On yet another sunny day in Laax, it was ladies first this morning, with Kelly Clark dominating the first run. With Gretchen Bleiler on her heels, Kelly improved her result in the second run, throwing a beautiful Frontside 900 Frontside grab to Backside 540, going into a massive Frontside 1080 and a Cab 720 Mute to finish it of.
Gretchen wasn’t able to improve her first result, but managed to hold on to her second place regardless. Yuki Furihata also performed best in her second run and with her 72.63 score she landed the last podium spot. Kelly Clark, commented happy as ever on her win: ‘It was great riding in sunny weather, it lifts the spirits, and the level of riding. All the girls were pushing it and it still remains a challenge even after so many consecutive wins!’

With more and more people surrounding an already packed pipe, it was time for the men to drop in after a short shaping break. Tension started to rise, as the men all seemed very eager to beat each run prior to their own. It still was Iouri Podtladchikov taking the lead the first chance he had, dropping in second to last in the first round. With two exactly identical scores of 88.90 in the first and second run, his winning run was his first, failing to improve. His second run started of with a Frontside 540 Indy Grab to Backside 1260 Double Cork Mute Grab – Backside Air and Alley Oop Andrechtplant. His second run was equally impressive and again showed a lot of style: Frontside 900 Tail Grab to Backside 900 Mute Grab followed by a Frontside Double Cork 1080 Frontside Grab to Cab Double Cork 1080 Mute Grab. Iouri had a big smile on his face all day and said: ‘It was so sunny today and you can just boost. There is a sick crew out here, pipe held up, sick crowd and its home turf for me so I can’t even talk right now, its incredible!!’

The prizegiving ceremony today concluded a great week of riding, starting of with the youngest talents at large in the Junior’s competitions Slopestyle and Halfpipe, where Stian Kleivdal (NOR), Kyle Mack (USA), Miyabi Onitsuka (JAP) and Zoe Kalapos (USA) were the stars. In thrilling Slopestyle finals we saw Jamie Anderson (USA) dominate and Aleksander Ostreng (NOR) take his first 6Star win.

There was some shifting in the rankings with the Burton European Open now wrapped up. In the Women’s Halfpipe Rankings Gretchen Bleiler moved up to second position, pushing Queralt Castellet in third. Swiss Ursina Haller made it into the top five with her result today.
Men’s Halfpipe still has Ryo Aono in the lead, followed by Christian Haller moving from fifth till second position with Iouri Podladtchikov moving up from thirteenth place to third.
The Women’s Overall Rankings sees Jamie Anderson now leading, pushing Cilka Sadar down to the second position, followed by Kjersti Ostgaard-Buaas.
The Overall Rankings will remain thrilling till the end in the men’s competition, with Stale Sandbech still leading, but with Peetu Piiroinen now close on his heels in second place. Janne Korpi and Christian Haller move up in third and fourth and still have chances to take the lead from Stale at the Burton US Open coming up.

This week had a pretty packed TTR event schedule, with two 5Star competitions running alongside the Burton European Open. In Mammoth, USA the Grand Prix welcomed riders to Slopestyle and Halfpipe disciplines, and in Leysin, Switzerland the Nescafé Champs featured some more Slopestyle action. Results can be found on www.ttrworldtour.com.
All these results have great impact on the TTR World Tour rankings, and it will make the tour finale, the Burton US Open in Stratton next week, very exciting. Another 6 Awards still have to be picked up, by the best Overall, Slopestyle and Halfpipe riders; male and female.

While Training with the Swiss Team and Coach Marco Bruni at Snowpark Wanaka New Zealand Iouri shows us what’s happening as we head into the Sochi 2014 Olympics. Let’s hope the judges know he’s goofy.

1. Marko Grilc (SLO)
2. Halldor Helgason (ISL)
3. Christian Haller (SUI)
4. Seppe Smits (BEL)
5. Ståle Sandbech (NOR)
6. Sebastien Toutant (CAN)
7. Torgeir Bergrem (NOR)
8. Roope Tonteri (FIN)
9. Mark Mcmorris (CAN)
10. Nils Arvidsson (SWE)
11. Elias Elhardt (GER)
12. Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI)
13. Clemens Schattschneider (AUT)
14. Jan Scherrer (SUI)
15. Pat Burgener (SUI)
16. Ethan Morgan (GER)

It was a close fought final in the 6Star TTR Men’s competition with the top three on the podium – an all Swiss affair of Christian Haller, Iouri Podladtchikov and Jan Scherrer – exchanging the lead after each heat.

It was Christian however who took the final victory and the $15,000 prize money after his third heat run with a score of 87.45 for a run of a Backside 540 Melon, Frontside 1080 Tail, Cab 1080 Nose and Frontside 900 Mute.

“I’m feeling great. I wouldn’t have expected it – honestly!” he said. “I grew up in Davos and I grew up riding this pipe so it makes it even more speical than a normal win,” said Christian. “It’s also a really good feeling to be on top with two of my best buddies.”

Last year’s winner Iouri Podladtchikov had been leading after his second run of a Cab 720, Frontside Crippler, Backside Double McTwist 1260 and a Frontside 1080 Tail.

“I was thinking that I could have made it two wins in two years after landing my trick. But it feels great to have Christian in front of me. Of course it hurts a bit. But it’s Christian. If it was someone else I would probably be more pissed right now.”

The surprise of the day came from the 16 year old Swiss rider Jan Scherrer who finished third after leading at the end of the first heat. “I was so surprised,” said Jan who goes to school here in Davos. “It’s such a huge result for me!”

The Women’s event saw a different show with Kelly Clark dominating throughout – and the crowd gathered at the bottom of the Jakobshorn loving every move.

“I’ve never been here before,” said Kelly. “But it’s great. Having another first place let alone at a 6star is just great!”

The 27 year old American continues to push women’s riding, her second run consisting of a Frontside 900, Backside 540 Mute, Frontside 720, Indy and Cab 720 Mute.

“The sport is progressing and I just feel honoured to be part of that and part of shaping that,” said Kelly. “I love competing. I thrive in this environment. It causes me to rise to the occasion and have great riding come out. I don’t see myself slowing down any time soon,” she said.

Behind her was the 19 year old Slovenian rider Cilka Sadar in second and the Norwegian rider Kjersti Ostgaard Buaas in third.

“It’s great to finish in the top three of this 6Star TTR event,” said Kjersti. “I found it hard today because of the flat light. I didn’t get to do the tricks I had wanted to, but it’s still a good birthday present for two days ago!”

It was a close fought final in the 6Star TTR Men’s competition with the top three on the podium – an all Swiss affair of Christian Haller, Iouri Podladtchikov and Jan Scherrer – exchanging the lead after each heat.

It was Christian however who took the final victory and the $15,000 prize money after his third heat run with a score of 87.45 for a run of a Backside 540 Melon, Frontside 1080 Tail, Cab 1080 Nose and Frontside 900 Mute.

“I’m feeling great. I wouldn’t have expected it – honestly!” he said. “I grew up in Davos and I grew up riding this pipe so it makes it even more speical than a normal win,” said Christian. “It’s also a really good feeling to be on top with two of my best buddies.”

Last year’s winner Iouri Podladtchikov had been leading after his second run of a Cab 720, Frontside Crippler, Backside Double McTwist 1260 and a Frontside 1080 Tail.

“I was thinking that I could have made it two wins in two years after landing my trick. But it feels great to have Christian in front of me. Of course it hurts a bit. But it’s Christian. If it was someone else I would probably be more pissed right now.”

The surprise of the day came from the 16 year old Swiss rider Jan Scherrer who finished third after leading at the end of the first heat. “I was so surprised,” said Jan who goes to school here in Davos. “It’s such a huge result for me!”

“Style: Methods” is the second video segment from a collection cut out of the 2009/2010 Swatch TTR TV Show series and takes a look at one of the most classic tricks in snowboarding: the method.

This edit builds upon last week’s release, “Style in Snowboarding”, that focuses on a trick that, as Todd Richards puts it, “is a personal mark of style for each rider”. Through interviews with Terje Haakonsen, Nicolas Mueller, Heikki Sorsa, Chas Guldemond and Todd Richards we take a look into what goes into throwing a method with style and why this is such a legendary, expressive trick that every rider has in their arsenal. Also mixed in, is footage of some of snowboarding’s method masters including shots of Jamie Lynn, Nicolas Mueller, Terje Haakonsen, Kevin Pearce and Chas Guldemond. “If you can’t do a quiet, calm, collected method over a jump, then maybe figure that out before you start doing 1080s”.

To see this show in its entirety please visit ttrworldtour.com/​multimedia/​tv-schedule.html for television airing times in your region.

Peetu Piiroinen (FIN) wins the snowboard qualification. Iouri Podladtchikov is on 2nd place in his hometown Zurich and Sebastien Toutant (CAN) is on the 3rd place.

Auch in der Snowboard-Qualifikation war das Niveau bestechend hoch. Das gesamte Feld zeigte Double Corks und beeindruckte das Publikum sowohl bei den technischen wie auch den Style-Tricks. Die Qualifikation dominieren konnte der zweifache TTR-Weltmeister Peetu Piiroinen (FIN). Der Finne überzeugte mit seiner gewohnten Konstanz und zeigte perfekt ausgeführte Double Cork 1080°s. Der Zürcher Lokalmatador Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI) bewies Nervenstärke. Obwohl er die Gunst des Publikums auf seiner Seite hatte, schaffte er den Einzug in die Top 8 erst im letzten von drei Runs — dies dafür souverän mit dem höchsten Double Cork 1080° des Contests. «Ich stand auf dem Big Air oben und sagte mir: Jetzt oder nie. Ich war auf die Punkte aus diesem letzten Run angewiesen, gab Vollgas, und alles ging perfekt auf. Morgen zählt für mich nur der Sieg», so der überglückliche Podladtchikov. Auf die Plätze Drei und Vier reihten sich die Youngstars aus Kanada und Norwegen Sebastien Toutant und Ståle Sandbech ein. Als weiterer Schweizer qualifizierte sich Christian Haller aus Zernez für die Semi Finals.

TTR Tricks – Iouri Padladchikov snowboarding tricks at Burton New Zealand Open showing his double corks. The best snowboard tricks!

The men dropped into the pipe in the afternoon and perfect weather conditions continued for the men’s field. Iouri Padladchikov (SUI) had a little trouble on his first run but came back to take the top spot with his second drop putting down a huge crippler, double McTwist 1260, frontside 1080 tailgrab, and a Cab 720. With today’s result, Podladtchikov moved into World No. 1 in the Swatch TTR Rankings sitting behind current leader, Gjermund Braaten (NOR) Japanese riders were out in full force and young 14-year old ripper, Taku Hiraoka, gave the men’s field a run for their money. He threw down an excellent run to take second place. And, American rider, Louie Vito, stepped it up with his second run to take home the third spot on the podium.

Today’s halfpipe competition marked the debut of the new Snowboard Live Scoring system (SLS), which takes a new approach to judging halfpipe runs. Instead of looking at a rider’s overall run like the Overall Impression system, the new SLS system scores each hit in a rider’s run which are then combined with an overall flow score in order to provide a clear definition of how the judges arrive at a final score. The SLS system was a success in today’s halfpipe competition and seemed to be well received by the riders.

TTR Tricks – Swiss snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov’s halfpipe snowboard tricks at the 6Star Burton US Open in Stratton. The best snowboard tricks.

The Burton US Open 2010 was the final event on the mens Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour calendar. Before the event the race for the top ten was neck and neck with several of the worlds best riders giving it their all for one last shot a place on the all important podium. See the best action from the weekend, including Mikkel Bangs amazing slopestyle run and of course, the heart-stopping halfpipe showdown between Iouri Podladtchikov and Kazuhiro Kokubo. We also give you an interview with the 09/10 Swatch TTR Tour Champ, Peetu Piiroinen and work down through some of the best snowboard tricks of the season by each of the final TTR Top Ten – showing again that the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour is the greatest snowboard tour in the world right now.