The Billabong Air & Style 2009 II is only days away with some of the world’s most talented snowboarders set to attend the legendary Swatch TTR 6Star event on Saturday, December 5, 2009. Taking place in Innsbruck, Austria, the 17th annual Air & Style event will feature some hot competition on a big air setup. Being the first 6Star event of the 2009/2010 TTR World Tour season the riders will be on a warpath looking to secure a top result heading into the busy Olympic year.
The Billabong Air & Style 2009 II is only days away with some of the world’s most talented snowboarders set to attend the legendary Swatch TTR 6Star event on Saturday, December 5, 2009. Taking place in Innsbruck, Austria, the 17th annual Air & Style event will feature some hot competition on a big air setup. Being the first 6Star event of the
2009/2010 TTR World Tour season the riders will be on a warpath looking to secure a top result heading into the busy Olympic year.
The Double Cork Factor
The double cork phenomenon arguably all started back at the Air & Style Munich in 2006 when Travis Rice (USA) and David Benedek (USA) unleashed the double inverted spins in front of the crowds in Germany. The infamous double cork has been all the rage in the snowboard community lately, especially after the groundbreaking tricks were unveiled in the halfpipe by a small group of riders back in August at the 5Star Burton New Zealand Open. These mind-bending tricks are becoming commonplace on the competitive freestyle snowboarding
circuit and could be a game changer this year on the big air jump at the Air & Style Innsbruck.
Riders To Watch For
Canadian star on the rise, Sebastien Toutant, is currently sitting in Swatch TTR World No. 1, has a double cork in the bag and at the ripe age of 17 will be looking to beat out the rest of the field to maintain his tour lead. Snowboard superstar, Travis Rice, is back on the radar for the 2009 event and with at least four different double cork variations in his repertoire, will definitely be a standout. Other riders who have the double cork skills include Tim Humphreys (USA), Iouri Podlatchikov (SUI), Eero Ettala (FIN) and the German rookie who just won the
4Star Horsefeathers Pleasure Jam with a double cork, Elias Elhardt.
Swatch TTR Ranking Outlook
2008/2009 Swatch TTR World Champion and current TTR World No. 15, Peetu Piiroinen (FIN), will make his second appearance on tour for the season after a seventh place finish at the Burton New Zealand Open in the halfpipe. If Piiroinen can secure a good finish at Air & Style Innsbruck, he could move up the ranking list to World No. 2. However, Piiroinen will need to battle for that spot with othereager riders, who like him have results posted from the Southern Hemisphere season including Chas Guldemond (USA), Tim Humphreys(USA) and Antti Autti (FIN). Torstein Horgmo (NOR) also has a chance to move up in the rankings and will be battling for a spot in the Top 5. Sebastien Toutant can only be bumped out of the tour leader position if he does not start at Air & Style.
Stay Informed: www.ttrworldtour.com
The Air & Style Innsbruck will be webcast live via air-style.com, freecaster.tv and on ttrworldtour.com. And, check back to ttrworldtour.com leading up to and after the event for behind the scenes coverage including video interviews, highlights and recaps straight from Innsbruck, Austria.
SWATCH TTR WORLD TOUR RANKINGS AS OF 31.11.09
MEN
Rank Name Nation Results Points
1 Toutant, Sebastien CAN 5 451.69
2 Reid, Charles CAN 4 388.87
3 Willett, Eric USA 5 375.83
4 Grilc, Marko SLO 5 371.82
5 Kotsenburg, Sage USA 5 359.85
6 Aguirre, Mason USA 3 341.75
7 Lago, Scotty USA 4 334.33
8 Longo, Arthur FRA 3 311.08
9 Horgmo, Torstein NOR 3 301.1
10 Haller, Christian SUI 3 292.11
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ABOUT SWATCH TTR:
Founded by Terje Haakonsen and industry innovators in 2002, the Swatch Ticket To Ride (TTR) World Snowboard Tour is a non-profit, rider-driven organization with the mission “to create the highest quality competitive snowboard environment in the world, using authenticity, accessibility, innovation as guiding principles”. Since its foundation, the Swatch TTR Tour has been developing into the most exposed snowboard tour worldwide featuring global grass root and key independent freestyle snowboarding events over a ten-month period from Southern to Northern Hemisphere locations. Events are rated via a 1-through- 6Star system, with points allocated accordingly, a 6Star event holds the highest (1000 points). Any rider participating in these events, from up-and-coming to professional talent, earns ranking points and a position on the Swatch TTR World Ranking List. The top male and female rider based on an average of their best six results of the season (5+1 system) is crowned Swatch TTR World Snowboard Champion. For moreinformation visit www.ttrworldtour.com.
