Saas-Fee Freeskiing Competition

On the 19th of July some of the world’s top, best freeskiers competed in the Saas-Fee Ride 08 in the Allain Snow Park on the Saas-Fee Glacier itself.

The event was a complete success, with everyone having fun and it becoming aparent that the recent developments to the snow park have been worth it. Over the course of the last year the snow park has been move further up the glacier allowing space for the development of new jumps, kickers and more.

With riders showing an extreme amount of style and tweaking their tricks to the max, the event was amazing to watch and you will be able to download a video from the official Saas-Fee Freeskiing Competition website.

Boost Mobile Sno Sho

The Boost Mobile Sno Sho is all set to kick off this 2008 on Terrain Park in Perisher Blue’s Front Valley on Saturday, August 30^th. The Boost Mobile Sno Sho breaks away from the routine snowboarding events and encourages the world’s best snowboarders, extreme maneuvers, illuminating lights, longest rail slides and some intense audience action. Wildcard entry into the event is open to the public with registration going up on the 15th July on www.boostsnosho.com.au. The Wildcard event will be on Friday 29th August.

This will be the Sno Sho’s fourth year running, and they also currently hold the 3 star TTR badge. The Sno Sho comprises of many of the boost team riders including Max Cookes, Mitch Allan and Jye Kearney. Nineteen Australian and inernational invitees are a part of this massive show as well.

Some of the main events that have been scheduled for the August Sno Sho are the 100 metre World’s Longset Rail ‘Game Sho’ style snowboarding event, Big Air Gap and 27 set Stair Jam Rail. A total of 24 snowboarders will participate in these various events, inclusive of two wild-card entries. The winner will walk away with a handsome prize of $30,000 USD.

The Main Event will begin at 6.00 PM on August 30^th, 2008. The Main Event consists of two plays; the ‘World’s Longest Rail Slide’ and the ‘SNOSHO’. In play one, the rider that slides longest along the 100 metre and 75 metre rails will walk away with a cash prize of $10,000 USD. The current record-holder is Jasper Backer (58.5 metres), and even has a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

After plays one and two get over, there will be a ‘Jam Session’. This Jam Session will be 30 minutes long and allows the riders to choose from one of two courses; Big Air or Jam Rail. Within the time given, all 24 riders have to compete and try and fish out as many attempts as possible. The top two combined scores are taken, and the six highest-scoring riders will be taken into the Boost Sno Sho Finale.

The Finale will be filled with lots of entertainment and fun. The six riders will have to successfully complete five tricks, which will be selected from what is known as the ‘Sho Wheel’. If the rider successfully completes the given trick, he/she will receive a ‘thumbs up’ from the judges. Each successful trick will earn the rider a letter from the word ‘BOOST’. And the first rider to spell out B-O-O-S-T, will walk away with the huge $30,000 USD cash prize.

So we just have to wait a few more months until this ‘sho’ hits Perisher Blue.

World Rookie Fest

Swatch TTR came out with yet another successful snowboarding event; the 3-Star Völkl World Rookie Fest which once again showcased an assortment of snowboarding talent. The event took place just last weekend with Norwegian snowboarder Gjermund Braaten cruising away with first place. He received 550 TTR Ranking Points, giving him a TTR World ranking of 53 and also the title of World Rookie Champion 2008.

Braaten showcased impressive riding; awing the judges and crowd with a huge switch BS7 and a Cab 9. In addition to TTR ranking points and a world champion title, Braaten was also awarded with a ticket to the Nokia Air and Style rookie challenge in Munich, a trip to Canada for featuring in the next Pirate Movie Production, ‘Boarbegged’ and a ‘Fresh Meat’ profile in Method Snowboard Magazine.

This event was the last of the season adorned with a slopestyle set up with two kickers and several rails. The judges allotted scores to the riders based on a three-run format. The riders had to give an overall impression on both the kickers and rails.

Despite Braaten winning, the best trick was performed by Petja Piiroinen from Finland. His huge BS 7 on the 20 meter kicker was a visual treat. Italian rider Giorgio Ciancaleoni performed a series of 720s on the kickers, one of the most impressive rail tricks and a 270 on the kink, landing him in the second overall position among the male rookies.

A majority of the finalists walked home with prizes, despite not getting a winning position. They won tickets to the World Rookie Fest 2009 in Livigno. Dimi de Jong and Maria Delfina Maiocco, who were voted upon as the best male groms, received a Golden Card enabling them to join every World Rookie Fest of 2009 for free! Among the female rookies, Kari Maeland of Norway came out victorious with her TTR world ranking now being pushed up to 35.

So the World Rookie Fest 2008 finished things off with a bang!

Billabong Banked Slalom

At just 18 years of age, Australian World Cup snowboarder Alex “Chumpy” Pullin proved too quick for his opponents after claiming 1^st place in the Billabong Banked Slalom presented by Panasonic on Sunday, April 20^th 2008. The event took place on Mt. Hotham and is based on snowboarding events that took place in the 80’s and 90’s where all that mattered was who reached the bottom of the mountain first.

Pullin took strong control over the International field which consisted of over 100 snowboarders, all the way from the opening ride to the final event. He won the final ten man decider with a time of 51.80 seconds, earning him $2,000 USD and a Panasonic VDR D150 Digital video camera. The second and third place winners, Taan Robrhan (United States) and Clint Allan (Australia), followed close behind with times of 52.48 seconds and 52.58 seconds respectively.

Despite crashing in the first round and suffering from a grazed and bloodied face, Pullin managed to maintain his form throughout the competition. In a recent interview Pullin said, “I took a hit in qualifying when I caught an edge on one of the banks and fell flat on my chin. I tried not to let that affect my confidence and luckily I kept the momentum going right through to the final.” Pullin also added, “There were a few Olympic team members in this field so I respect a lot of these riders and acknowledge the history behind this event.”

In the women’s division, 21-year-old Stephanie Hickey (Australia) bagged first place with a time of 57.75 on Mt. Buller. Laura Williams (Australia) finished second with 57.77 seconds and Abi Bright (Australia) calimed third with 1:00.77 seconds. A very elated Hickey said, “The course was quite technical in parts and a bit slow in others but overall a wicked event. I love the whole concept of this format and I’ll be back next year for sure.”

So Australia shines once again after bringing to light an age-old snowboarding tradition of reaching the bottom of the mountain fastest!