 |
|
|
|
Stylewars Has a New Grand Master!
|
[Article posted 29 August 2008]
|
 The final day of snowboarding at Stylewars was held under perfect Australian skies without a breath of wind.
The riding standard was beyond ridiculous, the course was softening in the hot sun and tricks were getting thrown that have never before been seen on snow down under.
Leading the charge today was a man on a mission, last year’s grand master Torstein Horgmo (NOR) who was sending massive smooth tricks with rarely a hand out of place. He took out best trick with an insane switch backside 1260 melon deep into the landing of the first jump.
“I wanted to try the 12 and I got it around so I was pretty happy about that and I got the front ten a lot better and a few mellow fives. The jumps just got better and better everyday… everyone was killing it, we couldn’t have had a better day.” Torstein said.
The overall winner of the event was Canadian Charles Reid who dominated for the entire three days of the gruelling event that included today. Charles fresh from winning the 28 Stair rail event presented by Volvo last night powered on today with a slew of 1080’s, rodeos and a consistent style that had him pushing out fellow Canadian Matts Kulisek for the win. Matts finished 3rd behind Torstein.
Charles rode through a bruised heel injury with only the win in mind. “My heel is alright, but it just hurts really bad when I land on it. We had 20 minutes left of the competition, it hurts so bad but I just had to keep riding.” Charles said. “Usually in a contest its spin to win but with the rider judging I’m going to vote for style for sure, Shayne Pospisil (USA) and Robbie Walker (AUS) were riding insane.”
After the riders vote was tabulated into the results Shayne Pospisil ended up 4th overall and had this to say. “The standard was so high it was motivating me to step it up and throw down. Everyone was stomping everything. For the riders vote I was looking for just who was smooth over the three days.”
Chas Guldemond after knocking himself out heavily in NZ flew into Stylewars at the last minute to compete and take 5th overall. His result moves him into first place on the overall standings of the Swatch TTR World Tour.
“It’s only the second comp of the year so I’m sure Charles Reid will be biting at my heals after this contest… I wanted to come in to Stylewars and check out the contest, slow it all down a bit and enjoy the contest and focus on my style. I’m going to take this as a good base for practice for the start of the season.”
In the coveted Bledisnow Cup competition between Australian and New Zealand, the Australian team stood strong today with incredible riding from Ryan Tiene, Robbie Walker, the Allan brothers and 15 year old Jye Kearney who was whiskers away from stomping 90-foot front ten tails. One to look out for from Down Under.
“Snowboarding is great for the Aussie scene cause we get a lot of amazing riders down here for it and get a lot of publicity out of it and more and more riders are hearing about, it’s a good thing for sure.” Ryan Tiene said.
2008 STYLEWARS presented by Oakley
FINAL OVERALL RESULTS
RANK NAME
1 Charles Reid (CAN) $7000
2 Torstein Horgmo (NOR)
3 Matts Kulisek (CAN)
4 Shayne Pospisil (USA)
5 Chas Guldemond (USA)
6 Ville Uotila (
7 Ryan Tiene (AUS)
8 Stef Zeestraten (NZD)
9 Will Jackways (NZD)
10 Mitch Allan (AUS)
11 Tore Holvik (NOR)
12 Robbie Walker (AUS)
13 Keiji Okamoto (JPN)
14 Clint Allan (AUS)
15 Jacob Koia (NZD)
16 Roland Morley Brown (NZD
17 Nick Brown (NZD)
18 Masaharu Nakao (JPN)
19 Jye Kearney (AUS)
20 Tyler Chorlton (UK)
21 Mario Kappeli (SUI)
22 Dustin Craven (CAN)
23 Quentin Robbins (NZD)
24 Cohen Davies (AUS)
25 Andy Lloyd (AUS)
26 Kerian McLaughlin (AUS)
27 Jonas Carlson (SWE)
28 Chris Sörman (SWE)
29 Jaakko Ruha (FIN)
|
|
|
Young French Canadian Wins 28-Stair Contest
|
[Article posted 28 August 2008]
|
 Last night 18-year old French Canadian rider Charles Reid nailed it under lights in the ‘Village Bowl’ at Falls Creek.
Reid and some of the best snowboarders from around the globe competed in an exciting street rail snowboard contest on a purpose built 28-stair feature.
In a technical final that saw a level of snowboarding never before seen in Australia, six finalists battled for supremacy during a 30-minute final round of competition on a very icy and treacherous course.
Snowboarding sensation Reid eventually won with a variety of technical tricks that had the judges and crowd looking on in disbelief at the incredible display.
“It was a pretty sick set up, the biggest rail set-up I have ever seen for a rail contest.” Reid said after the event.
Reid also won $1500 (on top of the $5,000 for winning the ‘Stairmaster’ title) for the best trick award for a backside 270 lipslide over the kink in the middle rail.
Competitors have flown in from around the world and included Iceland’s Eiki Helgason who also impressed judges and fellow riders with technical snowboarding that Icelandic pros are known for.
Eiki’s best trick was a Backside 180 Cab 270 to boardslide combination that had the judges scratching their heads.
Robbie Walker from Melbourne Australia was the best performing local snowboarder who rode strongly all night and impressed even the winner with a very technical front boardslide through the kinked middle rail.
The Stylewars event, Australia’s biggest snowboarding event that runs for four days continues today, the final day of snowboarding in a purpose built snowboard park at Falls Creek, with jumps that measure up to 30 metres.
Currently, Canadian Matts Kulisek also of Quebec, Canada leads the rankings with fellow countrymen and tonight champion Charles Reid running a close second place.
The best placed Australian snowboarder is Mitch Allan from Berrara NSW.
|
 |
|
 |
|
Photo above (1): Stylewars Staircase Jam, taken by Matt Hull on Wednesday 27 August 2008 at Falls Creek.
|
|
|
Who Will Be Crowned Master of the Stairs?
|
[Article posted 27 August 2008]
|
Stylewars 2008 – DAY 2
Falls Creek Resort, Australia August 24-28, 2008
French Canadians Matts Kulisek and Charles Reid continued their dominance of Stylewars 2008, during the second day of competition at Falls Creek, Victoria today.
Strong winds, scattered clouds and a riders vote, restricted competition to the final snowboard park feature – the gap jump, but with the jump re-shaped over night to give the riders more elevation the level of style and tricks was raised from yesterday.
Matts Kulisek (CAN) landed his tricks consistently all day, to put him into first place for both the day and the overall standings of this freestyle marathon.
Although Charles Reid (CAN) also rode amazingly today his best three runs were simply not enough to beat Matts and he was bumped into 2nd position in the overall rankings by his fellow countryman.
With a possible two days of riding left this by no means leaves Charles out of contention for the Grand master title and we expect to see a strong push by the young French Canadian tomorrow.
“Usually in a contest the guys who spin the most win, but I have been spinning some big three’s and seven’s and I was winning yesterday, so I think it’s a great comp - you don’t have to do a 1260 (three and half rotations) or something (progressive) to win.” Reid said.
Tyler Chorlton’s (GBR) nollie front-flip nose grab and Quentin Robbins (NZ) one-foot air over the kicker rated among the most interesting tricks of the day.
In the hotly disputed Bledisnow Cup, contested by the Australian New Zealand rider teams, the Australian’s bounced back after yesterday’s defeat by team New Zealand. New Zealand and Australia have now taken a day each, but New Zealand are ahead of Australia on the scoreboard.
The nocturnal side of Stylewars continued last night with a screening of Travis Rice’s new snowboard flick That’s It, That’s All. It was followed by Australian hip-hop act Bliss n Eso.
Weather dependent, today is the third day of Stylewars competition and includes the Volvo 28 Stair Rail Jam to be held under lights in the Falls Creek Village Bowl.
For video highlights of yesterday’s action go to: www.stylewars.com.au
2008 Stylewars is presented by Oakley and is supported by Falls Creek Resort, SilverSki Lodge, Corona, Red Bull, Volvo and New Era.
Overall rankings after Day 2
Rank Name Grand Total
1 Matts Kulisek 1498
2 Charles Reid 1464
3 Torstein Horgmo 1312
4 Ville Uotila 1199
5 Stef Zeestraten 1192
6 Shayne Pospisil 1191
7 Jacob Koia 1153
8 Mitch Allan 1151
9 Ryan Tiene 1147
10 Will Jackways 1132
11 Keiji Okamoto 1109
12 Tore Holvik 1099
13 Robbie Walker 1052
14 Clint Allan 1021
15 Nick Brown 919
16 Roland Morley Brown 867
17 Masaharu Nakao 861
18 Jye Kearney 837
19 Dustin Craven 722
20 Chas Guldemond 618
|
|
|
Outcome of Day 1 & Canadians on Top
|
[Article posted 26 August 2008]
|
The first day of competition at Australia’s Oakley Stylewars snowboarding and music event was completed today under perfect blue skies.
The 49 invited riders from around the globe (including three local Falls Creek riders; Matt Galina, Jason Currie, and Keiren McLauglin) quickly adapted to the course and produced a level of snowboarding never seen in Australia before.
Unlike any other event on the Swatch TTR World Tour, Stylewars is as much about the snowboarding lifestyle as it is about the snowboard competition. With international world film premieres and live music almost nightly, happy hours and under-lights village rail sessions, the event tries to keep the competitors stoked with a holiday feel.
But this Jekyl and Hyde of events has also been referred to as ‘the endurance event of the tour’, by some riders. With over three full days of park competition comprising two judged sessions per day, a night rail event under lights and four nights of partying only the strongest can survive.
After riding consistently all-day and finishing in the number one and two spots respectively French Canadians Charles Reid and Matts Kulisek are the riders to catch.
Both were outstanding and landed their runs with no falls. Matts dug deep into a bag of tricks that included huge 720 degree (double) rotations in both directions as well as some 900 degree (two and half rotation) spins, while Charles span 1080’s (three full rotations) and corked (side ways) 360’s (one full rotation) to stay ahead of the opposition.
New Zealand rider Jacob Koia was third and is poised to make a challenge for the top spot. Another Kiwi (the NZ team captain) Will Jackways had one of the most bizarre lines of the day landing a perfect 90 foot backside 900 followed by an air over the gap-jump and landed 80-feet away among the rubble and grooming debris on the side of the landing platform.
The course consists of three jumps: a 15 foot flat cliff step-down (in run), a 90 foot step down kicker and a 75 foot step up/over kicker.
Stylewars continues Tuesday with sunny skies again forecast and riders ready to step up their performances in a bid to top the rankings and gain a shot at the elusive Grand Master Title.
The nightly action began last night with a free/private concert for the riders from Australian Producer Katalyst and MC Rucl playing at the Oshii-go in Falls Creek.
For video footage of the days event check out
www.stylewars.com.au
Stylewars Presented by Oakley
Top 20 after day one
1. Charles Reid (CAN) BURTON 722
2. Matts Kulisek (CAN) APO 667
3. Jacob Koia (NZ) OAKLEY 618
4. Torstein Horgmo (NOR) DC/OAKLEY 602
5. Roland-Morley Brown (NZ) ELECTRIC/FORUM 595
6. Wille Uotila (FIN) ATOMIC 593
7. Shayne Pospisil (USA) BILLABONG 570
8. Stef Zeestraten (NZ) K2/OAKLEY 568
9. Robbie Walker (AUS) BILLABONG 550
10. Will Jackways (NZ) BURTON/VOLCOM 529
11. Mitch Allan (AUS) BURTON/OAKLEY 525
12. Tore Holvik (NOR) BATALEON 505
13. Clint Allan (AUS) BILLABONG 484
14. Mario Kappeli (SUI) FORUM 474
15. Ryan Tiene (AUS) DC/OAKLEY 467
16. Keiji Okamoto (JPN) VOLKL/FLUX 462
17. Jye Kearney (AUS) BURTON/OAKLEY 395
18. Nick Brown (NZ) BURTON/RPM 368
19. Masaharu Nakao (JPN) NP ATHLETICS/REVOLT 313
20. Cohen Davies (AUS) ROME 292
The 2008 Stylewars is presented by Oakley and is supported by Falls Creek Resort, SilverSki Lodge, Corona, Red Bull, Volvo and New Era.
|
 |
Photo: Alex Roberts, taken at Falls Creek on Monday 27 August 2008.
|
|
|
Stylewars Riders Expected to Go Higher Than ever Before
|
[Article posted 25 August 2008]
|
They often say you leave the best to last. Well it isn't quite the end, there's about six weeks to go until the winter season concludes at Falls Creek, but it is the most enthralling week of the resort's winter season.
High-flying, young dare-devils from far-flung snow-covered countries such Norway, Sweden and Iceland will display their prowess on a snowboard, as they fly through the air in the annual Oakley Stylewars invitational event which concludes on Thursday.
40 of the world's most accomplished freeriders will be seen this week in the resort's award-winning terrain park. The high fliers are participating in a quest to be recognised by their boarding counterparts, impress the TTR-sanctioned judges from Canada, New Zealand and Australia with mind-boggling manoeuvres, and take home a slice of the Oakley Stylewars $15,500 prize pool.
The winner of the sought-after mantle of Stylewars ‘Grandmaster’ will be presented with a cheque for $7,500. The rider who claims the ‘Stairmaster‘ 28 Steps rail crown at the event’s annual gig under lights in the Village Bowl will be presented with $5,000 (not bad for a night’s work) .
A rider who produces the best trick at the Wednesday night rail event will be awarded $1,500 and the boarder who the judges feel produced the best trick throughout the Stylewars event will add $1,500 to his bank account.
Continual snowfalls from the beginning of July will permit the terrain park team to build massive jumps that will measure up to 120 feet from take-off to landing. This will encourage the elite snowboarders to push their speed, height and technical skill to never before seen levels on Australian soil.
Norway's Torstein Horgmo record-breaking feat at the Oakley Stylewars last year is still fresh in the memories of the resort guests who watched him defy gravity and jump 150feet performing various technical spins (like 1080’s – 3 full rotations) at speeds of over 100kms/h.
T-Money (as Torstein is now known down under amongst his counterparts) not only took home the 7grand cash prize for the overall mantle of Stylewars Grandmaster last year, he also took home the "one hitter" comp cheque for his ninja skills on the biggest jump in the competition's history.
From today Torstein and the other 39 invited participants will be seen in the Ruined Castle Terrain Park. The event includes three full days in the award-winning park and one night rail session (under lights in the Village Bowl).
The outcome of the thrills and spills will be announced at the 'party of the year' when the 2008 Grandmaster' is crowned on Thursday night.
For more details regarding the event please contact:
Ean Johnstaon - Media Manager – 0402 949 826
Richard Hegarty - Event Director – 0420 985 030
|
- 1. Torstein Horgmo [Norway]
- 2. Hakon Tonnesson [Norway]
- 3. Mikkel Bang [Norway]
- 4. Chris Sörman (Sweden)
- 5. Tore Holvik (Norway)
- 6. Keegan Valaika [US]
- 7. Sebastian Toutant [Canada]
- 8. Juuso Laivisto [Finland)
- 9. Antti Autti [Finland]
- 10. Travis Rice [US]
- 11. Drew Fuller [US]
- 12. Louis Vito [US]
- 13. Lonnie Kauk [US]
- 14. Shayne Pospisil [US]
- 15. Chas Guldemond [US]
- 16. Charles Reid [Canada]
- 17. Dustin Craven [Canada]
- 18. Logan Short [Canada]
- 19. Andrew Geeves [Canada]
- 20. Matts Kulisek [Canada]
- 21. Kim Rune Hansen [Norway]
- 22. Jonas Carlson [Sweden]
- 23. Eiki Helgason [Iceland]
- 24. Haldor Helgason [Iceland]
- 25. Marc Swoboda [Austria]
- 26. Stefan Maurer [Switzerland]
- 27. Sani Alibabic [Austria]
- 28. Marco Grilc [Slovakia]
- 29. Tyler Chorlton [UK]
- 30. Nick Gregory [Australia]
- 31. Robbie Walker [Australia]
- 32. Ryan Tiene [Australia]
- 33. Clint Allan [Australia]
- 34. Mitch Allan [Australia]
- 35. Jacob Koia [New Zealand]
- 36. Will Jackways [New Zealand]
- 37. Quentin Robbins [New Zealand]
- 38. Stef Zeestraten [New Zealand]
- 39. Nick Brown [New Zealand]
- 40. Keiji Okamoto [Japan].
|
|
 |
Photo: Charlie Brown at Falls Creek.
|
|
|
Hip Hop & Snowboarding Unite at Oakley Stylewars 2008
|
[Article posted 20 August 2008]
|
Hailing from Melbourne, with Jamaican/Australian heritage, Ru C.L is a MC with truly universal appeal. He'll support Katalyst on the first night (Monday 25 Aug ) of the Oakley Stylewars invitation only event, featuring the world's top snowboarders, at the resort's coolest bar OSHII-GO in the heart of freeride-friendly Falls Creek.
Bliss n Eso an Australian hip hop group, who performed at the Whistler 2007 Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival, have got the gig on Tuesday night starting around 9pm after the world premier of 'That's it. That's all' a film staring Jackson Hole's home grown superstar Travis Rice (Wyoming - USA) who'll be at the opening night.
On Wednesday night Katalyst will perform again at the rail event (under lights) in the Village Bowl which is an opportunity for resort guests to see the invited Stylewars participants strut their stuff.
These athletes are the best going around so it is always an amazing spectacle to see how they master the aptly named 28 steps.
The music component of this year's Oakley Stylewars continues on Thursday night with New Zealand rapper Scribe providing the entertainment at OSHII - GO.
Scribe, is the stage name of Kiwi rapper Malo Luafutu. His debut album, The Crusader, released in 2003 has so far gone five times platinum in New Zealand.
The Oakley Stylewars Grandmaster is crowned on Thursday night so it promises to be the most raucous evening of Australia's snowboard competitions.
|
 |
|
|
|
Stylewars Program Quick Links...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stylewars 2007 Footage from Falls Creek...
|
|
