There's Still Snow?

It's starting to warm up and the snow across the US is melting. The season on the east coast is just about done and the only things left to do are pond skim, slash slushy snow, grass skim, and enjoy the few days on snow where ice is not an issue. However, in other parts of the world the season is far from over. In California, the bros are riding strong and the farther north you go the better it gets. Mammoth mountain will be open till the 4th of July!! and as usual, mount hood will be reppin' the strong summer shred scene with High Cascade Snowboard Camp and Windells both in full swing all through the warm months.

A few days ago Chris Bradshaw was killin' it at Snow Summit.

Antti Autti, who spent much of the season out after injuring himself training for the Olympics, is was also riding some local spots near his house in Finland. Unlike anywhere in the US, Finland has fresh pow!! Although Finland is normally thought of as a small block of icy hills, Autti put in a good name for his homeland calling it "almost like in Japan...perfect."

Antti in Pyhä Finland from Anttisworld on Vimeo.

TTR World Tour

The Burton US Open took place a few days go in Stratton, Vermont. It was basically the end of the contest season for the 2009-2010, and it was the final event on the Swatch TTR World Tour. Although Peetu Piiroinen already clinched the title as tour winner for the year, both the slopestyle and halfpipe contests showcased some of the best riding we've seen all year. In the pipe it was all Kazuhiro Kokubo. Louie Vito and Iouri Podladtchnikov got second and third. Althought he was supposed to compete, Shaun White was not feeling well and opted out.

Over on the jumps Mikkel Bang put on a show and a half. His run was perfection. Simply put. Ulrik Badertscher's double frontflip off the cannon got him a silver medal and Canadian young gun Sebastian Toutant got third. Also worth mentioning is the fourth place finisher Stale Sandbech who normally doesn't place tremendously well, but is still an insanely good rider, especially because he's 16!

The US Open also had a sick rail jam with an insane setup. It reminded me a lot of a skate park, and there were definitely many different options. It had everything from rails to quarter pipes to things I don't even know the name of!

European X Games

2010 was the inaugural year for the European X Games in Tignes, France. There were eight events, snowboard and ski slopestyle and halfpipe for both the men and the women. Overall the event was a huge success. Although there were some big names missing from the competition, the biggest of them being Shaun White, there was still a solid crew of riders who threw down throughout the entire competition. Snowboard slopestyle featured a grueling corse that seemed to last forever. In total there were eight features on the course, six of which were jumps. In the qualification rounds speed was a huge issue and some of the riders had a lot of trouble clearing the jumps. Along with some others that probably would have otherwise made it into the finals, Halldor Helgason missed out because he simply couldn't get enough speed to clear the jumps. In the finals judging was a huge problem as run after run left Stephan Mauer in first place. This was despite the fact that he had not done a very technical run and had skipped a feature. But, in the end, the judges came through, in the later rounds, and awarded Eric Willett the gold, Sage Kotsenburg the silver, and Marco Grilc the bronze.

Here is a link to Eric Willett's winning run. For some reason youtube wouldn't let me embed the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcw2XWlI3mk

In the pipe it was all Iouri Podlatchnikov, or I-Pod. He put down a sick run to take Matthew Crepel out of the top spot. What did it for him was a double mctwist 1260. I-Pod is the first snowboarder to learn this trick since Shaun White invented it. Personally, I think I-Pod does is better, because he put his in the middle of his run and landed it as cleanly as a straight air. The judges rewarded him for it with the highest score in Winter X Games history, a 98.00. Louie Vito put down a sick run but it wasn't enough to put him any higher than third.

Here's I-Pod's winning run. Sorry again for the embedding problems.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvpo4szSbhM

Next week is the Burton US Open in Vermont. It is the last major even of the season and ALL the big names in the sport should be there!

Shaun White

Today I don't have much to talk about so I thought I'd address the sport's most famous athlete, Shaun White. Before I start I want to put it out there that I DO respect Shaun White for doing what he has for the sport of snowboarding, both by inventing tricks and getting more publicity into the sport. However, there is a lot that he does that I do not like. First and foremost, he is not a snowboarder's snowboarder. He seems to care more about his individual progress and success than he does about the progression of the sport as a whole. I say this because, as many of you know, he had a private pipe built for him last year in the middle of nowhere, Colorado. But, he did not share the pipe with any other fellow snowboarders and he hid is new tricks, double corks, from the rest of the field for a long time. On the other hand Kevin Pearce, a true snowboarder's snowboarder, had a private pipe built and shared it with a number of other snowboarders. Snowboarding is not like figure skating where everything is competitive, people are meant to progress together and have fun doing it. The only competition that should happen is at the actual events, aside from that, everyone should be riding together trying to get better as a group. Also, I understand that being the prodigy that he was, some arrogance must have gotten to Shaun White's head. But he acts as though he is the only good snowboarder out there, when in fact that could not be farther from the truth. There are plenty of other snowboarders out there who I believe to be as good as him or better than him in their own events. Travis Rice, for example, is a far better all around rider because, he can ride ANYTHING. Eiki Helgason is a far better rail rider than White, and Torstein Horgmo, or Halldor Helgason could easily beat Shaun in a slopestyle competition. I think that as a pipe rider few can beat Shaun but if you were to put him in the back country he would not fare as well. Lastly, although this is not a REAL knock on Shaun, when he does his tricks he tends to do easy grabs. This is not to say that what he is doing is not hard, because it is ridiculous. All I am saying is that when Shaun White does a double cork he grabs is toes, when Danny Davis does a double cork he grabs his tail. What Davis does is exponentially harder, not to mention the fact that it looks a lot better. All this is not to say that a I dont respect Shaun as a snowboarder, I'm just saying that there is a lot he does that I don't like.

Oakley Arctic Challenge Final Recap

Contrary to what I had previously thought, there was only a slopestyle event at this year's Oakley Arctic Challenge. However, I'm glad that's how it went because, to be honest, I don't think the world could handle any sicker of an event. Peetu Piiroinen took gold, Torstein Horgmo took silver, and Mikkel Bang took bronze.

Here is the much awaited recap video of the finals. The riding level was insane, and the course was just as progressive. Even Terje was hanging out.

Oakley Arctic Challenge Update

Today was the last day of the Oakley Arctic Challenge. S**t went down!! Slopestyle was a huge success with some of the biggest names in the sport throwing down. Finland's Peetu Piiroinen captured first and solidified his spot as Swatch TTR (Ticket To Ride) world tour leader. With his win at the Arctic Challenge he guaranteed himself a spot atop the podium two weeks from now at the US Open in Vermont, when the Swatch TTR awards are given out. Biting at his heals were Norwegian powerhouses Torstein Horgmo and Mikkel Bang who took silver and bronze in the event.

Here is a video from the qualification rounds. As soon as more videos of the finals become available they will be here.

Also, coming up in a few days are the first ever European Winter X Games. Starting March 10th, many of the same athletes that compete in the famous Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado will being do it all over again in Tignes, France. It will be a three day event showcasing snowboard and skiing slopestyle and halfpipe events.

Lago's Parade/Kevin Pearce

As many of you know, Scotty Lago won the bronze medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in snowboard halfpipe. What many of you also know is that he was kicked out of the Olympic village and told that he could not attend the closing ceremonies; all because of a semi provocative picture, taken with a reporter at a party biting his medal. What the US Olympic authorities took issue with is the fact that he was wearing a US snowboard team shirt at the time the picture was taken. What? Anyway he has been getting a lot of press lately, not just in the snowboarding world but on a broader scale as well. It's really good to see a true snowboarder's snowboarder getting some press lately. To be honest I'm so sick of Shaun White. Here's Lago on The Jimmy Kimmel Show. Hey he even got his own closing ceremonies!

Lago also got his very own parade in his hometown of Seabrook, NH on the ice coast, I mean east coast.

In other news Kevin Pearce, who was injured in late December trying a cab double cork training for the Olympics in Park City, is doing much better in his recovery at Craig Hospital. The first photo of Kevin since his accident was released a few days ago but because of copyright reasons we can't show that here. In the photo he looks very well and is with his family. He is able to walk and talk and the problems that he was having with short term memory are improving. The photo can be seen on snowfix.tv. Also, check out Kevin's Facebook support group: Well Wishes To Out Frend Kevin Pearce. Get well soon Kevin!!

Oakley Arctic Challenge

Dew Tour is done, X Games are done, Olympics are done, and most pro snowboarder have run for the hills of Whistler, Alaska, and the streets of cities all around the world to film their video parts in next season's movies. However, March 6th and 7th the Oakley Arctic Challenge will bring together some of the best riders in the world in Norway. This year's contest will be especially exciting, because for the first time in many years a slopestyle event will be part of the competition. This is in addition to the famed quarter pipe event that we all know and love. The rider list this year looks killer with a strong set of veterans coupled with a fair share of young guns looking to make a name for themselves on a world wide snowboarding stage. For many of the riders attending this event it means more than almost any other contest this year. The event was founded by the Godfather of snowboarding, Terje Haakonsen.

The slopestyle course looks sick. It's got a bunch of booters but is also very jib friendly as well. It also features a unique butter box, much like the one at X Games 13.

Some of the big names that are going to be competing are:

-Risto Mattila

-Peeto Piiroinen

-Arthur Longo

-Antti Autti

-Heikki Sorsa

-Mikkel Bang

-Torstein Horgmo

-Eero Ettala

-Chas Guldemond

-Marco Grilc

There is also a strong contingent of young guns and rookies that have been riding very strongly all year:

-Stale Sandbech

-Sage Kotsenburg

-Eric Willet

Tyler Flanagan was also invited, but has since been injured and has opted out of the competition. In addition to the riders mentioned above, a number of other amazing snowboarders will be joining them in the slopestyle and quarter pipe events.

Here are some highlights from last year's quarter pipe event where Arthur Longo took gold.

Sunday In The Park

If you don't know who Scotty Stevens is, this video will tell you all you need to know. What's sad is he's not even trying! One footed madness, that's all I have to say.

SIA 2010

The 2009-2010 snowboard season isn't even over yet and people are already going crazy for next season's gear...and frankly I don't blame them. The SIA trade show in Denver lived up to the hype by showcasing 2010-2012 season snowboards, boots, bindings, outerwear, goggles, gloves, and anything else the mind can dream up.

Without further ado, I give to you anything and everything that I could get my hands on concerning the trade show. Kick back, relax, and start saving money because after you see what you're going to be rocking next year you'll be itching to start your summer job.

Burton:

DC:

Lib Tech/GNU:

Rome SDS:

Ride Snowboards:

Capita:

Union Bindings:

Anon:

Smith:

Grenade Gloves:

Hopefully soon we'll have some more gear to look at. Right now, many brands aren't showing their entire lines. As soon as they are available they will be here!

Some stuff to look out for:

-DC has upgraded their entire board line this year. From what I hear the 2011 boards should be super lightweight and a lot more durable than last year. They also did a cool collaboration with Neff Headwear to make a DC x Neff colab board. It is the board Torstein Horgmo has been riding a lot this year so you know it's legit! I'm not sure if it will be available to the public though.

-Lib Tech and Never Summer are on to something! Many companies are starting to make boards with not only reverse camber, but with reverse camber and camber. The same tech on C2 power banana from Lib Tech is being used on a bunch of different boards this year. Magnetraction is also big, Capita is taking some ideas from there, as are many other brands, by introducing contact points on the board between the feet.

Happy Shredding!! Enjoy it while it lasts!!