Snowboardcanada.com - News

What's the gnarliest thing you've done to go snowboarding? Confess to win a full setup from DC

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:44:00 -0400

Snowboarding is a hell of a drug. That's why Snowboard Canada wants to know the gnarliest thing you've done to get your shred fix. Steal your parent’s car? Told your boss to shove it? Confess and DC will get one lucky shred fiend fitted with a full setup. Post answers on the www.facebook.com/SnowboardCanada wall, or on Twitter. Twitter responses must include both the @dcsnowcan and @snowboardcanada twitter handles to be eligible to win (Can send multiple tweets if necessary). Select answers and the winner will be published in 2010 Fall issue of Snowboard Canada.

Here's a taste of what you could win.

Billabong Bro Down takes over Snow Park, NZ this weekend

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:11:00 -0400

Snow Park, NZ -- The skies are clearing at Snow Park NZ in anticipation of the TTR Billabong Bro Down this weekend. The event will kick off on Friday 10th September with Big Air Practise for all the heavy hitters and the Von Zipper Rail Shred later that afternoon. On Saturday 11th the main event will take place on the 70ft table of the Snow Park triple line.A host of International and local riders will converge for the final major event of the NZ winter season.

The Billabong Bro Down Big Air is also amongst the first on the TTR World Tour, holding a 3Star ranking leading into the 2010/11 international tour.Confirmed riders so far are Kiwi Olympian James Hamilton, Joram Makuru (NZ) and local ripper Shelley Gotlieb (NZ), alongside them will be international riders Robbie Walker (AUS), Clint Allan (AUS), Scotty James (AUS), Seppe Smits (BEL) and young gun Seamus O’Connor (USA) to name a few. In true ‘Bro Down’ style, this year there will also be a pre-event party held at Revolver bar in Queenstown on Wednesday 8th September featuring Australian band ‘Art vs. Science’ and some of NZ’s top skateboarders will be shredding the mini-ramp on site earlier in the evening.

The Von Zipper Rail Shred, set to be held on Friday September 10th on the Snow Park stair-set will be an open jam format where junior men and women (Under 18), senior women and senior men will throw down for serious prizes including flights, cash and product. The Billabong Bro Down Big Air on Saturday 11th will feature the top Open Men and Women putting it all on the line for $10,000 NZD cash and Sony product which will be followed by the legendary Bro Down After Party at The Woolshed featuring NZ group ‘Kids in Space’ and top local DJ’s. The Billabong Bro Down pres. by SONY is also supported by Monster, Von Zipper, Pacific Blue, NZ Pure and Snow Park.

Entries are available here.

Andrew Hardingham cast in Steed Lord music video

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:18:00 -0400

And Hardingham moves one step closer to an acting career.

According to Steed Lord the idea for this video was born at a WeSC photo shoot last spring in L.A. when WeSC Activists Steed Lord and Andrew Hardingham bonded on an air pumping bass level and decided to make a music video together. A few weeks later Andrew flew into L.A. to shoot for two days with Steed Lord.

One Good Reason is the taken from Steed Lord's upcoming album Heart II Heart.

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F’ It world premiere and movie tour announced

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:13:00 -0400

Special Blend, Forum and Foursquare are pleased to announce the world premiere of their latest feature film F’ It, and the start of this year’s Global Tour. Starring John Jackson, Stevie Bell, Nic Sauve, Jake Welch, Niko Cioffi, Cameron Pierce, Austen Sweetin and The Youngbloods, and co-starring Peter Line, Pat Moore, Andreas Wiig and Daniel Ek. Canadian dates are in blue:

North America

September 9: Newport Beach, CA at the Lido Theater with Peter Line, Pat Moore, John Jackson, Jake Welch, Stevie Bell, Nic Sauve, Andreas Wiig, Daniel Ek, Cameron Pierce, Niko Cioffi, Austen Sweetin, Alek Oestreng, and Rusty Ockenden.

October 14: Minneapolis, MN at the Suburban World Theater with Stevie Bell, Cameron Pierce, Jake Welch, Austen Sweetin, and Peter Line.

October 14: Toronto, ON (CAN) at the Underground Cinema with Nic Sauve, Pat Moore, John Jackson, Andreas Wiig, and Niko Cioffi.

October 15: Salt Lake City, UT at the Gateway Megaplex Theater with Stevie Bell, Cameron Pierce, Jake Welch, Austen Sweetin, and Peter Line.

October 15: Montreal, QC (CAN) at the 1234 Club with Nic Sauve, Pat Moore, John Jackson, Andreas Wiig, and Niko Cioffi.

October 16: Portland, OR at the Willamette Riverfront Warehouse with Stevie Bell, Cameron Pierce, Jake Welch, Austen Sweetin, and Peter Line.

October 16: New York City, NY at the Red Bull Space with Nic Sauve, Pat Moore, John Jackson, Andreas Wiig, and Niko Cioffi.

October 21: Denver, CO at the Bluebird Theater with Cameron Pierce, John Jackson, Stevie Bell, Andreas Wiig, and Pat Moore.

October 21: Vancouver, BC (CAN) at the Forum Sports Bar with Peter Line, Niko Cioffi, Nic Sauve, Jake Welch, and Austen Sweetin.

October 22: Boone, NC at the Appalachian State University with Cameron Pierce, John Jackson, Stevie Bell, Andreas Wiig, and Pat Moore.

October 22: Calgary, AB (CAN) at the Plaza Theater with Peter Line, Niko Cioffi, Nic Sauve, Jake Welch, and Austen Sweetin.

October 23: Portsmouth, NH at the Portsmouth Music Hall with Cameron Pierce, Stevie Bell, Andreas Wiig, and Pat Moore.

October 23: Reno, NV at the Grand Sierra Resort - Xtreme Bar with John Jackson, Peter Line, Niko Cioffi, Nic Sauve, Jake Welch, and Austen Sweetin.

Europe

September 23: Innsbruck, AUT at the Weekender Club with John Jackson, Nic Sauve, Daniel Ek, and Alek Oestreng.

September 24: Verona, ITA at (TBA) with John Jackson, Nic Sauve, Daniel Ek, and Alek Oestreng.

September 25: Freestyle (Zurich), CHE at Cocuna with Andreas Wiig, John Jackson, Nic Sauve, Daniel Ek, and Alek Oestreng.

September 27: Lyon, FRA at Le Voxx Bar with Andreas Wiig, John Jackson, Nic Sauve, Daniel Ek, and Alek Oestreng.

September 28: Barcelona, ESP at Club Mondo with Andreas Wiig, John Jackson, Nic Sauve, Daniel Ek, and Alek Oestreng.

September 30: London, GBR at The Grand Union Bar with Andreas Wiig, John Jackson, Nic Sauve, Daniel Ek, and Alek Oestreng.

October 1: Amsterdam, NLD at the Winston Kingdom with Andreas Wiig, John Jackson, Nic Sauve, Daniel Ek, and Alek Oestreng.

October 2: Munich, DEU at Puerto Giesing with Andreas Wiig, John Jackson, Nic Sauve, Daniel Ek, and Alek Oestreng.

For more information and complete coverage from the tour, go to www.special-blend.com, www.forumsnowboards.com and www.foursquareouterwear.com.

McMorris Wins Stylewars Rail Jam, Toots Takes Best Trick

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:16:00 -0400

Continued heavy snowfall in Falls Creek, Australia caused the cancellation of the Stylewars slopestyle event, but the nighttime rail jam on the final day carried on despite the storm.

Of the 25 invited riders TTR leader Gjermund Bratten, Americans Jeremy Thompson and Ian Thorley, and Quebec’s Matts Kulisek stood out with solid riding. But it was Mark McMorris and and Seb Toots who stole the show. Toots was defending his title of 2009 Stylewars Stairmaster.

In the end the judges bestowed the title of Stairmaster on McMorris. Toots won the best trick with a gap to Switch Hardway Bs 270 on the kink rail.

Results

Stylewars stairmaster — Mark McMorris ($5000)

Best Trick — Seb Toots ($1500)

Best Aussie Rider Jye Kearney ($1500 and a custom made surfboard)

Endeavor launches newly revamped site

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:24:00 -0400

Vancouver, B.C. -- As Endeavor Snowboards embarks on its eighth year of business, a revamped website at www.endeavorsnowboards.com exhibits why this board brand is Canadian snowboarding. Interactivity features foremost with product knowledge videos for all boards and bindings, presented by Max Jenke, Endeavor Snowboards founder; a complete archive of all artists whose work has been used in collaborations; and the constantly updated, and always entertaining, athlete and founder blog roll.

“This new website lets Endeavor's present and future champions truly experience our brand,” says Endeavor founder, Jenke. “The product knowledge videos were produced by Randy Ross and not only provide technical information but also interviews with the artists so you can get the back story on their inspirations as well as check out amazing footage of our riders testing the product.”

The site has all the details on Endeavor's biggest and best line-up of boards to date for the winter season 2010.2011. A quick browse reveals wood ranging from their premium directional freestyle Board of Directors series emblazoned with the work of artist Vince Chan; to the High5, a unique freestyle board with Rob Dow's skate-style flat kicks boasting the cosmonaut inspired “degenerative art” of Derek Stenning.

The team section showcases Endeavor's impressive rider line-up including Pro and Am categories, as well as their Ambassador Team. One of their ambassadors is Daryl Trinidad, Spy Optic's Canadian Marketing Manager.

"I have been supporting Endeavor Snowboards since it's beginnings in 2002 when I lived with Max Jenke and Scott Serfas in a Whistler bunker known as 'Man Camp.' I have seen the brand grow from one man's pipe dream, all the way to the legit company it is today,” says Trini. “What is most appealing to me about Endeavor is their design and quality. I feel this is widely due to the fact Endeavor is created by actual snowboarders. Their ability to tap into, and blend, relevant culture into their designs is like no other board brand out there. I also take pride in knowing I ride the last true Canadian snowboard company in existence. It is an honour to be part of their ambassador team. This year I will be riding the High5 155. It has an astronaut on it. It's as though the graphic is foreshadowing how high I will be going off jumps this year. I may indeed need a space suit.”

Riders can happily bide their time for winter 2010.2011 to arrive at www.endeavorsnowboards.com and peruse amazing photography by TransWorld SNOWboarding's senior photographer and Endeavor founder Scott Serfas. Stay even more connected with an RSS feed and follow Endeavor on Twitter @maxjenke and at www.facebook.com.

Snowboard Canada 2011 Buyers’ Guide Issue Out Now

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:08:00 -0400

The new Buyers' Guide issue of Snowboard Canada is in the hands of subscribers right now and on stands early next week. Here's a look at what's inside.

On The Cover On an Alterna trip to Aspen, Colorado last season, photographer Jussi Grznar put some serious trust in Chris Rasman by strapping a week-old $4,000-camera to his hand before sending him off a 60-footer for this shot. “Rasman stomped every single hit and I was never happier to get my camera back,” says Jussi.

Inside This Issue:

2011 Buyers’ Guide 32 pages of boards, boots, bindings and more. Plus 36 pros help you find the setup that’s best for you.

Export Eh: Like some of the country’s biggest bands, Canadians Devun Walsh, Chris Dufficy, Annie Boulanger, L.N.P. and Simon Chamberlain have gone from the local scene to the world stage. Thankfully, none of them have Chad Kroeger mouth-donuts.

Ben Bilocq: Silent Killer We’re not sure how Jess Kimura got Ben Bilocq to talk for this interview, but we think it had something to do with a threatening trip to the tanning salon.

Steve Cartwright: Easy style “Dude, grooming is definitely important to the ladies. If the bushes start overtaking the tree you need to start clearing the jungle. Plus, it makes your penis look bigger.”

Dude Ranch Days after the Olympics, we jolt Jeff Batchelor, Brad Martin and Jesmond Dubeau out of their element for a backcountry retreat at Powder Cowboy, B.C.

What’s online at Snowboardcanada.com

The 2011 Buyer’s Guide just like in the magazine, only digital

Like us / Follow us to win!

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter, where every week for 15 weeks starting September 1st, we’ll be picking a random follower/fan to win a pair of Sony PIIQ Headphones. Winners will only be notified through social media.

Best Contest Ever: Win Andrew Geeves’ Gear

Andrew Geeves is part of the new wave of Canadian riders flooding the international scene. Over the past three years Geeves produced back-to-back openers in Sandbox’s Wear It Well and All Day Everyday followed by a part in Standard’s Black Winter. In 2009 he generated enough media coverage to crack the top 50 of Transworld’s Exposure Meter. You might expect a 20-year-old in his position to be straight ballin’ out of control in Whistler. Instead Geeves moved into a house his parents bought in a remote B.C. town where snowmobiles provide the only winter access (okay, he still gets tipsy now and then, or as he would call it, “getting rock lobstered”). His plan is to follow in the sled tracks of legends Johan Olofsson and Alan Clark, who bought property next door several years earlier to live with the backcountry at their doorstep. The decision is ballsy for someone on the come up, but true to what he plans to do—carve his own path. Follow the jump to win.

Video: Stylewars Day Two

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:07:00 -0400

Bad weather is still putting a hold on the Stylewars Slopestyle competition and the riders are getting antsy. Here's a look at what they're doing in their down time and practice for the 28 stair rail jam.

Style Wars 2010 Waiting To Go Off

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:40:00 -0400

In 2002 the Style Wars slopestyle and rail jam was conceived to bring new life to the Australian snowboard scene. Since the beginning organizers have focused on creating the best possible park in Fall Creek resort. Over the years park builders such as Mike Gershner and Sam Poffley from Mammoth and SBC’s own senior photographer Jeff Patterson have been called in to push up the features. This year Style Wars organizers claim the setup is “the best competition park ever built in Australia.”

Unfortunately the first two days of the competition this year have been lost due to bad weather. The contest, held between August 22 to 25, features a relaxed format. Riders have an hour to warm up before judged runs between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. A BBQ wraps up the day followed live bands, Calling All Cars, Bag Raiders, Space Invadas, Katalyst, and DJ Danielsan.

$7000 is awarded to the over all Grand Master as chosen by the judges and rider vote.

$5000 is awarded to the Stair Master, winner of the 28 stair rail jam.

$1500 is awarded for best trick at the slopestyle and rail jam.

There’s a heavy contingent of Canadian’ at Style Wars including the winner of last years slopestyle Seb Toots. Others include Mark McMorris, Charles Reid and Matts Kulisek.

Full Rider List

Mark McMorris		Canada
Sebastien Toutant		Canada
Eric Willett		USA
Kevin Backstrom		Sweden
Matts Kulisek		Canada
Charles Reid		Canada
Ryan Tiene		Australia
Robbie Walker		Australia
Chris Kroll		Austria
Michael Stanschitz		Austria
Herby Thaler		Austria
Jye Kearney		Australia
Clint Allan		Australia
Chris De Campo		Australia
Tor Lundstrom		Sweden
Jacob Koia		New Zealand
Andy Lloyd		Australia
Jeremy Thompson		USA
Ian Thorley		USA
Marco Grilc		Slovina

Follow the jump to www.stylewars.com.au for more.

Samm Denena Takes Third At FIS World Junior Championships Slopestyle

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:44:00 -0400

The sky was angry. As the flags tilted in the gale force wind, and the snow squalls bounced the hood off coach Jesse Fulton’s face he was heard to mutter, “F$@k this place.” But then the sun came out and the Junior World Championships slopestyle went off. 25 countries sent over 90 competitors. Coaches Jesse Fulton and Ben Wainwright led the Canadians.

"I’m stoked to work with Ben and were having a ball," said Fulton. "It’s a challenge to work with riders that you have never worked with, but I guess we conquered that, eh.”

Since it was difficult to see the course at the start of the event Fulton and Wainwright worked with radios. It was entertaining to watch Fulton run between the course start and the first jump, in order to consult the riders.

“The highlight of my day was watching Fulton’s fat ass run up and down that hill,” said Wainwright. “He was struggling at the end and that made it even more enjoyable.”

Newly appointed high performance director Bob Joncas, better known as Lebob, was on site to support. When Trevor Niblet cleared the last jump on a 720 Chicken Wing, landing face first Lebob was there to give him a ride to the hospital.

The Canadian riders list included Trevor Niblett, Derek Livingston, Julien Beaulieu, Jeremy Page, Samm Denena and Victoria Marshall. Only Beaulieu and Denena made the finals.

Trevor Niblett after his bail.

Beaulieu laid down a Cab 270 on 270 off on the rail to Backside 900 Tail, Cab 720 Melon, and a Cab 900 almost clearing the landing of the 60 foot final booter. Unfortunately he fell on the first rail on his second run leaving him in seventh place.

Julien Beaulieu.

Denena rolled into the finals on the bubble and laid down a solid run including two 360's and a huge Method over the money booter, putting her in second place. After being bumped into fourth there was nothing for her to do but step it up. For her second run she did a 360, a method, and on her first attempt spinning off the money booter stomped a clean three, followed by a huge claim.

After the awards ceremony we had a chance to catch up with the riders.

“I was stoked that the sun came out and I’m super pumped that I landed my run, said Denena. “This is my best result by far.”

Samm Denena with coaches Jesse Fulton and Ben Wainwright.

In broken English Beaulieu explained, "I was pissed I didn't land my second run, but stoked on the first run when I stomped a huge Cab 9."

The final highlight was driving down the Snow Park road, which is sketchy as all hell. Beaulieu noticed a girl biking up the mountain and commented, "Man if she bikes all the way up here she must have a tight ass!" The car broke out in laughter and it was a perfect end to a great day.

NowHere Canadian Premiere Tour Dates

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 12:10:00 -0400

Sphere of Influence is an annual, carbon neutral film tour that brings the Absinthe snowboard films and the riders starring in them, to dope theaters in cities throughout the U.S. and Canada. From Quebec to B.C. the Absinthe crew, riders, sponsors and partners spread stoke for the upcoming season plus environmental and social awareness, donating two dollars from every ticket sold to local and national non-profits. Watch the teaser here: http://www.snowboardcanada.com/features_article?news_id=1278&uniqid=1580

The world premiere of NowHere kicks off simultaneously in Quebec City, Quebec and Park City, Utah this Friday.

More Canadian Tour Dates and Cities:

Whister, B.C. Friday, September 10th Millennium Place

Vancouver, B.C. Thursday, September 16th Rio Theater

Calgary, AB Thursday, October 7th The Uptown

Nelson, B.C., Friday, October 8th Capitol Theater.

Seb Toots' Winning Streak Comes To An End With Last Place Finish At Burton New Zealand Open

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 20:49:00 -0400

With Seb Toots, Mark McMorris, Matts Kulisek, Mark Sollors, and Spencer O’Brien competing in the Burton New Zealand Open Slopestyle, it seemed promising that at least one Canadian would stand on the podium. Despite the heavy talent in the line up the day would mark the end of podium domination for Toots.

The contest started with thick fog, flat light, and snow that caused delays on the course at Cardrona resort in Wanaka, forcing the cancellation of the semi-finals. All 37 men and 19 moved directly to finals. The best of two runs counted for riders’ final score.

Sollors was the first of the Canadian men to drop in and stomped a gap Cab 270 on the kink rail, Front Board to Fakie on the up rail, knuckled a Cab 5 off the first jump but had enough speed to do a Backside 7 to Frontside 7. He repeated the same line for both runs. His best score of 62.12 put him in 14^th place.

O’Brien put down a solid second run including a Frontside 50-50, Boardslide to Fakie, Switch Backside 5, Backside 3 and a straight air. Her score of 68.68 put her in fifth place.

Both Kulisek and Toots fell on the first jump of their runs. Kulisek tried a Switch Backside Rodeo 7 and Toots tried a Backside Rodeo.

An ill fated Seb Toots getting ready to drop in.

McMorris brought his A-game and stomped a Backside Rodeo, Cab 9 and Backside 10 Double Cork moving him into third place after one run.

In his second run Switzerland’s Christian Haller stole first from TTR tour leader Gjermund Braaten with a Backside Lipslide on the kink rail, Tailslide on the gap to up box, Switch Backside 720, Cab 900, and Frontside 720 Tail, scoring 80.84.

Slopestyle winner Christian Haller.

Mikkel Bang moved into third with a gap Switch Backside Lipslide on the kink rail, Backside Lipslide on the gap to up box, Backside 540, Cab 720, Switch Backside 900, scoring 79.

Mikkel Bang.

Gjermund Braaten.

The new live scoring system made it possible to track the change in rider’s placement while the second runs took place. By the time McMorris was ready to drop in for his second run he had been bumped into seventh place. With other riders putting down such flawless runs McMorris would have to pull out all the stops to regain a spot in the top three. He stomped a solid Backside Rodeo off the first jump, and came close to a Switch Double Backflip 5 off the second table before washing out. The fall ended his hopes for a spot on the podium.

Kulisek was unable to complete his second run due to a sketchy landing on a Cab 5 on his second jump.

On his second run Toots fell again on a Backside Rodeo off the first jump, putting him in 37th, and last place. The result brings an end to a 13 contest long podium streak that started at the Quiksilver Showdown Over The City in the spring of 2009.

One the women’s side Jamie Anderson won her third straight New Zealand Open Slopestyle. Anderson scored 79.20 points for a Boardslide on the down bar, Frontside 180 out on the up box, Switch Backside 180, Backside 360, and Backside 180.

Shelly Gotlieb of New Zealand placed second. Norway’s Kjersti Buuas came third.

Jamie Anderson.

Women's podium L to R: Shelly Gotlie, Jamie Anderson, Kjersti Buuas.

Men's podium L to R: Gjermund Braaten, Christian Haller, Mikkel Bang.

Ride Shakedown wants to give you a snowboard

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:49:00 -0400

The Ride Shakedown wants your feedback and they're willing to bribe you (or more accurately set up one lucky winner) with a snowboard and binding set up. All you have to do is take a video of yourself answering 10 questions, about the event, seven in English and three in French. The first 10 contestants will receive a cap and a DVD and one lucky respondent will walk away with a new setup from RIDE.

The 10 Questions to answer on video are as follows:

1. What is your name, age & where do you live?

2. How many times have you been to the RIDE Shakedown?

3. What is your best memory of the RIDE Shakedown?

4. Do the sponsors of the event influence your buying decisions?

5. Do you attend the RIDE Shakedown for the pro riders and competition or more for the social side of the event?

6. Do you attend Afterparties?

7. What makes the RIDE Shakedown different from other snowboarding events?

8. Would you pay to attend the event? If so how much?

9. What don't you like about the RIDE Shakedown

10. Do like the fact that the event is at Mont Saint Sauveur?

Only video entries will be accepted and they need to be emailed to info@shakedown.ca at the latest Monday, August 16th. Videos can be made using any means available, i.e. webcam, phone, camera, etc., as long as the sound and image quality is decent!

Good luck (et bonne chance)!

Burton New Zealand Open: Watch Live

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 16:02:00 -0400

The Burton New Zealand Open kicked off yesterday with the qualifying rounds for Slopestyle. With Mark McMorris sitting in second on the TTR rankings, Seb Toots third, Matts Kulisek eighth and Charles Reid ninth, it will be interesting to see if the event brings any change in the top ten order. With a score of 183.42 McMorris is less than four points behind Norway’s Braaten Gjermund, who sits in first place with 187.28. Toots is just two points behind McMoriss at 181.46.

As a 5Star event 850 points are awarded for first in each event, 800.95 for second, 765 for third, 737.85 for fourth and 716.05 for fifth. Riders ranking scores are determined by averaging the six best posted results from the current season. A full explantion of the TTR ranking system is here: http://www.ttrworldtour.com/about-ttr/ttr-ranking-information/ttr-ranking-system.html

At this time last year Seb Toots became the youngest rider to lead the TTR rankings. Charles Reid was in second.

GO211.com will begin webcast live coverage of the Slopestyle and Halfpipe events starting tomorrow. Full event details below.

WHAT: Live event webcasts on GO211.com. Webcasts will feature the men's and women’s halfpipe and slopestyle semi-finals and finals taking place on today and Friday at Cardrona Alpine Resort in New Zealand. GO211.com will be providing cool interactive technologies (live scoring, live standings, competition rankings and rider bios) that will allow the viewer to take a more active role.

WHO: Chas Guldemond, Danny Davis, Tim Humpreys, Luke Mitrani, Jack Mitrani, Mason Aguirre, Kelly Clark and Jamie Anderson are just a few of the top U.S. riders who plan to compete for a piece of the NZ$50,000 prize purse.

WHEN: Catch the events as they go down with LIVE webcasts on GO211.com during the following times:

LIVE WEBCASTS: U.S. Time Zones
Thursday, August 13
Morning Show 5:20 p.m. – 5:40 p.m. (ET) / 2:20 p.m.– 2:40 p.m. (PT)
Slopestyle Semi-finals: Women 5:40 p.m. – 6:40 p.m. (ET) / 2:40 p.m. – 3:40 p.m. (PT)
Slopestyle Semi-finals: Men 7:20 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. (ET) / 4:20 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (PT)
Slopestyle Finals 9:50 p.m. – 11:20 p.m. (ET) / 6:50 p.m. – 8:20 p.m. (PT)
End Show 11:20 p.m. – 11:40 p.m. (ET) / 8:20 p.m. – 8:40 p.m. (PT)

Friday, August 14
Morning Show 5:15 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. (ET) / 2:15 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. (PT)
Halfpipe Semi-finals: Women 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. (ET) / 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. (PT)
Halfpipe Semi-finals: Men 7:15 p.m. – 8:45 p.m. (ET) / 4:15 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. (PT)
Halfpipe Finals 9:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m. (ET) / 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. (PT)
End Show 11:30 p.m. – 12:00 a.m. (ET) / 8:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. (PT)

(NOTE: webcast times subject to change based on weather or other unforeseeable incidents.)

For anyone who misses the live webcasts or the daily replays, both highlights of the winning runs and the full webcasts will be available for on-demand viewing after the event is over on www.GO211.com. A replay of the slopestyle webcast will take place at 5:00 p.m. ET / 2:00 p.m. PT on Thursday, August 20th and a replay of the halfpipe webcast will take place at 5:00p.m. ET / 2:00 p.m. PT on Friday, August 21st.

Click the photo below to jump to the GO211.com webcast.

Seb Toots at Red Bull Performance Camp - Day 3 video

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 12:04:00 -0400

With the Burton NZ Open happing this weekend in Lake Wanaka, New Xealand, the Red Bull team is busy training to try to continue their dominance of the Swatch TTR contest series. Check out this vid for an interview with Pat Moore on what camp's all about and for ridings clips showing what Seb Toots is getting himself up to.

Burton 2011 Season Teaser And Site Launch

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 12:06:00 -0400

Burton launched their 2011 website earlier this week and dropped a teaser to get everyone hyped for the upcoming season. Aside from the new gear, the most interesting feature of the site is the timelines of some of their biggest riders. Each timeline provides a look at the moments that brought riders like Mikey Rencz, Natasza Zurek, Shaun White, Terje Haakonsen, Danny Davis, Kegan Valaika and Jussi Okasanen to where they’re at today.

Click on the photo to check out the timelines.

2010-11 Canadian Snowboard Team announced; Maëlle Ricker, Brad Martin, Justin Lamoureux and Jeff Batchelor make the list

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:28:00 -0400

Vancouver, BC -- Canada~Snowboard (formerly the CSF, not to be confused with Snowboard Canada) announced the 31 snowboarders who will represent Canada on the International scene this upcoming season.

The team has the core of its veterans from the 2010 season returning, as well as 11 new faces as the preparations begin for the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. The team has amongst its ranks six World Championships medalists, three Olympic medalists, 15 2010 Olympians, 8 World Cup winners, and 11 newcomers.

The upcoming season will be highlighted by the 2011 FIS World Snowboard Championships in La Molina, SPA, from January 15-23, 2011.

“Our main objective remains to be performance-driven, and be very successful on the international scene yet again this year. Our team comprised of the best coaches and support staff will be professional at all levels and will work together with the common goal of winning,” commented Robert Joncas, Canada~Snowboard’s new Director of High Performance. “We are putting all our resources in place to achieve that success, whether it is technical, financial or human resources.”

“With the cancellation of a World Cup race this fall and the departure of Jasey-Jay Anderson, expectations for number of podiums on the FIS World Cup tour will be less this year in comparison with last year,” added Joncas. “But our goal remains for our teams to be very competitive and relentlessly ride for the podium at every occasion.”

Canadian Champions in halfpipe Palmer Taylor (Collingwood, ON) and Brad Martin (Ancaster, ON) are back in the halfpipe this season. Mercedes Nicoll (Whistler, BC), who posted Canada’s top HP result at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Justin Lamoureux (Squamish, BC), who came seventh at the Olympic contest and veteran Sarah Conrad (Halifax, NS) will look to strengthen Canadian success in pipes around the world.

Alex Duckworth (Kinsbrug, NS), Derek Livingston (Aurora, ON) and Jeff Batchelor (Oakville, ON) will also be back this season.

The team will be headlined by Olympic gold medallist Maëlle Ricker (West Vancouver, BC) in the snowboardcross program. Dominique Maltais (Petite-Rivière Saint-Francois, QC) will be looking for redemption after sustaining an injury during training for the 2010 Games. The powerful duo of Ricker/Maltais combined for 11 World Cup podiums last season alone, sharing the podium in five of the six World Cup races.

Olympic silver medallist Mike Robertson (Canmore, AB) is back on the board this season. Robertson will be riding alongside team veterans Rob Fagan (Squamish, BC) who was fifth at the 2010 Olympic Games, Drew Neilson (North Vancouver, BC), François Boivin (Jonquière, QC) and Simon Bonenfant (Mont-Tremblant, QC).

Canadian snowboardcross champion Kevin Hill (Vernon, BC), who fought hard but fell short of Olympic qualification makes his debut on the National Team with Dan Csokonay (Calgary, AB), Jake Holden (Caledon, ON), and Chris Robanske (Calgary, AB).

Matthew Morison (Burketon, ON) and Michael Lambert (Toronto, ON) will look to continue their impressive performances of 2010 in the alpine snowboarding discipline. Both Lambert and Morison won World Cup races last season.They will be joined by Patrick Farrell (Oakville, ON) and rookies Steve Barlow (Courtice, ON), Matthew Carter (Maryhill, ON) and Darren Gardner (Burlington,ON).

Olympic Gold Medallist Jasey-Jay Anderson (Mont-Tremblant, QC) retired at the end of the 2010 season.

The Women’s alpine snowboarding program has seen the most changes, as veteran Alexa Loo (Richmond, BC) announced her retirement in July, while Kimiko Zakreski (Calgary, AB) will focus her energy on her real estate career for the upcoming year.

This year the Team will be led by returning veterans Caroline Calvé (Montreal/Aylmer, QC) and Ariane Lavigne (Mont-Tremblant, QC). Rookies Megan Farrell (Ontario), Marianne Leeson (Burlington, ON) and Ekaterina Zavialova (Calgary, AB) will be looking to acquire valuable international experience for the future Olympic Games.

The Canadian Snowboard team is coming off a banner 2010 World Cup season, winning a total of 28 FIS World Cup podiums, the most by any nation on the FIS World Cup tour last season. At the 2010 Olympic Games, Canadian snowboarders achieved five historical best results in six events, winning two gold medals and one silver medal.

2011 CANADIAN SNOWBOARD TEAM

FREESTYLE (HP/SBS/BA)

Sarah Conrad (Dartmouth, NS)

Alex Duckworth (Kingbrug, NS)

Mercedes Nicoll (Whistler, BC)

Palmer Taylor (Collingwood, ON)

Jeff Batchelor (Oakville, ON)

Justin Lamoureux (Whistler, BC)

Derek Livingston (Aurora,ON)

Brad Martin (Ancaster, ON)

SNOWBOARDCROSS (SBX)

Maëlle Ricker (Whistler, BC)

Dominique Maltais (Petite-Rivière-St-Francois, QC)

François Boivin (Jonquière, QC)

Simon Bonenfant (Mont-Tremblant, QC)

Dan Csokonay (Calgary, AB)

Robert Fagan (Cranbrook, BC)

Kevin Hill (Vernon, BC)

Jake Holden (Caledon, ON)

Drew Neilson (North Vancouver, BC)

Chris Robanske (Calgary, AB)

Mike Robertson (Calgary, AB)

Tom Velisek (Vernon, BC)

ALPINE (PGS/PSL)

Caroline Calvé (Gatineau, QC)

Megan Farrell (Ontario)

Ariane Lavigne (Mont-Tremblant, QC)

Marianne Leeson (Burlington, ON)

Ekaterina Zavialova (Calgary, AB)

Steve Barlow (Courtice, ON)

Matthew Carter (Maryhill, ON)

Darren Gardner (Burlington,ON)

Patrick Farrell (Oakville, ON)

Michael Lambert (Toronto, ON)

Matthew Morison (Burketon, ON)

Canada and U.S. Team Up To Create New Avalanche Danger Scale

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:29:00 -0400

Backcountry avalanche centers across Canada and the United States will be using a new avalanche danger scale for the 2010/11 season. The new scale reduces some of the ambiguity of the previous scale, provides more definitive travel advice for backcountry recreationists, incorporates risk by referring to typical avalanche sizes expected, and utilizes icons recently adopted by European countries.

“It was great to be able to build upon and improve an already successful avalanche danger scale with this effort” stated Grant Statham, project leader and Avalanche Risk Specialist for Parks Canada.

“It was especially encouraging to work closely with our Canadian colleagues to come up with a unified scale. This will only help in our efforts to promote avalanche forecasting consistency and to improve safety for the many people who recreate in the backcountry in both countries” according to Karl Birkeland, the U.S. lead on the project and an Avalanche Scientist with the USDA Forest Service National Avalanche Center.

This danger scale is the first time that the two countries have used the same scale, and is the result of a multi-year effort by the Canadian Avalanche Centre, Parks Canada, the USDA Forest Service, and the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. The recent proposal by New Zealand’s Mountain Safety Centre to use the new scale starting in the 2011 southern hemisphere winter has further increased the international scope of the project.

For more information, please contact:

Karl Birkeland, USDA Forest Service National Avalanche Center, kbirkeland@fs.fed.us
Grant Statham, Parks Canada, Grant.Statham@pc.gc.ca

Daily Dump: "Longboarding saved our lives."-Dustin Craven, Thrilling expose-Kuzyk and Hakker talk hygene

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:38:00 -0400

Apparently Andrew Hardingham isn’t the only Albertan pro-shred who channels his offseason boredom into making mockumentaries. Dustin Craven just got back from the Grenade European Vacation tour (part two here: http://grenadegloves.com/Home/tabid/64/EntryId/128/GRENADES-EUROPEAN-VACATION-GERMANY.aspx) and decided to explore the wonderful world of longboarding with the help of Charles “Chucky” White. (Video via 8milelife.com)

Coincidently the New York Times recently ran an article about the rise of longboarding. You might be surprised to learn that longboarders are “reinventing skateboarding”. Follow the jump to the full story (via Boardistan).

Ashbury’s Lance Hakker talks with Jake Kuzyk about all sorts of important issues like personal hygene. http://ashburyeyewear.com/2010/07/22/catching-up-with-jake-kuzyk/

Birdgang sent over an edit of sesh on Kadenwood’s Corey-P setup.

Daily Dump: Andrew Hardingham Searches For Sasquatches With Simon, and C.O.C edits from Gnarcore, Footy Fiend and Peachhat

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:24:00 -0400

Ever since Kokanee scaled back their Sasquatch ad campaign there’s been a real down turn in interest surrounding the beasts. Fortunately one vigilant Albertan has taken it upon himself to spread information about the awareness and protection of Sasquatches. He even stumbles across a hard hitting government conspiracy along the way. Andrew Hardingham presents Sasquatch Simon Finds Sasquatches.

In the mythical land of Whistler it seems that edits from Camp Of Champions are like Thursday morning hangovers after the end of session parties at Garf’s—everybody’s got one. Here’s the latest edit from Gnarcore with Beau Bishop, Rusty Ockenden, Matt Belzile, Jody Wachniak, John Caulfield, Scoty Brown, and Chris Dufficy.

For edits from Footy Fiend and Peachhat follow the jumps.

http://www.footyfiend.com/home/?p=483

http://peachhat.blogspot.com/2010/07/session-c.html

The teaser for Alterna’s new movie Hello World is out and Push.ca has a look at their last shoot of the season on the Blackcomb glacier.

http://push.ca/blogs/guest_sn/archive/2010/07/16/hello-glacier-alterna-gets-one-more-in.aspx

Canadian Nitro team riders Ben Bilocq and Darrah Reid McLean got some love in the Nitro TWS Team Shoot Out video at The Canyons.

http://snowboarding.transworld.net/1000128362/featuresobf/2010-tws-team-shoot-out-nitro/

Four weeks 'til the 2010 Burton NZ Open, confirmed include Canadians Reid, Sollors, McMorris and Kulisek

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:22:00 -0400

Lake Wanaka, New Zealand - With just four weeks to go, the eighth annual Burton NZ Open, which has become the most prestigious snow sports event in the country, is gearing up to take Wanaka by storm.

The invites are out, and those confirmed to attend so far include defending women's Slopestyle Champion Jamie Anderson, and women's defending Halfpipe Champion Kelly Clark, both of the USA.

Other top international riders on their way include Seppe Smits (BEL), Christian Haller (SUI), Marco Grilc (SLO), Norwegians Tore Holvik, Stale Sandbech and Gjermund Braaten; Canadians Seb Toots, Charles Reid, Mark Sollors, Mark McMorris and Matts Kulisek; Americans Chas Guldemond, Sage Kotsenburg, Jack Mitrani and Louie Vito; as well as Japanese rippers Kazuhiro Kokubo, Ryo Aono, Daisuke Murakami and Kohei Kudo. Some of the women to confirm include Kjersti Buaas and Lin Haug (NOR), Sina Candrian (SUI), Enni Rukajärvi (FIN), Rana Okada (JPN), and Elizabeth Beerman (USA). Kiwis Stef Zeestraten and Shelly Gotlieb, both strong contenders in the Slopestyle, have also confirmed their attendance.

The field is growing daily, and all will converge on Cardrona Alpine Resort from 10-14th August to compete for a chunk of the NZ$50,000 prize purse, which is spread equally for both men and women in Slopestyle and Halfpipe. Official training starts on Tuesday August 10th, followed by an opening party at Lonestar Wanaka. Pre-qualifiers and Qualifiers start on Wednesday the 11th. Invited riders are seeded directly to the Semifinal stages, which start on Friday 13th. The event culminates with the Halfpipe Semifinals and Finals on Saturday 14th August.

This event marks the first stop of the Burton Global Open Series for the 2010/2011 season and is also a 5 Star event on the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour. Full event details including a comprehensive gig and party line up will be published soon. All updates will be available via www.opensnowboarding.com

Daily Dump: Grenade Blitzs Europe, Dakides On Cilla, and Zumiez Done With West 49

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:35:00 -0400

Danny Kass, Dustin Craven, Eero Niemala, Louie Vito, Eric Messier and The Dingo are taking an R.V. across France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy for the Grenade's European Vacation tour. Follow the fun here: http://grenadegloves.com/Home/tabid/64/EntryId/125/GRENADES-EUROPEAN-VACATION-FRANCE.aspx

Priscilla Levac, the creative force and namesake behind Cilla, spent some quality time with the kids at Camp Of Champions during Camp B. http://www.cilla.ca/blog/cilla-camp-of-champions/

Tara Dakides recently started riding for Cilla. She joins Marie France Roy, Hana Beaman, Alexis Waite and Erin Comstock on the list shred beauties. http://www.cilla.ca/blog/cilla-welcomes-tara-dakides/

The always imaginative Knifeshow has new edit out called Gnarcade featuring NES video game characters invading M.t Hood. http://knifeshowinc.com/2010/07/gnarcade/

There’s been lots coverage from the Mt. Hood and Blackcomb Glacier summer camps so it’s easy to forget that Europe has it’s fair share of summer shredding. Here’s the Nitro team getting loose at Les Deux Alpes.

And it turns out Zumiez doesn’t want to buy West 49 anymore. Psyche. Back to you Billabong. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9GUG9QO1.htm Via Boardistan.

Daily Dump: Billabong and Zumiez Bidding for West 49, Footy Fiend C.O.C Camp B Edit, Jake Kuzyk's Blog and NuuLife VS Variety Pack

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:19:00 -0400

In the business universe West 49 is making headlines over news that Billabong and American chain retailer Zumiez, are bidding for the Canadian retailer. Billabong tabled the first offer, reportedly worth $83 million (some news outlets have claimed the deal was worth up $99 million) and on June 30th it was announced in the Globe and Mail that the sale was set to close in September, until Zumiez swooped in with an offer above Billabong’s $1.30 CAD per share. Zumiez’s offer came shortly after an announcement that they were looking to expand their stores into Vancouver. West 49 runs 138 stores in nine provinces and recently launched a skateboard brand called Redstar. For more in depth analysis hit the jump: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100709/business/west49

While the future owner of West 49 remains undecided, Billabong announced today that they have reached a conditional agreement to acquire RCVA. http://www.boardistan.com/?p=16762

In the alternate dimension of summer camps the Footy Fiend crew put out an edit of their version of Camp Of Champions Camp B, which you can watch below.

Jake Kuzyk, who incidentally rides for RCVA, has been keeping a blog of life at Camp Of Champions and Whistler titled The Most Uninteresting Part Of Your Day, which is actually quite interesting. http://jacobkuzyk.blogspot.com/

If you’re in the Whistler area there’s a free BBQ and discounts on select Nomis gear at The Circle where Simon Chamberlain will be signing autographs.

If you haven’t checked out the Superpark Showdown edits this week Canada’ NuuLife Cinema is going head-to-head with Eddie Grams, the man behind Variety Pack films (who put out their movie The Leak this spring a full five months before anyone else. Head over to fresh.snowboardermag.com and give NuuLife some love. http://fresh.snowboardermag.com/feature/superpark-showdown-variety-pack-vs-nuulife-cinema/

No Joke: NuuLife Cinema Teaser

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:42:00 -0400

NuuLife Cinema presents the teaser for their fall 2010 release No Joke. They've added a some new names to their riders list, including Geoff Brown, Tanner Davidson, Gordon Emery and Robby Balharry. Also featuring Craig McMorris, Andrew Burns, Adam Chuntz, Kurtis Rothecker, Mark McMorris, Connor Copithorn, Lucas Ouellette, Katie Hall-Leah, David Craig, John Swystun, Kyle Herperger, Dan Zimmerman, James Murphy, Garrett Kendel, Barrett Lucak, Joe Hills, Matt Munn, and Jason Gretzinger.

Steve Cartwright Joins K2 Snowboards Canadian Team

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:24:00 -0400

K2 Press Release -- K2 Snowboarding solidifies its Canadian team with the addition of Ontario-bred Steve Cartwright. Steve joins fellow team riders Matt Belzile, Jake Kuzyk, Geoff Brown, Matts Kulisek, Brook Voigt and Taylor Godber. Cartwright is no stranger to the snowboard scene. With editorial scheduled in major magazines such as Snowboard Canada’s Buyers Guide, and a video part in the new Sandbox flick Now You Know, Steve’s season is already off to a good start.

“Adding Steve to the team was a no-brainer; his hard work and creativity speaks for itself, not to mention his style that makes every tech trick look effortless” says Team Manager Taylor Ricci. “Whether it’s jibbing missions on the streets, slashing pow in the backcountry or park laps, Cartwright has something for everything.”

Born and raised in Moonstone, Ontario, Steve spent the majority of his time honing his skills in the full scale jib park he built in his backyard. In recent years, Steve has divided his time between B.C. and Ontario to round out his coverage from coast-to-coast.

“I'm really excited to finally announce K2 as my board, boot and binding sponsor. There's no better feeling than to know you’re a part of something great that's moving in the right direction. The support has been overwhelming and already it feels like family. I can't wait to meet and shred with everyone involved with such an amazing company. I'm psyched for the opportunity to work with a company that not only shares in my creative vision, but will also give me the freedom to take control of my career.”

About K2 Snowboarding:
Born in the U.S. Pacific Northwest in the shadows of the Cascade Mountains, K2 Snowboarding was raised in the backcountry of Baker. From the beginning, our goal has been to create original concepts and technology that drives snowboarding forward. Today we continue to innovate and progress the sport from the backcountry to the parks…and everything in between. For more information visit www.k2snowboarding.com.

FOTD x MFM=The Arena Teaser

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:02:00 -0400

A decade deep FOTD, brings you the teaser for their 10th vid The Arena, in collaboration with MFM. No Canucks in this one, but there are some serious bangers nonetheless. Featuring MFM, Lucas Magoon, Johnnie Paxson, Dylan Thompson, Travis Kennedy, Jonah Owen, Jake Devine and Derek Dennison.

Bon Voyage: Videograss Teaser

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 11:34:00 -0400

Videograss is back with their sophomore project Bon Voyage. The VG roster features a heavy Canadian for 2010 crew including Jed Anderson, L.N.P., Louif Paradis, Alex Cantin and Ben Bilocq. The full crew includes Justin Bennee, Mikey Leblanc, Nima Jalali, Gus Engle, Jon Kooley, Jordan Mendenhall, Johnny Miller, Will Tuddenham, Jonas Michilot, Chris Grenier, Darrell Mathes, and Nick Dirks.

Canadian sweep at the Billabong Ante Up

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:59:00 -0400

The weather forecast called for sun and clouds for the first day of the 5 Star TTR Billabong Ante Up, but in true Blackcomb fashion a cloud engulfed the top of the mountain in the morning and made it impossible to see five feet, let alone hit a giant big air jump. The organizers were willing to do anything to run this event in the sun and had set aside four weather days for this exact occurrence. Well, a wise Whistlerite once said, “if you don’t like the weather… wait ten minutes.” He was spot on, the clouds moved out before the afternoon and the contest proceeded without a hitch.

The event was an astonishing sight for all onlookers, as impressive as a Cirque du Soleil show and with just as many acrobatic maneuvers. 40 riders competed for a whopping $50,000 prize purse and TTR points. The big air jump was a 75 foot gap. And if this wasn’t enough to get the riders adrenaline going, Push.ca was throwing out a $5000 best trick to a rail set up which comprised of a down flat down box beside a long round bar down rail.

Like bats out of hell, the riders bombed down the steep, salted, and bumpy in-run fighting to hold their edge and for one of the 12 spots in the finals. Forget 900s, if you weren’t stomping a near perfect 1080, then you weren’t making it into the finals. Yuuki Kadono who was the youngest competitor at 14 years old didn’t make the cut into the finals with a Backside 1080, perhaps because of an early let go of his grab–only the judges know for sure. Matts Kulisek, who won the 2008 Billabong Ante Up, qualified first with an amazing Frontside 1260 Double Cork.

Dave Fortin being filmed for the live webcast.

Matts wasn’t the only Canadian riding strong. Jon Versteeg, Zach Stone, Mark McMorris, Robby Balharry and Wiley Tesseo all stood out of the crowd. Wiley Tesseo was inches away from surely making finals with a Cab 12 but just couldn’t quite get his feet under him.

When it all was said and done, Canadian riders took it all. The only non-Canadian to walk onto the podium was American, Dash Kamp, who danced on the round bar with a Front Board Change Up to 50-50 Backside 360 out and won best rail trick. Mark McMorris, known best for his bBackside Double Cork 1080s, needed to step it up a notch and landed an impressive Backside 1260 Double Cork to finish in third place, earning him $6000. Matts Kulisek repeated his qualifying Frontside 1260 Double Cork to put him into second place for $10,000. But it wasn’t enough to stand above Sebastien Toutant’s unbelievable Cab 1260 Double Cork. Matts had another run to try and one up Sebastien but he lost control on the take-off and plowed into the unlucky media people standing on the deck of the jump. It was like watching a horrifying game of 75 foot human bowling. Luckily no one was severely hurt and there was just some broken camera equipment. This disastrous event barely slowed down Kulisek who got up moments later and still charged at the rail set up despite a bleeding eye. This confirmed Toutant as the Ante Up winner with $20,000 and a direct invitation to the 2011 Billabong Innsbruck Air and Style.

With a big smile and an even bigger cheque Toutant said, “I wouldn’t have been disappointed not to win, I was happy just to ride.” When asked about his winning run he commented, “In the finals you have to go all out, you can’t play safe.” This was his first time landing a Backside 1260 Double Cork in competition.

The 5 star TTR event brought in a large group of international riders. Norway's Kim Rune Hansen.

Collingwood local Zak Stone put on a good showing and made it through to the finals with what seems to be mandatory Double Corks.

Jon Versteeg on the Push.ca rail.

Wiley Tesseo.

Jeremy Cloutier.

Scotty Lago.

Mark McMorris was consistent all day and put down his 12 to secure third.

One of the many stomped Double Corks that put Seb on top.

$26,000 between the two of them is a good reason to be smiling. McMorris and Toutant podium again.

Yes. Now Board Awarded EUROsima's Breakthrough Brand Of The Year

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 10:17:00 -0400

Perhaps due to a growing interest in rider owned and driven companies from among the ranks of professional snowboarders, Yes. Now Board was received well in the industry and media when it launched last year. Of course it helps that the brand was backed by D.C.P, Roman De Marchi, J.P. Solberg and Tadashi Fuse.

The industry was feeling Yes so much that Boardsport Source Magazine presented the company with the Breakthrough Brand of the Year award at the Eurosima Snowboard Industry Awards. The award was given for having an exemplary year in marketing activities, product, brand and image through out the European Market. The team was unable to attend but they accepted the award via this video.

Peep Show Teaser: Let's Make Better Mistakes Tomorrow

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 10:31:00 -0400

The maidens of mayhem at Peep Show have been working hard on their latest project Let's Make Better Mistakes Tomorrow. According to head mistress Esthera Preda, "We've had an amazing season this year. The ladies have been stacking and it will definitely be legit. We got a few new riders this year and some bangers that have never been seen in womens snowboarding. Full movie releasing in Fall 2010. Babes, boobs, booze, and boardin!" www.peepshowfilms.com

Billabong Ante Up Live Webcast Schedule

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 16:13:00 -0400

Billabong  Ante  Up,  presented  by Push.ca is  proud  to  announce  the  broadcasting  of  the  live  webcast  for  the  upcoming  5 Star  Swatch  TTR  World  Tour  event  taking  place  in  the  Camp  Of  Champions  terrain  park  at  Whistler/ Blackcomb,  June  26‐30th,  2010.   The  live  web cast  will  feature  all  the  action  of  the  event  from  qualifying,  down  to  finals,  unique  rider  interviews,  and  the  awards  ceremony.    You  can  catch  the  live  webcast  by  going  to  www.snowboardcanada.com/billabong_ante_up

Riders  scheduled  to  compete  include  2010  Olympic  bronze  medalist  Scotty  Lago,  Torstein  Horgmo, who  recently  landed  the  first  ever  Triple  Cork  (http://www.snowboardcanada.com/news_article?news_id=1233),  Chas  Guildemond, Seb  Toots,  and m any  more.   Go  to  www.billabong.com/anteup to  view  the  entire  qualified  rider  list. 

Riders  will  be  hitting  a  jump- to- rail  feature  built  by  2010  Olympic  Halfpipe  builder  Steve  Petrie  from  Arena  Snowparks.

"The  jump  is  going  to  be  an  85 to 95  foot  step -over  style  jump  with  a  slightly  elevated  take off," says Petrie. "  We’re  going  to  gap-out  the  area  behind  the  take off,  so  it  should  be  great  for  all  the  riders.   The  Push.ca rail  set  up  includes  a  50  foot  staircase  with  down flat down  Combi  Box  on  one  side  and  a  down flat down  round bar  on  the  other."

"Bringing  a  live  webcast  for  an  event  like  this  makes  perfect  sense",  says  Risto  Scott,  Marketing  Director  at  Billabong  Canada.   "With  a  rider  list  like  this,  these  guys  will  be  going  off  chasing  the  $50,000  US  and  TTR  points.   For  those  who  can’t  make  it  up  to  Whistler/ Blackcomb  to  watch  the  action,  the  live  webcast  is  the  next  best  thing." 

The  schedule  for  Billabong  Ante  Up,  presented  by Push.ca is  as  follows:
June  25:  Rider  Practice 
June  26:  Live  event  coverage  (weather  dependant) 
June  27‐30:  Weather  days 

For  more  info,   go to: 
www.billabong.com/anteup or www.ttrworldtour.com
or  contact: 
Risto  Scott:  risto@billabongcanada.com 

Party Snake 3 Teaser

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:03:00 -0400

We're just going to come out and say it:Party Snake movies don't exactly showcase the most progressive snowboarding. The only thing triple and cork related you might see is if one of the crew is triple fisting and decides to shotgun a beer using a corkscrew to open it. There is one age old trick Party Snake does have dialed however. It's called How To Have A Fucking Awesome Time On Your Snowboard. As simple as it may seem, many people can't pull it off like these dudes do. And having a good time is something that never goes out of style. www.thepartysnake.com

F' It: New Forum Teaser

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 11:31:00 -0400

F’ It is the 7th team-inspired film brought to you by Special Blend, Forum and Foursquare, and stars John Jackson, Stevie Bell, Nic Sauve, Jake Welch, Niko Cioffi, Cameron Pierce, Austen Sweetin and The Youngbloods. Due to various injuries at the most inappropriate of times, F’ It will co-star Peter Line, Pat Moore, Andreas Wiig and Daniel Ek.

Instead of dishing out the usual dose of marketing bullshit about how great the movie is and what to expect, here are some quotes on the film straight from the riders’ mouths:

“With Pat out of the picture, I might actually have a shot at getting the opener!”

"Damn, and I thought a lot of weed got smoked in the Cheech and Chong movies.”

“Nic has such nice hair, I wonder if he is sponsored by Suave?”

“Peter’s so legendary, he doesn’t even need a part.”

"How did John manage to have a better season than last year?!?”

“You think Andreas looks good when he’s filming? You should see how good he looks when he isn’t.”

“Who the F is Austen Sweetin?”

Coming Fall 2010 to a snowboard shop near you, along with iTunes digital download, stay tuned for more information on F’ It at www.special-blend.com, www.forumsnowboards.com and www.foursquareouterwear.com.

Torstein Horgmo Stomps A Triple Cork

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:35:00 -0400

Had to happen sometime. We always figured it would be T-Rice who put it down first. Congrats Torstein. Will this set off the triple cork rage similar to Shaun White's first Double Cork in New Zealand last summer? It will be intersting to see if any Triple Corks go down at the TTR Billabong Ante Up at Camp Of Champions on June 26th. Torstein is on the riders list after all...

Trouble Andrew Raps With Pete Anderson

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:48:00 -0400

Trouble Andrew talks with Push.ca's Pete Anderson about getting hit by a cab while skating in NYC, recording his new album, his affiliation with Yes and jocks in snowboarding. Follow the jump for the full story: http://push.ca/blogs/pete/archive/2010/06/03/evolution-of-the-species-trouble-andrew.aspx

Heart Films Volume 4 Teaser

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 10:45:00 -0400

Tadashi Fuse is a man of the people. As the first Japanese pro to blow up internationally he used the momentum to help bring up fellow Japanese riders and expose them to backcountry riding in Canada. Their new film dropping in September features the usually ninjas that make up the Heart Films crew as well as some of the Yes snowboards team. http://heartfilms.com/home/

Billabong Ante Up announces rider list for 5Star TTR event, June 26-30, 2010

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:35:00 -0400

Whistler, B.C. -- Billabong has just released the confirmed rider list for  the  upcoming Billabong  Ante  Up,  a  5  Star  Swatch  TTR  World  Snowboard  Tour  event, which kicks  off  the  Swatch  TTR  World  Snowboard  tour  for  the  ’10‐’11 season.  Taking  place  June  26‐30th  in  the  Camp  of  Champions  terrain  park  at  Whistler /Blackcomb., the rider list features some of the biggest names in the world.

‘Having  this  event  in  the  summer is  going  to  be  killer," says  Risto  Scott,  Marketing  Director  at  Billabong  Canada. "  Everyone  loves  summer  riding, especially  in  a  place  like  Whistler.   To  partner  with  the  Swatch  TTR  World  Tour  and  all  their sponsors  was  an  easy  decision,  and  we’re  stoked  to  be  getting  the  world’s  best  riders  together  for  this  great  event."

Here's who's invited:

Additionally,  there  will  be  the  Push.ca rail  feature  on  course  after  the  Big  Air  jump.   While  not  part  of  the  overall  judging  for  TTR  points,  riders  that  choose  to  hit  the  feature  will  vie  for  additional  awards.   For  more  info,  you  can  go  to: www.billabong.com/anteup or www.ttrworldtour.com

ABOUT  SWATCH  TTR: 
Founded  by  Terje  Haakonsen  and  industry  innovators  in  2002,  the  Swatch  Ticket  To  Ride  (TTR)  World  Snowboard  Tour  is  a  non‐profit,  rider driven  organization  with  the  mission  “to  create  the  highest  quality  competitive  snowboard  environment  in  the  world,  using  authenticity,  accessibility and  innovation  as  guiding  principles”.  Since  its  foundation,  the  Swatch  TTR  Tour  has  been  developing  into  the  most  exposed  snowboard  tour  worldwide  featuring  global  grass root  and  key  independent  freestyle  snowboarding  events  over  a  ten‐month  period  from  Southern  to  Northern  Hemisphere  locations.  Events  are  rated  via  a  1‐through‐6 Star  system,  with  points  allocated  accordingly;  a  6 Star  event  holds  the  highest  (1000 points).  Any  rider  participating  in  these  events,  from  up‐and‐coming  to  professional  talent,  earns  ranking  points  and  a  position  on  the  Swatch  TTR  World  Ranking  List.  The  top  male d and 
female  rider  based  on  an  average  of  their  best  six  results  of  the  season  (5+1  system)  is  crowned  Swatch  TTR  World  Snowboard  Champion.  For  more  information  visit www.ttrworldtour.com

Cameron Diaz Rocks Ashbury Shades?

Fri, 28 May 2010 16:20:00 -0400

Cameron Diaz was spotted at LAX recently where she was reportedly wearing a pair of Ashbury Psychedelic Lollipop's. We'll have to trust Ashbury on this one since it's hard to tell from the photos exactly what brand they are. We zoomed in to try and get a closer look at her boobs the arm of the glasses to verify the presence of an Ashbury logo but that damn internet resolution only goes so far before things get pixelated. It's been well documented that Diaz likes to get her shred on and she's been known to shop at core retailers like The Circle when in Whistler so it is plausible that she would have connections to a brand like Ashbury. Judge for yourself.

Chris Dufficy Signs On As Head Coach At Camp Of Champions

Tue, 25 May 2010 12:16:00 -0400

Camp Of Champions Press Release -- At Camp of Champions we strive to provide the best coaching staff in the world. That's why we are proud to announce this year's new head coach, snowboard industry legend Chris Dufficy. Duff is no stranger to the summer camp experience. This will be his 10^th year coaching at Camp of Champions and his decade of commitment to providing campers with the best summer of their life has truly earned him his title as head coach.

Chris and his dog stopped by the office for a visit today and we got a chance to talk a bit about his season, his history with camp, and his philosophy on summer camp in general.

How many years have you been with the Camp of Champions?

This will be my 10^th year coaching. I started my glacier experience by poaching camp and coming along with sponsors. Look at me now!

What keeps you coming back to Camp of Champions?

I always find it refreshing that no matter how many summers I have been coaching I can still learn something new. It’s also exciting to see the campers learn that the pro riders and coaches are actually approachable and making a one-on-one connection with the campers is super important. The coaching staff is awesome and there is a reason they keep coming back every summer.

What’s your favorite part about the Camp of Champions terrain park?

The T-Bar, no Hiking, and the over all flow of the features in the park.

What kind of off glacier activities do you enjoy?

Sun tanning and roller blading. [Inside joke. Come to camp and you might just find out]

What do you get into in the winter?

This winter I spent most of my time filming with Alterna films and doing some photo shoots with Signal.

Sponsors?

Signal Boards and Outerwear, IS Eyewear, Level Gloves, Celcius Boots.

Any last words?

Never be afraid to ask questions or approach coaches. That’s what we are here for and that’s what we love about this job. Remember pros and coaches are normal people too. I am excited to show kids there is always a way to put a fun spin on things--it's what I like to call the Duff way to think.

So if you're looking for the best way to spend your summer head up to Camp of Champions in Whistler, BC and learn the Duff way to think. We have expanded our park by 20% and had the 2^nd snowiest year in history.

For more information and to register for camp head over to www.campofchampions.com

90 Feet, 3 Kinks: Showcase Snowboard Shop's Rail-O-Rama

Tue, 25 May 2010 11:48:00 -0400

While most Canucks were firing up their barbeques or hitting their local skatepark this May long weekend snow was still falling on Whistler/Blackcomb. On Sunday May 23, one day before the winter season officially ended, Showcase Snowboard Shop hosted the Rail-O-Rama jam in the Blackcomb Park on a 90 foot triple kink box designed by Arena Snowparks. Dubbed the CombiBox, the feature is built from segments that can be arranged to create multiple setups from the same pieces. The CombiBox is a preview of just one of the many jibs offered at Camp Of Champions this summer.

For the crowd of riders that turned up Showcase was on had to give out prizes for the Longest Ride, Raddest Slide and Best Trick.

For more on how the CombiBox works watch the video.

Win your own show with "Don't Call Me Bro, Bro"

Wed, 05 May 2010 09:43:00 -0400

Snowboarding doesn't have to be all about double corks and helicopter shots. This contest is for local crews around the world that love to shred, film, travel, and have fun doing it. Sound like your crew? Then break out the camera!

Send in a 2-6 minute video of you and your crew riding, having fun, and doing what you do best. It could be a spot check of your local mountain or a travel video of the journey to get to a shred spot. This isn't some sponsor me video but it might lead to that. This contest is more about telling the story. We need some speaking, not just a music soundtrack– think reality TV/video blog style. Follow cams of park runs are great, so are hard earned powder turns and backyard rail sessions. Show us what snowboarding is to you and what it takes to get shots or travel to the spot.

This contest has two stages.

Stage 1 - Best Videos by End Date (TBD)
- 1st place wins a Machete board, Deuce boots, Nitrane Contraband bindings, outerwear, & ContourHD helmet camera.
- 2nd place wins a Crush board, a pair of Contraband bindings, and a ContourHD helmet camera.
- 3rd place wins a Ride jacket and a Ride backpack full of accessories, and a ContourHD helmet camera.

Stage 2 is the Real Deal:
One of the entries gets a contract to keep on filming and will be paid ($ to be determined) per episode for the 2010-2011 season! They'll also get hooked up with more Ride product and another ContourHD helmet camera. Details to be discussed with the winner but this gives you a dedicated show (to be named later) on Ride Chronicles TV (RCTV), and a world-wide audience.

How to Enter:
- Shoot and edit your video.
- You Must Upload your video to www.vholdr.com .
- You must Tag videos with these tags: "Ride Snowboards"AND "Don't Call Me Bro Contest".
- Fill out Entry Form (below) and paste in your video link from VholdR's site. (prefer 16:9 ratio)

For more info on the contest, click here.

Billabong Ante Up Comes To Camp Of Champions Session A

Tue, 04 May 2010 12:46:00 -0400

Billabong  is  proud  to  announce  the  Billabong  Ante  Up,  a  5  Star  Swatch  TTR  World  Snowboard  Tour  event,  taking  place  June  26‐30th  in  the  Camp  of  Champions  terrain  park  at  Whistler /Blackcomb.   The  event  will  kick  off  the  Swatch  TTR  World  Snowboard  tour  for  the  ’10‐’11  season  in  North  America,  and  will  also  be  a  qualifying  event  for  the  6 Star  Billabong  Innsbruck  Air  and  Style  event  taking  place  Feb. 5th,  2011.

Billabong  Ante  Up  will be  a  Big  Air  event,  with  the  jump  being  built  by  Vancouver  2010  Olympic  halfpipe  builder  Steve  Petrie  of  Arena  Snowparks.   With  $50,000  USD  in  prize  money,  and  a  batch  of 5 Star  TTR  points  on  the  line,  Billabong  Ante  Up  will  be  drawing  athletes  from  across  the  globe  to  compete  in  late  June   on  the  Blackcomb  Glacier.   The  event  will  feature  50  riders,  with  the  top  10  Swatch  TTR  World  Tour  finalists  from  the  2009/2010  season  receiving  automatic  invites.  The  remaining  spot s will  be  filled  through  a  registration/selection  process  that  will  take  place  online  at  www.billabong.com/anteup.   Registration  is  open  May  3rd  to  May  24th,  with  a  list  of  qualified  riders  available  on  the  website  May  31st,  2010. 

Additionally,  there  will  be  the  Push.ca rail  feature  on  course  after  the  Big  Air  jump.   While  not  part  of  the  overall  judging  for  TTR  points,  riders  that  choose  to  hit  the  feature  will  vie  for  additional  awards.  

‘Having  this  event  in  the  summer is  going  to  be  killer," says  Risto  Scott,  Marketing  Director  at  Billabong  Canada. "  Everyone  loves  summer  riding, especially  in  a  place  like  Whistler.   To  partner  with  the  Swatch  TTR  World  Tour  and  all  their sponsors  was  an  easy  decision,  and  we’re  stoked  to  be  getting  the  world’s  best  riders  together  for  this  great  event."

For  more  info,  you  can  go  to: www.billabong.com/anteup or www.ttrworldtour.com

Or  contact: 
Risto Scott: risto@billabongcanada.com
Jim Kempton: jkempton@billabong‐usa.com

Dwayne Wiebe and Brooke Voigt Win the Final stop of You Look Good 2010

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 11:15:00 -0400

Banff, AB -- The final stop for the 2010 You Look Good Rider's Cup took place this past Saturday April 24, at Sunshine Village in Banff. An unexpected spring snowstorm greeted riders as they arrived in the morning and only got progressively heavier throughout the day. The three pod course featuring a triple rail option to 35ft jump followed by a 32ft up-down box was cut down to include only the second 2 features in order to ensure enough speed could be generated to clear the knuckle of the jump thanks to the heavy snow fall.

Despite the less than ideal conditions for a slopestyle contest, rider’s delivered some stand out runs when they were able to find their feet on the course. The ladies in attendance were small in numbers but made up for it with stomped landings and solid runs. Lone female Pro Open competitor Brooke Voigt threw down a huge Stalefish followed by a 50-50 on the up-down box to earn her $500 cheque, not to mention getting swarmed by Coors Light girls, Coors light tall cans and an ice cream cake. Who doesn’t want to eat ice cream and drink beer in the middle of a blizzard?

Moving onto the men’s action, the real battle of the day took place in the Pro Open division, as riders did their darndest to garner up enough speed for the jump in hopes of cleanly pulling 7’s and 9’s. East coast transplant Jon Chew made his presence known on the podium, capturing third place and $500 with a run including a shifty 7 to Frontboard. While fellow competitor Tanner Davidson of Calgary captured second place and $1000 with a ‘sweet’ Chicken Wing 7 to gap Frontboard. The big winner of the day, hailing from the infamous Calgary crew known as the Greasers was Dwayne Wiebe. After stomping a Switch Back 7 to Backside Boardslide/ Frontboard change-up, Mr. Wiebe along with his Louisville chugger stepped up to the podium to receive $2000, some Coors Light, an ice cream cake and a whole lotta love from the Coors Light girls.

Since the Sunshine Village stop marked the end of the 2010 You Look Good Rider’s Cup it also played host to the series overall champion award presentation. Taking the cake (literally) and the title of Pro Men’s overall series Champion was Elliott Catton of Collingwood Ontario. Elliott captured the title with a win at the Mt. St. Louis stop, and second place finishes at both Mt. Seymour and Mont Tremblant. Elliott’s female counterpart is non other than Ontario shredder Diane Rudge who was not in attendance. The two will head off to Portugal in the fall for a 7-day surf trip courtesy of Atlantic Riders.

Be sure to stay tune to snowboardcanada.com for a full-length interview with both series champions.

Results:

Pro Men

1. Dwayne Wiebe (Nike, Clyde, IS)

2. Tanner Davidson (Ride)

3. Jon Chew (Burton, Rude Boys)

Pro Women

1. Brooke Voigt (K2, Billabong)

Am Men

1. Tyler Macrae

2. Kyle Gibson

3. Sam Pollock

Am Women

1. Cali Penner

2. Carly Scott

Renegade Men

1. Cody Wilson

2. Tyler Nicholson

3. Tyrell Beatty

Grom Men

1. Noah Maisonneuve

2. Josh Fultz-Veihotte

3. Liam Stevens

Grom Women

1. Adrianne Cairns

2. Sam Tuff

3. Mia Vescarelli

Dave Fortin takes Grenade Games 6 Grand Finale, Mark Sollors wins Camaro

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 22:00:00 -0400

The Grenade Games Grand Finale slopestyle presented by Mosnter Energy is a true testament to the abuse professional snowboarders are capable of inflicting on themselves. After five days of riding and partying that would have had the average person checking into detox the 40 or so invited riders somehow managed to throw down for a crowd of thousands at the base of Whistler/Blackcomb Saturday night. The contest was the highlight of the Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festiva andl ran as an hour and a half jam after which 10 riders would advance to the finals for a chance to win $10,000.

The course started with a bomb drop option off the in-run scaffolding to main jump. Riders could choose to clear the gap or step up and hit a long down to flat box on the right. Next came a ten foot log jib to drop (we heard a whisper that the log would have two big balls hanging from it giving a decidedly phallic feel to the woody jib but the claim turned out to be sweet nothings). From there riders moved into a kicky jump to mini hip and ended with the option to jib the Grenade R.V. or dual picnic table set up wallride style.

The main jump had many options.

Eero Neimela bomb drops off the scaffolding.

Andrew Burns. Scarth photo.

Last spring Monster Energy brought the Grenade Games and some of the world's best riders to Whistler's World Ski and Snowboard festival and this year was no exception. The event even managed to pull Kale Stephens out of contest retirement to charge the course with his signature burly style. At one point he spun too far right on a Backside Five off the gap jump and nearly landed back first on the edge of down jib. Another few feet and Kale would have likely won himself a trip to the hospital in the meat wagon. It’s been speculated that Kale’s molecular structure is made of a nearly indestructible combination of vaporized weed smoke and cheese proteins so instead he just bounced down the slope like a little rubber ball and kept charging.

Dave Fortin. Scarth photo.

Jody Wachniak gets Blunted on the Grenade R.V. Scarth photo.

Never one to fear a fashion faux pas Kael Hill did his runs wearing sweat pants and a Run DMC tank top. According to Kael, “I don’t have style. I go on this thing called no style. I wear whatever comes to me. Plus, I don’t have any clothes.”

Sure enough it wasn’t long before Kael actually had no clothes on. First the Dingo offered Kael $500 to shred with his shirt off. Kael obliged and took enough bails to cover his chest in scratches and blood but that didn’t seem to be enough. Another $500 was put on the line if Kael got naked. A $1000 for taking your clothes off and shredding the course? Hell, poachers used to the do that for free in the old days. Apparently the value of naked men has skyrocketed as Kael’s antics also earned him the Space Cadet award.

Kael Hill bares it all for the masses. Scarth photo.

As the jam continued some riders lost interest in the idea of competing and decided to start a jib session on the Grenade R.V. For a moment it was hard to remember that there was supposed a contest going on as the people hiking the jibs began to out number those serious about competing.

At 9:30 it was announced that Craig Beaulieu, Andrew Burns, Jesmond Dubeau, Dave Fortin, Kevin Griffin, Jordan Phillips, Mark Sollors, Zach Stone, Jon Versteeg, and Pablo Aristeguita would be moving on to the finals. Each rider would get three runs with the winner determined by the judges overall impression.

Everyone put down some solid tricks but once Dave Fortin stomped a Frontside 1080 to Backflip off the log there was no doubt who the winner would be. Andrew Burns followed in second with Zach Stone in third.

Zach Stone.

Up on the main stage the novelty checks were handed out and the titles of overall Most Radical Dude were bestowed upon Mark Sollors and Dustin Craven. The accolade also earned each of them a key that could start the Camaro put up for grabs by Chevy. T.J. Schneider ollied over the fench winning him $500 and Most Radical Dude of the night. Then Boozy the Clown showed up with a Texas Mickey of Jack Daniels and things got hectic.

Winners:

1st: Dave Fortin - $10,000

2nd: Andrew Burns - $5000

3rd: Zach Stone - $2400

So that’s it for another year of the Grenade Games. It was a helluva party and if you missed out make sure you get there next year. Many thanks to Monster Energy Canada for making the madness happen once again.

Note: as of this writing Mark Sollors won the Camaro, beating out Craven and two other key holders from the Orage Masters. Congrats bud.

Grenade Games 6 Day 4: Albertans Sweep Pipe

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 15:09:00 -0400

There must be something in the beer they drink in Alberta because those of flatland descent dominated the Grenade Games 6 pipe on Friday. Out of the eight possible categories to win some loot Albertan riders took seven of them.

The non-test ran in same format as last year with riders jamming and the judges tapping out the unworthy until only six were left for the finals. Just because the vibe was mellow didn’t mean the pipe was. Blackcomb provided a 22 foot monster with perfectly sculpted walls, a five foot log jib and signature Grenade piñata.

During the jam MC’s Darryl “Trini” Trinidad and The Dingo awarded $500 for those getting the most Radical. Kael Hill took the first money of the day for showing up in a blazer and jeans and toting a 131 centimetre rental board. He then proceeded to throw down ridiculous spins like a switch 1260 out of the bottom of the pipe. Kael just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

TJ Schneider proved that once again why he has been pro for so long. On his first day riding pipe this year he dropped in and sent a Haakon flip to tail bash on the piñata first try followed by a 50-50 on the log jib earning him $500.

TJ Schneider tail bash.

At the request of MC Trini, Korath Wright dropped in and Frontside handplanted the log jib. Jake Koia, the only non-Albertan to win anything, received $500 for the highest air.

Korath Wright, Frontside Handplant.

Eric Messier ripped the Grenade pinata down.

The big surprise was the first and second place finish of Calgarians Jordan Phillips and Kyle Thomas who had the crowd asking, “Who the hell are these guys?” Justin Lamoureux took third and the title of Most Unradical Dude after being heckled by the MC’s for refusing to chug a beer. But that’s the best part of the Grenade Games—anything can happen.

1st - $5000 Jordan Phillips

2nd - $2000 Kyle Thomas

3rd - $1000 Justin Lamoureux

Kyle Thomas.

Justin Lamoureux. Scarth photo.

Unknow ripper getting Crailed out. Scarth photo.

In a somewhat controversial move Danny Kass was awarded Most Radical Dude of the day, which puts him in contention to win the Camaro being given away at the end of the festival. Some people complained that since Danny threw the contest he should be exempted from winning such a prize.

Two Camaro keys were given to the Orage Masters and two were given to the Grenade Games, one of which will start the car. The keys in the Grenade possession will be handed out to the two riders deemed Most Radical based on their performances both on the slopes and in the clubs.

Darkside Of The Grenade Party Photos

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:21:00 -0400

Heavy metal DJ's Vinyl Ritchie and Matt The Alien, Monster cocktails, Monster Vodka, Rye and Coke, Broken Down Golf Cart (thanks Jesmond), Jack shots, Tequila shots, Corona, Kokanee...two slices of Fat Tony's pizza and call it a night.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

According to Andrew Geeves everyone was just getting Rocklobstered last night.

Rocklobster [rok-lob-ster] - adjective An Andrew Geeves-ism

1. To get extremely wasted. Ex. "Man I woke up naked in the tub this morning with a pickle up my nose. I was just rocklobstered."

Origin: 2010, the mind of Geeves.

Brian Bielmann wins the Olympus Pro Photographer Showdown

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:11:00 -0400

Whistler locals and guests gathered at the Telus Conference Centre last night for the annual Olympus Pro Photographer Showdown at Whistler's Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival. Host Mike Douglas made a grand entrance into the full house by riding in on a tricycle in celebration of Earth Day. The contest featured slideshows from the six finalists with subjects ranging from snowboarding to skiing, surfing and mountain biking.

Twenty-four year old Whistler local Mason Mashon kicked off the show. Up next was SBC Surf Photo Editor Jeremy Koreski, followed by ski photog Erik Seo. After intermission the works of Brian Bielmann, Yves Garneau and Grant Gunderson were displayed. Once all the images were shown, the crowd got to place their vote for the People's Choice Award by dropping a coloured ping pong ball into the bowl with their favourite photogs name on it.

The constant cheering of Bielmann’s surf shots earlier that night should have come as no surprise. Taking home both the Best In Show and the People’s Choice, Bielmann walked away with $11,000 and a new Olympus E-P2 camera setup. Congrats are also due to SBC Skier’s Online Editor Jason Mousseau for winning the Amateur Photography Throwdown. Kari Medig also took the top spot in the re:ACTION portrait category.

The Olympus Pro Photographer showdown was also presented by SnowboardCanada.com, SBCSkier.com, Dose.ca and Lowepro.

Host Mike Douglas

The crowd casts their votes

Finalists from left to right: Grant Gunderson, Mason Mashon, Erik Seo, Jeremy Koreski, Brian Bielmann
and host Mike Douglas

Winner Brian Bielmann and family

The winning entry from the amateur photo contest. Mousseau photo.

Portrait submissions for the re:Action photo contest

Grenade Games 6 Search & Recovery Mission Shenanigans

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0400

Hundreds of snowboarders gathered at Whistler/Blackcomb today to take part in the infamous Scavenger Hunt at Grenade Games 6 presented by Monster Energy during the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival. Said scavenger hunt consisted of completing “sweet maneuvers” on various runs. With the Peak 2 Peak gondola shut, riders had to scour both mountains in search of the Monster Crew to complete the tasks at hand. While the locations were disclosed last week, no one knew exactly what each task consisted of. With the heavy rain and fog, conditions were less than ideal but that didn’t stop the fun and games from going off.

On Whistler at the flats above the Emerald chair laid the Ollie Your Anus contest. Upon completion off said task, competitors were rewarded for their efforts with a shiny quarter (this was to be used later on to play an arcade game at the Longhorn Bar). The second task on Whistler was the Meat Spin contest. The setup consisted of three different jump lines leading up to a wall-ride. After throwing down another sweet maneuver here, riders were handed a shiny pair of headphones thanks to Pioneer.

Eero Niemala blowing it at Ollie Your Anus.

How low can you go? Maiatico photo

Real low. Danny Kass.

Stop 2: Meat Spin 1080. Maiatico photo.

Derek Molinski grabbing some tail at the Meat Spin stop.

With two Whistler tasks completed it was time to head over to Blackcomb. Stop number one was at the GMC Race Centre. Here riders had to battle it out on the dual slalom moguls course. Keeping speed was a must, as the top 40 riders get to move on to tomorrow’s dual slalom moguls race.

The race is on!

Charles White coming through the gates.

The final stop of the day was on Easy Out just above the bottom of the Catskinner Chair. Continuing with the fun and games, the Monster Energy Crew set up a GT Racer/Snowskate Air contest. Honourable mentions go out to Loosh Shunishev, Andrew Geeves and Danny Kass for his sweet one-footed jump.

Andrew Geeves flipping out.

Once the on-hill activites wrapped up, it was straight to the Longhorn for some après activities and eats. The top riders at the ollie, meat spin and air contests battled it out against each other on an old school acrade game of Asteroids. When all was said and done, Charles White, who was represented on the game by Mike Fikowski, took home today's top honours and a handfull of prizes thanks to Oakley.

Geeves intensly playing Asteriods. Maiatico photo.

Dingo, Danny and Dustin. Maiatico photo.

Asteriods winner Mike Fikowski representing for Charles White. Maiatico photo.

Results:

Ollie Your Anus
1. Tim Russell (40")
2. Andrew Geeves
3. Sammy Osachuk

Meat Spin
1. Anthony Welagen
2. Dave Fortin
3. Jon Versteeg

GT/Snowskate Air
1. Loush Shunshunid
2. Cavin McDonald
3. Alex Duckworth

Astroids -Highest Score
1. Mike Fikowski representing for Charles White - 9,260 points

Dark Side of the Grenade PARTY at Buffalo Bills tonight

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:26:00 -0400

Whistler, B.C. -- Dust off that old Maiden T and grab your tightest pair of pants, the night's been set for the craziest party of the Grenade Games, dubbed The Dark Side Of The Grenade and presented by Monster Energy in association with Snowboard Canada tonight (Thursday, April 22) at 10:55pm. One of the biggest nights of Whistler's Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival, this party follows the Pro Photographer Showdown.

This year it's back again at Buffalo Bill's with Mat the Alien, DJ Vinyl Ritchie, and Corpsefucker, straight from "Thirsty for Metal" at Fortune Soundclub.

Here is the Facebook Event page: CLICK

And definitely watch the vid here of last year's mayhem, and you'll see the truth in what Damon Pyett says at the end: "If you weren't here, you have no idea what you missed."

Monster Grenade Games 5 - Night 4 from monster canada on Vimeo.

Now You Know Teaser 2 from Sandbox

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 01:33:00 -0400

It's that time of year again: teaser season. Take a peek at what Sandbox has in the works. If you missed the last teaser check it out here: http://www.snowboardcanada.com/search_article?news_id=946&uniqid=1482