With a brand new video judging system and in time for spring, the European snowboard elite meets again to throw down during the Quiksilver Spring Battle.
Having grown constantly since 2003, the Spring Battle in the Absolut Park in Flachauwinkl seems to be the best place for some guaranteed Snowboard Action. Heavyweights such as Marko Grilc, Werner Stock, Seppe Smits and Kevin Backström are some of the riders who will attend the Battle, and this year the elite will compete against the Young Guns.
“I have been to the Spring Battle five times already, and each time it was a blast. The rider friendly format, the chalets and spring atmosphere are what keeps me coming back. But what stokes me the most is the great setup”, said Werni Stock, one of the top riders in the line-up.

For the first time this year the winner is determined by video-judging. The best one of three runs in the super finals counts and the run will be evaluated on screen in the evening. Another highlight is the mini ramp in the Chillhouse where the skate scene will battle it out in the Cash for Tricks Session. “As the park sponsor we have been impressed by the great atmosphere at the contest in recent years and we are looking forward to launching a new era at the Absolut Park”, said Quiksilver Marketing Manager Armin Weber.
Absolut Park Manager Seppi Harml was also enthusiastic: “As the Manager of the Absolut Park, we are excited about the upgrade of the spring battle. Through the support of our partners, particularly Quiksilver and Snowboarder MBM, we can realize many new ideas. In particular, the video judging and the Skate Contest are two new features, which flash me.”

The after party will be rocked by the smashing punk sound from Cashless, and an outstanding DJ set from Teddy O (Tony Hawk Show, Air & Style Innsbruck).

The kids started the day of with impressive tricks over the rails, boxes and jumps and in the end it was Tjark Fritsch and Nadine Hartinger both from Germany, who took the top spots. The top rider in the mens category was Marco Rinke who convinced with some heavy tricks over the jumps.

After the slopestyle competition it was time for the Red Bull Best Trick Session which was won by Alex Beer with a nice Fs Bluntslide 270 out.

Snowboard Kids
1) Tjark Fritsch, GER
2) Mats Bosch, GER
3) Valentin Hill, GER

Snowboard Girls
1) Nadine Härtinger, GER
2) Stephanie Hamann, GER
3) Lena Waizenegger, GER

Snowboard Men
1) Marco Rinke, GER
2) Michael Botzenhart, GER
3) Felix Georgii, GER

Upcoming Tour Stop at the NovaPark Silvretta Montafon

This week the Quiksilver Wir Schanzen 2010/2011 is on its way to a new spot and will visit the beautiful Ländle Vorarlberg. On March 5th 2011 the Sajas Park Games will take place at the NovaPark/Silvretta Montafon.

To get all the details check their website

A down day for the FOUR(4)STAR Quiksilver Natural Selection competition meant a good day for riders to get out in the deep pow and get some shots with the multitude of photographers and cinematographers on site for the event.

The TTR crew was lucky enough to get a sneak peak at tomorrow’s contest venue, Casper Bowl, as Travis Rice and all the riders competing packed out a couple of hits in preparation for the last day of competition. The guys packed down a run-in for a huge hip jump and a couple of other booters on the course.

On the way out of the Casper Bowl area, J.J. Thomas, Nicolas Mueller and Kyle Clancy were all planning on hitting a cool drop next to a tree, and TTR filmer/editor Nugg was lucky enough to be on the scene and captured the session that went down (Check out the footage here). J.J. started things off with a nice front 5 stomping it in the deep pow. Nico was next with a frontside 180 landing clean in a huge puff of pow while Kyle dished out a tasty method. Everyone was a bit shocked and stoked on how deep the landings were. So, they boot packed it back up to the drop-in and had another go. J.J. threw down a giant method and Nicolas dropped right behind with a sick mega-ollie.

The crew dropped through some trees and cranked some pow turns on the way to the next location. They rolled up on a diving board with a nice landing and got right to work. Nicolas chucked a backside 3 with good distance stomping it way down the landing and J.J. followed with a large tail grab going just as far as Nico.

JJ thomas – © Scott Sullivan

Nico Muller – © Scott Sullivan

Everyone was a bit hungry, so dropping through the café at the bottom of the hill was essential for a bite to eat. While chatting over lunch, Nicolas was stoked on the partnership between the Natural Selection and TTR, “I think the natural selection fits really well into the TTR World Tour. It’s a new kind of event, it’s a natural slopestyle and it’s just you and the mountain, and you pick your line. And that’s how I feel, like snowboarding belongs to you and the mountain.”

After a slice of pizza and some hydration, it was back up the gondola with Jason Ford and Scott Sullivan, from Future Snowboarding Magazine, and Nicolas Mueller for a lap in the backcountry.

After about a 25-minute hike, the crew dropped down through a pow field to a cliffy, pillow section where Nicolas threw down once again. He quickly packed out a nice lip, hiked up and threw a frontside 3 stomping it just as the sun was disappearing behind the mountains.

Epic snow + legendary riders + sick riding = an amazing day at the Quicksilver Natural Selection.

Benedek Cliff Drop – © Tim Zimmerman

The last day of competition here in Jackson Hole, Wyoming will go down tomorrow in Casper Bowl, a steep, wide-open bowl with an abundance of natural hits for riders to attack. Whoever has the best-combined score from the Dick’s Ditch competition that went down on Saturday and tomorrow’s Casper Bowl competition will be crowned the Quiksilver Natural Selection champion. Plus, the $75,000 prize purse that Quiksilver put up for grabs will be distributed tomorrow night as well.

Misty Gondola – © Tim Zimmerman

Stay tuned to www.ttrworldtour.com for a complete recap of the event plus video coverage. And, be sure to check out the official Quiksilver Natural Selection event website www.quiksilver.com/naturalselection for all the details you could ask for plus webcasts from the entire week.

Travis Rice in First after Day One of the Inaugural Quiksilver Natural Selection Competition in Dick’s Ditch at Jackson Hole, Wyoming

The Quiksilver Natural Selection, a Swatch TTR FOUR(4)STAR event, kicked off on Saturday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Riders were greeted with tons of fresh powder for the first day of competition held in an area of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort known as Dick’s Ditch. The course is a 2500-foot long natural halfpipe with 18 natural hits for riders to choose from. The Natural Selection is such a unique competition with deep, fresh powder landings making things super fun but also challenging for riders.

The riders braved snowy conditions in the morning making visibility a bit difficult, but everyone was riding strong and put on quite a show launching off the lips in Dick’s Ditch. The course looked more like a filming session setup then a contest venue with hits that sent riders through trees and over trees and the shape of the gulley made for a run that really flowed well. It was a great vibe on the hill and all the riders were having a great time hitting the course, hanging out and looking on as others took their runs.

DCP – Tree Bonk – © Tim Zimmerman

Hometown hero, Travis Rice, had the home court advantage and took the top spot in the Dick’s Ditch competition with huge airs. Travis kept it together in the deep powder landings stomping a huge FS 3 with a tree tap on the first hit, into a large BS 7, a mute air over the cat track hit, a FS mute on his fourth hit finishing things off with a clean FS 5 and stylish FS 180.

Mark Landvik threw down a flowing run to take second place. He started things off with a smooth FS 7 on the Terje hit, into a cranking method, threw a straight air into the mix, had a FS 180 to butter, into a switch BS 3 ending his run with a switch BS 180, and a FS 3.

Mark Landvik – Tweaked Method – © Scott Sullivan

Another Wyoming native, Mark Carter, took advantage of his local knowledge taking the third place spot. He had a fluid run through the ditch throwing a super stylish FS 7 tail on the first hit in between a couple of trees, into a nice BS 3, a sick method over the cat track hit, cranked a nice pow slash and finished off with a switch BS 180.

Mark Carter – © Scott Sullivan

On the TTR side of things, current World No. 73, Gigi Ruef, finished 8th and had this to say about the competition, “The Natural Selection has definitely been an experience of it’s own. The riding was great and it turned out to be a really good session. It was like a day out snowboarding with great friends. And for me, the Natural Selection being part of TTR really shows that TTR is purely for riders.” If Gigi has a good result in the Casper Bowl competition he has the opportunity to move into the TTR Top 50.

And Nicolas Mueller, currently at Swatch TTR World No. 21 finished just outside of the Top 10 claiming 11th place. Nicolas was stoked on competition in Dick’s Ditch, “The Natural Selection is already my favorite contest of all time. Dick’s Ditch is like a natural halfpipe with super good hits all over. It doesn’t get any better than this.”

The final day of competition is scheduled to go off on Tuesday, February 5th in an area of Jackson Hole called Casper Bowl. Check back to www.ttrworldtour.com for more updates and videos from the Quiksilver Natural Selection, and hit www.quiksilver.com/naturalselection for complete event coverage and daily webcasts.

Results of Day One:
1. Travis Rice
2. Mark Landvik
3. Mark Carter
4. David Benedek
5. Samuel Luebke
6. DCP
7. J.J. Thomas
8. Gigi Ruef
9. Rob Kingwell
10. Colin Langlois
11. Nicolas Mueller
12. Kyle Clancy
13. Wolle Nyvelt
14. Austin Smith
15. Hamous Mosesson
16. Bjorn Leines
17. Romain De Marchi
18. Bryan Iguchi

It has been DUMPING at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort for the past week and the snow still has not let up. This is both good and bad for the Quiksilver Natural Selection, a Swatch TTR World Tour Four (4) Star Event, as the organizers have been waiting for optimal pow’ conditions, but the weather has been making visibility a bit tough to run the contest. So, it’s a good thing that the event organizers built in a seven-day holding period to make sure conditions are right.

With the contest on hold for the past three days, everyone in town for the event including the riders, media and judges have been out getting the goods. With over 50 inches of snow over the past week, it’s been an easy search for some epic pow’ lines.

“It’s been great over the past couple of days here in Jackson,” said Gigi Ruef, who’s been enjoying the conditions. “Just snowboarding with lots of friends and locals who showed us around the mountain and took us to some really nice terrain and really good snow.”

The event will take place in two separate sections of the mountain, Dick’s Ditch and Casper Bowl, which have been closed to the general public since January 25th to ensure perfect snow conditions. Day one of the contest (scheduled to get underway, Saturday, February 2nd) will kick off in Dick’s Ditch, a 2500-foot long gulley with 18 natural hits spread throughout. Riders will only have two runs, with no practice, to unleash their creativity on the run with judges looking at overall impression.

Travis – Tree ollie – © Scott Sullivan

Leubke – Logslide – © Scott Sullivan

The second day of competition (scheduled for Monday, February 4th, but is subject to change depending on weather) will go down in Casper’s Bowl, one of Travis Rice’s favorite runs on the hill. The Casper run is a wide-open 2500-foot long bowl with cliffs, rock drops, boulders and hips. Again, judges will be looking at overall impression with riders taking two runs apiece.

The contest is sure to be one for the history books with some of the best and most creative riders ready to shred one of the most storied mountains in North America, including legendary shredder Nicolas Mueller who claimed “It’s been so fun over the past couple of days. Yesterday was one of the best days ever. We got an early gondola ride up to get the goods. The snow is so good.” Over three-years in the works, everyone here in Jackson is hyped for the event especially with no other snowboard competition out there that is quite like the Natural Selection.

Nic Muller – Pow Jump – © Scott Sullivan

Stay tuned for more updates from the Quiksilver Natural Selection and be sure to check out www.quiksilver.com/naturalselection for news and video updates direct from Jackson Hole, and the Quiksilver Natural Selection Event Bio page on TTR for more info.