snowboard contest

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Wanglei Crowned Burton King of the Park

Wanglei shot by Xiao Ba
Beijing, CHINA (September 20, 2008) – It was thrills, spills and chills (for those who didn’t realise this event was inside a giant freezer) at last Saturday’s Burton King of the Park competition, held at the Burton Qiaobo Mellow Park inside the Qiaobo Ice and Snow World, just outside Beijing.
Fittingly, it was Burton rider and Chinese snowboard veteran Wanglei who was eventually crowned King of the Park, although his battle to first place wasn’t easy. Park regulars Xfox, Mingming, Magang and newcomer Cuiyang all firmly held their ground in a fierce competition that saw riders throw down a total of four judged runs - two on the kicker line, and two on the jib-line, with the points from their best run on each added together for their final score.
Not surprisingly, the park was in perfectly shaped condition, thanks to the Mellowparks.cn crew dedicating the previous day to many hours of shaping, testing and reshaping features. The end result was an indoor park that even an outdoor park wouldn’t kick out of bed, featuring two consecutive kickers, a downbox followed by a down rail, 3-stack of bonk-barrels, topped off with a 6m wide wallride on the jib-line.
Xfox was the first to impress the judges, after stomping a smooth FS air and BS 360 tail on his first run. However, this seemed to just motivate the competition to push harder, and it wasn’t long before Wanglei nudged ahead with a perfectly executed boned out BS 360 Indy, followed by a crowd-pleasing FS 540 melon. Other notable riders included newcomer and Qiaobo instructor Cuiyang, who impressed us with his gung-ho attitude and smooth landings. In the women’s division, Sasha (RUS), Yindi (CHN) and Mary (USA) all impressed us, each riding solidly catching big air off the kickers.
With the jib-line portion up next, the speed slowed down and the tricks got more technical. Mellowparks’ Russian parkshaper Alexey earned one of the loudest crowd-cheers with a smooth-as-silk BS 180 on nosepress to bonk–180 off on the downbox, followed by a very stylish FS boardslide on the down rail. Coincidentally, it was Alexey’s girlfriend Sasha who earned an equally large cheer for her solid consecutive 50-50s on both the down box and rail. Wanglei continued to impress, with an array of 270-on-270-offs on the down box, a nice boardslide on the down rail, and was the only rider to successfully utilize the bonk-barrels – with a 540-bonk – once again proving he is the top rider in China.
With the competition complete, Wanglei was unanimously crowned this year’s Burton King of the Park! Second and third places (the ‘Prince’s’ of the park?) were well earned by Xfox and Cuiyang respectively. Sasha impressed us all by earning herself the ‘Queen of the Park’ title and we look forward to seeing her ripping up a real mountain this winter! Check http://www.mellowparks.cn/  for more pics of the action.

If you would like more information on The Burton Qiaobo Mellow Park, Mellowparks.cn or snowboarding in China please contact jess@mellowparks.cn (Chinese) or olli@mellowparks.cn (English)

Press Release

• September 23 2008 | 45 views

• News

New UK Stadium Shred Event Announced: FSO4 Freeze sponsored by LG

It looks like the European sponsors, supported by FIS sponsor LG, are rushing to fill the void left by the Air & Style vacuum.

United Kingdom - Winter comes early this year with the introduction of a brand new snow sport and music event, Freesports on 4 FREEZE sponsored by LG.

From the 23-26th October, Battersea Power Station in London will be transformed into a real life ski resort featuring the biggest real snow jump ever made in the UK with a live music line up to match.

The World’s best snowboarders and skiers will descend on the banks of the River Thames to take part in the highest profile snow and music festival ever seen in the UK. The focal point of the event is the 17m table top real snow jump created for the LG London Big Air Event, part of the LG FIS (International Ski Federation) World Cup, which will kick off the Northern Hemisphere Winter season in serious style. While this event is for snowboarders there will also be some amazing skiing action. The run down of events is as follows:

The LG London Big Air is a leg of the LG FIS World Cup for snowboarders and as such attracts the biggest names in the World of snowboarding. So far confirmed are Olympic Silver Medallist Danny Kass, Hampus Mosesson and Burton Pro Chris Sorman. All the riders will be fighting for £15,000 and vital ratings points in their goal to become World Champions. The LG London Big Air is the only chance to see snowboarders of this quality in the UK.

The International Freestyle Ski Event will once again feature the World’s best skiers on your doorstep in London. The likes of Armada team riders Tanner Hall, multiple Winter X Games Gold Medal winner and TJ Schiller will blow minds as they also compete for $25,000. Confirmed appearances include skiers such as Tanner, Jon Olsson and Jacob Wester. Three of the biggest names in Ski.

In a bid to give the UK’s home grown talent an opportunity to challenge the Worlds best, FREEZE will hold the Battle of Britain (BOB) with the top performers gaining precious FIS points enabling them to compete in the main event, The LG London Big Air.

Freesports on 4 FREEZE sponsored by LG will also serve up the culmination of the LG FREEZE Air Bag Tour. In the month leading up to the event the tour will be hitting indoor and dry slopes across the UK, giving skiers and snowboarders the chance to get creative with their style whilst relying on a giant bag to catch them. The 14m x 8m LG FREEZE Air Bag will be open to the most innovative riders who have seasoned it during the tour in an invitational pro-am jam format.

Whilst the sports events are more than enough to keep you entertained there is so much more on offer at Freesports on 4 FREEZE sponsored by LG. After all the sports are completed attentions will turn to the giant 10,000 capacity Kayam tent hosting the best live music on offer in the UK. Music acts are to be announced but expect household names rocking out the best in contemporary music.

Elsewhere on the music front there will be genuine après ski bars bringing the real feel of the mountains to England rather than the English going to the Alps. We’re talking about conga lines, stein beers, vin chaud all to the sounds of genuine Alpine party DJ’s brought in from the top resorts of Europe. Think Morris bar in Val d’Isere, Ice Bar in Mayrhofen, Krazy Kangaroo in St Anton and that’s what we’re talking about.

Another feature of the event will be the movie premiers including Grenades Boned Age, Forum’s Forum or Against’EM and the English production Bread and Buttered.

Relentless Energy Drink will also be there creating their own style of mountain party serving big beats and their own range of cocktails in their aptly named Blizzard Bar.

In addition to the mountain parties, there will be an opportunity for VIPs to get the best in ‘après ski’ in the LG Lounge, where you can chill and watch the competition in comfort.

Other attractions will include a genuine ski village with shops lining the main resort ‘high street’ where you’ll be able to pick up bargains from last year and check out the latest kit about to hit the slopes. With all this going on there is absolutely no reason to miss out on the only pre season event in the UK.

Tickets to the UK’s only snow sports and music festival, Freesports on 4 FREEZE Sponsored by LG are now on sale. Make sure you are one of the first to get your tickets to this brand new and exciting festival taking place at Battersea Power Station in London from 23-26th October, 2008 by logging on to londonfreeze.com or calling Ticketmaster on 0844 847 2358.

mike lewis

• September 17 2008 | 114 views