’ve never been exposed to military life, and I’ve certainly never been in a combat zone - until last week.



I spent a good part of my summer vacation in Afghanistan. Danny Kass, Grete Elliassen, and I spent 10 days in the Middle East, visiting our troops on an "X Games themed meet and greet." Our mission was simple: boost moral. If you’ve ever hung out with Danny, Grete, or I you’d know not only did we accomplish our mission, we went above and beyond the call of duty. It was a small sacrifice compared to what the servicemen and women of the Armed Forces are doing for our great nation.

I went over to Afghanistan with an open mind, to see first hand what was going on and how the troops were doing. I came back humbled and with a true understanding of sacrifice. I mean, I know how trying “the road” can be, but giving yourself for 15 months of your life, away from family and friends, is one hell of a sacrifice and a test of a true patriot in my book.

Our Middle East tour started in Qatar, a small but very wealthy country on the Persian Gulf just off of Saudi Arabia.

Qatar is the hottest place I’ve ever been to - including the sauna at your local health club. The temperatures ranged from 120 degrees during the mid-day heat, and would drop to around 90 degrees at night. Needless to say, we spent the majority of our time in doors soaking up every ounce of air conditioning we could before bolting to an air-conditioned car, and off to the next air-conditioned building.

Other than the heat being almost unbearable, the troops were amazing. The base in Qatar isn’t only a fully-functioning military base, it’s also a rest and relaxation base for solders to get out of the combat zones in Iraq or Afghanistan for four days every six months. This was their R&R time. The feeling in Qatar was pretty light hearted. The solders were allowed three beers a day, which loosened them up enough for Danny to olli four of them laying down - including Col. Cotter on his skateboard.



From Qatar we boarded a C130 military plane flight into Afghanistan. Once we arrived in Afghani air space the plane blacked out completely into the night sky. A young soldier with a thick Kentucky accent leaned over and said, “We're going to drop in fast, they have a tendency to try and shoot these things down.” That’s when the realization that I was in a war zone fully hit me.

He was right, too, the C130 plane dropped like a rock out of the night sky from about 20-30 thousand feet up to the runway below. A “combat landing” is one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced. My face was glued to the window praying I didn’t see a rocked fire out of one of the many clusters of lights seen below. Thankfully nothing “exciting” as another soldier put it happened.



Once we were “safely” in Afghanistan, Grete fell ill with salmonella poisoning. She was hospitalized and our tour was put into a holding pattern. Not only would Danny and I visit Grete in the Afghanistan Hospitals but we ventured around a met most of the Doctors, Nurses, Staff, and of course the injured and sick. Carmen our guide practically lived at the bedside of Grete, what a guide! My experiences of Hospitals are that they always have an eerie feeling to them, and this one was no exception. My heart sank as we toured room after room. Everyone had a different story to tell why they were there. A group of local Men were all smiles getting routine check ups, so they were able to get a job on base. Then there was an American Soldier awaiting hand surgery after his armored vehicle was rolled during a roadside attack. The most disturbing was by far the small children. One little girl lost her leg from an old Russian land mind, and in the very next room a little boy laid out dressed in bandages healing burns from an explosion. Experiences like these are reinsuring my thoughts and wishes to have peace on earth.



Danny and I carried on and entertained ourselves by exploring the rest of the base. While checking out the base we met a group of armored truck guys who called themselves “The Reapers”. These guys were cool as hell and had story after story to tell Danny and I about their life in the military and their tour in Afghanistan.
While hanging with The Reapers I felt safe - these guys were the bad asses on the front lines. They gave Danny and I a full tour of their armored vehicle, including sitting in the gunner’s chair. Spinning around in that chair armed with a 50 cal and a grenade launcher was quite a feeling.

Grete wasn’t getting any better after a couple of days so Danny and I left her and our tour guide Carmen behind as we ventured to a FOB (Forward Operating Base) named Solerno - better know as Rocket City.

While in Rocket City, the Air Calvary gave us a tour of the Heli pad holding Blackhawks, Apaches, and a smaller surveillance chopper. We took shooting lessons from a sniper and visited an artillery group of guys who are responsible for shooting back at the Taliban after Rocket City is attacked by, well, rockets. Danny and I were reminded that we were at a FOB nicknamed Rocket City at about 2 am by our guide McKnight. I was abruptly awoken my McKnight’s deep voice saying, “come on, get your sh*# on, get your sh*# on, we got to get to the hard building.” I looked over at Danny while he was throwing his bulletproof vest and helmet on and started to do the same.



We all grabbed our blanket and pillow and ran across the street to the hard building, aka a bunker. It was thought that we may be getting attacked by rockets that night so we all spent the night tossing and turning on the concrete floor wearing bullet proof vests and Kevlar helmets. Let me tell you that was one hell of a night. Let’s just say I wasn’t missing my flight out of Rocket City.



After our Rocket City adventures Danny, aka Afghan Dan, and I met back up with Grete and Carmen, did one last signing in Afghanistan and started our trip back home.



Although our trip was short and sweet, I think I got a pretty basic taste of military life in a war torn country. The highs of hanging out with the gung-ho soldiers and their weapons, to the lows of visiting a four year old girl who lost a leg from a land mine are just two extreme emotions I felt in just one week.

Again my hat goes off to the servicemen and women who sacrifice so much to protect this great country we all love.

www.porterstahoe.com


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I LOVE Japan!! Stoked to be there again for the Burton store Opening in Osaka!!

Japanese Madness. My ears and my eyes are overwhelmed lights, sounds and people everywhere.. polite, polite, maybe impossible, karaoke my favorite, sushi, crazy fashion, mini crewsers, best spray toilets ever, sake, photo, photo..

The cool thing on that trip was that we weren’t stock just between snowboarders.. Sweet to have Nicolas Muller in the crew as always but also gravis surfer Kassia Meador and Analog’s  Arto Saari!!
To honour japanese traditions we serve sake to all people coming to the event.. obviously we cheared with them, each of them and had a sip! But that was alright since there was only about 700 people.. Arto (wearing an dupa stylish 80’s wig) takes the mike and welcomes the crowed to the store opening with the gayest Carl Lagerfeld’s attitude ever!! Very fashionable..
The sake session is followed by a 3 hours signing session.. I find it hard to find 700 different very special dedicated comments to give to each of them.. so I just got artistic.. I drew moustaches, pretty flowers and about 650 I LOVE Nipon.. it s like writing fitness!!

Japanese people like to fire us with their digi cam.. so I just fire back with my plastic one way use camera!!

That super people shower luckily came to an end and the whole burton extended crew went for dinner.. I sit next to Moblow and his wig, he tells that girl who was wearing a moustache something like she was nice and doll, or something like that.. she didn’t like it and answered that she could beat him up.. I said he would love it!! So she punshed him in the eye and left him with nothing else then a black eye.. you shouldn’t mess around with those girls who wear the moustache!! The night goes on to a karaoke bar.. my all time favorite!!
Marc and I end up walking with no where to go in town.. a guy is pying in the street, I run and catch the perfect moment and angle.. all his friends laugh, so do i.. I really wish I hadn’t forgotten the cap on my almost digi and actually got the shot!!

The next day, the snowboarders crew travels to a dome.. tons of people come to watch.. they are like an orchestra.. I make them do the HOLA.. I take some family portraits etc.. everyone is so happy and friendly here!! Trevor sings, we sign tons of things.. everyone politely waits in line for hours.. that is what impresses me most from Japanese.. they are soo patient and respectfull!

The next day we are all in Tokyo for he first birthday of the burton store.. everyone sits down like kids in school..cute!! they watch the movie.. we get a huge cake in snowboard shape with bindings.. Jeremy Jones claims he is gay, some more pictures, signing and graffity later I drag Arto, his sushi and Moblow to a gay bar on a Monday night.. everything you need to become intimate with the bar tenders!! Some more karaoke and this trip made it to my top 3 favorite trips ever!! 1000 Thanks to my friend Kosuke who makes each of my Japanese experiences magic!!




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PORTLAND, Maine, January 23, 2007 – Aura360 in partnership with NYC Parks & Recreation announces New York City’s first major pro snowboarding rail jam competition, The Union Square Street Sessions, presented by Jeep®. Thursday, February 8, the world’s top pro riders including Marc Frank Montoya, Danny Kass and Eddie Wall will compete head-to-head for a prize purse of $30,000. 

 

"The Union Square Street Sessions will expose residents to the thrill of a professional snowboarding rail jam set in Union Square Park, the gateway to downtown Manhattan," said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. 

 

Twenty-four men and eight women will participate in Union Square Street Sessions and will show off their skills on a customized urban rail fabricated at Mountain Creek Resort’s Jib Lab. This will be the largest such structure ever produced for an event of this kind in New York City.

 

“We have been working on the concept for a major pro snowboarding competition in New York City for several years,” said Dan Gacetta, partner of Aura360. “We wanted to produce a breakthrough event in a world class venue that would demonstrate the long standing involvement of urban communities in the sport of snowboarding.”

 

The Union Square Street Sessions will begin with athlete training at 3:00 p.m. leading up to the rail jam competition commencing at 5:30 p.m. During the contest, the neighborhood of Union Square will be transformed into an action sports block party with celebrity judges, live music provided by Fuse TV and a sponsor village comprised of action sports retailers. 

 

The invitational pro field of top riders will be augmented by up-and-coming athletes selected at three Street Session qualifiers. Winners at The Block Party in Tahoe and Rails to Riches and Shop Wars events at Killington receive automatic qualifications.

 

Union Square Street Sessions partners include Jeep as the presenting sponsor and supporting sponsors Burton, Fuse TV, Snowboarder Magazine, Lat34.com, Boost Mobile, Plantronics, Mountain Creek Resort and Killington Resort.

 

“Freedom and adventure are among the core values of the Jeep brand, so we’re excited to sponsor The Union Square Street Sessions,” said John Plecha, Jeep Marketing and Global Communications. “Snowboarding is one of the many outdoor activities Jeep owners enjoy. Snowboarding in New York City fits naturally with the ‘go anywhere-do anything’ versatility of the Jeep brand and its vehicles.” 

 

The winter sports celebrations will continue in New York City on Saturday, February 10 with NYC Parks & Recreation’s Winter Jam, a pro/am rail jam and winter carnival with snowshoeing and cross country skiing held in Central Park.

 

UNION SQUARE STREET SESSIONS SCHEDULE – THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8

 

Street Sessions Pre Event Demo For Media – 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m..

o        Athlete Demo

o        Athlete Interviews

o        Fashion & Gear Demo

 

Street Sessions Pro Rail Jam – 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.  

3:00 p.m. – Demo & festival area opens

3:00 to 5:00 p.m. - Athlete autograph signing and demos

3:30 to 5:00 p.m. - Athlete warm-up

5:00 to 5:30 p.m. - Music act 1

5:30 to 6:30 p.m. - Rail competition preliminaries 

6:30 to 7:15 p.m. - Music act 2

7:30 to 8:30 p.m. - Rail competition finals

8:30 to 9:00 p.m. - Awards

9:30 p.m. - VIP Rail Jam Party 

 

WEBSITE: www.lat34.com/streetsessionsnyc

 

DIRECTIONS: Subway: N,R,Q,W, 4,5,6, or L to 14^th Street/Union Square

 

NYC PARKS & RECREATION’S WINTER JAM IN CENTRAL PARK

Saturday, February 10 - 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

o        Winter Sports Gear & Product Demos

o        Amateur Rail Jam

o        Music & awards

 

WEBSITE: www.nyc.gov/parks

 

DIRECTIONS: Subway: 6 to 68^th Street; B or C to 72^nd Street

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HOT ZONE HINTERTUX PARK OPENING 2007










Steve Gruber won the Ästhetiker Wängl Tängl 2towsend7

After bad weather threatened to postpone the Aesthetiker Jam Waengl Taengl schedule, Sunday’s reserve day delivered broken sunny skies and a chance to run the 30-rider Finals. In a best 2-out-of-3 run format the creative slopestyle course, built by the infamous Aesthetiker crew in Zillertal, gave birth to progressive snowboard action through a two line course: the first consisted of three kickers in a row and a huge Taco at the end; the second, a down-box to a high-turn to a flat-down Suzuki box, followed by a cradle, a corner & three rails.

 

A high level of international and riding talent, including TTR World Nr 9 Henning Marthinsen (NOR) and World Nr 12, Arthur Longo (FRA), challenged the judges. But it was local maverick Steve Gruber (AUT) who stole the show, winning with a Cab 720, switch backside 540 & backside 720 to win himself 850 TTR Ranking Points, 5,000USD cash prize and a Suzuki Quad bike. Close behind, and earning the 2nd place result, Jaakko Ruha (FIN) impressed the crowds with a Cab 900, backside 1080, and frontside 900. Scandinavia took another podium spot with Kalle Ohlsson (SWE) scoring a 3rd place finish through a clean Cab 900, frontside 720 & backside 720.

 

stated an overwhelmed Gruber (AUT).

 

Post-crowning the TTR Tour Champions, the calendar continues through to the end of April 2007. All TTR contests attended until then will provide riders with TTR Ranking Points for the 06/07 TTR Ranking List presented by Swatch to add to their overall ranking score until May 01st, 2007.

 

 

 

RESULTS ÄSTHETIKER WÄNGL TÄNGL 2007

 

1 Gruber Stefan AUT AESTHETIKER SNOWBOARDS, ADIDAS, SP
2 Ruha Jaakko FIN NITRO, SPY
3 Ohlsen Kalle SWE BATALEON, VANS, QUIKSILVER
4 Swoboda Marc AUT NITRO, SMITH
5 Nyvelt Wolfgang AUT SALOMON, BILLABONG, VANS, DRAGON,
6 Holland Anthony SUI VOLCOM, VANS, VON ZIPPER
7  Ville Uotila FIN ATOMIC, BLUE TOMATO, BOLLE, BONFIRE
8 Thaler Herbert AUT LIB, QUIKSILVER, ADIDAS
9 Savela Tomi FIN ICON
10 Stanschitz Michael AUT VOELKL
11 Robbins Quentin NZ VOELKL, VOLCOM
12 Roux Jean Jaques F ARNETTE, ONEILL, UNIC, VANS
13 Kroell Rudolf AUT AESTHETIKER, ACG, HOT ZONE
14 Beer Wolfgang AUT PALMER, RIP CURL, SMITH
15 Longo Arthur F NITRO, OAKLEY, VANS, VOLCOM
16 Kolar Gerfried AUT APO, WESTBEACH, VANS, OAKLEY
17 Huber Patrik AUT NITRO
18 Zeestrat Stefan NZ ALIAN, WE
19 Oesterle Lars GER HOT ZONE,
20 Monsberger Andi AUT K2, PLANETEARTH, VANS, HOTZONE
21 Schmaltz Alexander AUT VOELKL, VOLCOM, OAKLEY, SP, NIXON
22 May Gerfried GER DEELUXE, ELAN
23 Haricot Julien F BURTON, VOLCOM
24 Eberharter Thomas AUT NITRO, VANS, BILLABONG, ARNETTE
25 Mandlberger Bernd AUT K2, ADIDAS EYEWEAR, VANS, SP
26 Cullum Sam UK ARCUS, DC, OAKLEY, RIDE
27 Stroem Peter SWE K2, VANS, ADIDAS
28 Ducourtil Valerian F  
29 Purucker Louis NZ BILLABONG, DRAGON, ROME
30 Stock Werner AUT SALOMON, BONFIRE HOTZONE
31 Rieser Reinhard AUT FORUM, SPECIAL BLEND, HOTZONE
31 Marthinsen Henning NOR  
33 Fankhauser Stefan AUT  
34 Trobas Matthias    
35 Loehle Heinz GER  
36 Wanner Wolfgang AUT  
37 Rasinger Martin GER  
38 Wetscher Bennie AUT RIDE HOTZONE REDBULL
39 Takao Shoma JP  
40 Mausser Florian AUT  

Links:

www.aesthetiker.com

www.ttrworldtour.com

 

Top Results for the Hot Zone Team Rider @ Ästhetiker Shred Down

3 Hot-Zone Riders in top 6 at the Ästhetiker Shred Down in Westendorf

Ästhetiker Shred Down
Westendorf 2nd to 3rd march 2007

(Westendorf/AUT ─ 3.3.2007) ─ Not that it is something new but snowboarding is still depending on snow. This winter season is not easy in Europe. The lack of snow before a contest means a lot of work for shapers to be able to have a good park setup. Therefore great respect to the well shaped rail line. The open training session on Friday brought a few surprises to shapers and riders. The riders had a fantastic powder session in the woods just above the park whereas the shapers had to completely reshape the park line. The opinion of the park team about the 40 cm fresh snow was consequently very different to the one of the riders. Around midday the untracked runs became less and the park was ready again.

The first riders of Friday used the obstacles to get warmed up. A small quarterpipe, a wallride, a straight box, a long downrail and a fat kinked box offered more than enough possibilities for the riders to get ready for the contest day. Impressing was the riding of Michael Stanschitz, Herby Thaler and Wolle Beer with 270 variations showing their motivation for the contest on Saturday.

After the successful warm up party on Friday night in the ‘Kegelbahn’ the contest continued on Saturday with the qualification and the finals. The weather comparing to Friday was everything else than predictable. Riders and organisation were confronted with very changeable conditions. Rain during the training, strong snowfall during the first qualification heat, light snowfall during the second qualification heat, sunshine at the beginning of the finals, fog in the middle of the finals and bluebird at the end of the finals. On top of it wind that was dismantling tents and banners. But none the less the contest with a high level of technical riding could successfully be implemented. During the qualification it was a tough job for rookies and not directly qualified riders to show their abilities over the straight box, down rail and Suzuki kinked box. The best seven riders of every heat qualified for the finals that was carried out in a jam session format. During the qualification the rookie Simon Pircher convinced everyone with his stylish and technical runs that he was ready for the finals.

His solid performance during the finals and especially thanks to his fantastic result in qualification made him the deserved winner of the Shred Down 07 rookie award. As for Simon Pircher the Friday training was a great warm up for Michael Stanschitz. In his second run in the finals he showed an alley oop rock’n roll on the wallride, nosepress bs 180 on the straight box, tailslide 270 out and gap 270 on the kinked box. On top of it Mone Monsberger and Reini Rieser made everything very exciting. Reini Rieser showed a huge frontside air on the quarterpipe, nosepress bs 180 out, bs 50/50 180 out and gap 270 on the kinked box which put him on the second place. The Ästhetiker Mone Monsberger with a huge fs 3 mute on the quarter, cab 270, switch fs boardslide and gap 270 became second. At the end last years winner Michael Sranschitz won the Ästhetiker Shred Down 07 with his first run of the day. For the first time in the history of the Ästhetiker tour a rider defends his title and wins the same contest in two consecutive years. The first three riders received with their results a highly desired wildcard for the Ästhetiker Jam – Wängl Tängl held from 22nd to 25th of March in Mayrhofen. Friedl Kolar proved his style qualities and won the legendary Style Award.

At the end the culmination of this contest weekend was the Shred Down to the valley. The name of the contest is part of the program and therefore riders, shapers, organisers and media partners shredded down the mountain together. With a smile in their faces everyone arrived at the bottom with the memory of a great freestyle snowboard weekend.

RESULTS SHRED DOWN 2007

1 Michi Stanschitz AUT
2 Andreas Monsberger AUT
3 Reini Rieser AUT
4 Herby Thaler AUT
5 Matias Radaelli ARG
6 Lars Oesterle GER
7 Youri Jansen RUS
8 Friedl Kolar AUT, Style Award
9 Simon Fliri AUT
10 Stefan Fankhauser AUT
11 Lukas Draxl AUT
12 Wolle Beer AUT
13 Seppe Smits BEL
14 Phillip Gruber AUT
15 Anthony Smits BEL
16 Tomas Orol ARG
17 Alex Walch AUT
18 Simon Pircher AUT
18 Martin Bisi ARG
20 Marco Hafez AUT
21 Hannes Metzler AUT
22 Manuel Lindmoser AUT
23 Zoran Nuzdic AUT
24 Martin Rasinger AUT
25 Michael Schatz AUT
26 Thomas Tramnitz AUT
27 Matthias Trobos AUT
28 Bennie Wetscher AUT
29 Manuel Bernert AUT
29 Stefan Kröll AUT
29 Thomas Hörhagger AUT
29 Flo Hasenauer AUT
29 Tobias Margreiter AUT

www.aesthetiker.com

Seppe Smits Won the Forum Snake Session @ Nordpark

It was the first Snake Sessions tour stop at Innsbruck’s local resort, Nordpark on last Saturday and the park was in relatively good shape for the current snow conditions. Previous night we had a nice late-night-session at the park, so we decided not to hurry up to the mountain, just up for the finals.
When we got up to the park, it was only 8 young guns left in the finals. We caught up with the judges; Forum team captain Jon Weaver and team/host rider Peter König, sat down with them and followed the finals. It was a relaxed one hour jam session at the park that consisted of rail, 10m kicker and a rail box at the end of the slope.
It is pretty amazing how many times you could jump that kicker. The short chairlift takes you up in 30 seconds, and then if you hit it straight from top to bottom, you can manage to do the lap in less than a minute.
After following these kids with big clothes(apparently a current fashion) pirouetting one after another from the kicker, I realized that most of them had some killer style. And we’ve been wondering why they call these guys youngbloods. They definitely are the future.

Soon it was time for the prize giving and Peter König announced the winners. It was Seppe Smits who took the 1^st place with solid riding leaving his brother Anthony Smits on second place.

Seppe Smits first Place

Hot Zone ISPO 2007 Report      
 

The biggest qualified visitor trade show in Europe the ISPO 2007 in Munich has opened the doors. All theóß

big board sport company’s, are there to show us the new collections of 2008 and also some unknown little company’s are here to get a place in the market. To show you some exclusive products of 2008 I have made a trip to Munich to give you the first report of it.

 

Munich  05.07.2007 10:30 Uhr.

It’s hard to wait for your Christmas presents but my anticipation onto the ISPO is so big you can not realize. What will happen this year?

My first route starts at the biggest hall A1, all the big named company’s are there like Burton, Forum, Foursquare and many more. Sensory overload is my first thought when I was going in the hall. The first companies I visited were Forum, Foursquare and Special Blend. Austrian The Program sales rep Daniel has decided to give me and you a little fashion show, to represent his exclusive collection. Thanks for this Daniel. After a couple of shots I completed my first mission, and made my way to Nitro Snowboards, they always got a sweet looking booth. I felt like a paparazzi when I was taking the pictures, but anyway, amazing designs, crazy colours and like the years before more stylish than Paris Hilton in her best Gucci outfit. After a couple of tacos I found a little booth with a brand directly from Canada, the name of it is “Nomis”; if you ask yourself, what the hell is Nomis? I show you! This little company was born in Vancouver (Canada) and they produce zip hoodies, sweatshirts, hoodies, caps and much more. But the sensational of this is the love in the details and function. Mat Chamberlain has shown me the hottest products for the next season, and I mean literally hot.

One of the exclusive products is a heater in the zipper, its true so if you getting always cold like a girl, wear this on and you can regulate the warmth with the control panel in the pocket. And it’s washable. Thanks Mat for showing me these hot ass products.

After my lunch brake I found some Ride bindings behind bars, to hot to let them out. For 2008 Ride didn't care and built a collection you can not imagine. To give an insight check the pictures.

Colourful, powerful and awesome ideas! Who is this? This can be only the Neff Headwear Company. With crazy colours, crazy designs and love in the details Neff is showing us the new collection. Hats, Caps, Scarf’s, Shirts, Zippers, Headphones and much more is what makes Neff the unique company from California.

Also Salomon was working hard on there products. With fresh styles and colours they are showing us how creative a bunch of snowboarders are. In other words, basically the company hands them keys to there factory and they go bananas.

SP United, bindings, boots company deluxe. Fresh on board with there new team rider Danny Kass and a Pro Model binding. They also created a binding for the Austrian Zillertaler Crew “Ästhetiker” artless white with the big Ä logo on the highback. They always got some secret stuff, but nobody was thinking that the secret stuff can dance on smooth beats. With the words of my colleague “sex sells “.  

Last but not least, I have visited the Shop Summit booth. Now you will ask yourself what is the Shop Summit? I will tell you.

Shop Summit, discuss your answers! Interact with shop owners and get advice from experts. Question yourself: Does your shop have an image? Is your Shop just a sales area? What does your turnover have to be for you to make money? Can your Shop compete against larger shops? To reduce the risk you can talk with experts like: Muck Müller (AT), Jeffrey Harbaugh (USA) Stefan Dongus & Thimo Kilberth (GER).

An awesome, hard day is over, after a long day I will go back home. I hope you have got a little insight of the Products for next season. Enjoy the winter and pray for snow!

Have fun. See ya.

Sincelery Tom  

Neff Headwear                                      SP Bindings

  Nomis Heatable Hoodie thansk Mat!     Special Blend thanks Daniel!                                   

 Ride Bindings                                 Shake ya ass..

 Nitro Snowboards

 

 

 

Rudi Kröll reports from the European open!

Tuesday I came back from the Burton European Open 07 in Laax. I went there to ride the Slopestyle Competition which they moved up to the “Vorap” glacier due to bad snow conditions at lower levels. The park, which included 4 kickers, looked really perfect but it was a very difficult setup to ride.

 

You had to speedcheck every single kicker whereas there was not a lot of time between the kickers which made it pretty hard to get the right speed. Besides the kicker takeoff’s where very steep and the landings too which made it not easier to neither have a precision landing nor to stomp it. That means it was perfect airtime for the photographers.
Furthermore I had to notice that this bad winter also makes me a victim because I didn’t ride a kicker like that in 1,5 month. And there have been 4 kickers in a row at 3000m.

On Saturday there were really good weather conditions during the first heat of the Qualification which I was riding in. My brother “CK” was not really lucky. He was riding the second heat where all the kickers were in the shadow already and also the wind picked up and affected the shredding.

So I qualified for the semi-final which they planned on Sunday. Well, I was checking the weather forecast on Saturday night and it predicted strong wind and snow. So the Chillertal “Hot-Zone.tv” Crew decided to make party and hope for postponing the semi-final. And the plan turned out perfect! I slept till midday till I noticed that the semi-final got postponed to Monday. Sweet! Also Reini Rieser didn’t step out of his bed till the afternoon that day.

So, it was the same then in the BEO 06. No semi final. Everyone of the semi-final moves to the final on Monday. We took the second gondola up on the glacier. It was cloudy but there was no wind when we came up. So we started to train and I was doing 4 or 5 runs. I also tried a bs rodeo 7 on the first jump which I slammed. I was so high and when I came around I couldn’t see the landing at all. It was all white in white and I didn’t see the landing coming. And after 5 runs when the wind was picking up to about 80 km/h it was just impossible to do a safe contest there! So I think it was kind of the only decision to cancel the Slopestyle of this years BEO. It could have been postponed to Tuesday but as Shaun White and some other guys have to go to the X-Games that day it seemed like that wouldn’t be a possibility.
For me it sucks, because this would have been my first TTR result and it would have been a 6star.

Now I am back home and because the park caused some tension in my back I already have been to the masseur twice. In the moment it is dumping and I hope the winter will come finally!

Greets from the Chillertal
Rudi


                      protect ya self ... RK in Action..



Rudi and Werni Checking the Course and Line...



Qualifikation Run from Rudi.. sick man..

Reini Rieser, Werni Stock & Rudi Kroell in Round 2 @ Burton European Open

Reini Rieser, Werni Stock and Rudi Kroell qualified today for the round nr 2 at the burton european open in laax, switzerland.

 

Reini Rieser, Werni Stock and Rudi Kroell qualified today for the round nr 2 at the burton european open in laax, switzerland.

120 riders were competing, 40 came into round number 2 and the hotzone riders were one of them.

Congratultations boys as it was not too easy, we all hope to see you in the finals!

 

We got 40 names of riders going through to slopestyle semi-finals, the schedule has been changed a little bit, since there was no time to run te Qualifications today. Therefore 24 best riders from Pre-qualifications Heat 1 and 16 best from Heat 2 advance straight to the tommorow’s semi-finals against 32 invited guys. Here are the names of riders continuing at BEO Slopestyle:




Rider: Reini Rieser Photo: Christian "Eli" Eberl



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i should be forever forbidden to go to that dam ski show in chicago every year.

i was SUPPOSED to wait till the end of this yr to get a RIDE snowboard, for a end of the season deal; instead i ventured into the swap area of the ski show and bought myself a new board...a pretty sweet board last seasons DK gnu pro board. It prob rides better then the RIDE one neways. so i gut it uber cheap for being an "oh my danny kass board" its med wide but its only less than a cm wider then  their reg so no biggie(...hopefully hehe)

so then i started thinkin of bindings....dam it i dont have the $ and i was lookin at ride and T9s and then i found the perfect pair...FLUX super titan in jp white (f*ckin jp...my setup is goin to be pro so unintenionaly) for 230$

thats what my face looked like after i finally found them and saw the price. so unfotuantely i cannot purchase them until jan/feb cause i got xmas shoppin to finish up for other ppl and one thing being board boots for my best friend. im upset that i cant have em till mid/end of the season...they lloook sooo pretty i even took some time out of my busy life and created this::


a crappy job but a job done, its my board and how it would look soooo awesome w/ these sweet bindings. i know i shouldnt care about style, but those bindings got it all that i want, comfort, response, and TOE CAP!!!1 and they fit my board perfectly...color wise

so until i get these, im stuck w/ my cinder block MFM t9s from 03/04

so there rly isnt a purpose to this post but nuthin but a lil rant on how otroshously (sp?) bindings are priced and how badly i want them...



cheers


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1. Andy Finch was boosting larger than almost everyone... Travis Rice.

2. Michelle Parker, should have competed with the men, and was the only girl to throw down before the womens comp. was cancelled.

3. Thanks goes out to the Snowbomb guys for all their hard work.

4. I learned that I am not good looking enough to party at the W hotel...

5. Sparks energy drink... is a redbull that comes with some form of alcohol and after an entire day of drinking it your pee turns bright yellow.

6. Most competitors only had two warm-up runs and some had not even been on a board in three months... (some were busy getting married and making babies).

Check out our photo gallery for event photos or go to

http://www.porterstahoe.com/news/110406_icer.html

Esurance ICER AIR 2006 -- Tens of Thousands of Fans Descend Upon AT&T Park for One Unforgettable Day

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- November 05, 2006 -- ICER is pleased to announce the success of the second annual Esurance ICER AIR event. Building on the popularity of the inaugural event on San Francisco's famed Fillmore Street hill, skiers and snowboarders once again took on another one of San Francisco's iconic locations, AT &T Park. Esurance ICER AIR 2006, the first big-air ski and snowboard event held in a stadium, drew 25,000 spectators for a fun-filled day of snow, music and big-air.

"We really wanted to take this to a whole new level," said ICER President and Founder, Glen Griffin. "We brought in some of the best ski and snowboard talent from around the world, had headliner bands perform and saw hundreds of industry retailers come together to create a one-of-a-kind festival atmosphere."

Esurance ICER AIR featured a 100-foot high ski and snowboard jump that descended from the scoreboard at AT&T Park, extending over 350 feet in length and covered with 200 tons of snow. The main event, men's big-air ski and snowboarding, wowed the crowed with gravity defying aerial maneuvers against the backdrop of the Bay Bridge and San Francisco skyline. Last year's third place winner, TJ Schiller, edged out X-Games gold medalist Jon Olssen to claim the title. Jon Spriggs finished in third.

On the snowboarding side, Travis Rice, one of the hottest new riders on the scene, took the title with an astounding lead. Andreas Wiig came in second followed by two time Olympian and silver medalist Danny Kass.

Esurance ICER AIR 2006 is the first stadium big air ski and snowboard competition to be held in the United States. Olympic medalists and X-Games ski and snowboard champions competed on a 100 foot high ramp, covered with over 200 tons of snow, for prizes and the ultimate bragging rights. The day also featured headliner bands Jurassic 5 and Ladytron, and the San Francisco Ski and Snowboard Festival. Tony Hawk and Jonny Moseley were on hand to host and emcee the event.







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