The Canadian Shield Ski and Snowboard Slopestyle Tour is set to embark on it’s first season, awarding $80,000 to top Canadian athletes along the way. The first tour of its kind in Canada, The Canadian Shield offers skiers and snowboarders alike an avenue to showcase their slopestyle skills while earning valuable AFP, TTR and tour points. Additionally, a huge cash purse and a ton of prizing are up for grabs at each stop, along with the opportunity to compete for the highly coveted overall tour titles and prizing.

 

If you haven’t already heard, Swatch TTR Art Rules is back! Make your mark on this year’s TTR Trophy and official Swatch Tour Watch and get your creative juices flowing. Each season TTR and Swatch come together to find the most creative design created by you, for the World Snowboard Tour Trophy and a matching Swatch TTR Tour Watch.

Last year’s winner, Frankie Leong, paid both physical and emotional tribute to that inspiring moment when the victor lifts their prize.

This year it could be your design making an entry into the history of Snowboarding! If you’ve got what it takes, then register at www.artrules.swatch.com and get started!

Check out the Wrap Up video from the 2011/2012 Swatch TTR Art Rules!

 

The qualification period for the 6 Star TTR WSC direct qualification spots have ended! The riders ranked in the top 50 men or women on the Halfpipe or Slopestyle Points List as of January 23rd, 2012 are directly qualified for the event. The top ranked riders will be seeded into the qualifications or semi-final round of the event and all qualified riders will have to re-confirm their spots within the next 7 days.

Check out the lists below to see who qualified!
Make sure you go to the TTR event page for more info and check TTR News for updates.

 

Swatch Art Rules Design Contest is back! Don’t miss out on the chance of a life time to have your artwork featured on the 2012/13 TTR World Tour Trophy and matching TTR Swatch Watch. Swatch and TTR are pleased to announce this third annual Swatch Art Rules Design Contest. The TTR Trophy, sculpted by renowned “Coarse” designer, Mark Landwehr, acts as a blank canvas for you to get creative! One lucky winner will have the honour to have their art work being part of snowboarding history.

Swatch Art Rules is a great way to showcase your art work and break into the spotlight through the snowboard and art worlds. The TTR Trophy is featured throughout the season and is awarded to the tour champion live onstage at the biggest events in the sport. Imagine people world-wide wearing your design round their wrist as the winning design will be produced on a Swatch watch and distributed world-wide in 2012/2013!

This year’s installment of the design contest presents a challenge to the artists of the world: submit a graphic design that expresses the themes of Progression and Style. Progression and Style are two elements that run through all aspects of snowboarding and an artist’s interpretation of these themes will make the TTR Trophy and Swatch Tour Watch aesthetically complete.

A jury of snowboard and art experts selects the winning design from all submitted proposals. The top three nominees will be invited to the Swatch Art Rules Night gala event on 12th May 2012 in the Los Angeles area (USA) where the winning design and artist are set to be unveiled to the world. In addition to the portfolio-building exposure, the winner also receives a two-week trip to New York City to soak up all the art and design inspiration of the Big Apple.

So what are you waiting for! Get your creative juices flowing, the contest is now on through to March 31st 2012 and you can submit your designs at www.artrules.swatch.com.

 

Check out last years winner in this video….this year it could be you!

Girls only! Central Park of Thyon saw the first competition of the first Swiss Ski and Snowboard “freestyle” tour only for girl rider’s. This 3 Star TTR event saw awesome riding by all contestants but it was Swiss girl Rina Ramholt dominated in Snowboarding.

Everyone agreed that Tina Ramholt made a perfect run: Underflip 540° on the first jump, 270° in on the Flat-Down boxe, Frontboard on the Rainbow-boxe and 50-50 on the Down-boxe, earning the Swiss girl 900 francs. Taking second place was Anaïs Cettou with a Switch Back 360° on the first jump, 270° in on the Flat-Down boxe, 50-50 Frontboard on the Rainbow-boxe and 270° in on the Down-boxe, receiving an award of 400 francs. Justine Gremaud did a 180° Back on the first jump, Gap Boardslide on the Flat-Down boxe, 270° in on the Up-Flat-Down boxe and 360° on the boxe, completing the podium and receiving 200 francs.

Congratulations to all the winners from TTR!

Check out the video below of the Ladies First Challenge: Thyon

Next stop is in Wildhaus (SG) on the 18th February 2012 so make sure you register at:
www.ladiesfirstchallenge.ch/rider/register.php

Stay tuned for more info on The Ladies First Challenge.

Day 2 of the Protest World Rookie Fest 2012 was on fire with tonnes of action at the Mottolino Swatch Snowpark and in the new Cable Park in Livingno downtown. 126 riders from the starting list all shred the slopestyle set up including 3 table top and ending in a multi rail obstacles in practice. The afternoon saw the Protest Cable session happen in the centre of Livigno awarding a €1,000 prize money to grab in a “cash for trick” contest.

The Protest World Rookie Fest is not just about competing. The program of day 2 included a workshop, “Wanna be a Snowboarder Pro” by Bob Klein from USA. Bob was one of the very first pro ever and today he is in the “snowboarding hall of fame” and works as a professional athlete manager in Octagon, world leading company in this market!

Yeti on the loose! Last seen shredding!

Have you seen seen this Yeti?! Anyone know who it is?
Rumour has it that Red Bull pro Jamie Nicholls has joined the Protest World Rookie Fest to shred with the riders, but in a different style.

Day 3 of the Protest World Rookie Fest 2012 saw a high level of riding at the qualifications, only the best 16 male rookies and the 8 male groms get a spot for today’s super finals while all the girls, both rookies and groms get direct access to the finals.

Swedish rising star Sven Thorgen resulted the best in the rookie category while norwegian ripper Mons Roislan dominated among the groms. As rumoured there was a very special Yeti on the slopestyle: Red Bull pro, Jamie Nicholls had the honor to be the world famous World Rookie Tour Mascotte all day long!

In the afternoon a Yoga Lesson was arranged for the participants: almost 30 riders, coach and parents enjoyed this new activity of the Protest World Rookie Fest program.

Click here to see the qualification results for the finals.

Check out the video below of Training at the Mottolino Swatch Snowpark, Day 2!

Follow the Yeti @ www.worldrookietour.com and www.worldsnowboardfederation.org
For more info on the final event check out the TTR event page.

The World Rookie Fest 2012 has started! 126 riders, 17 nations standing out as the biggest event of the World Rookie Tour Ever!

The Mottolino Swatch Snowpark looked awesome thanks to the crew of shapers who spent the night and day to create the perfect set up for the crowd of rookies arriving in Livigno. The 8th edition of Protest World Rookie Fest has started with the qualification day at the Snowpark and the cable-snow contest  with a prize money of €1000 cash in the afternoon.

The opening ceremony kicked off the World Rookie Fest 2012 in style thanks to the video première of the  Red Bull movie “The Art of Flight” and “Rookie Trip to Chile”, a movie filmed in Chile with the best riders of the World Rookie Tour 2011 together with some South America Red Bull riders. The “Rookie Trip to Chile” will be available for download soon on the official rookie website so don’t forget to check it out at www.worldrookietour.com.

Get more info of the final  4Star event at the TTR event page or visit www.worldsnowboardfederation.org

Watch this video of the 1st day: World Rookie Fest 2012

If you dream to become a professional snowboarder, your future starts here at the Rookie Fest!

The Red Bull Nanshan Open saw awesome weather on the first days of training and qualifications with the Nike park looking as good as it can be. The Mellow Parks crew has been busy shaping the features to perfection for this years TTR 5Star event which marks the 10th anniversary of the Nanshan Open. As the largest slopestyle event in Asia we will see some sick riding from both international and chinese riders.

See the riders list below and check out the pictures from the first days!

1 – Atsushi Ishikawa (JPN / 日本) Flow/Quiksilver/Spy
2 – Anton Bilare (SWE / 瑞典) Nitro/Rip Curl
3 – Austin Smith (USA / 美国) Nike/Nitro
4 – Nick Brown (NZ / 新西兰) RPM/Burton/Dragon
5 – Nils Arvidsson (SWE / 瑞典) Nitro/Rip Curl
6 – Kazushige Fujita (JPN / 日本) Head/Union/Electric
7 – Knut Eliassen (NOR / 挪威) Nitro/Smith
8 – Nick Hyne (NZ / 新西兰) Ride/Smith/Lower
9 – Aljosa Krivec (SLO / 斯洛文尼亚) Apo/Horsfeathers/Deeluxe
10 – Sergey Lapushkin (RUS / 俄罗斯) DC/Vivax
11 – Lee Yongho (KOR / 韩国) Nike/Salomon/Electric
12 – Brian Fox (USA / 美国) Nitro/Quiksilver
13 – Teddy Koo (KOR / 韩国) Nike/Salomon/Electric
14 – Sam Hulbert (USA / 美国) Ride/Smith/Neff
15 – Juuso Laivisto (FIN / 芬兰) Red Bull/Volcom/Ride
16 – Joachim Krogstie (NOR / 挪威) Burton/Analog/Anon
17 – Maxence Parrot (CAN / 加拿大) Oneill/Ride/Oakley
18 – Matthias Weissenbacher (AUT / 奥地利) Quiksilver/Gnu
19 – Petja Piiroinen (FIN / 芬兰) Flow/Billabong
20 – Antoine Truchon (CAN / 加拿大) Nitro/Oneill/Smith
21 – Kevin Backstrom (SWE / 瑞典) Nike/Rome
22 – Roope Tonteri (FIN / 芬兰) Burton/Anon
23 – Locally Qualified Chinese Rider (Results on 7th of Jan)
24 – Locally Qualified Chinese Rider (Results on 7th of Jan)
25 – Locally Qualified Chinese Rider (Results on 7th of Jan)
26 – Locally Qualified Chinese Rider (Results on 7th of Jan)
27 – Locally Qualified Chinese Rider (Results on 7th of Jan)
28 – Locally Qualified Chinese Rider (Results on 7th of Jan)

 

Don’t miss the live webcast at www.sports.sina.com.cn/z/2011nssb/ and check out the TTR event page!

Are you ready to celebrate the TTR 5 Star Red Bull Nanshan Open? It is the largest Slopestyle event in Asia, twenty-two international invited pros will compete with seven locally qualified riders on a specially designed slopestyle course in the Nike Nanshan Park. The two day competition held January 14th – 15th attracts widespread international media attention and national TV coverage! Catch some of the world’s top riders battle it out for US$50,000 prize money, global TTR ranking points and of course…fame and glory! This year sees the addition of live TV coverage for the event, a first for a Slopestyle event on Chinese television. Can’t make the event…..?  Then watch it on CCTV5 during the following time periods, or through live online stream on at www.sports.sina.com.cn/z/2011nssb/!

Check the full rundown of the event below:

Live Tv coverage:
Saturday, January 14th, 2012
11:00-12:00 CST (1st run of Qualifier)
13:30-15:30 CST (2nd and 3rd runs of Qualifier)
Sunday, January 15th, 2012
11:00-12:30 CST (Finals)
13:30-14:30 CST (SuperFinals)

Jan 14, Sat – Competition Day 1
Open to 22 invited international pro riders and 7 locally qualified riders. Each rider will have three runs; the best 1 out of 3 counts, and the top 12 will progress onto Sunday’s competition.

09:30 – 11:00 Training
11:00 – 12:00 1st run
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch break and park maintenance
13:00 – 13:30 Warm up
13:30 – 15:00 2nd and 3rd runs
15:30 – 15:45 Announcement of 12 finalists

Jan 15, Sun – Competition Day 2
Limited to the 12 qualified riders of the previous day’s event. Each rider will have two runs, the best 1 out of 2 counts. The top 4 will progress into the afternoon’s super finals for three runs each, best 1 out of 3 counts.

09:30 – 11:00 Training
11:00 – 12:30 Finals (top 12 riders, 2 runs each, best run counts)
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch break and park maintenance
13:30 – 14:30 Super Finals (top 4 riders, 3 runs, best run counts)
14:30 – 14:45 [live music performance]
14:45 Prize Giving

Prize draw:
1st = US$ 20.000 / 850 TTR points
2nd = US$ 10.000 / 800.95 TTR points
3rd = US$ 5.000 / 765 TTR points
4th = US$ 3.000 / 737.85 TTR points
5th-12th = US$ 1.500 / TTR points

Speaker: Eric Zhu
Head judges: Iztok Sumatic (SLO), Ishi (JPN)
Judges: Ingemar Backman (SWE), Michi Albin (SWI), Scotty Wittlake (USA), Alan Wong (PRC)

Check out this Wrap Up video from the 9th Red Bull Nanshan Open and make sure you visit TTR’s event page for more information.

 

This 3 + 4 Star TTR World Snowboard Tour event begins on the 14th January 2012 where the girls will be the queens of “freestyle” this winter in Switzerland. The event will consist of two qualifying rounds and a final: the first this Saturday, 14.01.2012 in Thyon (VS) and the second held on the Saturday 18th Febuary in Wildhaus (SG). At this occasion the five best skiers and snowboarders will receive their ticket for the participation at the final of the tour, classified 4 stars TTR, on Saturday March 24 in Leysin (VD).

The best competitors of Europe will meet on the modules of the Central Park (snow park in Thyon) trying to get the 1500 francs at stake in snowboarding and 500 francs in skiing in the first Qualifying round!

 

Good luck to everyone from TTR!

For more information hit up www.ladiesfirstchallenge.ch also check out the TTR event page.

Watch The Ladies First Challenge 2012 Teaser!