendal says she landed for the first time ever in practice just before the competition.

"We saw a 10 today and so much progression it's just sick," Norendal said. "It's the whole atmosphere, everybody coming out here watching, really nice weather and a great course ... it's just a good combination of everything."

It was a big day for progression in women's slopestyle, with the UK's Aimee Fuller landing a double backflip and a Cab underflip tail grab and Sina Candrian attempting 1080s.

Anderson, the 2012 World Snowboard Tour Slopestyle Champion finished in second place with 85.66. Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas stepped onto the podium with an 82.66, bumping up from last place in her third run with a 50-50 to frontside 360 and a 50-50 tail press in the rails and a frontside 720, backside 540, and switch backside 540 in the jump line then a 50-50 to finish her run off. Buaas now adds a bronze medal to her collection, which also includes a silver medal from X Games Tignes 2010. "I'm stoked everyone is riding so good," Anderson said. "It's the best contest of the year."


Silje Norendal

For the men, it was a World Snowboard Tour Champion podium, with Sebastian Toutant, Mark McMorris and Peetu Piiroinen standing atop it.

Toutant led after the first of three runs, in his second run he landed the first clean triple cork of the competition as well as super-smooth rail work to earn him a score of 95. Toutant did a switch hardway backside 270 and a switch lipslide 270 out in the rail section then a cab 1260 double cork a flawless backside triple cork and frontside double cork on the jumps. On the bottom of the course he completed a lipslide to fakie and a cab 270.

"It wasn't my best season so far but I'm stoked to end up with a win here in France, stoked my backside triple cork worked out today, and stoked to ride with all my friends," Said Toutant.

He then had to watch as defending X Games Aspen Gold medallist and 2013 Slopestyle Tour Champion Mark McMorris take a good shot at grabbing it back from him. McMorris came extremely close with a score of 94.00 for a run that included a backside 270 on/270 out a cab 270 switch up to 270 out, then a cab double 1260 on the first jump then a backside triple cork and frontside double 1080 on the final jump. On the bottom rails he did a frontblunt 270 to frontside 270. But it wasn’t enough to knock Seb out of first place.


Seb Toots

"I was stoked for Seb already and he absolutely killed it," McMorris said. "It was my last slopestyle run of the year contest-wise, and to end it like that I'm happy. That's the way I wanted to ride and whatever happened happened."

Third place belonged to Peetu Piiroinen from Finland who was recently crowned with the prestigious title of World Snowboard Tour Overall Champion. Piiroinen's run consisted of backside 270 in 270 out to cab boardslide 270 his jumps were a switch backside cork 1080 a cab 1260 and a backside double cork 1080. To finish off his run he completed a smooth boardslide to fakie and a cab 270. Torstein Horgmo, the top qualifier from Thursday's elimination round, fell in Run 2 and injured his ankle and couldn’t make a third run.

The second day of competition here at the 6Star X Games Tignes, was blessed with perfect weather and perfect riding conditions. We saw the men's Slopestyle elimination's take place this morning and there is no doubt is was an incredible prelude of things to come in finals. With a course that riders have said was rail heavy and has smaller than usual jumps, it was still a tight battle to make the top 8 that would ultimately move onto finals. It was Norway's Torstein Horgmo who's first run scored the highest of the day with an impressive 92.00. Qualifying second was the 2013 World Snowboard Tour Slopestyle Champion Mark McMorris with 90.00 points and in third was the Tour's Big Air Champion, Sebastien Toutant with an 89.33. Another familiar name who will be fighting for a spot on tomorrows podium is Peetu Piiroinen, who was recently crowned the World Snowboard Tour Overall Champion. We will also be seeing Eric Willett, Gjermund Braaten, Sage Kotsenburg and Stale Sandbech.

But it was the event in the evening that brought out the largest crowed so far this week, Men's snowboard Halfpipe finals.

Louie Vito carried on his success from qualifiers and once again came out on top, but this time taking the gold in the 6Star finals. His third run consisted of a frontside double cork indy to a backside 540 melon to a frontside double cork 1080 indy to a cab double cork 1080 indy and a Frontside 1080 tail for his last hit, which scored him an impressive 92.66.

France's home town boy Arthur Longo was holding onto the top spot with his first run until Vito's final run which only scored Longo a mere .66 points ahead of the American. Longo's run consisted of a huge cab cork 1080 indy on the first hit to a frontside 900 to a backside 720 tail to a backside double cork 1080 and finally a very clean alley-oop backside rodeo 540 nose on the last hit.

The bronze went to Japan's Taku Hiraoka with a 86.00; his run consisted of a frontside cork 1080 tail on the first hit into a cab 1080 indy to a frontside 1080 to a backside 900 and frontside double cork indy with a butt check on the last hit.

At only 17 years of age he has accomplished a lot including a fourth place at the 6Star Arctic Challenge earlier this month. America's Scotty Lago was unable to land a run during tonight's competition and ended up not taking his third and final run due to a crash in his second.

Tomorrow promises more snowboard action with men's and women's Slopestyle finals bringing the snowboarding portion of the games here in Tignes to an end.

Louie Vito commented: "When I got my score I didn’t realize I had won because Arthur's run was so good. So I was very surprised and hope we can party tonight."

Men's Halfpipe Results

1. Louie Vito (USA) 92.66
2. Arthur Longo (FRA) 92.00
3. Taku Hiraoka (JAP) 86.00
4. Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI) 82.33
5. Luke Mitrani (USA) 80.00
6. Christian Haller (SUI) 43.33
7. Benji Farrow (USA) 30.00
8. Scotty Lago (USA) 12.66

www.worldsnowboardtour.com

It was a thrilling day for the snowboarding here at X Games Tignes; the first 6Star event on the 2013-2014 World Snowboard Tour calendar. With two days of practice behind us, it was Wednesday that the events kicked off. The weather made it a challenge this evening for both men's halfpipe eliminations and women's halfpipe finals; but even with the wind and snow that graced the Tignes halfpipe venue, the competition was still spectacular to watch.

The evening started off with men's eliminations and saw USA's Louie Vito qualifying first with a 90.66. His run included a powerful frontside Double 900 indy to a backside Rodeo 540 Melon to a frontside double 1080 indy to a cab Double 1080 indy and an ally oop indy 720 for his last hit in the pipe. Of the sixteen invited athletes only seven others would be seeing the lights of the pipe with Vito in the finals, familiar names such as Lago, Podladtchikov, Haller and Mitrani made the cut, as well as the World Snowboard Tour's 2013 Overall Champion Peetu Piiroinen from Finland. Although it was an important night for the men, the women's event is what the crowd was here to see.

With high winds and heavy snow accumulation in the pipe, the women battled to get onto the podium this evening and the U.S.A. was able to claim all three spots on the podium. With her 62nd career win it was the World Snowboard Tour's Halfpipe champion Kelly Clark who took gold with an 87.66. Her run consisted of her signature frontside 1080 indy, cab 720 mute-grab, frontside indy, backside 540 mute-grab and finally a frontside 540. This was Clark's second gold this season with her win at the 6Star X Games Aspen. Clark also recently won the 6Star Burton U.S. Open in Vail Colorado, claiming her 3rd World Snowboard Tour title here.



Kelly commented: "Tonight was a very challenging night, in the midst of the snowstorm…I was pleased with how I rode and got the win. It's great that at the last event of the season for us, we get that head start on the World Snowboard Tour for next season, it brings confidence. I was hoping to dig deeper into my bag of tricks tonight, but conditions didn't permit it. To me it was a great way to end winter and let's see what the next one will bring!"

It was the second time that Elena Hight has won silver this season, with her first at X Games Aspen where gain she stood next to clark and gain tonight. She received an 85 for a method air to a frontside 720 to a cab 720 to a frontside 900 and a backside 900 on her last hit. Even with the the lacklustre conditions "The halfpipe was awesome. Frank [Wells] and SPT did a really great job of building it." said Hight, "The wind and the snow were definitely a factor and I am just happy that I put down a run. I am so happy and I am stoked to end my season on a good note. I didn't do the run I wanted to do with conditions like this just to be able to land a run clean and I was able to land a front 9 which I haven't done all season in a contest so that feels good."

Arielle Gold won bronze with an 83, and was only her second X Games appearance; she recently won a bronze at the 6Star X Games Aspen earlier this year when competing as an alternate. Her Tignes run this evening consisted of method to a frontside 540 melon to a backside 540 mute-grab to a frontside 720 stale and a backside 720. "I am really excited about this" said Gold, "I think I might have been a little bit more excited in Aspen, just the vibe of being in my home state and everything. The weather was better so I was a bit happier with my riding there. Under the tricky circumstances I think it all went really well. I am stoked to be on the podium with these two amazing girls."

The 6Star, X Games Tignes continues tomorrow with Men's Halfpipe finals starting at 6:30pm CET.

www.worldsnowboardtour.com

GoPro, maker of the world’s most versatile camera and producer of today’s most engaging content returns to Tignes, France as the official camera sponsor of X Games Tignes, March 20-22, 2013. Teaming the HERO3 camera with its top athletes, GoPro will produce totally unique content only they can capture. Stay tuned to ESPN, Extreme Sports Channel and the GoPro Network to catch never before seen course previews, including Ski and Snowboard Pipe and Slopestyle leading up to the final days of competition.

GoPro will produce exclusive content for both online ESPN and Extreme Sports Channel television broadcasts including GoPro Course Previews, which will show viewers the competition from the athletes’ perspectives. The compact size and mount-anywhere design of the GoPro HERO3 camera enables ESPN, Extreme Sports Channel, and GoPro to visually immerse fans into the experience of the X Games like never before.

GoPro’s athletes competing in the 2013 European Winter X Games Tignes includes:

Snowboard

Eric Willett - Slopestyle
Iouri Podladchikov - SuperPipe
Hannah Teter – SuperPipe (alternate)
Sage Kotsenburg- Slopestyle
Jamie Anderson- Slopestyle

Ski

Grete Eliassen – Slopestyle (alternate)
Tom Wallisch - Slopestyle
Tanner Hall- SuperPipe (alternate)
Tucker Perkins- SuperPipe
Kaya Turski- Slopestyle

Be sure to stop by the GoPro Experience in Xfest for the 6pm daily giveaway where you’ll have the chance to win a new HERO3 Black Edition camera! Also meet and greet your favorite GoPro snow athletes during their signing sessions.

Check out never-before-seen content during X Games Tignes from the GoPro Network, viewable at www.GoPro.com, GoPro’s YouTube Channel and GoPro’s Facebook page.

Schedule

Wednesday 20th March 2013:

10:30 am - noon: Men's Ski Slopestyle eliminations

1:00 - 2:15 pm: Women's Ski Slopestyle final

6:30 - 8 pm: Men's Snowboard SuperPipe eliminations

8:30 -9:45 pm: Women's Snowboard SuperPipe final

Thursday, 21st March 2013:

10:30 am - noon: Men's Snowboard Slopestyle eliminations

1:00 - 2:15 pm: Men's Ski Slopestyle final

6:30 - 7:45 pm: Men's Snowboard SuperPipe final

8:30 - 10 pm: Men's Ski Ski SuperPipe eliminations

Friday, 22nd March 2013: 


10:30 am - noon: Men's Snowboard Slopestyle final

1:00 - 2:15 pm: Women's Snowboard Slopestyle final

6:30 - 7:45: Men's Ski SuperPipe final

8:30 - 9:45 pm: Women's Ski SuperPipe final

For competitive snowboarding, 2013 has been a year for reminiscing and good times; from legends’ sessions at O’Neill Evolution and the historical 20th Anniversary of Air&Style, to a genuine retro look and feel etched all over the Burton European and US Open. We also saw legends like Gian Simmen saying goodbye to the competition scene and moving on to new chapters in their lives.



Why have we felt so nostalgic this season? It might have something to do with the insane amount of progression the sport is currently witnessing; but we would like to stop for a minute, catch our breath and take five from concerning ourselves with the future and dive deeper into the marvellous tale of snowboarding.

It’s a rich narrative, filled with some illustrious characters, such as Tom Sims and Jake Burton who wrote and starred on the first pages. It moves on, with adventurers and immortal heroes like Craig Kelly, Terje Haakonsen and Shaun White. And the story does not end there…

Tough conditions descended upon Flachauwinkl’s AbsolutPark today, seizing the riders' opportunities to run finals in the World Snowboard Tour 5Star contest. But the event staff and riders evaluated throughout training and the first two runs of the day, and then unanimously decided that results would be taken from these 3 runs. The eight best riders were able to choose one of today's runs, to put up for the video judging event in the evening.

With these 8 runs counting for the video judging, it was Seppe Smits who took the win with his Backside 1080 Double Cork Nose Grab, taking 17.000 from the 50.000 USD prize purse, the handmade gold medal plus 850 World Snowboard Tour ranking points for the 2013-2014 season.

Seppe was followed by Swiss Carlos Gerber with a stylish Frontside Doublecork 1080° Double Grab in front of Norway’s Kim Rune Hansen. His fellow countryman Brage Richenberg missed the podium but saved himself rank four with his second run.

Seppe Smits commented: "It was great to win Spring Battle again, I didn't expect it, it was close I felt... But am stoked and read to party!"

Anthony Smits injured himself slightly in training and was therefore not able to compete.

Big highlight of the event was the live-video-judging with the following after party at Festsaal Flachau, where the final ranking was determined. The best run of each rider was prepared as a short video-edit to then be reviewed live by the judges in front of the eyes of the party crowd, a very exciting and spectacular way to crown a contest winner.

It's ony a few days until the first 6Star event of the new season, the X Games in Tignes, France. To follow the World Snowboard Tour 2013-2014 season visit: www.worldsnowboardtour.com


Seppe Smits

As one of the favourites for the final men's Halfpipe event of the season, The Arctic Challenge, Iouri Podladtchikov took home the win. Second sensation of the evening was Chinese Yiwei Zhang from Harbin, China. Landing his final 6Star event as 3rd on the podium, Ayumu Hirano casually picked up the trophy for his already awarded World Snowboard Tour Halfpipe title, happy as ever.

All but perfect conditions as 16-Year Old Ty Walker (USA) confirms her status as the Über rookie taking out the 22nd Edition of the NESCAFÉ CHAMPS building slopestyle points for the 2013-14 season.

Clean sweep of Woman’s Podium as American’s stamp their Authority

For the first time in it’s illustrious 22-Year history of the NESCAFÉ CHAMPS it was an American clean sweep of podium places in today’s Woman’s finals. Contribution points towards the 2013/14 Slopestyle and Overall titles, it was the 16-Year old Ty Walker who out powered compatriots Jordie Karlinski and yesterday’s Semi Final winner, Phoebe Novello to etch her name into the historical thread of Europe’s Oldest competition. Walker, who lead from the front, stomped a Frontside 50 50 to Backside 180 out to Half cab Mute air off the hip into Backside 540 Mute to Frontside 540 combo in the pipe to Backside 720 to tailslide to finish up. Touted as the future of Woman’s snowboarding, Ty Walker (USA) left nothing to the imagination as she powered to a well deserved victory.

Finland’s Janne Korpi holds off strong American Challenge

As if to order, bright sunshine greeted the men’s finals and the massive crowd who had congregated for the Men’s Finals at the “Place to Ride”. Switzerland’s rising stars, Pat Burgener and Max Buri looked in the running to place on the podium, however, the riding proved too hot as the finals moved towards their conclusion. With the American’s pressuring all the way to the line, it was the 2006 NESCAFÉ CHAMPS Champion, Janne Korpi (FIN) who slammed a Halfcab to 360 out, huge Backside 540 Mute to Frontside 1080 Tailgrab to Switch Backside 1080 of the kicker into a Cab to Frontside Boardslide to finish. Sailing the heroics of Janne Korpi, it would have been a clean sweep of the podium both Men and Women for Team America.



As a sign of respect for a fallen comrade, the Danny Lötschner memorial trophy went to Boris Mouton who places fourth demonstrating and respecting a long legacy of young talent who have won this award.

Simply better than the rest

With 5 Star World Snowboard Tour points for the 20013/2014 season in the bag, leaving Ty Walker (USA) and Janne Korpi (FIN) powering to the front of next season’s rankings, the celebrations leave the mountain and the ‘Place to Ride’, and head to the Village and head to the “Place to Be”. The snowboard celebrations meet live Art performance form Billy the Artist and live performances from Chinese Man, DJ Idem and JP.

www.nescafe-champs.ch

DC Shred Days is back for its third year! Gathering together the DC crew, media, International, European and national DC team riders to share a week on the snow. But for the first time ever, it's open to the public! You can come shred with DC, from the 3rd to the 5th of April at the famous DC AREA 43 Snowpark in Meribel-Mottaret. With demos in the snow park, freestyle fun, parties and a concert, it's the perfect chance to get your spring shred on alongside some of the worlds best.

www.meribel.net/shreddays

For competitive snowboarding, 2013 has been a year for reminiscing and good times; from legends’ sessions at O’Neill Evolution and the historical 20th Anniversary of Air&Style, to a genuine retro look and feel etched all over the Burton European and US Open. We also saw legends like Gian Simmen saying goodbye to the competition scene and moving on to new chapters in their lives.



Why have we felt so nostalgic this season? It might have something to do with the insane amount of progression the sport is currently witnessing; but we would like to stop for a minute, catch our breath and take five from concerning ourselves with the future and dive deeper into the marvellous tale of snowboarding.

It’s a rich narrative, filled with some illustrious characters, such as Tom Sims and Jake Burton who wrote and starred on the first pages. It moves on, with adventurers and immortal heroes like Craig Kelly, Terje Haakonsen and Shaun White. And the story does not end there…

www.worldsnowboardtour.com/historyofsnowboarding

The World Snowboard Tour 12/13 came to an end at the Arctic Challenge today, but at the same time the 5Star Nescafé Champs marked the first slopestyle event of the new 2013/14 season!

Men

1. Janne Korpi
2. Spencer Link
3. Scott Moline

Women

1. Ty Walker
2. Jordie Karlinski
3. Phoebe Novelle

Riders have the chance to stock up on World Snowboard Tour points in different disciplines early this season, giving them a head start before a packed winter schedule and the Olympics in Sochi, Russia is on the horizon.

With the 5Star Spring Battle in Flachauwinkl, Austria on next weekend, and the first 6Star event X Games Tignes from 20th until 22nd of March, the best action in snowboarding is guaranteed for spring.

www.worldsnowboardtour.com

At the final men’s Halfpipe event of the season, The Arctic Challenge, Peetu Piiroinen was crowned World Snowboard Tour Overall Champion in Oslo Vinterpark today. “It feels so incredible of course that I was still able to win the Overall title after Ståle got it last year. It’s just so hard nowadays, because the riding level in both slope and pipe is getting higher and higher. It’s a lot of work, if you want to be good in both disciplines. Ståle and I had a really good battle, unfortunately he didn’t make it to the final here at the Arctic Challenge, it would have been nice to battle it out till the end.” Peetu commented on his 4th World Snowboard Tour title.



After a steady season with 7 top 10 results and 2 podium places, Peetu beat his rival Ståle Sandbech, who had trouble with his flow in the first heat of the semi-finals. He couldn’t land as clean as we usually see him do in Pipe. Peetu came in 5th overall; he was surpassed by Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI), Chinese surprise Yiwei Zhang (CHN) and World Snowboard Tour Halfpipe Champion Ayumu Hirano (JPN).

www.worldsnowboardtour.com


Peetu Piiroinen

After an evening filled with outstanding riding, it was finally last year's World Champion Iouri Podlatchikov who won the Arctic Challenge title, ahead of Chinese Yiwei Zhang and the Japanese rising star Ayumu Hirano.


Iouri Podlatchikov

When Iouri "iPod" Podlatchikov returned to Oslo this week he was determent to defend his title as the World Champion, and so he did. His winning run was highly technical, combined with great hight and style consisting of a skyhigh frontside 900, followed by a backside 900 mute, frontside 1080 tailgrab and with the finale hit of a giant cab doublecork 1080 mutegrab, a run which gave him a total score of 90.2 points.

Ipod stated he was very happy to win, and spoke warmly of the superpipe in Oslo, "This is where I became World Champion one year ago and I have loved this pipe since the first day. My goal was to ride higher than last year, which I did, and that makes me very happy."

He describes the pipe; "The pipe is really awesome and I would like to do some more training here. It really has everything you need to improve as a pipe-rider."


Ayumu Hirano

Chinese wildcard surprised everyone with second place at the podium

The boy on everyone´s lips was obviously the Japanese shooting star Ayumu Hirano, however the Asian sensation of the evening was Chinese Yiwei Zhang from Harbin, China. With the next World Championships of Snowboarding moving from Oslo to Yabuli in 2016, Yiwei received a wildcard to ride the Arctic Challenge and fully exploited the opportunity to show his amazing ability here. With a very impressive final run consisting of a huge Backside Air to Frontside 1080 Double Cork Frontside Grab - Cab 1080 Double Cork Stalefish -Double Crippler Frontside Grab, he captivated the Vinterpark crowd.

Landing his final 6Star event on the podium, Ayumu Hirano casually picked up the trophy for his already awarded World Snowboard Tour Halfpipe title, happy as ever.

www.thearcticchallenge.com

The World Snowboard Tour meets up with Norwegian Stale Sandbech and Finn Peetu Piiroinen at the Arctic Challenge 2013 who share their thoughts about winning the prestigious event and their chance for the glorious Overall World Snowboard Tour Champion Title.

TTR Pro Snowboarding and WSF World Snowboard Federation announce host city of next World Championships of Snowboarding: Snowboarding and its lifestyle set to expand in China

After the great success of the first World Championships of Snowboarding (WCS) 2012 in Oslo, the next edition will take place in China’s most renowned winter sport resort Yabuli, in the Northeast of the country, between February 21 and March 13 2016, in the disciplines Slopestyle (F/M), Halfpipe (F/M) and for the first time, Big Air for men. TTR Pro Snowboarding and the World Snowboard Federation (WSF) announced this in conjunction with the 6Star event The Arctic Challenge in Oslo today. In a 12-month bidding process, Yabuli resort was able to convince TTR and WSF of its capability and commitment to realize the event in 2016. TTR and WSF are both the event's organizer and rights owners. Yabuli resort received a unanimous positive vote from the board members of TTR/WSF. The currently existing sportive, touristic and technical infrastructure in combination with the unsurpassed know-how of the World Snowboard Tour’s execution of Slopestyle, Halfpipe and Big Air events, will ensure optimal conditions for athletes, media and spectators on-site and worldwide.


Yabuli, China

Yabuli is China’s major winter sports resort. It is located in the north-eastern province of Heilongjiang, a two hour train ride away from the province capital of Harbin, a city of 3.5 million inhabitants, world famous for its annual ice sculpture festival. Thanks to its high snow reliability, Yabuli is blessed with a rich tradition in winter sports, especially considering that China is a country rather new to winter sports. Yabuli has all necessary facilities lined up for hosting the World Championships of Snowboarding, a vivid snowboarding community and substantial experience in hosting major international sport contests, such as Winter Universiade or World Cup events.

Reto Lamm, President of TTR Pro Snowboarding commented "The decision in favour of Yabuli in China represents a major step forward in our ambition to establish the World Championships of Snowboarding as the world´s most respected snowboarding contest and bring back full control over snowboarding to snowboarders. To have our next World Championships in China is a great chance for snowboarding and a great opportunity to develop one of the most promising growing winter sports markets. As WCS company, and in the name of TTR and WSF, it is important for us to spread the authentic spirit of snowboarding globally – to Yabuli and the Heilongjiang province, and beyond. I am very excited to see snowboarding’s youth lifestyle blend with Chinese culture and I am sure that the WCS 2016 will become a great showcase event for our sport.

"Snowboarding has changed winter sports and the youth’s lifestyle around the globe massively and in a positive way over the years. We are aiming to continue that journey in China and other countries still new to the sport. We feel that Yabuli is the best spot in China to start this venture."

Marco Sampaoli, President of World Snowboard Federation commented "The second edition of the World Championships of Snowboarding will showcase the full spectrum of contemporary freestyle snowboarding at the highest competitive level, also by adding the Big Air discipline. It will be amazing to watch the best riders of our times pushing the limits even further in Slopestyle, Halfpipe and Big Air. Every rider coming from all around the world to China’s northeast will undoubtedly have a memorable experience. We expect riders from at least 20 countries to make their way to the World Championships. Yabuli winter sports resort’s topography, as well as the enthusiasm and commitment of the responsible people at Yabuli and in the government of Heilongjiang province will make for an awesome Snowboarding Championship environment."

Mr Zhou Yi Yun, General Manager of Yabuli Resort: "We have full confidence that our skill and enthusiasm, combined with the guidance and assistance of TTR and WSF will result in a splendid event in 2016. We would like to say welcome to all the riders, snowboarding fans and everyone present today, to come to Yabuli and witness this great event."

Chas Guldemond, World Champion Slopestyle 2012 and Member of the TTR Pro Snowboarding Board, commented "I am very excited to go to the WCS in Yabuli! Not only do I get to defend my Slopestyle title, but I can help push the sport of snowboarding in China in a major way. Snowboarding is growing really fast in China. I was able to witness that myself, when I visited for the 3rd edition of Oakley Air & Style in Beijing. With that experience in mind, I don’t see any better place to have the WCS than Yabuli. They have the terrain, support, and are very eager to show this awesome sport to Chinese youth and the rest of the world!"

Jamie popped this up on to his blog yesterday.

Here is my 2nd Run that got me 5th at the US Open this year in Vail. It was my first US Open and stoked to have done well, also it was the first time held in Vail too.

I thought that the whole event was amazing and super good fun! The Burton guys and SPT did a great job on the course and I really enjoyed it. Hope I get invited back next year ;-) So here you go… Check it out below!

Jamie Nicholls Slopestyle Run2 USO 2013 from www.jamienichollsuk.com on Vimeo.