At the 5Star Burn River Jump, we met up with current World No. 10 on the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour, Christian Haller. This young rider from Switzerland just had competed in the Olympics and now puts his focus back to the rest of the TTR season aiming for one of those popular spots in the TTR Top 5.
The 6Star Oakley Arctic Challenge is rocking Oslo this weekend, with a long list of top level snowboarders. TAC is known for pushing the boundaries of snowboarding and initiating development in the sport. 3 years ago TAC introduced the “variation score” into the quarterpipe and this year one of the ideas in development is its slopestyle judging format that is TV and spectator friendly.
Each of the 5 obstacles has been assigned one judge who will solely judge that obstacle. In addition two judges are allocated to give a score for the general flow. The scores are displayed directly after each run on the big screen with the total score. The spectators can easily follow and know exactly what tricks scored higher. Each section will count for 15% of the total, and the flow counts for 25%.
Ingemar Backman (SWE) who was judging the hip today commented: “It takes a while to get used to. It’s good that there are 100 points per obstacle. On a normal slopestyle it is the riders who are stronger on the kickers who win, in this format it is important to be able to ride everything. You really cant play it safe on anything”
For more information on the format, check out the TAC website.
Don’t miss any of the action! Watch LIVE webcast on www.ttrworldtour.com Sunday 1 pm CET)
Saturday 6.3.10
11.00: Doors open at arena
12.20: Warm-up, heat 1
13.00: Heat 1 start
14.00: Warm-up heat 2
14.30: Heat 2 start
22.00 Party!
Sunday 6.3.10
10.00 Doors open at arena
Enviromental activities in arena
12.00: Warm-up
13.00: Finals
14.15: Prize ceremony
If you did not make it to Livigno today to see Eric Willett showing a sick run including a Switch Backside 1260, Frontside Double Cork 1080 and a Backside Double Rodeo then you have the chance right here to watch him in practice. Burn, the main sponsor of the event, was lucky enough to have chosen him to try out the head cam. Enjoy! There are more videos available on the Burn Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/BurnRiverJump
More photos are also available right here:
Flow Snowboarding– is proud to announce the inclusion of team riders Scotty Lago (USA), Sarka Pancochova (CZ) and James Hamilton (NZ) to the list of 2010 Winter Olympic competitors. Vancouver will be the destination for thousands of athletes as the Games kick off this week, and all three of these Flow riders will be representing both their countries and Flow Snowboarding. For nearly 15 years, Flow has stood for progression and excellence in the world of snowboarding, and now it is with great pride that Flow will be present in Vancouver to support their riders in their quest for Olympic gold.
To help fans stay up to date with their favorite Flow riders, the creative department at Flow has been busy building comprehensive rider sites for Scotty, Sarka and resident road-dog Tim Humphreys. These sites are designed to give fans an insight into the working, personal and professional lives of some of the world’s top snowboarders. Ever wonder what Sarka’s favorite local mountain is? What kind of Harley Scotty rides? Why in the world Humpy likes to build computers so much? Or even if you just want to kill a few hours reading blogs and watching footage of some of your favorite Flow riders, now you can at:
Scotty.flow.com
Sarka.flow.com
Tim.flow.com
Flow.com
We promise you that you’ll be seeing much more of Scotty, Sarka, Humpy and James in the near future, so read up and get a head start to be in the know about these four elite shredders. Check in for weekly updates, photos, videos contest results and more.
For more information on TTR’s Industry Partner, also visit their profile on www.ttrworldtour.com/partners
To see Sarka in action, check out the video below
One of TTR’s media partners, Whiteout.tv, and TTR’s partners Swatch, have put together this project that follows Christian “Hitsch” Haller to TTR events all around the globe in his Olympic season and offers the chance for viewers to get to know more. With interviews from friends, family and other top pros, you’ll get a unique look in to the life of one of Switzerland’s most interesting snowboarders and current World no. 2 on the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour.
For more information on this young rider also visit his profile on ttrworldtour.com
Click on the link below to watch the two episodes of Hitsch:
As organizer of basically all things rider related for the 8th Red Bull Nanshan, I had a reasonably busy week for this competition! Follow my day-to-day madness, headaches and good times at Asia’s largest snowboard competition on the Swatch Ticket to Rider World Snowboard Tour.
Day 1- Arrivals
A relaxed day for the riders, but one of the most stressful for me. Basically the whole day is spent on airport pickups. (starting at 7am and finishing at 9pm), Thanks to some recent snow and general awesomeness of air carriers, almost none of the flights arrive when scheduled, messing up my whole transport schedule. I make a few changes, and luckily have some girls helping me out which takes some of the pressure off. As the invited pros come in it’s awesome to see some familiar faces from last year, and we greet each other like old friends. I head back to the hotel with a big group of them, and while they get to check-in and rest, I meet up with big boss / event organizer Steve Zdarsky and setup for a Press Conference that evening in the hotel bar.
Fast forward a few hours past the really exciting press conference, we get to relax with one of the best dinners of the trip – all you can eat and drink teppanyaki. Just as I’m enjoying myself, I hear one of the late-arrival riders still hasn’t been seen at the airport. Uh-oh. Meanwhile, we have a few drinks, get to know each other and are reminded of that ‘school trip’ feeling from back in the day. A relaxing group foot massage follows, and mid-massage I hear the missing rider has arrived – but his boardbag hasn’t. I decide to sort it out tomorrow. Finally by 1:00am I drop a few guys off at a nearby club to continue partying, and head home for a little bit of sleep.
Day 2 – Sighteseeing
I join the guys for an awesome buffet breakfast at the Hilton. I’ve got to make sure all the guys are checked out, bags packed by 11:00am, but I’m not surprised when by 10:30am there’s still no sign from last night’s ‘clubbers’. I get their room number from reception and pay them a visit – as expected, they’re still in bed, with some uneaten room service in the doorway.. haha.
We board the bus and head straight to the Olympic’s Bird’s Nest Stadium to check out the snow-world-park-thing they have going on there. It’s actually a pretty solid effort! Snow had been blown throughout the stadium, and just outside was a ski slope made out of scaffolding. Some of the riders opted to ski with hilarious results, a few hungover riders slept on the bus and some just wandered off. I make a call to the airport’s lost baggage claim to try and track down the missing boardbag. They’re not too sure about it, but tell it’s still in San Francisco and might arrive tonight.
A few hours later, and we’re on our way to the ski resort. The hotel is expecting us and we’ve made sure they pre-heat the rooms this year, the weather is freezing! It’s pretty funny watching the first-timers see the man-made ski resort for the first time, and you can feel everyone getting more excited.
A delicious and cheap Chinese dinner with the local crew allows everyone involved in the competition to bond and familiarize themselves. We have some hassle trying to get an official receipt for the meal, and they tell us to come back tomorrow. I wish I could relax sometimes!
Day 3 – Practice day
Ah.. today I don’t have quite as much to worry about. The riders are left to themselves for a full day of practice, however every 10 mins there’s another question. “Where can we use the internet?” “Can I get my board waxed?” “What time’s lunch?” Despite all this information being in the rider’s booklet I so thoughtfully prepared and handed to them on the first day.. I send them in the right direction. There’s still no sign of the missing boardbag, so I make another call to the lost baggage department. Apparently the bag missed its flight last night (bags can be so unorganized!) but is on its way now and will be delivered to the ski resort that night. I politely emphasis how important this bag is… the rider’s been forced to practice on a borrowed board in borrowed pants, boots, and gloves
Another good local dinner is followed by more desk work. I sit down with the head judge and we develop an excel file that will streamline tomorrow’s judging process. Thankfully my girlfriend has come up to join for the weekend, so after a long day I finally get to lie down next to her! I get a phone call at 2:00am letting me know the bag has arrived and will be delivered in an hour. I try to sound enthusiastic about this.
Day 4 – Competition, Day 1
I wake up, half excited and half stressed. Today will be non-stop madness, but at the same time I’ll get to witness and help run the largest Asian snowboard contest on the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour… which still stokes me out.
I get about two minutes to make a breakfast sandwich from the buffet selection before having to rush off. I get briefed on what the day’s plan of attack is, draft today’s press release, set up the judges booth for scoring and do a hundred other things that come up. The weather is great, there’s no wind, and eventually I get together with the judges to check out the practice runs. We’re all impressed by the level of riding and the vibe today is super good! My good friend Eric is doing a wicked job at MC’ing the event in Chinese, and the crowd is obviously hyped.
As the competition gets under way, I’m quietly proud that the judging system we made last night is working flawlessly. I’m even more stoked to see fellow Kiwis Nick Hyne and Nick Brown make it through to tomorrow’s finals – especially as it was Nick Hyne’s bag that was missing! Tobias Karlsson, however, injures himself on his second run, and as the scores are tallied up we’re left with quite the predicament. Tobias’s first run was good enough to qualify him, but with a suspected broken rib and no word back from the doctors, it seems unlikely he will compete tomorrow. We decide to bring through the 13th placed rider, which by chance is Chinese rider Wang Lei. The media and Chinese fans are ecstatic, and it’s great to have a local rider in the finals.
No time to see the announcement though, as we’re under tight deadlines! The second the qualified riders are announced, I head straight to the office to write up the press release on today’s results. I’m halfway through, and suddenly realize I can’t remember what the first placed qualified rider’s run consisted of! I hunt down the head judge, and he goes over the tricks with me. One hour and three-hundred rewrites later, and I send the draft to Steve – he gives it the OK, my colleague Jess translates it to Chinese, and we blast it out to the media – only 2 hours after the competition finished! Jess and I high-five, we’re a good team.
There’s still lots of work to do – as the riders head for dinner, we stay in the office; going through pictures, updating the judges sheets, sending out our own newsletter, drafting tomorrow’s press release, it seems to never end! However by the time the crew gets back from dinner with leftovers, we’re finished, and have a quick snack and beer before calling it a night.
TO READ THE FULL STORY CHECK BACK TO THE TTR BLOG THIS WEEKEND – THE SECOND PART UP AHEAD 
It’s a foggy Wednesday afternoon in January. The Intercity Express train to Saalfelden, Austria is packed with girls travelling with boardbags and big backpacks. At the train station they get off with their luggage and enter several busses that are waiting for them to take them up to Saalbach-Hinterglemm. They seem a little tired from the long trip, but look relaxed, happy and smile in anticipation when they get off the bus in Hinterglemm to check into their energy efficient hotels. There is very tasty organic, locally produced food for dinner, which powers them for the three long days of hiking the park that lie ahead of them! Those girls are the world’s best female snowboarders and they are traveling to the Roxy Chicken Jam — 2020.
“Don’t destroy what you came to enjoy!” – credo of the Quiksilver Foundation
We write the year 2010 and only very few of the organizers, media or riders came by train and public transportation – among them Kjersti Buaas and Chanelle Sladics. The North Americans and riders from other continents had to take long-haul flights. Food was mostly not organic; overheated hotel rooms and diesel-guzzling snowcats far from energy efficient.
At least no cars had to be used for the duration of the event as hotels, snow park and parties were all walking distance from anyone’s accommodation. After all there were some first very important steps towards a greener Roxy Chicken Jam. It’s called going carbon neutral! And it’s about taking initiative and starting somewhere. Read the rest of this entry »
We received this interview from our media partners at Lime girls magazine and Freeride.cz/girls. Sarka Pancochova is currently in the Swatch TTR World No.1 ranking, and it will be exiting to see if she will keep her lead till the end of the season! If your language is Czech you can follow this season unfolding on Freeride.cz/Girls.
Interview with Šárka Pančochová
“Sharki” is so short you may stumble over her by mistake in a line for a lift and you won’t even notice it. This girl gets up first in the morning, leaves the hill last and can party hard all night long, riding different tricks than other girls and always speaks her mind. Being a little girl doesn’t mean having little energy.
Šárka comes from a small town in the Czech Republic which lies 200 metres above the sea level. She lives out of a boardbag and is travelling the world while her parents live in the UK.
Being a little girl doesn’t mean having little energy when you do the things you want to. “I’m loving it! I love snowboarding” responded Šárka in the darkness of the car when we were coming back on the highway from the Burton European Open.
We are sitting in your apartment in the Rockresort at the beginning of the Burton European Open but you are not riding today. Why? The main reason is because I’m tired. The second reason is that we filmed with Karkys for a new documentary about me and Martin Černík.
Why are you tired?
I’m tired because I rode three big events in the last five days - O’Neill Evolution, FIS World Cup in Kreischberg and Roxy Chicken Jam.
How is riding FIS World Cup? Is it fun?
Pretty much so, I know most of the riders. But the BEO is much more entertaining!
How was listening to the national anthem after winning the World Cup in Kreischberg?
It was really a big surprise! I didn’t expect it at all.
Was it emotional?
For sure! I listened to the Czech anthem for the first time in my life because I had accomplished something. I was actually singing.
What differences do you see between TTR and FIS?
INCOMPARABLE! FIS doesn’t respect the riders, listens to trainers only, the rider is on the last place. Even the weather is horrible during the event!
Do you think the level of girls’ riding has changed?
The level of girls’ riding has gone a long way in the previous year. Both here in Europe and in the USA. In the semi finals of Roxy Chicken Jam there was nearly nobody who would not do a seven.
What were you plans for BEO?
Doing my run well!
Did it?
Yeah, I was stoked from my runs but judges didn’t really like it but sometimes it is like this. I’m happy anyways!
Would you like to be a queen of the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour at the end of the season 09/10?
Yes, that would be great. I’m after it! But we are only in the middle of the winter.
Text: BeeBee
Photo: BeeBee
A little collection of photos from the Swatch TTR Women’s 6Star Roxy Chicken Jam 2010. Some sick riding went down in Saalbach Hinterglemm and Sarka could still defend her Tour Lead against Cheryl, while Enni Rukajärvi surprised judges, fans and media with solid riding. Video content from the finals is coming soon!
All photos (C) Andy Juegelt
And it is a merry Christmas again to all of you – our media partner Method has just finished their video edit of this year’s Air & Style. The video is also available on ITunes. If you haven’t seen it yet, go to the following link to www.method.tv and check it out.
Travis Rice was one of the major contenders that came out swinging the shred blade looking to take the top spot. See how things unfolded from the begining to the end and everything in between.
