NZSnowboard.com - The home of New Zealand Snowboarding

11th November 2008

After some unfortunate weather conditions that pushed the Slopestyle competition from Saturday to Sunday, riders who made their way to the Dachstein Glacier in Austria for the Swatch TTR 4Star Horsefeathers Pleasure Jam could not have asked for a better day. On a perfectly shaped park under bright, bluebird skies, Norwegian athlete Andreas Wiig stood tallest on the podium after his first place finish as Swiss athlete Stephan Maurer inched closer to the Tour lead with a 10th place finish that earned him TTR World No. 2.
 
A record number of fans made it out on Sunday, despite the previous nights festivities, for a competition that lived up to its sterling reputation. The improved conditions allowed athletes to hit the second big kicker that hadnt been accessible in the qualification rounds and set things up for an epic final that saw Chris Srman (SWE) climbing into World No. 6 and Ville Uotila (FIN) making his up in the TTR Top 10 into World No. 9.
 
Andreas Wiig, who managed to barely made it through qualifications, improved for the finals, laying down a switch BS 900, a FS 1080, and a BS Rodeo 900 his best run of three in a format that only counted a riders best two runs and frowned upon repetition. Wiig was followed by the young, stylish Belgian athlete Seppe Smits in second and Metevz Petek of Slovenia in third.
 
Stephan Maurer, who has already posted four Top 10 results in the Southern Hemisphere and recently placed 3rd at the Swatch TTR 3Star Burton Stomp-It in Italy was stoked on his move in the TTR Rankings: It feels awesome! I hope to keep a spot in the TTR Top 10 but that will be a challenge when more athletes get more results during the season.
 
In the womens field, the young female powerhouse Sarka Pancochova (CZE) certainly proved shes been working hard to expand her impressive bag of tricks, claiming 1st place and a spot just outside the TTR Top 20. In second came Silvia Mittermller (GER), with Enni Rukajarvi (FIN) rounding out the womens Top 3.
 
It was a great event with super kickers, said Pancochova after her win. I am really stoked with my top finish and the points this early in the season.
 
If the Swatch TTR 4Star Horsefeathers Pleasure Jam is any sign of things to come, were in for excellent season of epic competitions. While most athletes would now be looking to the Great White North for the next event on the Tour, due to the unfortunate cancellation of the 6Star Honda Session at Vail, the Swatch TTR 5Star Burton Canadian Open has been moved from December to February 2nd 8th, 2009, ensuring great snow conditions and attendance by the best athletes in the world.
 
For all the rankings, details and coverage of the 4Star Horsefeathers Pleasure Jam, head on over to www.ttrworldtour.com. Also read up on women-only 6Star Roxy Chicken jam in Austria and the legendary 6Star Nissan X-Trail Jam in Japan coming up soon in December.





LINK:   www.ttrworldtour.com





ABOUT THE SWATCH TTR WORLD SNOWBOARD TOUR:
Founded by Terje Haakonsen and industry innovators in 2002, the SWATCH TTR World Snowboard Tour is a non-profit, rider-driven organization with the  mission to create the highest quality competitive snowboard environment in the world, using authenticity, accessibility, innovation as guiding principles. Since its foundation, the Swatch TTR Tour has been  developing into the most popular snowboard tour worldwide featuring global grass root and key independent freestyle snowboarding events over a ten-month period from Southern to Northern Hemisphere locations.

Events are rated via a 1-through-6Star system, with points allocated accordingly, a 6Star  event holds the highest (1000 Swatch TTR points). Any rider participating in these events, from up-and-coming to professional talent, earns ranking points and a position on the SWATCH TTR World Ranking List. The top male and female rider based on an average of their best seven results of the season is crowned SWATCH TTR World Snowboard Tour Champion.