A BIG FAT THANK YOU…
Almost reams of people have already been involved in the success of all the events of the Burton AM Tour: judges, photographers, volunteers, the teams of the hosting resorts, Burton Innsbruck, Suzuki, the AM Tour team etc… At one person, all the filaments came together: Already for three years tour manager Andi has put heart and soul into the organisation of the events. As ‘Father of the AM Family’ he embodies the tour, that by now became an important part in the European freestyle scene.
It’s about the time to thank him from the bottom of our hearts for his endless dedication! You’re the best ;)
ENJOY THE RIDE
Since the event in Val Senales was the last one on this year’s tour, now we know the names of the four Overall Tour Winners…
KID GIRLS: ENYA BEUTLER (SWITZERLAND)
KID BOYS: TIM-KEVIN RAVNJAK (SLOVENIA)
JUNIOR GIRLS: LAURA BERRY (GREAT BRITAIN)
JUNIOR BOYS: STEFAN ACKERET (SWITZERLAND)
As promised the two juniors could take home a quad bike from main sponsor Suzuki. At the first joyride straight after the prize givings they couldn’t hide their pleasure about that ;) On top all four of them are invited to the Burton European Open 2009.
Congratulations from the entire AM Tour team… rock on guys!
BIG SHOWDOWN
The event in South Tirol exceptionally took two days; while as usual the contest happened on Saturday, on Sunday a photo shooting with well known photographers as well as the Burton pro riders Stefan Maurer, Sina Candrian and Tato Chiala was scheduled. The conditions couldn’t have been any better: The Gentlemen Park, containing a first class kickerline, completed with different boxes and a massive quarter at the end of the course, was presented in the most beautiful sunshine and animated the 63 juniors to amazing performances. The exhilarating spirit was made sure by the two DJ’s who provided park and barbecue area with groovy sound and the speaker, who entertained the entire AM family with his humour and his charm.
SNOWFALL IN VAL SENALES
After a short break last weekend, we are ready for the showdown of this year’s tour in South Tirol’s Val Senales. Just the weather doesn’t seem to play along yet…and so we had to start the build-up in the Gentlemen Park in temporarily stormy snowfalls. But we stay optimistic and still count on the sun to appear for tomorrow’s competition and the photo shoot on Sunday… so: finish all your dishes tonight! ;)
PARK OF DREAMS
In Åre a top set-up waited for being shredded by the riders. The massive kickers of the black line in the idyllically situated Bräcke Dreampark was being completed with more features especially for the contest. For example a rail island, containing a kink rail, an up- and a rollercoaster box invited the juniors to jib.
AM FAMILY: THE LESTAGE-KÖNIG´S
Four of the young Lestage-König´s have already been participating at an AM Tour Contest: Benjamin, Jérémie, Matteus and Emmanuel. Actually it´s a family full of snowboarders, also their mom is riding. We were talking to Daniel, the proud daddy of the family…
What was your first AM Tour stop? Kläppen 2006/07
What do you like about the AM Tour? It´s a professional contest for the kids and it´s well organised. You take the youngsters seriously.
Who was on the snowboard first…You or the Kids? Emmanuel started first and then we all started to like it too…But I was a skater before.
Final statement: Hang out with your friends & family and have fun…Snowboarding is a sport in which everyone can participate;)
AM RIDERS: ISAK BJÖRNSTRÖM & KRISTOFFER FREDRIKSSON
The two friends from the very North of Sweden have already been to Kläppen last weekend…nice to see them also here in Åre this week…and today Isak even showed the best trick of the day, which was a switch backside 900!
What was your first AM Tour stop? Kläppen 2006/07
What do you like about the AM Tour? It´s not stressful, we like the jam session format… you can get more than just 2 runs.
Have you been riding outside Sweden? Yes, we have been to the Rookie Festival in Italy.
What about an AM Tour stop in another country? Maybe next year…
What do you expect of an AM Tour stop? To go there and have fun!
KLÄPPEN - ÅRE
After we successfully finished the event in Kläppen, we hit the road further up North…Kläppen – Åre: Actually only 400 km distance…but on this kind of roads it takes sometimes a little bit longer…Finally arrived, we had some sparetime. While some of us were checking out the phat snowpark, the others inspected the area on the skidoos…
SPRING FEELING
While the preparations on Friday had to be done in the rain, on Saturday all the clouds were blown away. Sunshine and comfortable temperatures made sure the purest spring feelings. The Swedish juniors showed high and huge airs when the spectators chilled out at the barbecue and rewarded every run with a powerful applause.
BEST RUN: JOEL ANDERSSON
BEST RUN: Kicker line: Huge backside 720 melon grab - backside rodeo 540 - cab 720 - down rail: 50-50 to 180 off - up box: 50-50 to front flip!
With this run Joel Andersson won the competition and not only got various prizes from Burton and the tour sponsors, but also qualified for the Burton Halfpipe Invitational in Åre taking place at the up-coming weekend…
AM RIDERS: JOHANNA HOLMSTEDT
The event in Kläppen was Johanna`s first AM Tour contest and she had a lot of fun…
Where do you usually ride? In Bjursas Ski Center.
Have you ever been riding outside Sweden? Yes, in Norway.
How much time do you spend on your snowboard? Every weekend and two evenings per week.
What about coming to an AM Tour stop in another country? I would love to come to another stop… maybe next year;)
What do you like about the AM Tour? I like that there are so many different riders: boys and girls, young riders and older ones…There should be more events like this!
AM MOBILE
Besides the Suzuki Grand Vitara and our two vans, there is an additional AM Tour vehicle since yesterday: For a little fee in the form of a t-shirt, some sweets and a sunscreen we could not only go for a joyride but also place an AM Tour branding at the hot wheeler ;)
IMRESSIVELY HIGH LEVEL AT THE FINNISH STOP
Talma is popular for being the perfect training area for future stars such as Burton Top Rider Peetu Piiroinen who grew up in the region and made it to the world´s peak this year. The many local competitors proved that there is still a huge potential of strong youngbloods and delivered an impressive show on a very high level.
NIGHTSHIFT
Because it was impossible to close the snowpark during the opening hours from 4-9 pm we had to run a nightshift. While the riders were preparing for the contest in their sleep, we still were busy with the last preparations in the park. On Saturday morning at 9 am we were ready for the inscription and the following training session.
WE WILL ROCK THE 5500 CM
After a short visit of St. Petersburg we are in Finland already since Tuesday. In Talma, not far from the capital Helsinki we will rock the next event on Saturday…Definitely low to no avalanche danger we´ll have to suspect for the competition even if finally the big snowfall also reached this region in the last few days;)
WHAT´S BEHIND ALL THIS?
A perfectly shaped park, a challenging concurrence, a fair judging, good sound, a smooth course of action…that´s what the riders expect – besides pretty prizes and goodies;) – when they come to an event of the Burton AM tour.
That all this can happen as it should, a lot of motivated folks are needed…At the event in Zolotaya Dolina for example, a crew of almost 30 people was active:
6 Burton AM Tour Crew
5 Burton Russia
4 Helpers from the Resort Zolotaya Dolina
5 Judges
2 Shapers
1 Snow cat driver
1 Speaker
2 Filmers
1 Photographer
2 Technicians
RUSSIAN SNOWBOARD ACTION
The Russian juniors were stoked from the perfectly prepared slopestyle set-up and nearly couldn`t stop riding even after the event. Under the over 50 participants from all over Russia some stood out with tricks on a high technical level. Amongst others Alexey Sobolev from Novosibirsk and Elena Alekhina from Moscow, the overall winners of the day…
THE PARK
When we still were packing our stuff together, enjoying ourselves on the ferry and marking time at the border, some already were quite busy in the Snowpark of Zolotaya Dolina. Hannes and Stefan from Unit Parktechnologies put all their efforts in shaping and presented us a first class set-up when we arrived. If you want to check it out, go to Google Earth:
FINALLY IN RUSSIA...
On Monday we could put our luggage (1 boardbag + 2 other bags each!) back in the lovely busses and hit the road for the next adventure…
From Switzerland we drove to Travemünde in the North of Germany from where the ferry Finnmaid brought us to Helsinki in two completely relaxed days. After a short stop at Burton Finland we pulled out towards the Russian border. For some diffuse reasons they kept us there for 13 hours. But somehow our Russian friends finally made it to get us into the country and we reached a real bed in a real hotel at around 3 o´clock in the morning…
By the way: Taking pictures at the border is strictly forbidden…but a little memory of the 13 hours was a must!
BEST RUN
Steve Krijbolder sticked the best run of the day: frontside boardslide to fakie on the straight box, cab 7 indy grab on the big kicker, a high indy air on the corner and a backside boardslide 270 off on the up box.
AM RIDERS: FREESTYLE ACADEMY
The boys and girls of the Freestyle Academy in Laax have been to their third stop of this years AM Tour with their coach Jonas.
Which was your first AM Tour stop? Alpe di Siusi 2007
And which one was your favourite? David Djité: Mayrhofen 2007, Sarah Züst: Kläppen 2007
What do you like the most about the AM Tour? That the Quali is hold in a jam session format…
How much time do you spend on the snow? Every weekend and all the holidays.
Final Statement: „The AM Tour is cool" ;)
AM RIDERS: GAIA, STEFAN & DENIS
Gaia Giacomazzi, Stefan Ackeret und Denis Parvex: The three Swiss jibbers have already been to some stops on this years tour…Gaia is third in the overall ranking of the Junior Girls, Stefan is second and Denis third in the Junior Boys category. Their home resort is Laax.
Which was your fist stop of the AM tour at all? Denis&Stefan: Wildhaus 2006, Gaia: Les 2 Alpes 2007
Which was your favourite AM Tour stop? Denis: Adelboden 2008, Stefan: Les 2 Alpes 2007, Gaia: Madrid 2007, the people were very outgoing and there were good vibes!
How much time do you spend on the snow? Almost every weekend…
What do you like the most about the AM Tour? It’s all so familiar and everyone is happy;)
AM RIDERS: SEAN TAYLOR
Sean is from Zoetermeer in the Netherlands. He is snowboarding since he and his brother discovered their passion at a birthday party in the snowdome in their home town. Sean is on the fourth position in the Kid Boys Overall Ranking at the moment.
Which was your first AM Tour stop at all? Castleford 2007
Which was your favourite stop up to now? Adelboden, I liked the big jumps, the nice rails and the fact that there were a lot of good riders…
When was your first ride on real snow? It was when I was 7 in Geilo, Norway.
How much time do you spend on the snowboard? Three evenings per week and every weekend.
What do you like the most about the AM Tour? All the stops are in Europe and it´s easy to get there…
CAR WASH
BEFORE
AFTER
During the last two events our busses have had a hard time...that`s why we allowed them to have a little bit of wellness before it`s going on to Les Crosets tomorrow.
-23° CELSIUS
After a long lasting run of good luck with the weather, this event was characterised by the freezing cold temperature and steady winds. Despite uncomfortable -23° Celsius 70 competitors found their way to the Burton Snowpark in Bansko…Riders and Crew braved the rough conditions and arranged for a successful event.
AM RIDERS: LAURA BERRY
Laura is from Milton Keynes in England and is leading the Overall Ranking of the Junior Girls with by now 4 wins on this year´s Tour. When she is not travelling around, she is spending her 2nd winter season in Morzine, FRA.
First AM Tour Event: Milton Keynes 2005
Home Resort: Snowdome Milton Keynes, GBR and Morzine, FRA
First ride on real snow: with 13 in Tignes, FRA
How much time do you spend on your snowboard? 8 months a year
What do you like about the AM Tour? Its always layed back, the tour is linked to the TTR and I can travel to cool places.
AM RIDERS: ANNA PODGORNA
The one and only Anna is from Poland, but living and working in Innbruck. Bansko was her 6th stop on this years AM Tour where she surprised the crew with her new slim fit style.
First AM Tour event: Alpe di Siusi 2007
Home Resort: The Burton AM Tour.. I usually work during the week and on the weekends I go to the stops...
Favourite Stop: Bispingen…and Madrid…you like the snow domes? No, the Parties! ;)
ARRIVING IN BANSKO
After almost 1700 km of driving in 2 days, on which we crossed Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia including 1 time zone, we arrived in Bansko, Bulgaria. Bansko is one of the most popular winter resorts in the country and is situated in the high mountains of Pirin.
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
Altitude: 3 m, width: 3,5 m, flat: 15 m… these are the measures of the so called „Fotokicker“ in the Snowpark Damüls. A lot of riders used the massive take-off to attract attention with high airs. For all those who didn´t want to dare such flights, there were a lot of other, less challenging features too…
4 WINNERS: 2 ENGLISH & 2 SWISS
Stylemaster Jack Shackleton (1st Junior Boys) could stand out from his combatants with the best trick of the day, a Backside 5 on the massive Kicker (15-meter table). His land mate, Laura Berry (1st Junior Girls) convinced with a 50-50 to frontside boardslide on the kinked-stair-box. A clean cab 5 on the middle kicker was shown by the only 13-year old Swiss young blood talent Jan Scherrer (1st Kid Boys) and Enya Beutler (1st Kid Girls) showed another nice nose grab.
HAABEDEERE
When we arrived in Damüls - the world´s most snowsure village ;) - we learned a new word: "Haabedeere"...No, it´s not finnish...it´s german and is short for: "Habe die Ehre!" : "Be honored!" or just "Hello"...
GIRLS POWER...
Laura Berry (19, 1st Junior Girls) and Alicia Bonnaud (14, 1st Kid Girls) showed a solid and diversified performance using the complete slopestyle park including pipe, kickers and boxes for their runs. With their stylish show they impressed to spectators and judges! You girls rock;)
WHERE IS THE SNOW?
Up to now the Pyrenees don´t seem to have been blessed with snow this season, nevertheless the guys from the Freestyle Park El Tarter succeeded in building a complete slopestyle set-up. Even if on the eve everything looked like the big snowfall exactly fell on our eventday, once more we were super lucky and not one single shade on the bluebird sky beclouded the good mood of the crowd.
ANDORRA
Yesterday we came all the way from Switzerland to Andorra (Grandvalira) to the next stop. To get you ready for the event tomorrow, here some facts & figures about the ministate in the Pyrenees between France and Spain: official language: Catalan, capital city: Andorra La Vella, area: 468 km², population: 81`222, currency: €…
THE BURTON AM FAMILY
In Adelboden we had 63 riders what was our season record regarding the number of participants. On the one hand it was nice to welcome all the Swiss shredders. On the other hand it was cool to meet some of the riders for the second, third or even fourth time! No wonder they become part of the Burton AM family...
TOP SHOTS
The set-up in the Gran Masta Park in Adelboden was the biggest we had on the current tour so far and it animated the youngsters to impressive performances! Philippe Hänni (1st Junior Boys) showed the best two tricks of the day: a Cab 7 Tail Grab and a BS Corked 5 Nose Grab. Anna Podgorna (1st Junior Girls) convinced the judges and the crowd with smooth runs over the rails and boxes. And last but not least Enya Beutler (1st Kid Girls) and Dimi „Mr. Neon“ de Jong (1st Kid Boys) improved their talent: Enya with a nice nose grab and Dimi with a huuuuuge FS Inverted 5.
WHERE OR BETTER WHO IS UELI?
Who`s the guy who`s always ready with his cam? Who`s the guy who`s always positioned at the right place at the right time to get the best shots? It `s our one and only tour photographer Ueli;) Thanks for being part of the team!
PERFECT CONDITIONS IN THE URSUS SNOWPARK
On Sunday nobody could imagine that a couple of days before the event the Ursus Snowpark nearly disappeared in the massive amount of snow. The local shapers put their shoulder to the wheel and presented a compact and multifaceted set-up. Besides established elements such as the three different sized kickers and a wide range of boxes and rails, the quarterpipe, including a wallride on one and a tree jib on the other side, gave a distinctive note to the slopestyle.
BACK ON THE MOUNTAIN
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After we have been to different snow halls for the last couple of Burton AM Tour stops, we´re back on the "real" mountains for the next one. The preparations for tomorrows event in front of the amazing panorama of the Ursus Snowpark in Madonna di Campiglio are in full activity...
AND THE WINNER IS...
Many juniors rocked the Burton Park in an amazing manner. With the Trick of the Day, a stylish sticked 270 Frontside Boardslide on the Kinked Rail, Timo Kannengiesser let the English Sam Turnbull on the second and Hamburg Local Karsten Boysen on the third place. Two Polish were best in the Junior Girls category; Malgorzala Kolacz in front of Anna Podgorna. Susanne Dehoust from Mannheim got third. In the Kid Boys category three Dutch arranged the win. Gino Rupp won in front of the two brothers Sean and Marshall Taylor.
ON SLOPE
A diversified slopestyle park was conjured up especially for the event. The Tree Jib at the end of the course was an outstanding feature and became the favourite obstacle of many competitiors. While the kids were rocking the park run after run, former Pro Rider Mini Karpf was entertaining the crowd and the judges made sure a fair ranking.
WE ARE BACK...
After having put our presents away, digested the banquet and forgotten all the resolutions for 2008, we are ready to rock the event in the Snow Dome Bispingen with you...See ya there on Saturday!
PRIZE GIVINGS: AN EVENT´S PEAK
Once more the vibes were boiling at the prize givings... and afterwards, when some t-shirts and other goodies from Burton, Anon, Red, Suzuki and the SNOWzone were thrown out to the screaming crowd.
A PARK SHAPED WITH LOVE
The slopestyle park in the SNOWzone Madrid contained obstacles such as an Up-and-Down Rail, an A-Frame alias "San Fransisco Box" and different jumps with barrels or a huge cable roll. What a chance for the young shreds to show the judges their technical skills and individual style!
LESS IS MORE, MORE IS LESS...
The favourite sentence of the Spanish speaker with his iroquois coat: "Less is more, more is less, more is more and less is less...whatever...". What he wants to tell us, is probably, that every rider should ride his level?!? Last but not least he managed to motivate the kids to show their individual style!
VIVA ESPANA...
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After 2 days driving with a break in Barcelona we arrived in the SNOWzone Madrid...Even if the almost neverending amount of highways and (one-way-)streets nearly drove us crazy:)
PRIZE GIVINGS
SHARK FIN BOX VS. BARRELS
In the creative slopestyle park in the SNO!zone in Castleford the riders could hardly choose their favourite obstacle: the Shark Fin Box or the barrels next to the kicker…
Best Trick sticked James Carr (middle) this time with a stylish FS 360 Barrel Bonk.
50 - 35 - 40
This is the way how you get to Great Britain from the European mainland: In a 50 km long tunnel, in 35 minutes time, 40 meters below the ocean bed.
We were just a little bit disappointed not to see any fishes during the journey…
MASCOT ON 4 WHEELS
This piece of jewellery - a Suzuki Grand Vitara - will come along with us across Europe on the Burton AM Tour...
Using the keys to start the engine? That was yesterday...step in and pull out is today;) And if we don´t find the way to the next tour stop, for sure the Suzuki will lead us there - thanks to the latest GPS!
OVERALL WINNER: FEDERICO PELLACANI
Federico Pellacani not only won the Junior Boys category - with his "Best Trick" , a fs 7 inverted he also was the best rider of the day...niiice;)
OUR KIDS RIDING NEXT TO THE BIG NAMES
Isn`t this an amazing scenery we experienced in the Snowpark in Les 2 Alpes?
By the way... Les 2 Alpes turned into a mecca for the French snowboard scene this weekend... Thousands of freestylers came to the mountain resort on 1600m for the Mondial du Snow. Not just our kids were rocking, Pro Riders were there as well. They held their show at the Burton Highway to Rail competition on Saturday night...
TWO GOOD REASONS FOR THE NETHERLANDS
While our friends were travelling to the glaciers to get in winter shape, we headed up to the Netherlands for our first AM Tour competition.
To Holland? Natch! First of all they have the best choco drink of the World, secondly there is the SnowWorld Landgraaf, one of the biggest indoor slope with a brilliant, new Burton Park...
