Category: World Rookie Tour

Report by Giulio Neri

East Rookie Fest is over and the finnish still rock in the east! Teemu Lambert from Finland dominated the super slopestyle format with halfpipe, downrail box and a nineteen meters jump as final obstacle.

After a couple days of training under warm weather and soft snow the weather change a bit in icy condition, but ice is nothing for the rookie, specially if they are fighting for qualify to the next World Rookie Finals in Ischgl. So in the well shaped slopestyle rookie just take few run of training for find the felling and start to push the level.

On rookie category the finnish Teemu Lambert toke first position stomping a clean run with a 7to7 and 5to5 in the pipe, super jib style on the box and a huge clean fs7invert in the jump. Czechs Martin Mikyska and Michal Bisa toke second and third position.

Teemu Lambert

Martin Mikyska on jump and pipe

For the little gromies the heroe of the day was Ondrej Porkert. The little rising star showed an high level with different tricks in pipe and on the big jump. He won ahead Tomas Cisar and Miki Pajer. On girl side Katerina Yanova won the rookie category while Katerina Vojackova toke first position on grom.

Ondra jumpin on the nineteen meters

Katerina Vojackova

Next stop of the World Rookie Tour will be in Romania where the Black Yeti will meet Dracula in Transilvania Rookie Fest and where the Rookies will challenge for the last tickets for the World Rookie Finals.

girls

rookies

groms

GROM GIRL
1 14 R VOJACKOVA KATERINA CZE

ROOKIE GIRL
1 30 R YANOVA KATERINA CZE

GROM BOYS
1 31 R PORKERT ONDREJ CZE
2 32 G CISAR TOMAS CZE
3 26 G PAJER MIKI CZE

ROOKIE BOYS
1 35 R LAMBERT TEEMU FIN
2 7 R MIKYSKA MARTIN CZE
3 15 R BISA MICHAL CZE 4

photo by: Přemysl Vida

From Czech Republic, the World Rookie Fest is crossing Europe for the Transilvania Rookie Fest which will take place in Arena Platos-Sibiu-Romania from March 25th to 27th 2011.

The Transilvania Rookie Fest is the first international youth freestyle snowboard competition hold in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania. Former ISF world champion Martin Freinademetz and owner of Arena Platos has build a slope style park in cooperation with Ninjaz Parkdesign and Romanian snowboard legend Andy Fazakas. The park has a length of 700 meters and includes 4 rails, 6 kickers, and one wall ride.

“The World Rookie Fest Tour is growing year after year and we are super happy to have now 2 stops in East Europe. It’s a great opportunity for riders to grow and make the progression upgrading too. Let’s see who will qualify for the big final in Ischgl!!” stated Meinhard Trojer from World Rookie Tour Committee.

The event in Arena Platos will assign 2 all-inclusive tickets for the 4Star Protest World Rookie Finals in Ischgl, Austria, from 4th to 11th of April 2011. In addition all riders on Rookie and Groom podiums, both boys and girls, will be qualified as well for the Protest World Rookie Finals.

If your dream is to become a professional snowboarder, then your future starts from the Rookie Fests!

Friday 25, March
– 
9:00 – 20:00 – riders registration in kinderland Arena Platos, you will get your start number, lift ticket, vouchers, etc. (From Sibiu drive direction Paltinis on DJ 106 A, aprox 30km, on the left side of the road you will see Arena Platos resort. GPS lat: 45.672603; long: 23.940024). On the right side of the parking place is the Kinderland.
– Open training in funpark: 10:00-12:00 , 13-15:00, 16:00-18:00 20:00-22:00, authorized riders only.
– Coach and riders briefing: 18:00 Welcome barbeque at riders tent



Saturday 26, march
-
8:00 – 9:00 – riders registration in kinderland
10:00 – training
11:00 – start competition
16:00 -17:00 – ceremony and pricegiving
19:00 – traditional dinner in historic Sibiu centre
21:00-24:00 – riders party at Propaganda

Sunday 27, march
Reserve day


EVENT INFORMATION

Name: Transilvania Rookie Fest
Date of Event: 25’th – 27’th of March
Star level: 2 Star
Location: Arena Platos – Sibiu – Romania
Format: SLOPE STYLE
Starting fee: 00 € (included – snow park entrance for three days (ski pass)
Info and inscriptions: Cristina Badiu, email: cristinab@xventure.net ; mobil: +40/ 731 270 887
Age Groups: Rookie (born from 1’st January 1993 and 31’st of December 1995) and Groom (born after 1’st January 1996).

Transfer and accommodation service
Accomodation package: 40euro/person, including 2 nights of accommodation with breakfast (3 star accommodation)

All information about transfer and accommodation please contact:
Badiu Cristina
E:mail: cristinab@xventure.net
Cell phone: 0040 (0)731 270 887 Office phone/fax:0040 (0)269 215 209

Media Request
National media: Bogdan Brylynski, Email: bogdanb@xventure.net, mobile: +40/722 227 297 International media: Marco Sampaoli (WSF), marco@worldsnowboardfederation.org
Mobile: +39.340.3285569

World Rookie Tour Rules
The title of World Rookie Champion will be awarded to the winner of the Protest World Rookie Finals reserved to the top riders from previous Rookie Fests, plus selected riders from National Snowboard Associations and the top 20 riders from the World Rookie Rank (rank at 30’th Of March 2011).

The fight for the Austrian Slopestyle crown at the Shred Down Austrian Masters 2011 at the Boarders Playground in Westendorf is over. As in the halfpipe one week ago in Innsbruck, Mathias Weissenbacher from Salzburg once again triumphed over a top-class starter field.

Mathias Weissenbacher clearly dominated this year’s Shred Down Austrian Masters event. After his victory in the halfpipe he also won the slopestyle competition. With a frontside boardslide, a massive double backflip and a backside 1080o he became Austrian slopestyle champion. Reini Rieser and Chris Kröll, both from Tirol, were second and third. With this victory Mathias additionally won the over-all ranking of halfpipe and slopestyle. To top it all, he also won the „K2 Jib Knights“. For the next year he can consider himself Austria’s best allround snowboarder.

In the womens ranking Julia Baumgartner from Tirol was second behind Steffi Hamann from Germany. Therefore she became Austrian slopestyle champion. Diana Sadlowski from Poland was third.

Johannes Handle from Innsbruck on top of the rookie ranking. He won ahead of Angelo Gastl and Geori Mihaylov. Ästhetiker Chris Kröll won the legends ranking ahead of his twin brother Rudi Kröll and Peter Sandner also from Innsbruck. Birgit Rofner became slopestyle rookie champion.

The Shred Down Austrian Masters 2011 event was a 3Star TTR event and was a combination of a superpipe and a slopestyle competition. The mens over-all winner was Mathias Weissenbacher and Julia Baumgartner from Innsbruck won the over-all ladies ranking. Johannes Handle proved that he is currently the best rookie in Austria. Last year’s over-all champion Rudi Kröll came first in the over-all legends ranking this year.
Birgit Rofner from Tirol came second in Innsbruck and first in Westendorf and therefore won the over-all champion title 2011 in the ladies rookie ranking.
More information on www.boardplay.com, on www.powdern.com and on www.facebook.com/sdam fanpage!

The Protest World Rookie Finals are back again in Ischgl, Austria, for the “Grand Finale” of the World Rookie Tour 2011 that will crown the new WSF World Rookie Champion. Among the past winners there are todays’ top riders like Peetu Piiroinen, Christian Haller, Gjermund Braaten and Roope Tonteri. In Ischgl we will discover the next!

As the final event in the World Rookie Tour 2011, the stop in Ischgl is the rookies’s last chance to win incredible prizes: invitation to Air&Style Rookie Challange, trip to Chile, photo and video shootings with international media. Thanks to the support of n.asa (new austrian snowboard association) and Ischgl Snowpark a special slopestyle course will host young crippers who cannot wait to bring the progression of snowboarding to an higher level.

“From many seasons the World Rookie Tour program offered the youngsters a fair and clear chance to enter the pro system.” said Martin Frejnademetz, snowboard legend and n.asa President. “ticket to pro event, photo shooting and filming session are the best prizes ever to help a snowboarder’s carrier”.

An Onboard Europe photo shooting will be held straight after the event, from 11 to 15 of april in a secret location to be announced. The shooting is reserved to the best 2 rookies from Livigno Protest World Rookie Fest, plus the best 2 rookies from the finals in Ischgl. In the following days also a Cooler photo shooting for the best girls of the tour.

Prizes for Protest World Rookie Final in Ischgl
– For the overall winner of the event:
o the title of WSF World Rookie Champion
o Filming with Pirate Movie Production
o Photo shooting with Onboard and Cooler
o Freeride Filming Trip to Chile
o Ticket to Air & Style Rookie Challenge 2011 in Innsbruck, Austria.
– For the best girl and the best male grom: a golden ticket to join for free every World Rookie Fest 2011/12
– 5 ticket to Protest World Rookie Fest in Livigno 2012
– and many other goodies like avalanche transceivers from Pieps and Tech Riders.

Participation at Protest World Rookie Final in Ischgl
– Participation at the event costs €350 including inscription, lift tickets, hotel in half board from 6 to 10 April and gifts. For coach, parents and crew the participation fee is €300.
– Every WSF national snowboard associations is invited to register a rookie team consisting of 2 male and 1 female rookies, 1 male and 1 female groms.
– The best riders, both male and female, from the previous stops in Chile, Australia, Italy, Andorra, Czech Republic and Romania are already qualified to the Protest World Rookie Finals (full list below).
– In addition the top 30 riders out of the World Rookie Rank are qualified to the finals in Ischgl
– Age groups: Rookies are born 1993,1994 and 1995, Grom are born 1996 and over.

NOTE: registration of every national rookie team have to be sended by the national secretary or national coach for the complete team of that nation.

Click here to download all the information.

EVENT CONTACTS
Official website: www.worldsnowboardfederation.org
Booking and inscriptions: Meinhard Trojer, +43.650.5637424, meinhardtrojer@powdern.com
Media: Marco Sampaoli, +39.340.3285569 marco@worldsnowboardfederation.org

Invited and qualified riders to the Protest World Rookie Final 2011 from previous Rookie Fests

Male Rookie (born in 1993,1994,1995)
Sven Thorgren SWE (1st in Chile – invited for free)
Marco Grigis ITA (2nd in Chile)
Andre Escobar CHI (3rd in Chile)
Billy Hayman AUS (1st in Australia – invited for free)
Jesse Kennedy AUS (2nd in Australia)
Hugh Marsden (3rd in Australia)
Emil Andre Ulsletten NOR (1st in Italy – invited for free)
Peder Midttomme NOR (2nd in Italy – invited for free)
Havard Berghim NOR (3rd in Italy – invited for free)
Timmy Saisa SWE (1st in Andorra – invited for free)
Lewis Courtier-Jones GBR (2nd in Andorra)
Cristian Botella SPA (3rd in Andorra)
+ podium riders from Czech Republic and Romania

Male Grom (born in 1996 and up)
Tim Kevin Ravnjak SLO (World Grom Champion 2010 – invited for free)
Gonzales Santiago CHI (1st in Chile)
Benjamin Yanez CHI (2nd in Chile)
Alvaro Yanez CHI (3rd in Chile)
Seamus O’Connor IRL (1st in Italy – invited for free)
Lucien Koch SUI (2nd in Italy)
Mons Roisland NOR (3rd in Italy)
Benjamin Lestage SWE (1st in Andorra)
Pau Bartolo ESP (2nd in Andorra)
Bing Voorham NED (3rd in Andorra)
+ podium riders from Czech Republic and Romania

Female Rookie (born in 1993, 1994, 1995)
Roberta Irarrasaual CHI (1st in Chile)
Candelaria Palacios CHI (2nd in Chile)
Lauren Staveley AUS (1st in Australia – invited for free)
Biba Turnbull AUS (2nd in Australia)
Pride Hasler (3rd in Australia)
Anna Gyarmati HUN (1st in Italy – invited for free)
Katarzyna Rusin POL (2nd in Italy)
Nora Thompson NOR (3rd in Italy)
+ podium riders from Czech Republic and Romania

Female Grom (born in 1996 and up)
Diana Augustinova CZE (World Grom Champion 2010 – invited for free)
Antonia Yanez CHI (1st in Chile)
Maria Delfina Maiocco ITA (1st in Italy – invited for free)
Katerina Vojackova CZE (2nd in Italy)
Chloe Silliers FRA (3rd in Italy and 1st in Andorra – invited for free)
+ podium riders from Czech Republic and Romania

In addition to them:
1) Each National Snowboard Association can register 2 male + 1 female rookies, 1 male + 1 female groms.
2) Will be admitted at the finals also the top 30 male rookies from World Rookie Rank at 30th march 2011

The last stop of the O2 Rookie cup at the O2 snowpark in Jasna (Slovakia).
A perfect sunny day made the contest even better for the 27 riders competing at the big final.

The slopestyle course included two lines: in the first line there was pipe followed by a picnic table, a street rail, a balance stick and a jump. In the second line it was fun box followed by a A box, a straight rail and a smaller jump.

Klaudia Medlova won the best trick contest with a switch backside rodeo.

In the ollie contest Matej Martis won thanks to his highest ollie of 75 cm.

The winners of the Rookie Tour in Slovaskia won a ticket to the World Rookie Finals in Ischgl, Austria.

WOMEN’S FINAL RANKING
MEDLOVÁ Klaudia
MEDLOVÁ Zuzana
KRÁLIKOVÁ Dominika
RÁKOCZYOVÁ Ivana

MEN’S FINAL RANKING
KRŠKA Jakub
VASIĽ Viktor
FERIANC Martin
BUŠA Martin
DROPPA Lukáš
ČARNÝ Kristián
ŠOŠKA Ján
ŇACHAJ Daniel
IVANOV Leo
MITRO Martin
NOSEK Jakub
KORDIAK Dávid
KOŠČO Marek
PAREV Richard
TRNOVSKÝ Dávid
ONDREJOVIČ Marek
MARTIŠ Matej
KOČVARA Marek
ONDREJOVIČ Tomáš
KUBÁŇ Lukáš
JANÍK Tomáš
ČARNÝ Oliver

Delaying the Hochkar Open 2011 to March 5th was really worth it: at brightest sunshine, 31 snowboarders and freeskiers met in the Senoner´Park Hochkar to show their best tricks at the Big Air Contest. A crowd of Freestyle freaks made themselves comfortable at the Chill Area next to the Moreboards truck and a nice Sport´ Senoner Barbecue to enjoy the extra class freestyle spectacle.

When the first riders entered the Chill area of the Senoner´park Hochkar, they didn´t know whether they´re dreaming or not: a huge truck stood in the middle of the park spreading the smell of a Barbecue for breakfast. However, at second glance the Moreboards truck was still there and Albert Senoner was already preparing the first sausages and steaks. The freeskiers and snowboarders met at the Chill Area accompanied by humming beats of DJ G-Dog before they made their first runs on the Big Air Kicker under a clear blue sky. Already at the training, the audience got to see a massive set of freestyle action with 7s and 9s in all variations. Throughout the whole day, local hero and speaker Felix Prankl entertained the crowd with witty charm and real insider’s information. After explaining the contest process at the riders meeting and the judges’ introduction, the qualifications eventually started out at 11:00 am.

Hochkar Open 2011 – It´s getting serious!

All snowboarders and freeskiers had three runs, wherefrom the two better ones counted. The rookies and girls made already clear at the qualifications who the winners would be. The judges didn’t have an easy job though after all riders completed the qualifying. They calculated and discussed quite a lot until the results were fixed. Freeski rookie Niels Preham (AUT) was able to celebrate his victory and a new pair of freeskies. Also snowboard rookie Stefan Hager received a new Burton Snowboard from Albert Senoner for his first place. At the snowboard girls, Daniela Kaindl (AUT) convinced with her switch variations above all others and her colleague Moni Oberreiter (AUT) won the Big Air Contest on two boards with a nice 540. “Totally cool, everything fitted. Nice atmosphere, Bluebird, perfect organization and heaps of motivated riders. What else could you want?” she comments on her victory.
In the meantime, parkdesigner Mike Aflenzer and his crew put the two Kickers in perfect shape again while all riders and freestyle freaks were relaxing at the Chill Area and allowed themselves sausages and steak sandwiches. Hochkar local Chris “Zuli” Zulechner was impressed by the setup and the good vibes: “Yeahh, Hochkar Open 2011, a nice Big Air Contest with good weather, lots of good riders, freaky crowd, a nice contest line and last but not least the tasty Barbecue of Albert Senoner.” Another highlight were for sure the stands of NITRO and Burton where the visitors were able to test the boards of the next season.

Big showdown in the finals

Finally the finalists of the Hochkar Open 2011 were definite: Six snowboarders and five freeskiers had three runs, whereas the two better runs of them counted. At the freeskiers, the Austrian Max Brandauer got the most points by the judges for his Switch 9 Mute, Switch Rodeo 7 Mute and a Big Switch 10 Mute. Markus Androsch (AUT) came in second and Alex Moser (AUT) on the third place. Thereby, Max could collect important points for the QParks Tour and increased his lead. Also he gained 700€ prize money and goodies by Sport’Senoner, Moreboards and Raiffeisen Club.

Kick-ass snowboarder in the males’ final: Snowboard Pro Michael “Stani” Stanschitz showed a FS 7 Backside Grab, a BS 7 Indy and a FS 9 Backside grab and jumped to the first place ahead of Marvin Salmina (AUT) on the second place and Roland Scharmer (AUT) on the third. After his victory Stani said: “Nice weather, great contest and I´m happy to be here again where I started skiing as a little child after a long time. I just came back on Wednesday from filming in Japan still having a little jetlag but everything went fine today though.”

After the prizegiving ceremony all riders enjoyed the comfy music in the last sunbeams before they headed off to the afterparty in the JoSchibar.

QParks Tour Riders Voting
Also for the third QParks Tour Stop some riders registered online to get more votes on their profile. But not only to get the most voted rider of the Tour but also to win a trip to the Balicamp. Even the Voters can win: At this Tourstop, Manuel Brandauer, the brother of freeski winner Max, certainly counted on his bro and thus has been drawn as the winner a highquality TSG QParks Helmet. At the end of the Tour, all voters have the chance to win a trip to the Balicamp including flight, accommodation and surf guiding – it definitely pays to take part!

Korea’s finest park “Phoenix Park” welcomed Korean pro riders from Korea, New Zealand and Canada for an exciting Am Big Air and Pro slopestyle contests.

Thanks to the “only rookie contest” here in Korea we had a lot of young rippers such as Sin Yoon and Jin Su Yoon, four Japanese kids traveling to very first time to brother country; Kaito Suzuki showed his skills with a back side board slide for first 10 m rail to Cab 5 for first hit and 2nd hit back side 360 and very last for R&R at wall ride.

Second place for Sora Sakashita, 14 years old, passing through rail and keep speed up to the first kicker with a frontside 720 and very stylish Indy for second jump. The winner, Yuki Kadono who rides for Ride snowboards, won thanks to a 50/50 rail and 360 spin out Cab 5 and B 7 and hand plant on the wall ride! He will flight to the “Protest World Rookie Finals” a 4 Star TTR event in Ischgl (AUT).

Last but not least Mimoza Murai, winner of Alts-Bandai’s “Indy Park Jam”. Her run consisted in 50/50 rail, nose grab on the first jump and front side 180 on the second one.

The 3rd edition of The North Face World Rookie Fest Asian was made thanks to KSBA and judged by IJC Korea crew. Biggest thanks goes to William, Alex and Lee.

From Spain to Czech Republic, the World Rookie Tour is crossing Europe for the East Rookie Fest that will take place in Spindleruv Mlyn, Svaty Petr in Czech Republic from March 18th to 20th, 2011.

The second stop of the O2 Rookie Tour took place in Janá-Otupné (Slovakia) at O2 snowpark in Jasna – Chopok. Sunny weather showed us beautiful mountains of slovakia and gave the energy to the riders to show their best tricks.

Slovak junior snowboarding is progressing year after year

In the slopestyle contest more than 30 riders showed theris skills . First place on hte podium for Martin Busa, second place for Viktor Vasil and third place for Martin Ferianc. In the girl category first place for Klaudia Medlova, followed by her sister Zuzana Medlova and Dominika Kralikova as third place.

In the big air contest the best trick podium went to Viktor Vasil with a super clean backside 720. Klaudia Medlova showed a great style with a switch backside rodeo.

The Black Yeti landed in Andorra for the second edition of the Swatch TTR 3Star Slopestyle “Protest Pyrenees Rookie Fest” in Vallnord. With riders from 6 nations, the event showcased an high level of riding and awarded the winners with invitations to the Ride Shakedown in Garmisch, Germany, and the 4Star Protest World Rookie Finals in Ischgl, Austria.

Protest Pyrenees Rookie Fest from Board.tv on Vimeo.

Check out al pictures from Andorra on the World Rookie Tour facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/worldrookietour

World Rookie Tour 2011 Calendar
Protest World Rookie Fest – Livigno, Italy – 3Star – january 15-19, 2011
Protest Rookie Camp – Livigno, Italy – international training camp – january 19-22, 2011
Protest Pyrenees Rookie Fest, Vallnord, Andorra – 3Star – 17.20 febbruary 2011
East Rookie Fest – Splinderuv Mlyn, Czech Republic – 2Star – march 18.20, 2011
Transilvania Rookie Fest, Arena Platos, Romania – 2Star – march 25.27, 2011
Protest World Rookie Finals – Ischgl, Austria – 4Star – 6.10 april 2011
Rookie Camp – Val Senales, Italy – international training camp – 25 june . 9 july 2011 www.rookiecamp.eu
Summer Rookie Fest – Val Senales, Italy – 2Star – 1.2 july 2011
Australian Rookie Fest – Thredbo, Australia – 2Star – 18.20 august 2011
South America Rookie Fest – Valle Nevado, Chile – 2Star – august 2011 (date to be announced)

World Rookie Tour Rules
The title of World Rookie Champion will be awarded to the winner of the Protest World Rookie Finals reserved to the top riders from previous Rookie Fests, plus selected riders from National Snowboard Associations and the top 20 riders from the World Rookie Rank (rank at 30 march 2011).

The first O2 Rookie Tour had place in Janá-Otupné, Slovakia on February 19th, 2011 where 23 riders enjoyed the slopestyle contest at Jasna Nizke Tatry ski resort.

The 13 years old girl Zuzka Medlova, younger sister of Klaudia Medlova, impressed the crowd showing her backflip, while the boys category confirmed the progression of snowboarding in Slovakia.

Next O2 Rookie Cup will hit Jasna Nizke Tatry on february 26th, 2011.

O2 Rookie Cup Final Ranking

DROPPA Lukáš
TRNOVSKÝ Daniel
BLAHO Miroslav
ONDREJOVIČ Marek
FERIANC Martin
DROPPA Lukáš
BUŠA Martin
MITRO Martin
STRCUĽA Zoltán
VOĽASKÝ Martin
NOSEK Jakub
MURGAŠ Martin
JANÍK Tomáš
KOČVARA Marek
ŠULGAN Silvester
ŠOŠKA Ján
ONDREJOVIČ Tomáš
FÁBRY Peter
JANKOLA Romuald
SABAKA Martin
ČARNÝ Oliver

Report by Giulio Neri

Spring time showed up in a magic saturday in Vallnord, Andorra, for the 3Star Swatch TTR Slopestyle Protest Pyrenees Rookie Fest, the second international stop of the World Rookie Tour 2011.

The rookies started trainings from early morning on 3 jumps and the final rail set to find their perfect run.

Timmy Saisa from Sweden show a solid style during the qualication day but in the first two run of the final nothing was done. Lewis Courtier-Jones (GBR) challenged until the end for the first position but Timmy Saisa get the maximum score of the day on his third run including cab5, bs7, fs5, 50-50 180out. Timmy won an all-inclusive invitation to the Protest World Rookie Finals, a ticket to the Ride Shake Down in Garmisch, a ticket to the Protes Manifest and a ticket to the next World Rookie Tour stop in Czech Republic. Cristian Botella (ESP) took the third position on the rookie category while “local hero” Manex Azula got injured during the trainings.

Lewis Courtier Jones aka “CJ”

Timmy Saisa

The little blondie french Chloe Sillieres, 13 years old, showed an high level for this age, landing smooth bs3, fs3 and nice frontside5. She was super stocked to won an invitation for free at the Protest World Rookie Finals.

Chloe Sillieres

On the grom side, Bing Voorham from Netherland was impressive and as well the spanish Pau Bartolo. They did their best stomping every trick against Benjamin Lestage (SWE) but the swedish took the first position among the groms with a huge cab5, fs7, bs3 and a boardslide switch out on the rail. Second place for Voorham (NED) and third for Bartolo (SPA).

PROTEST PYRENEES ROOKIE FEST 2011
RANKING

GIRLS
1. CHLOE SILLIERES (FRA) – get an invitation for free at the Protest World Rookie Finals in Ischgl, Austria

GROM BOYS
1. BENJAMIN LESTAGE (SWE) – qualified for the Protest World Rookie Finals in Ischgl, Austria
2. PAU BARTOLO (ESP) – qualified for the Protest World Rookie Finals in Ischgl, Austria
3. BING VOORHAM (NED) – qualified for the Protest World Rookie Finals in Ischgl, Austria
4. MARCEL LLOVERA (AND)
5. TEKKE VOORHAM (NED)
6. HUGO TORRENS (FRA)
7. MARC RAMIREZ (AND)
8. GUILLEM FERNANDEZ (AND)
9. PAUL MARTINEZ (AND)

ROOKIE BOYS
1. TIMMY SAISA (SWE) – get an invitation for free at the Protest World Rookie Finals in Ischgl, Austria
2. LEWIS COURTIER-JONES (GBR) – qualified for the Protest World Rookie Finals in Ischgl, Austria
3. CRISTIAN BOTELLA (ESP) – qualified for the Protest World Rookie Finals in Ischgl, Austria
4. JAN PUJOL (ESP)
5. FERNANDO GARCIA (ESP)
6. MANEX AZULA (ESP)
7. MAURO BORRAS (ESP)

The World Rookie Tour is now moving to East Europe with the third edition of the East Rookie Fest in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, from 18 to 20 March and the Transilvania Rookie Fest in Romania, from 25 to 27 March.

In a strange day with super sunny weather and strong wind, rookies from 6 nations compete in Vallnord, Andorra, for the qualifications of the Protest Pyrenees Rookie Fest. On a great slopestyle with 3 jumps and a final rail set, the rookies showed up style and sick runs.

slopestyle setup

rookies ready to rock

Timmy Saisa from Sweden got first position with bs7 and a huge swbs5. Lewis Courtier-Jones from England, also known as “CJ”, stomped a good run for the second position as well as the local hero Manex Azula from Spain who got third in the rookie category. While in grom section Pau Bartolo from Spain and Benjamin Lestage from Sweden impressed the judges. To show up girl power was Chloe Sillieres from France with a really clean run including smooth backside3 and frontside3.

Manex Azula (ESP)

Timmy Saisa (SWE)

Tomorrow another super sunny day is expected and the Black Yeti is waiting for the rider who will claim the victory.

Perfect conditions for this first PROTEST ROOKIE SLAM, a snowpark perfect shape, a radiant sun and a highly motivated young snowboarders with an excellent technical level arrived in Avoriaz to collect valuable TTR points and win the chance to take part to the final of World Rookie Tour in Austria.

Kids from 3 different countries (France, UK and Swiss), from 9 to 17 years old took part to a Slopestyle 2Star TTR contest at the snowpark of La Chapelle, Avoriaz.

This Protest Rookie Slam has allowed these young snowboarders to showed their skills and on the podium we saw a good level of progression: Cab 540, 720, 540 and 720 rodeo back, to under flip.

In the Boys catogory,the Swiss Mickael Shärer and Simon Burki dominated and won for categories Rookie and Grom, the first French is Paul Veron ranked 4th.

In the boys category the French Chloe Sillieres top of his 12 years old with a incredible run on the bigger srtuctures of the snowpark: Cab 180 bach followed by a 360 front, tail bong on the golf ball and back side board slide on the box, this young promising snowboarders from Cauterets in the French Pyrenees.

The event is co-organized by the French Initiative Snowboard – My Snowboarding, the association representing French snowboarders in France powered by TTR World Snowboard Tour and the World Snowboard Federation and the event agency Boarderline.

After the event the young snowboarders will integrate the classification International TTR and the French national ranking My Snowboarding: www.mysnowboarding.fr/snowboarding/Ranking_national.html

The video of the event :

Watch out the full tv show from the Protest World Rookie Fest 2011 in Livigno. A 12 minutes high quality video production to show the best images from the best snowboard youth event in the world: actions, lifestyle, backstage, snowpark construction, interviews and much more.

(photo Eleonora Raggi)

And to enjoy the World Rookie Tour 2011 even more, don’t forget to become fans of the official World Rookie Tour Facebook page where 170 pictures from Livigno were just uploaded.

Protest World Rookie Fest 2011 – 12 minutes TV Show from Board.tv on Vimeo.

Be the favourite fan of the World Rookie Tour: http://www.facebook.com/worldrookietour

World Rookie Tour 2011 Calendar
Protest World Rookie Fest – Livigno, Italy – 3Star – january 15-19, 2011
Protest Rookie Camp – Livigno, Italy – international training camp – january 19-22, 2011
Protest Pyrenees Rookie Fest, Vallnord, Andorra – 3Star – 17.20 febbruary 2011
East Rookie Fest – Splinderuv Mlyn, Czech Republic – 2Star – march 18.20, 2011
Transilvania Rookie Fest, Arena Platos, Romania – 2Star – march 25.27, 2011
Protest World Rookie Finals – Ischgl, Austria – 4Star – 6.10 april 2011
Rookie Camp – Val Senales, Italy – international training camp – 25 june . 9 july 2011 www.rookiecamp.eu
Summer Rookie Fest – Val Senales, Italy – 2Star – 1.2 july 2011
Australian Rookie Fest – Thredbo, Australia – 2Star – 18.20 august 2011
South America Rookie Fest – Valle Nevado, Chile – 2Star – august 2011 (date to be announced)

World Rookie Tour Rules
The title of World Rookie Champion will be awarded to the winner of the Protest World Rookie Finals reserved to the top riders from previous Rookie Fests, plus selected riders from National Snowboard Associations and the top 20 riders from the World Rookie Rank (rank at 30 march 2011).

For media request, pictures, footage and video:
Marco Sampaoli
WSF Vice President
marco@worldsnowboardfederation.org
mobile 0039.340.3285569

Meet the rookie riders of the World Rookie Tour on Facebook and watch pictures, video and report of each stop.

More than 150 pictures of the Livigno stop had been uploaded on the official page of the WRT on Facebook where you can meet your friends, chat and watch the pictures of the exclusive tour only rookie!

http://www.facebook.com/worldrookietour

The 11,000 screaming spectators at the Bergisel Stadium saw a veritable spectacle when the 6Star Billabong Air & Style took over the ski-jump stadium with a gigantic straight jump and 16 of the world’s best snowboarders. The exciting head-to-head format saw rider by rider get knocked out until there was the final showdown between four riders in the super-final. The winner, Canadian Mark McMorris, took home a large part of the 75.000 € prize purse, as well as, the well respected “Air & Style Ring of Glory”, leaving Finland’s Peetu Piiroinen in second place and local superstar Werni Stock in third. With his result today, Peetu reclaimed the Swatch TTR World Tour lead and is heading with speed for a third consecutive TTR World Tour Champion Title, which will be determined at the 6Star Burton US Open in March.

Billabong Air & Style Saw Progressive Tricks Thrown Down With Style
The atmosphere was electric when rider after rider took their three runs flying over the huge straight jump, in order to determine who would remain to compete in the super-final. Mark McMorris made his way to victory by knocking out Finnish shredder, Markus Malin, in the first round with a stylish Cab 1260 double cork. In the second round he edged out Sage Kotsenburg, who in the first round had thrown down a first in competition history, a Cab 1440 double cork, knocking out Canadian Sebastien Toutant. In the super final, on his last run, Mark stomped a stylish Backside 1260 double cork, which moved him ahead of Peetu Piiroinen.

Peetu was stoked on his second place and is looking forward to a tight battle for the 10/11 Swatch TTR Tour Champion Title: “This event exceeded all my expectations, I would not have thought I could make top three as I have had a small injury with my rib. I got good TTR points today and being number one at this point is great. My toughest competitors to watch out for are definitely Seb Toots, Iouri Podladtchikov and Mark McMorris.” Local favourite Werni Stock got huge cheers from the crowd for his Switch Backside 1260, which landed him third place in the super-finals just ahead of Nils Arvidsson (SWE) who finished in fourth place.

Rookie Challenge Feeds New Talent
The day started off with the Air & Style “Rookie Challenge”, and with an exception this year due to some injuries in the main event rider list, two of the top rookies where rushed straight to the top to compete against the invited riders in the main event. The rookies were eager to use this opportunity and threw down some impressive tricks. Up-and-coming Norwegian rider, Torgeir Bergrem, took the first spot with a massive Cab 1260 and Swiss youngster, Patrick Burgener, qualified in second. Last year’s Rookie Challenge winner, Seppe Smits (BEL), landed a Cab 1440 on his first ever try, but it was not enough to knock out Peetu Piiroinen in the second round.

Full Speed Ahead on the TTR Tour

On the other side of the world, the 5Star Burton Canadian Open wrapped up today with Kelly Clark (USA) and Kohei Kudo (JAP) taking the halfpipe honours and Jamie Anderson (USA) and Sam Hulbert (USA) nailing the slopestyle titles. With many changes in the rankings, the chase for the Swatch TTR Tour Champion title is heating up and next up is the 6Star Nike 6.0 Air & Style in Munich, Germany. The Air & Style Munich will fill another stadium with superstars and eager fans on February 12th at the Olympic Stadium. Watch the live webcast on freecaster.com and ttrwordltour.com starting at 16.30 GMT. Another major European event going next week is the 20-year anniversary celebration for the 5Star Nescafé CHAMPS Leysin in Switzerland, which will take place February 8th to 13th 2011. Keep up to date on all the Swatch TTR Action by keeping your eyes glued to www.ttrworldtour.com

Men’s Top 30 Swatch TTR World Snowboard Rankings as of 05.02.2011

Rank Name Nation Results Points

1 Piiroinen, Peetu FIN 7 876.66
2 Haller, Christian SUI 7 794.05
3 Podladtchikov, Iouri SUI 7 783.74
4 Smits, Seppe BEL 7 783.55
5 Toutant, Sebastien CAN 7 756.26
6 McMorris, Mark CAN 6 698.21
7 Korpi, Janne FIN 7 650.47
8 Holvik, Tore NOR 7 641.41
9 Malin, Markus FIN 6 616.69
10 Farrow, Benji USA 7 598.29
11 Sandbech, Stale NOR 7 596.43
12 Tonteri, Roope FIN 7 588.58
13 Stock, Werner AUT 7 585.07
14 Braaten, Gjermund NOR 7 581.08
15 Kleivdal, Roger NOR 7 564.28
16 Burgener, Patrick SUI 7 529.53
17 Esser, Brett USA 6 504.85
18 Pietropoli, Manuel ITA 6 504.12
19 Grilc, Marko SLO 6 497.38
20 Willett, Eric USA 5 496.32
21 Keller, Markus SUI 7 495.76
22 Bergrem, Torgeir NOR 7 488.71
23 Shaw, Spencer USA 7 487.71
24 Scherrer, Jan SUI 7 465.42
25 Lundstrom, Tor SWE 7 447.49
26 Arvidsson, Nils SWE 7 431.89
27 James, Scott AUS 7 421.75
28 Morgan, Ethan Nicholas GER 6 416.51
29 Moline, Scott USA 7 414.97
30 Guldemond, Chas USA 4 405.3

Both male and female riders took on the 4Star slopestyle course under crispy cold blue bird conditions at the Stimorol Engadinsnow event in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The well-known event joined the TTR tour for the first time this season attracting a long line up of international riders hungry for a piece of the

20,000 USD prize purse. The winners of this year’s event were Austrian rookie, Mathias Weissenbacher, and Swiss shredder, Isabel Derungs, who both took home their first 4Star titles and each bagged 500 Swatch TTR ranking points.

After a great kick off event in Livigno (ITA) the World Rookie Tour keep on rolling to the next stop in Vallnord, Spain, from the 17th to the 20th of february for the Swatch TTR 3Star Protest Pyrenees Rookie Fest.

“After the first edition in 2010, Vallnord and local organizer Aleks Sanz from WSS are now ready to upgrade the rookie fest in Andorra to a 3 star level. It will be a great experience for all West Europe rookies and snowboard fans! ” stated Marco Sampaoli from WSF.

The park that will host Protest Pyrenees Rookie Fest is made the by ASP SNOWPARKS, the best company in Spain. “Vallnord and ASP are stoked to have this event again after the great success of the last year. There’s a luck of snow in Andorra but the snowpark is great and it’s going to be awesome” stated Aleks Sanz, the organizer of the event.

Vallnord hosts high quality freestyle area and a special slopestyle will be presented for the Protest Pyrenees Rookie Fest. Don’t miss the second west european edition of the most famous youth event!

The event in Vallnord will assign the following prizes:

2 tickets to enter for free the Protest World Rookie Finals in Ischgl, from 4 to 11 april 2011

1 ticket to the next Rookie Fest in Serbia or in Czech Republic

1 Ticket to the Ride Shake Down in Garmisch (Germany)

2 Tickets to the Protest Manifest in Formigal (Spain)

and lot of snowboard goodies from the sponsors

SCHEDULE PROTEST PYRENEES ROOKIE FEST

THURSDAY 17TH FEBRUARY
10:00-16:00H INSCRIPTIONS AT RACE OFFICE IN VALLNORD RESORT
10:00-16:00H WARM UP
18:00-22:00H INSCRIPTIONS AT RACE OFFICE AT HOTEL PRINCESA PARC IN ARINSAL
22:00-22:30H MEETING WITH CAPTAINS
FRIDAY 18TH FEBRUARY
09:00-11:00H WARM UPS
11:00-13:30H QUALIFIERS
14:00-14:30H WARM UP
14:30-16:00H SEMIFINALS
SATURDAY 19TH FEBRUARY
9:00-11:00H WARM UP
11:00-13:00H FINALS
14:00H PRIZE GIVING
SUNDAY 20TH FEBRUARY
RESERVED DAY

General Informations


Age Groups: Rookie, those who were born between 1 January 1993 and 31 December 1995, and Grom, who were born after January 1, 1996. Both male and female. 
Event format: Slopestyle (3Star)
Entry fee: 15€ (to participate an insurance is needed)

Vallnord Freestyle park website: www.vallnordfreestyle.com 


Vallnord Ski Resort website: www.vallnord.com

WSS website: www.wsstour.com


Contacts for general info:
 Aleks Sanz aleks@wssactionsports.com – mobile 0034.636.471.404

Media accreditation and media request including pictures, roughcut, tv highlights, web video:
 Marco Sampaoli marco@worldsnowboardfederation.org – mobile 0039.340.3285569

How to get There:

The best way is to rent a car from Barcelona Airport (205km) or Toulouse Airport (195km). Rent a car in the same airport with Avis, Hertz or Europcar. Other possibility is by bus from this 2 airports. But is possible that the schedules doesn’t fix with the event’s schedule.

Some helpful websites:
 www.andorrabybus.com and 
www.andorrabus.com

Information and Booking Service Center
VALLNORD Turisme information and booking centre
Contact person: Anna Claveres
Telephone: 00 376 737 017 (From monday to friday | 09.00 – 14:00 | 16:00 – 19:00)
E-mail: aclaveres@vallnordturisme.com

The Sunsitepark Open has successfully established itself as a great slopestyle contest. The Sunsitepark event stands for a fair competition at a unique snowpark, with hot tricks, genuine music and nice people since 2006. Snowboarders and freeskiers battle side by side for titles, prize money, TTR-points and sweet stuff. The contest is arranged in the popular jam session format, that guarantees permanent action for all riders and the crowd.

Riders need to notify in advance on www.sunsitepark.com for a guaranteed participation. Potentially free starting positions can be assigned on site at the race office on contest day. Riders under 16 years have to submit a participation authorization by a legal guardian at the race office. During a two hours qualifying jam session, all riders have enough time to show their skills. The best five snowboarders, freeskiers, rookies and girls of the qualifiying compete at the final in three runs, whereas the best run is valuated, to determine the winners.