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.
Seppe Smits at Stubai
Here’s a sweet video from one of our media partners snowbroader.eu from the 6Star Billabong Air & style training session from the Stubai Zoo Park, featuring the current Swatch TTR World No.1 Marko Grilc, who went on to win the event and some of the other hot shots like Elias Elhardt, Mark Swoboda and this years Air & Style Rookie Challeng winner Seppe Smits.
http://www.vimeo.com/8207201
Last weekend’s Swatch TTR 6Star snowboard mega-event, the Billabong Air&Style Innsbruck 2009/II was one of the highlights of the 09/10 Season for sure. The double cork factor has changed snowboarding in a groundbreaking way and there is no end in sight in terms of variations. We made a little slideshow about the Rider’s draw on Friday and Saturday’s event night with focus on the riders for you to enjoy below.
To watch all the great video content including individual runs from pretty much every rider in the contest go to: http://freecaster.tv/ttrworldtour
For all the infos and results about A&S go here: 6Star Air&Style TTR Event Bio Read the rest of this entry »
(c) Carlos Blanchard
The first 6Star event of the season, the Billabong Air & Style in Innsbruck,turned the spotlight on Slovenian rider Marko Grilc, who has been constantly successful on the Swatch TTR Tou but never had the big breakthrough at 6Star contest. To watch him talking about his win, check out TTR’s latest video right here
If you’re from Slovenia, what are the odds that you’ll win the TTR 6-star Air&Style event one day? Hell, they are pretty low even if you are from one of the snowboarding strongholds like the US or Finland! We caught up with Marko Grilc, who has just been crowned the new Billabong Air&Style winner, after pulling off an amazing bag of tricks, including a switch back 10 late cork. Read on to learn the secrets of his success, how many text messages he received after his victory, and why Travis Rice is still crazy…
Hey Grilo, congratulations on this great success. Tell us, at what time into the contest did you realise that you might win it?
It wasn’t until the last jump that I really thought about that. Before that I had too many other things in my mind. First I was just happy that I was in the starting field. When I made the top 8 I thought ‘Wow, I will get an invitation for next year’s event!’, and even when I was in the superfinals I always focused on my next jump. So when I landed my last jump I realised ‘Cool I could win this!’ – and I did!
To read the full interview go to www.onboardsnowboarding.com
Article in one of Germany's biggest newspapers in November 2009
With the Air & Style coming up in Austria and Elias Elhardt kicking a*** on the Tour, I started thinking about the snowboard scene in those two countries mentioned. Also, if you are capable of the German language, you may have noticed that the German snowboarding scene, especially the Olympic team, has been in the spotlight in the media lately (like the article of FAZ you see above).
Why? Well….because apparently there is no German snowboarding scene???!!! Prove me wrong, but at least this seems to be the opinion of some skiing guys that sit in some pretty powerful positions and who, apparently don’t give a darn about supporting the sport and its young athletes. Or how can a country with such a great interest in the sport and so many fans of snowboarding not have a whole lot of successful riders out there at the comps. Austria is the same I guess, especially in regards to the upcoming Olympics: neither Germany nor Austria have a halfpipe hopeful in place. I mean riders like Silvia Mittermueller and David Benedek from Germany, the Aesthetiker crew, Julia Baumgartner, Lisa Filzmoser from Austria and loads more…they are rocking it but mainly in Slopestyle! And still they are underrepresented in the mainstream especially.
Again WHY????? No good possibilities to practice (halfpipe especially), are the good riders mainly going for photoshoots or are we (as in: I am German, too, as you might have guessed by now) simply not good enough??!! I hope to explore this question a lil bit more over the season so watch out for some more blogs coming out. And those of you that are not interested in this topic – go and read another blog 
The first 6Star Swatch TTR snowboarding event is not just all about riding, there is also some sweet tunes on offer, so get your ticket fast if you don’t already have one or watch the webcast live.
The headliner of the evening: The Hives
Worldwide known for their unique and sweeping live performances The Hives from Sweden make a stop on 05.12.09 in the Bergisel Stadium. Already in 2007 they put a spell on the spectators of the Air & Style in Munich. Music critics share the opinion that this band is special regarding its music and style. The German Music Magazine Intro wrote: “they present a popistic superiority in sound and style that it is already scary”. Also in Innsbruck they will run on the stage wearing black/ white suites and making the crowd dancing and partying. It’s easy to sum up: “They are not just a fashion trend, they are the kind of Rock band that is good, entertaining and different.” (dasding.de)
The hope of German HipHop: K.I.Z. from Berlin
“If four rappers can transform bored looking fans into sweating stage divers, then they deserve without any doubt the title stage hog.” (mtv.de) And this is the reason why K.I.Z. are a perfect act for the Billabong Air & Style 09/II. They mix Rap with Rock, juggle in their lyrics with irony and black humor and besides this present live shows which are more than entertaining, the shows are 100% party. With their nature they shocked the German music scene and proofed that HipHop from Berlin can be demanding: “German Rap suffers from boredom. The Band K.I.Z. from Berlin showed that tough rhymes can be sophistacted.” (Die Zeit online) Their performance in the Bergisel Stadium will better be not missed out.
Bergisel Stadium in the second construction period
Starting last week the stadium is again in a process to become the perfect location for the Billabong Air & Style 09/II. One issue is of course compulsory – the snow. Already four weeks ago snow production begun in Schmierntal. Now it is time for putting and forming the white gold in an optimal way on the setup with its total length of 150 meters. The quality of the snow and its shaping is a science. The experienced pro team of Air & Style will not leave anything to chance. The riders will get perfect conditions at this Swatch TTR 6Star event.
6Star Billabong Air & Style Afterparty Flyer
Official Billabong Air & Style After Show Party 09/II
The Billabong Air & Style 09/II will get its grand finale at the VAZ Hafen with the official After Show Party. Starting at 10:00pm the party will go on until the sunrise. Also here live music is the theme: Crossover sound from Clawfinger and punk rock from the Russian band Lumen. On three floors all party people will get entertained. If Rock, Electro or Chill out music, there will be something for everybody. Tickets for the Official Billabong Air & Style After Show Party are available at all presale offices of Öticket. The ticket includes the shuttle service from Basilica Wilten to the location Hafen.
Here at the Swatch TTR office we are getting very exited about the 6Star Air & Style approaching. The setup is pretty crazy with huge metal structures all over the place and one very large quaterpipe. It has taken 12 days to get ready, and to take it down will take another five days!!
Air & Style quarterpipe beeing build. Pic by Florian Auerbach.We had a sneak peak at the Bergiesel Stadium in Innsbruck. The quarterpipe was almost ready. Standing on the top by the coping it is damn impressive and to think that the riders will attempt to fling themselves in the air to reach that 10meter mark.They have brought snow from the Stubai Glacier as well as produced a whole bunch of it on site. It’s an awesome location as the viewers get to sit right next to the quarterpipe and with a superstar lineup and 13, 000 people in the audience, theres gonna be some noise!!
Above: Dropped the shovel! pic by Florian AuerbachThe success of the event depends largely on having a well shaped quarterpipe, built to scientific precision. Shaping one of these beasts is fine art. It has to right, and that is why the Master of Quarterpipe contruction Mr Claes Högström from Norway, has arrived shape it up. So, It’s all looking good, so get ready for a wikid competition on Saturday!We just had a visit from Chas Guldemond at the office, so it is official, he will be there to defend his current top spot on the Swatch TTR Rankings!! Here are the facts about this mammoth quaterpipe!Steel structure 120 tons (3850 cubic meters steel)Snow 4500 cubic meters (whole area)Start height 81 meters above level zeroSlope inrun 38°Length inrun 150 metersHeight Quarter Pipe 12,2 meters above zeroBreadth Quarter Pipe 25 metersTime of assembly 13 daysTime of disassembly 5 daysApproach speed 70-105 km/hHighest Air world recordIn a quarter pipe 9,80 m by Terje Haakonsen (Oslo 2007)Cables 15.000 meters for electricity, video, audioSound system 75.000 WattElectricity need 5.000 AmpereFences and barriers 1.200 metersStaff member 120 for the assembly, 600 on the day of theevent, 160 for the disassembly
Above: Snowcat working hard. Pic by Nugg
It was really warm out today, highly irregular for the beginning of February in the Austrian Alps, but that didn’t stop the riders from getting in some training on the Quarterpipe the day before the Billabong Air & Style in Innsbruck.
Despite the high winds, riders were still going huge, reaching 7 and 8 m. The question is, will we see any of the riders break Terje Haakonsen’s Quarterpipe record of 9.8 m? Jack Mitrani seems to think so claiming that he’s “trying to go for that 20m mark.” Optimism is always a good thing so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
Riders from all over the world flew straight into a glassed cage of emotion. The Billabong Air & Style riders were requesting guided TTR office tours, and at 3:20 pm the idea of a major office refurb was born. Drew Stevenson knew exactly what to do. He got into the Method Mag storage facility, wheeled out a portable ping pong table and pushed it for at least 2km through congested mid-day Austrian traffic. Check the video teaser below, with more to come soon … nothing more to be said but that it was so F@#%&ING FUNNY.
