Hot Dawgz & Hand Rails Video Update: Course Overview | SnowboarderMag.com.

Since I wont be able to make it this year i’ll be watching it from my computer imagining that I’m there – minus all the beer getting spilt on me, smelling like cig smoke, dealing with finding a place to crash… hmm maybe it’s not so bad…

check the vid for a sneak peek of what the setup is for this year and if you’re like me – check back to SNOWBOARDERmag.com for the live webcast Sept 24th @ 3pm pst

Here’s just a sampler of the fun we have…

priceless.

Last season these guys put out How the Northwest Was One… if you missed that premier psh…well bummer for you. Tons of North-westerners came out to EVO here in Seattle to support the boys.

This season, they decided to go a different route (as I’m sure they will every season). Saturday Night Ride – I’m sure there will be some pretty sweet punches…err slashes…tonight on the big screen.

Check out the teaser and then go hurry and buy your ticket! They sold out last year and Im on my way right now.

Visconti took HDHR this year can he keep it goin with DTTD? Discuss.

If you live/ride in So.Cal you know Big Bear. If you know Big Bear you know HDHR. Hot Dawgs and Hand Rails is the annual rail jam Bear puts on at the end of the summer to kick off the season. Pro Riders (invite only) from all over the states travel to Bear for a chance to win a small portion of a $15,000 prize purse. A few of my friends were also riding which is always fun – nothin like cherrin on your buddies while envy is dripping from your mouth.

I was stoked to find that this year I would actually be able to make it having missed the last four years. So I had no idea how this years setup really compared to previous. All I knew was that this years was SICK. It was pretty much a super legit street spot that I’m Sure Rob Dyrdek himself would be pumped on. Setup came complete with ledges, down hand rails, planter gap, and of course a gnarley wall ride/ rail.

Riders were definitley loving it and the creativity they were throwin down proved it.

1st Place goes to Nick Visconti, 2nd Place goes to Jake Kuzyk, and 3rd Place goes to Johnny Lazzereschi. The $5,000 Red Bull Best Trick goes to Mike Casanova, and Jess Kimura lands the $1,000 Red Bull Best Trick.

Along with awesome riding, two video’s are always premiered. This years People’s Cheers and Bear’s Mtn. Video Paint it Red were on the red carpet. Both highly entertaining and increased my urge of wanting to shred. I’ve included Bear’s Video here for your viewing pleasure with some pics from the handing out of the giant checks.
p.s. i still have no camera – so all pics were taken with my iPhone…not horrible but not great. deal.

This saturday up at Big Bear Mtn.

This event marks the semi-beginning of the So.Cal season. A Pre-Season Reunion if you will. Everyone from every mtn. comes down to get a quick fix of what we’ve all been itchin for all summer.

Since I know you hate your summer job and spending the weekends watching food network with your mom – head up to Big Bear for some free stuff, food, friends and summer shred  - how could you say no?

I’ll be there – reason enough.

UP NEXT: SEATTLE

Booked my ticket back to this awesome city last night. I’m thinking that an annual trip will now have to happen. I love this place and all my friends and family that reside here. If some how Seattle could have slighty warmer summers, southern cali beaches, and less wet winters…it would be a pretty close runner up to heaven. Mammoth currently holds runner up position.

I’ll hopefully be able to make some money on this month long trip instead of just blowing it all on ice tea and snickerdoodles.

Hopefully i can catch whatever premiers are left for pre season showings and get some content on the site. If you’re in the seattle area and have anything you’d like to share and possibly get on the site – feel free to hit me up:)

Thats all I got for right now – more to come after Saturday for sure so stay posted.

Hope to see you all at BEAR!!

He’d recently gotten a Media Pass to the open and hit me up wanting to share what he’d gotten. Again since I wasn’t able to attend or for whatever reason watch live online all I have along side Chris’s shots are the Press Releases from the event.

So enjoy Chris’s skills…

BURTON NEW ZEALAND OPEN HALFPIPE FINALS

WANAKA, New Zealand (14^th August, 2010)

The eighth annual Burton New Zealand Open Halfpipe finals took place under blue bird skies today at Cardrona Alpine Resort with Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI) taking first place in the men’s event and Kelly Clark (USA) winning the women’s competition. Podladtchikov and Clark both finished the day NZ$6,000 richer for their efforts and set themselves up nicely with solid early season results counting towards the 2010/11 Burton Global Open Series and the Swatch TTR World Rankings.

Although the weather was perfect, warm temperatures meant the competition format had to be shortened, in order to keep Cardrona’s 22-foot Olympic sized halfpipe in top shape. All 38 men and 19 women semi-finalists went straight into a single final round, with the best of two runs counting for their final ranking.

The women were up first, and Kelly Clark threw down the gauntlet on her first run with a giant frontside air, backside 540 mute, frontside 900, method air, frontside 720, and Cab 720 mute for 88.70 points and her 2^nd consecutive NZ Open halfpipe title. Kelly was very happy with her win saying, “I had a great day, it’s a great way to start off my season and I was really happy with how I rode today. I walked away doing the tricks I set out to do and had a lot of fun.”

Queralt Castellet (ESP) was the closest challenger with 82.45 points, also on her first run. Queralt’s run started with a backside 540 mute, frontside 540 melon, method air, and frontside 720 to place second. Taking third with 76.84 points was veteran Soko Yamaoka (JPN), who’s run consisted of a McTwist, frontside 720, Cab 720, frontside 540 melon, and backside 540. Kendall Brown was the top New Zealander, finishing in 8^th place.

BURTON NEW ZEALAND OPEN SLOPESTYLE FINALS

WANAKA, New Zealand (13^th August, 2010)

The Burton New Zealand Open Slopestyle finals took place today at Cardrona Alpine Resort with Burton rider Christian Haller (SUI) taking first place in the men’s event, and Jamie Anderson (USA) winning the women’s competition.  Haller and Anderson both walked away NZ$6,000 richer for their performance on the challenging Slopestyle course which was even more tricky with today’s variable weather conditions.

Due to the snow conditions and morning delays, the competition format was condensed, with all 37 men and 19 women semi-finalists going straight into a single final round, where the riders took two runs, best of which counted for their final score. The low visibility and variable snow didn’t seem to hinder the best riders, with some amazing runs being thrown down regardless. The first feature of the course offered a choice between a down-flat-down round bar or a round down bar, the second feature was a choice between an up box or a gap to flat box, followed by three jumps measuring in at 45-feet, 55-feet, and 75-feet, then finishing with a quarterpipe to goalpost / hip.

Christian Haller put it all together in his second run to score 80.84 points with a  backside lipslide on the down-flat-down bar, tailslide on the gap to flat box, switch backside 720, Cab 900, frontside 720 tailgrab. But the margins were tight with current TTR tour leader Gjermund Braaten’s first run score of 80.64 points holding top spot until then. Gjermunds run consisted of a frontside 270 gap over the down-flat-down rail, frontside 270 on the gap to flat box, frontside 540, Cab 720, and double back rodeo 900. Coming in third with 79.00 points was 2010 Burton US Open Slopestyle winner Mikkel Bang. Mikkel’s run started with a gap to switch backside lipslide on the down-flat-down rail, backside lipslide on the gap to flat box, backside 540, Cab 720, switch backside 900.

In the women’s competition, Jamie Anderson (USA) took her third straight New Zealand Open slopestyle title and had this to say about her win, “I can’t believe it, I love the Burton Opens and winning this event three times in a row is amazing, so I’m ecstatic and so stoked to start of the year with a good result.”

Jamie’s winning run earned her a score of 79.20 points and consisted of a boardslide-to-tailpress on the down bar, a frontside 180 out on the up box, switch backside 180 mute, backside 360 mute, and a backside 180 mute.  Coming in second place behind Jamie was Burton rider, Shelly Gotlieb (NZL), who held it down on her home turf with a great second run earning her 74.56 points.  Rounding out the podium in third place was Kjersti Buuas (NOR) who also had a good run that scored 73.60 points.

The newly developed Snowboard Live Scoring system (SLS) was used today by the judges, which gives scores for each individual hit during a run that is then combined with a flow score to provide a more transparent final score. Viewers of the live webcast on GO211.com were able to see this system in action and watch real-time ranking changes, among other features of the site. The live action at the Burton New Zealand Open culminates tomorrow with highlight event, the halfpipe.

The Burton New Zealand Open marks the first stop on the prestigious Burton Global Open Series and is also a 5Star event on the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour. Semi-finals and finals of tomorrow’s halfpipe event will be webcast live from New Zealand on www.GO211.com and full results and details will be available at the completion of each day on www.opensnowboarding.com, including high-res photos in the Press Section:

14 year-old Taku Hiraoka (JPN), who dominated the pre-qualifiers and qualifiers, continued to amaze with his first run score of 89.35 points setting the benchmark. Hiraoka’s run was a backside 540, frontside inverted 720, Cab 1080, and massive frontside 900 tailgrab. This Cinderella story proved that it’s possible to ride all the way from the pre-qualifier round through to the podium and second place. But taking the win was Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI) who let out all stops on his second run with a huge crippler, double McTwist 1260, frontside 1080 tailgrab, and Cab 720 for an impressive 93.70 points. Louie Vito (USA) also had a strong second run to jump up into third place with 88.04 points. Louie’s run started with a frontside 1080 double-cork, Cab 1080 double-cork, double crippler, backside 900, and frontside corked 900.

It was also a monumental day for judging, with the newly developed Snowboard Live Scoring system (SLS) proving itself for the first time in the halfpipe. Scores are given for each individual hit during a run, as well as a flow score, to provide a very transparent and informative final score. Viewers of the live webcast on GO211.com were able to see this system in action and watch real-time ranking changes, among other features of the webcast.

Photo Credit: Chris Moran: grimstills@gmail.com      www.TheGrimLab.com

Far away in a land call Montana, 1 |mänˈtanə|a state in the western U.S., on the Canadian border, east of the Rocky Mountains; pop. 902,195; capital, Helena; statehood, Nov. 8, 1889 (41). Acquired from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, it was explored by Lewis and Clark in 1805–06, there lies a snow crew called TSP or Toy Soldier Productions. This snow crew has learned the ways of the land, have become one with nature, and fucking shred the shit out of it.

These boys are all about putting out the best product they can and man t=do they deliver. Their video “Come Find Us” drops this Fall – the world Premier is September 2nd if you happen to be in Montana around then.

When Dan showed the trailer to me a couple weeks ago I was instantly taken back. The riding level the visual creativity and just all around … prettiness(?) of the whole thing was awesome.

ok ok i’ll stop typing and let you watch the trailer for yourself…enjoi.

“Come Find Us” Official Trailer from Toy Soldier Productions on Vimeo.

Next time you don’t know where to ride or you’re tired of the same ole same ole…make your way to Montana. I’m sure you’ll find something worth finding.

comefindus

Friend of mine, Keri Herman, along with other ski girls friends are featured in this EPIC film – check the teaser and wait patiently for the video to come out…us rider girls need to step up the game. who’s in?

Say My Name follows female professional skier Grete Eliassen as she travels the globe with the goal to inspire and evolve women’s skiing. Stacked with a handful of skiing’s elite female lineup, this high definition film features Lynsey Dyer, Sarah Burke, Keri Herman, Ana Segal, Kaya Turski and Suz Graham. See the world this international ski superstar roams, from a world record hip jump in 2010 to her exploration of the rugged backcountry

Say My Name Teaser 2010 from Stan Evans Photography on Vimeo.