Archive for the ‘Athletes’ Category

 

You have once again submitted questions in hopes of getting an answer from the one and only adidas eyewear team rider Marko Grilc. But just getting an answer from Grilo is not all. This time there is the chance of winning some very special prices from TTR’s bronze partner adidas eyewear. The winner will receive adidas eyewear ID2 goggles designed and signed by Marko himself, a signed adidas eyewear ID2 longsleeve and a poster!

 

Check the interview for Grilos answers and for the announcement of the winner.

 

 

Ethan Frantz – When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I don’t remember what my biggest goal was. But i remember as soon as I started to skateboard and then snowboard, that I wanted to do everything that was connected to that. So I guess I always dreamed of getting to ride all the time.

Alexander Flink – For how long had you been riding snowboard before you got sponsored? and how? I mean did someone notice you in a competition or how did it happen?
I rode for about 6 years. The thing was that back then there was no internet or all this mega social media like today. You couldn’t just post a clip online. So I had to do well at contests and when I got 3rd at Junior Worlds,  Burton took me onboard.

Erika Ogami – This is silly…but I would actually like to know what your favorite drink is? My signature drink is the White Russian:) If you’re ever in the Great Northwest I’ll take ya to my favorite pub!
heh. My favorite drink would be Red Bull… Erika, thanks for the invite.

Nuša Brez Gnezda – What superpower would you like to have?
I wish I could read minds. Life would be so easy. Haha

Janez Mikec – Where did you get your inspiration from and who’s your mustache hero? Ever thought of entering a mustache competition?
My mustache is growing because I support Movember. Check it online, it is a boss organization. Rocking a stache is no joke I can tell you that. Haha

Guillem López Paradís – Have you ever flirted with a girl saying “I’m a professional snowboarder”?
Of course… always say who you are. Don’t be scared of what you have done. Even if you are not a snowboarder, girls like guys who stand big.

Luigi Clivati – Which similarity exists between snowboarding and dating a girl ?
They are both unpredictable. I never know what my girl is going to do next and same goes for snowboarding. Hehehe

Lara Gruskovnjak – In 2009 you won the Air & Style in Innsbruck. What kind of feeling was it to stand on the top of the winner podium? Were you proud of yourself as a Slovene to win the Air & Style?
Air & Style was just such a magical day. I was so stoked and I was very proud to be a Slovenian.

 

Dino Penić – Best 3 Yugo riders?
Cilka Sadar, Tim Kevin Ravnjak, Nejc Ferjan

Takis Karagos – Can you tell us about the most important and happiest moment in a snowboard competition for you?
I would say that contests are a learning process. If you blow it or if you do good, you always learn something. Each moment is very important to go through which is why I would say all of them were important.

Nace Novak – At first i am your biggest fan. I want to become like you and i really really really really … want your GOGGLES !!!!! My question is: Is SNOWBOARDING your life ?
Snowboarding is without a doubt my life, Nace. Thanks for the nice words.

Marina Marković – Is there any chance that you would ride some lines and places like those guys from “The art of flight” and what is your dream mountain where you would like to ride? A mountain that you haven’t had a chance to ride..
i rode so much backcountry in the past and I cant wait to go back and ride some more. It will really be a cool day. Just to go film and shred pow with my friends.

Eric LeGov – Is your life really like in grilomentary?
grilomentary is a picture of my day. I really do live like it is shown in the movie. Of course, every day is different and changes a lot but most of the movie was filmed like I lived a year ago.

Dan Cirenza – Growing up as a snowboarder long before the internet, how did you know what tricks were being thrown down in the competition scene and how did you push yourself to learn tricks without being able to see them performed in person?
I believe growing up in those times was way more challenging. The information didn’t travel in a second, so it was a much bigger challenge to get recognized. The tricks we learned were mostly from snowboard movies and that was all you could get. It made us appreciate the riders who did get recognized way more.

Paul Kapeller – Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years? Riding pow and steep lines like Jeremy Jones, establishing and managing your own label like the Helgasons, teaching kids how to shred or something completely different?
It is so hard to predict. When you live at 100%, so manny things change daily and to think that far ahead is difficult. But I hope that I will have the chance to shred it up as much as possible. I just want to stay connected to snowboarding because this is who we are peoples. hehe

 

Last but not least, the winner of some awesome adidas eyewear gear is….. Dan Cirenza!

Congrats, you’ve won

- adidas eyewear ID2 goggles designed and signed by Marko himself
– a signed adidas eyewear ID2 longsleeve
– a signed poster

We will get in touch with you shortly.

 

Nearly two years after his traumatic brain injury occurred, the best half pipe snowboarder in the world, Kevin Pearce, is back on the slopes at Breckenridge leaving fans and film crews blown away in his powder trail.

“It felt pretty crazy, and it’s amazing to know that it was all still in there,” Pearce said, tapping the side of his head after burning through several runs with a small army of his fans and supporters.

“I lost a lot of things up in this brain of mine, but it’s good to know I still have the snowboarding. It would have been hard if I had gotten out there and couldn’t even turn down the hill. I can’t even begin to imagine how I would have felt, but it’s all still there.”

In order for Pearce to warm himself up for his return to the snowboarding world he started the morning with runs at Vail with a smaller group including his brother, Jake Burton and the frends crew.

“I’m not going to do any double corks in the halfpipe. Yet,” Pearce said. “Just some mellow runs down the mountain and cruise and enjoy ourselves. Just have fun. Not be too serious. That’s the plan as of now.”

So from everyone at TTR Kevin welcome back and we hope to be seeing you soon!

Have you missed seeing Kevin on the hill? Then why not check out this greatest hits video that we put together…

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A while back we asked you to submit a question you’ve always wanted to ask Ride Snowboards team rider Sebastien Toutant. Out of the many good submissions Seb and TTR picked 10 questions for Seb to answer. On top of that, TTR Bronze partner Ride Snowboards is giving away brand new Ride Rodeo bindings which one of you lucky shredders will win! See below if your question made it, what Seb had to say and who the winner of the Ride Rodeo bindings is!

 

 

Erika Ogami – What/who would you say helped contribute to your success?
Max Henault, he’s my TM for O’Neill but at the same time my coach since I’m 12 years old. He was a good snowboarder back in the day and he helped me to progress faster.

Steve Pelham – What is your thought process on learning a new trick. Do you over think it (visualization) and break it down……do you get into zen mode (feel it) or a combo of both. And which technique would you recommend for the above average Joe to lift their success rate? Keep up the inspiration.
When I’m working on a new trick.. I usually try it on a trampoline first and when I feel it, I try it on snow. It definitely helps to focus and visualize the trick before doing it.

Steven Paul Maggio – What was the scariest trick you have ever done?
The first time I tried a FS 1080 double cork was really scary!

Xavi Quirós – Do you believe that your bindings can help you land better tricks?
No, unless they’re Ride Bindings!

Alan Chan – Do you swear in English or French after a huge bail/stomp?
I usually do say both! haha.

Alex Vanheurck – You are one of the very few riders to wear an helmet, whether you’re having fun or shooting some vids. Do you think the other riders should be more careful and maybe more conscious since they’re playing with their life hitting kickers as big as my house?
I’ve been wearing a helmet since I started snowboarding so for me it’s natural.. for some other riders, they’ve been riding without a helmet since they started so now it’s unnatural to wear one. If you brake your arm it’ll heal but if you hurt your brain it could be bad…

Alexandra Côté-Durrer – Would you rather go to the Olympics or win for best video part? and Why? Oh and do you like sushi and beef jerky?
I would rather to go at the Olympics because it would be a really good experience and it happens every 4 years so I could try to get the best video part the next year haha. I love sushi but not to stoked on Beef Jerky.

Andres Franco – How much influence do you think you have from skateboarding and wakeboarding? Do you think that’s your key for your successful career?
Skateboarding brought a lot to Snowboarding since everything started. For me, skating is a really good influence and I love to skate as much as I love snowboarding and I learned so much from it. Wakeboarding is an easier sport then Snowboarding I feel like, but I still think that it’s a good sport to progress your riding on snow.

Bo Warren – How do you feel about the progression of snowboarding? Like triple corks? I think triples are too crazy and snowboarding should be more towards style with like dubs with sick grabs.
I definitely agree with you.. Triple corks are not the future but they’re part of the progression and I don’t think triple corks will stop the style but push the riders that don’t have triples to do their doubles with more style to get more points in contest.

Bart Eykmans – What do you think the (entire) snowboarding scene/industry can do to bring the FIS working together with (or even giving the snowboarding to) TTR for the Slopestyle Olympic Qualifications?
I think the riders all together could change the way the Olympics have been doing the qualification, but it all comes down to who will really stand for the crew and who will not…

 

 

And last but not least: The winner of the Ride Rodeo bindings is – Alex Vanheurck! Congrats Alex, we’ll get in touch with you shortly.

 

The next TTR ASK A RIDER will feature Slovenian ripper Marko Grilc. Stay tuned!

 

To finish this awesome interview created by all of you, here’s Seb’s TTR Profile:

 

This season Nike, Platinum Partner of TTR, releases the perfect platform for Amateur Snowboarders to step up their game and to compete for a chance to ride alongside some of the world’s greatest Pros.

The Nike Chosen Series will shake up 9 stops across Europe where AM riders will session in a jam format kicker contest hosted by one of the Nike pros.

At each stop a rider will be chosen to join the Nike team riders to compete at the grand finals held at the Nike Chosen Sessions in April 2012.

For AMs who want to take their riding to the next level and to shred with some of the best riders on the planet, the Nike Chosen Series is the opportunity to show what you’ve got.

 

• Each country stop will have prizes for Best Style, Most Creative Rider and Best Female Rider.
• The rider who is judged ‘Best Overall’ at each stop will win the ultimate prize of a ticket to compete in the Finals at the Nike Chosen Sessions in April.
• The best tricks from each stop will be posted online and judged by Facebook likes, the rider with the most votes will receive a wildcard into the finals.

 

For more information on the Nike Chosen Series visit – nikechosenseries.com

 

 

 

 

 

WAS, the movement started by 7 of the world’s most elite snowboarders has reached out to the snowboard community to voice their opinion about the Olympic qualification process. There has been much talk and objection to the FIS controlled Olympic slopestyle qualification process since the announcement by the IOC. The riders and members of “We Are Snowboarding” are now taking action by asking everyone in the snowboard community to write a letter to the IOC. These are their words:

People always ask us… “What can I do to help?” Here is the best way to get involved. Every member of WAS is helping to get this message to the IOC. You should to. Step 1- Print this letter, Step 2- Mail this letter, Step 3- Let us know you sent it. It costs less then a dollar and takes very little time. Will you HELP WAS get the message across to the IOC? We want a fair chance to be heard. Give us that chance!

Print the letter and take action!

 

 

 

The International Olympic Committee recently approved the qualification process for all International Ski Federation events, including halfpipe and slopestyle for snowboarding, that are scheduled to take place at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games to be held in Sochi, Russia.  This seems like another mundane announcement about snowboarding and the Olympics, but there are some interesting details that run a little bit deeper.

Back in July, the IOC approved the inclusion of slopestyle in the program for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games; a great thing for snowboarding and for slopestyle riders who previously didn’t have an opportunity to make a run for the Olympics.  But, the addition of slopestyle in the Winter Games revived a long-standing debate about the International Ski Federation (FIS) controlling how snowboarding is handled in the Olympics.

FIS currently oversees everything from qualifications and nation quotas to running the actual competitions onsite.  The discussion of FIS control over snowboarding came back into the spotlight and garnered a lot of attention in the snowboard community due to the fact that the FIS has little to no experience running slopestyle competitions (they ran their first slopestyle event in La Molina, Spain in January, 2011).  And, many pro riders also voiced their opposition to FIS getting into the slopestyle game because of how jam-packed the competitive calendar has become for the athletes.  Riders rarely have a weekend off in the winter and are often traveling long distances from the United States to Europe to Asia and back again all in the span of one month.  This basically makes for an unhealthy competitive environment for the athletes who have little time to recover after an event and are dealing with heavy bouts of jet lag.  If the FIS were to create a whole new slopestyle tour, it will make the already busy contest season even more crowded with new events.

With all these issues out in the open, people in the TTR crew took it upon themselves to spark up some discussions with the FIS to see if there were some compromises that could be worked out for the good of the sport and the riders.  TTR event organizers have been running snowboard events, including slopestyle competitions, for decades and have a wealth of experience in progressive course design, fair judging, safety and formats.  With this bank of snowboard contest knowledge, the TTR approached the FIS with the best intentions of authentically representing the sport of snowboarding and helping to develop a fair system for snowboard athletes to qualify for the Olympics.

Talks between TTR and FIS began simply with a focus on the winter calendar of events in order to minimize major events overlapping.  Many other issues have been mulled over and discussed over the past year and, finally, back in June, it felt like some progress was being made when the TTR and FIS created a joint ‘task force’ that was charged with creating a long term strategy for competitive freestyle snowboarding  The task force is made up of TTR and FIS representatives along with coaches, judges, athletes and national snowboard organizations; a well-rounded group of snowboard ‘officials’ who collectively posses a mountain of knowledge that was being made available to FIS while they were getting ready to make some large decisions about freestyle snowboarding.

 

After meetings in South Korea at the end of August 2011, FIS announced that they had made final decisions on field sizes, national quotas and the

qualification process for freestyle snowboarding for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.  Despite having the newly formed joint task force at their disposal, the FIS made these decisions behind closed doors choosing to totally ignore any recommendations from the newly formed task force which included some of the most knowledgeable people in the snowboard game.  FIS’s actions left out an excellent chance to pull from this collective knowledge, engage the snowboarding community and embrace the sport.

 

TTR is greatly dissapointed by the recent decisions made by the FIS.  However, TTR remains open to future discussions with the FIS and will continue to work towards having an impact on, not only the 2014 Olympics, but the long-term future of snowboarding.

 

Read related stories below:

http://onboard.mpora.com/news/snowboarding-set-fisted-olympic-qualification.html

http://espn.go.com/action/snowboarding/story/_/id/6913174/ioc-approves-fis-recommendation-olympic-qualification-ski-snowboard-halfpipe-slopestyle-2014-winter-games

http://silviamittermuller.wordpress.com/2011/01/21/slopestyle-la-molina-and-the-olympics/

 

Last week we asked you, fellow shredders, to submit questions for the current World Number 1 in the TTR Big Air Tour Rankings – Eric Willett. See if your question made into in the final 10 and what Eric had to say:

 

Hey Eric, we hope you are enjoying your summer.  Thanks for taking some time to answer some questions from your fans! Please quickly introduce yourself and we’ll get right into it.
Yo guys! Thanks for all the questions. Stoked for my fans to learn more about me than just snowboarding. You guys are awesome! I live in Breckenridge Colorado, I’m 23 years old and my sponsors are, Quiksilver, Vans, Smith, Flux, Breckenridge Resort, GoPro, Boa Lacing System, Celtek, and Nixon.

Laura – When did you start riding and why did you get so good?
I started riding when I was 6 years old, but I didn’t start taking it serious until I was about 15. Lots and lots of practice! Taking it slow at first and working my way up to bigger and better tricks. I was lucky enough to not get injured much, so I felt I was able to progress really fast.

Travis – What was your first board?
It was some crappy 120cm directional Sims board from like the early 90′s haha. My parents got it for me from a garage sale and they had no idea what they were getting me. But I rode it and loved it, didn’t care what it was cause I was having fun!

Anette – What is your goal for The World Championships in Oslo 2012?
Well, my goal is always to make it onto the podium. But I’m stoked to be at this new huge event, with all my friends and all the top riders from all over the world. But’s it’s always good to at least make it into finals and at least top 5, so that’s a good goal to have, and to have fun no matter what.

Justin – How do you do double corks? What’s your secret?
Practice! And it’s all about visualizing it in your head before you try it. My secret is I break the trick down into two smaller tricks. Like a frontside double cork 10 is a front cork 5 into a switch backside cork 5. And a switch backside double cork 10 is a corked switch backside 5 into a front corked 5. It’s easier to think about it that way and work on those smaller tricks. So when you go for a double cork you know the exact feeling of both the 540′s.

Seiya – Do you like KFC or Taco bell better?
I’m a Taco Bell guy! Cheesy Gordita Crunch all the way! But it doesn’t help to have one right across the street from my house, it could be the death of me.

Romana – Where is your favorite spot to ride?
My favorite spot to ride is my home mountain, Breckenridge Colorado. They’ve got the best parks in the world, all my friends are there and the snow is awesome! But outside of the US I would have to say Livigno, Italy. I’ve been there two times and the parks are awesome, and I actually got some really good powder days, such a fun place.

Adrian and Yasmin – Do you listen to music, while riding… And what music do you listen to?
I used to, like 4 years ago, but one day I couldn’t land anything and got super frustrated so I took my headphones out and I haven’t listened to it since! But I I like rap, dubstep, and classic rock. Those get me pumped up and in the mood to snowboard!

Rapsak – When did you cut your hair the last time?
Haha good question! I’ve had two haircuts in the past two years. My last one was last August, so it’s been over a year since scissors have touched my hair. But we’ll see how much longer I’ll let it grow, I’m thinking it’s time to get it cut…

Leilani – What do you do in the summer when you’re not riding?
I love summer time! So I take advantage of it as much as possible. I love mountain biking, camping, hiking, skating, going to baseball games, and just chilling out in the sun! We’ve got tons of rad places to mountain bike, so I try to get out as many times during the week as I can.

Kimi – If you had to choose one – big air, slopestyle or halfpipe? Definitely slopestyle. I suck at haflpipe haha! Big airs are fun because it’s always at a crazy venue and it’s really intense. But I love slopestyle cause you have to dial in your whole run with all your best tricks, there’s a lot of pressure involved but i love it.

Eric Willett, born and raised in Breckenridge, Colorado, is a kid who just loves to snowboard. This Breck local can be found on the hill every day riding with his younger brother Chris Willett. From the age of six years old the two mates have woken up every morning hungry to learn and land new tricks. Eric has been competing on the tour for a few seasons now with some serious results. After making it on the podium at last seasons O’Neill Evolution and Burn River Jump, he took home the slopestyle win at the Burton US Open 2011. As if that’s not enough he started the 2011/12 season with a win at the TTR Billabong Ante Up in Whistler.

 

Now you have chance to ask Eric about something you’ve always wanted to know! Make it funny and creative because we will pick the 10 best questions for Eric to answer. Click the image below and start asking:

 

 

 

TTR Rider Profile – Eric Willett

 

Lipstick Productions, a European female snowboard movie production set up by riders for riders has just released a trailer for their upcoming movie… We like it and it is a damn good looking trailer! The crew is made up of riders such as Aimee Fuller, Ana Rumiha, Aline Bock, Tini Gruber, Julia Baumgartner, Margot Rozies, Urska Pribosic, Basa Stevulova, Jenny Jones, Lisa Filzmoser, Vera Janssen, Conny Bleicher, Sina Candrian and the girls definitely know how to have a good time.

Check out the Lipstick Production website and show the ladies some love by liking their Facebook page.

“As we like to have fun, don´t take everything too serious and it´s all about looking damn good here our “5 more minutes…please?!” Trailer. So sit back, relax 5 more minutes and enjoy!”

 

 

A couple days ago we’ve introduced you to Sebastien Toutant’s new website sebtoots.com. The young canadian has now released an exclusive video part on his new page which features highlights of his 2010/11 competitive season, jibbing footage and of course his first backside triple cork 1440.

Check out Seb’s smooth style in the flick below: